It is a shame you can’t actually see the game as it was released in 2004. The graphics and models have improved significantly. Even the ones that haven’t been updated are actually improved from what they were in 2004.
The closest you can get is to travel through each expansion’s zones. Each expansion has better graphics than its predecessors.
By these metrics WoW was tired over a decade ago. The thing is that isn’t what makes the game good. There’s plenty of more polished games that can’t play as well and have no charm.
Wow isn’t aged at all compared to Runecraft but tons of people still play Runecraft because nothing that has modern graphics or physics recreates the gameplay of Runecraft.
If you’re only concerned about photo realistic graphics, then you’re probably in the wrong place because they’ll never sacrifice the feel of WoW for wavy hair.
Sore, I have been playing wow for 17 years, I have seen the leaps and bounds Blizzard has done with the Warcraft engine, but it is still behind the times. Technology has evolved leaps and bounds over the 17 years. My hunters pet? Stuck in 2004 graphical wise. I used to run on a potatoe pc back in 2008, today? I can easily run games on max with unreal engine 5 games.
Blizzard is never going to pay Epic’s toll to use Unreal. Epic would want 5% of lifetime revenue over $1 million.
I know, WoW will…no I can’t say that, If Microsoft wills it, it will be done, Blizzard no longer owns WOW, Microsoft does. We don’t know what Microsoft will do with WOW.
Really would love better robe design. Being stuck with the same type of robe that’s been around since vanilla sucks.
At least someone has an ounce of sense…
Honestly engine is fine, one of the few games that’s optimized for 12 year old potato’s, and 4090s.
The fact classic is playable on a PC from 2004 is astounding. Best optimized game ever.
I do agree on the game showing its age, but as you said it yourself, the task and scope would be astronomincal, to the point they would likely have to make a “WoW 2” or a “Realm Reborn” style remake in order to really be able to make any grand sweeping changes.
Not to mention, you have the elephant in the room, Transmog, Toys, and Mounts. Sadly WoW is kinda stuck in a very ackward place. FFXIV had an easier time resetting everyone since A Realm Reborn happened only about a year-and-a-half into that games life, not twenty.
I’m not arguing against your comment, I agree that the game is showing its age. Even FFXIV has recently gotten a hefty graphical update (to the point it actually raised the system requirements for the game) but I’m not sure how Blizz could go about making any sweeping changes or updates without essentially having to start over.
They can’t, most of the playerbase is not the US. Engine update would cause a mass exodus because those players would be far below min spec.
Wow, with Alan wake 2 hw req would fail.
Yeah, I know. I thought about all of that, mounts,pets,transmog,achievements…all over 10+ year old achievements, super rare mounts you can’t get anymore. I don’t think we will ever get a new engine updated for 2024. They are just going to keep on updating the WOW engine.
Some people like the old stuff. That’s part of why Hunters can still tame the older versions of updated mobs.
What I hate the most is how the game stops functioning if there’s over 30 people in the same map at the same time.
As a few others have mentioned the team is in the process of “sprucing” the engine behind the scenes. It has actually caused some hiccups that they have had to smooth over but they are actively improving the engine over time. This has been true for most expacs as they have added features (not always just for players either) that allow for new mechanics. I think a complete jump to a new engine would be a little weird as the current one is incredibly serviceable and simply requires an investment in workforce and effort more than anything else imo
The game is old yes. But even with that engine the game has seen quite a few updates over the years & the game has aged much better than other MMOs… the graphics is also kind of one of the niches it carries and they seem to make no intention any time soon of a wow reboot.
Wow’s engine is unique to it and is based off of WC3. you are asking an RTS engine to just magically be unreal 5, when unreal 2k4 was what is equivalent, with ragdolls that throw things into an oblivion.
It has always had a type of physics engine, but it has taken time to expand it. What it does well instead is load things. That persistent world is as a result of not prioritizing ragdolls. Computers only process so much data and WoW pushes “location, model, animation, casting, clothing” before anything else. Physics, to the degree you want, would make the game spend a ton more time figuring out where everything went despite it not being important for anything but visual interest.
You have to recall that unreal is not meant to handle 200 people and NPCs all doing their own thing. WoW, being based on an RTS is meant to handle that sort of thing.
It is one of the reasons its lasted so long.
Here’s the thing, the moment a REAL WoW 2 actually comes out no one would care about their stupid mount they farmed 10 years ago.
COD proved time and time again that people just don’t care that much about what they’ve collected when a new and shiny game comes out.
It’s because of this reason that Overwatch 2 failed because Blizzard should have made a REAL Overwatch 2 game not some half hearted nonsense they launched just because they wanted to ensure that peoples collectables are there
These are digital items that in reality don’t mean much. Also a vast number of people do want a real WoW2 and want to start everything from scratch. Why do you think people are anxiously waiting for a League MMO.
WoW 2 doesnt have to be realistic, they can keep their artistic stylized graphics but also do it on a modern engine
They would need to stand up “new” engine servers and keep old servers running at the same time to make it work. They can’t rip off a bandage and force folks into a new experience. Folks will flip for different reasons.
Not impossible, but i’m sure it wouldn’t be anywhere near cheap.
I think they’ll still be using the old engine 50 years later when theres barely any players left because too many new better mmos came out and they wonder why a 2004 game cant hold a candle to new mmos using unreal engine 10 looking like real life…
The only outdated limitation I’d really like to see addressed is the seeming impossibility of adding asymmetrical tabards to the game. The Scourge tabard for example would be 10x better and more accurate if it could’ve been asymmetrical since the Scourge crest is asymmetrical. We also can’t have a proper Lordaeron tabard unless this gets addressed someday.