Why is this a choice?

having trouble understanding the point of this thread.

Improving aesthetics does not decrease "realism," nor does improving "realism" detract from the aesthetics of a game.

Stylized enough but with a convincing rationalizations behind it (as far as a rationalizations in a fantasy setting goes, obviously). I voted "middle of the road".

I voted for middle of the road. I think there needs to be a certain amount of realism (no WoW-style gigantic pauldrons and other armours and things that just look ridiculously impossible to be useful) but I would really like some more aesthetic flare as well. Something doesn't need to be unrealistic to be aesthetically pleasing. Like in Morrowind, just being able to wear a fancy robe with daedric pauldrons, gauntlets and boots looked awesome imo, and I would like more of an ability to customize our looks like we could then. I just think there can be a healthy balance between the two, and we shouldn't sacrifice one for the other.

Balance is the key to all things, after all. :zen:

Mmm... well yes, this could use a better phrasing. I seem to have problems communicating the proper idea.

Magic and realism don't go together in my book.
However, we should not run around with shoes on our hands.

Choice 2.

I am an aesthetics guy myself. I prefer the abilitty to have things look cool then be realistic. Think of it like an anime or Devil may cry, if all they could do qwere realisitc moves it would be boring, If Ichigo had a realistic sword rather than a meat cleaver of death than it would be suitably less cool. I prefer aesthetics as long as it is not so over the top where it seems stupid.

this is probably part of the reason I play in third person and prefer third person games, I like being able to see my character to aesthetically pleasing EPIC things. But as I said before it has to be realistic enough to make sense in the world that the story takes place in. I guess there is really a delicate balance between having something look cool and feel realistic, it is just something we are going to have to trust the devs to pull off and so far everything is looking pretty badass

This is really quite a good topic and I applaud the OP for thinking of it.

I say most realism because dispite it being a fantasy game, things don't have to look rediculous. Keep the bodies proportional like they are in real life, keep the armors sized correctly, etc.

I think you will all find that if they made it look realistic, it would still end up looking pretty damn cool, and to assume otherwise is purely naive of you.

I don't think that there is a conflict. Real swords are often beautiful. Real ones come in many different shapes and sizes, and if you learn a little bit about them the reasons for the different shapes and sizes is fascinating. When you understand a little bit you become very respectful of the genius that invented it.

A twin headed blade on the end of a solid piece of oak looks menacing. A straight forward weapon of aggression, requiring limited use of iron and limited metalurgy, yet very effective.

A mace is the most simplistic bit of genius. A weapon with all of its weight at the head to produce maximum impact on a small point in space - enough force to damage the person behind the expensive suit of armor.

Now if you throw in some fantasy materials that's just fine. No need to go over the top. The OP somehow implies that Anime nonsense produces superior aesthetics. I respectfully disagree and restate that there need be no conflict between realism and aesthetics.

Another post on where realsim, fantasy and aesthetics meet. How about blades that show whilred batterns in the metal. That is real and very beautiful. How about blades where the edge is distinct from the blade - again, real and beautiful. Introduce fantasy materials and make the weapons interesting, but make it make sense too. A sword as wide as my body or eight feet long IMHO just looks wierd, not cool.

P.S. There is some great stuff just a google search away. Look up Kopis, Xyphos, gladius, spatha, sickle sword, Schiavona, Landknecht, etc. No need to get over the top for some really interesting stuff.