World of Warcraft in 3D

February 5, 2009 By Rob Enderle

Rob Enderle feels out the possibilities and limitations of current 3D tech in the realm of Azeroth.

3D Gaming: World of Warcraft, etc.

Like a lot of you I waited to see the 3D Super Bowl ads and then watched Chuck in 3D (well the first 10 minutes anyway) and was disappointed with the result. The 3D Monsters vs. Aliens ad just sucked too: I mean, do we really need any more cute monster and alien movies? Bring back the real Aliens – you know, the ones that Sigourney Weaver used to fight, and put them up against the Vampires and Werewolves from movies like Underworld or Blade. Now that would be cool.

So why even bring this up? Because I was testing NVIDIA’s 3D gaming setup on an AMD/NVIDIA gaming rig at the same time and my wife, when I let her try it out, said it best: "That’s what I thought 3D SHOULD look like." Best of all, the NVIDIA rig doesn’t just deliver – I’ve been playing World of Warcraft (WoW)with it all this week.

Recently World of Warcraft patched to enable 3D, and this patch did what my brother had been unable to do – it got me off City of Heroes (which doesn’t support 3D yet) for awhile and onto Blizzard’s fantasy MMO alternative. I’d received the 3D kit and a Samsung 22" 120-Hz monitor (right now there are only 2 120 Hz monitors that support NVIDA 3D Vision) from NVIDIA last week and City of Heroes didn’t support 3D. So I set aside my cape and started grinding on a level 1 Warlock.

Getting Used to 3D

Initially 3D takes a little getting used to. It provides nice depth of field and clicking on things isn’t difficult, but it seems easier, particularly when getting jumped by a starving wolf or a band of bandits, to get disoriented initially and die trying to figure out which way to run. Not that you can run fast enough to stay alive anyway, but maybe you can at least get some distance between you and where the things trying to kill you hang out so you don’t take several trips to the graveyard getting back to someplace safe.

However, after a couple of hours I got used to the difference and started to enjoy the scenery. Just going to 3D takes you into a "movie set" kind of experience. Some things have kind of a cut out look to them, like they were formed from paper. You notice this particularly with leaves, which have a strange flat look to them. While water on the surface and buildings actually look better, swimming underwater will need a little work as it felt like the system was struggling trying to figure out how to render it. Given that you won’t be swimming underwater much though, that probably isn’t that big of a problem.

3D Needs More Reality

You get the sense that to make things look natural, much of the imagery and game dynamics need to be rewritten because, and this is hard to describe, it just doesn’t feel right. You really miss physics – for instance, I noticed that the things around me weren’t moving (no wind) or even aware of my passage.

It is no worse than 2D was. Instead, it’s just that with the third dimension I noticed the static nature of the World of Warcraft environment much more and missed the realism that I knew was possible but not yet written into the game. But now that the 3D genie is out of the bottle, I think developers will start stepping up to the challenge of creating game dynamics and including physics to complete the picture. And while it may take awhile, once all of this is in place, then I think 3D will really sing.

The 22" Limit

The other issue was the 22" monitor, but this may be relatively unique to me. You see I have two primary gaming rigs, one an HP Firebird with a 27" Dell monitor and one with an i7 with 3 NVIDIA 280 cards and 30" HP monitor. My work desk is an i7 with twin 4870-X2 that has twin 24" monitors. The 22" has me sitting with my nose much closer the screen than I’m used to in order to get the same effect. The next size up is the DLP TVs sold by Mitsubishi and I’m really tempted to pick up the 72" which is on sale at Amazon. Be aware that 120 and 240 Hz TVs were hot at CES and I expect we’ll see lines of 120 Hz monitors by year end so your choices will improve dramatically here.

Anyhow, playing World of Warcraft in 3D on a huge screen would be one way to really impress the neighbors and would likely be a great deal of fun – assuming I can get my wife to help me lift that 72" set. But if you are in the market for a TV you may want to favor 120-Hz sets for a variety of reasons anyway.

World of Warcraft Rant

In coming from City of Heroes (COH) to WoW, I really noticed how many more things are tedious in WoW than in COH. Games are supposed to be fun, not work, so why do you have to search for a trainer for instance? And upgrading, my Lord… if you upgrade online your account is put into a 72 hour semi-trial purgatory where you can’t trade, chat, or even join guilds. But if you upgrade with a box copy there’s no hold… I’m guessing this is because some folks were somehow gaming the system. But man, punishing folks for upgrading online in this decade – now that has to be a concept unique to WoW.

