WoW Insider

You can build a brand new, top of the line PC for $600, and it will run Bioshock at 1280x1024 resolution, high settings, at 45 FPS.

For $400 you can build one that runs WoW on max settings, max resolution, at 40 FPS, 30 in Shattrath. Stop complaining. My computer sucks and I've been running at 60 FPS maxed out since the game was released.

One thing we can all agree on is that the graphics are a joke. The biggest reason I've had to quit WoW over the years is because it looks like a kid's show. (And because when I run away from mobs, they still hit me from what, in game, is about 15 yards away with a melee strike.)

Hopefully Blizzard will have options present to turn off new graphical features as they come, at least obvious ones like shaders.

At the same time, Blizzard seems to aim each expansion at the average graphical power of the time. Because BC came out 4 years after WoW, the graphics are notably better.

Similarly you can expect the same from Wrath. If you're still using the same computer you had at the start of WoW it's been nearly 6 years. While you can probably still run the game by turning various options down, you might find you're pushing the limits of obsolescence.

@Melenor: Quit being a douche. He's right, the low requirements have been a major draw for the game, and his question is legitimate. Also, no, we don't all agree that the graphics are a joke. In short, GTFO.

Mel -

I have to disagree, I think the wow graphics are fine.

I have played tons of games over the years, and in my opinion gamplay > looks.

If you are looking for form over substance, and perhaps you should play something else.

I have a great computer and can turn wow all the way up, it looks amazing. But since its load is not that bad, I can also run multiple applications across multiple monitors....I dont want to lose that so it can look more "realistic".

Also, like many other readers, I play wow on a secondary machine (a notebook for travel) and do not have an option of upgrading it. It can run wow, and I am fine with how it looks...if you want to suggest to my work they issue gaming quality notebooks to employees, good luck with that.

Thorn: Quit living in the past. Blizzard should keep its current highest settings and implement them as the new lowest settings - but of course they won't do that. Face it, the graphics ARE a joke and it's shocking how long they've let them stay the same. There are college kids modeling things that look far better. There are middle schoolers doodling in their trapper keeper margins that come up with more inspired sketches than the stuff that ends up in the game. The low requirements draw in more people, sure - but in my case and countless others, they serve only to repel.

darian wow hasnt been out for 6 years... it came out on nov 23 2004 and bc was in january of 07 so yeah it hasnt even hit the 4 year mark...

melenor please diaf... i personally like the look of wow over all those retarded mmos that look like they tried to do realistic graphics and just made crap that is sort of glossed over (such as eq 2 or lotro etc...)

anyways... i just wish they would redo some of the old models... especially the little props and things that look really blocky (such as the hexagonal barrels and the carts with octogon wheels and the square test tubes in the alchemy sets...) they make the new versions of these sorts of things look right but they leave the old versions the same and reuse them in the new areas which doesnt look right (such as the flying machines in wintergrasp compared to the seige engine or demolisher...)

the new models in wrath ive seen so far look amazing (and ive seen a lot of them...) and a good deal better than the original wow stuff... so personally i just wish they would replace some of the old low polygon models with newer versions that look more real...

That is literally more than double the number of pixels for each frame. I find it hard to believe that other (similar generation) games DON'T take a performance hit with that kind of jump in resolution.

Amen to that! Bloom was great when it was first invented, but now it's like there's a "Bloom War" going on to see who can put the most outrageous glow in their game. It's starting to feel like someone smeared luminescent Vaseline on my monitor...

I refer to the comic of record:
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=224

(However, in all fairness, we have nothing to fear - WoW already HAS bloom, has since launch, and Blizz has already shown the sense to keep it to a respectable level. Thus the benefits of proper art direction over a pedantic desire for "more realistic graphics.")

I second that.
Outland already drops my fps.

I understand your concerns, but...

Should the experience of all 10 million subscribers be limited due to your unwillingness or unability to purchase a moderately better computer?

This is a PC game. Eventually, it will upgrade past your current computer. That is the nature of these things.

The reason that's not allowed has nothing to do with graphics.

Yep, they would quite literally have to rebuild the entire world.