Graphics (current state comparison)
I'm including current state comparisons in this section as the overall graphical look of these two games will almost certainly
not change significantly.
General/Environment
The style of art used in World of Warcraft was a little controversial and criticized by a few but currently is praised by many.
http://www.gamezone.com/gzreviews/p19235_02.htm wrote:
Graphically, this game has style and character and is lushly rendered. While other games may be pushing more realistic graphical elements, the developers at Blizzard stuck to the Warcraft style and with remarkable results. The dynamic lighting features, the animation, even environmental effects like the smokiness of the dwarven district (dwarves are engineers and build machines) are delightful treats for the eyes.
Personally, I find the WoW art style very enjoyable as it's not particularly dark, colors are very vivid and there is a wide variety in appearance for all of the areas I've viewed so far.
SWG has gone for a more realistic depiction of the SW world and, I think, achieved that for the most part. Most planets have very unique appearances, however, most cities on each planet tend to look pretty similar to each other. In the end, SWG is also quite beautiful, and possesses a definite Star Wars look. From Nabooian plains to Tattooine's Dune Sea to Dantooine's purple fields, the game is rich in graphical details and depth.
Player Characters
The SWG devs really showed us their brilliance and ability here. With options such as skin color and age and nose width and nose length and wookie fur pattern, there was no excuse for players to have cookie cutter characters. Character customization was a clear homerun for SWG and other games need to learn from the example set here.
WoW has significantly fewer options but allegedly with enough that you should not see your twin but once in a while. Character creation includes face, hair, facial hair, hair color at a minimum.
NPCs, Mobs
With the concept of different planets introduced, I was a little disappointed to see the same models used for a variety of different animals in SWG. Unique textures were used but identical models. This did not contribute to significantly diverse galaxy. The varied size and stats are a plus.
From what I've been exposed to, there is a wide variety of creatures you will face while in Azeroth. From hulking Guardians to skittering kobolds, mobs will represent essentially all of the foes faced throughout the WarCraft games and then some.
Graphics conclusion
Here we have an important first degree of separation of the two games. While WoW expanded on the "cartoony" look of the previous WarCraft games, SWG strove for "realism." Which is better? Not being a computer artist, I can't say for sure which style is easier to achieve, animate or publish. Personal experience with SWG shows that my framerates varied wildly on an Intel Pentium 4 at 2.0 GHz with 1 GB RAM and an ATI 9800 Pro (128 MB). They ranged from 29 (they appeared to be capped there, no idea why) all the way down to 1 on a fairly regular basis. Those lowest framerates would happen when I was in a busy town such as Coronet or Theed. I have not yet to find good framerate information on WoW but have requested it of betatesters. I do know, however, they while they are different, both are very appealing to look at. That means, for me, performance will be a deciding factor.
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