Also, when you send in a trouble ticket you get a nice countdown timer. In my case it started at 1 hour 45 minutes, after two hours of gameplay it was down to 1 hour 30 minutes: WoW needs a new clock. Finally, I was struck by how many 50+ players were standing around complaining they were bored or acting out (I actually ran into three griefers in as many days), something I’ve seen in COH as well and typically isn’t good for any game’s longevity. Being the biggest is great but it is far from permanent.

Wrapping Up: Where 3D Gaming Works

Where the NVIDIA 3D system truly shines is in the strategy games that support it. Strategy games are more like board games with animation anyway and these things are just a kick to play and watch from this perspective. It’s like sitting back and observing as little mechanical people and monsters run around and attack things. Age of Empires, the game where I first saw this system implemented, is just wonderful to view and admire. As for 3D movies though, while they look wonderful, there isn’t much content yet, so this is more of an impress the neighbors thing at the moment. I’ll bet you can guess what kind of movies will be arriving first.

If the game you like to play supports 3D, looks great, and you can find a 120 Hz monitor or TV in the size you like though, the concept of 3D could work for you. Realize selections will improve by year-end on both hardware and content. And if you get a chance, check the NVIDIA 3D Vision setup out and let me know what you think. Until then, you’ll find me in World of Warcraft screaming at the leaves. "Move damn you, MOVE!"

Showing 7 comments

Rohbiwan at 7:03pm 5th July 2010 I am a retailer of high end televisions and have several 3d models, the Mits for a couple of years now. I can comment on the "get the big screen from amazon" idea mentioned. There could be no worse advise on buying a big screen than to get it online. The Mits have a very high failure rate, in the 20% range( I have sold Mitsubishi for 25 years), and no warranty service center will fix a TV bought on the web - I know because I turn them down every day and the entire industry is on the same page on this. They are terrific sets, but need to be purchased from someone that can and will service them. TVs should not be disposable. Recently we attended a conference on 3D that included reps from Amazon, Best Buy, Ultimate and all the box houses. They all complained that it was too hard to put the right parts together and create an effective demo - that their people were out of their league. All of us independents just looked at em' dumbfounded - they can market, but they have no idea what they are doing. There are no electronics experts in the box house electronics world. After reviewing the Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Mitsubishi 3D sets, I can tell you that the DLP technology is the winner hands down, with the LASER television being the best by far. Then the Panasonic for color depth, and the Sony and Samsung for brightness. The Panasonic looks a bit low on Gamma but very realistic compared to the LED sets. If you are going for the big WOW 3D factor, find a local dealer for the Mits cinema DLP televisions that can service the TV and you will be pleased. Or spend more for flat - but buy it from someone that can fix it and actually know how use it.
1. Guest at 12:43am 19th September 2010 They are talking about the PC game world of warcraft, and running it with a computer system optimized for 3D gaming.
  1. alur at 4:51am 7th December 2010 Ohmygosh? DLP is becoming rapidly obsolete even with the advanced bulb or whatever they call it. Who wants the extra depth of a DLP tv andhaving to pay $350 for a bulb? I bet dealers don't want disposable TVs because they want the repair profits. No problem with trying to make a profit, but what customer wants to pay $350 for a bulb and worry about repairs too? With plasma TV's under $1000 and most around $400 -$ 600, they are a disposable item. Geez, I wouldn't have bought a DLP 2 years ago let alone in 2011!
anacarina at 6:23am 20th March 2010 i just purchased the nvidia 3d system and I am really enjoying it. I just got it a few days ago and it is a lot of fun. It puts things into a whole new perspective. I actually built my entire system around my computer being able to play in 3d. I have the samsung syncmaster and being used to playing WOW on a laptop I think the view is incredible.... I guess its all relative.... a matter or perspective yes???

I guess I'll have to hop back on here when I have gotten more play time in....
Trollgaard at 3:30pm 28th January 2010 @Spid3y: I totally agree. I'm not gonna throw a rant at the author as I haven't read any other of his reviews(if there are any), but the plump information here is rather a "this is what grinds my gears" story.

I have ordered the stereoscopic 3D set with the 22" samsung and hope to get it soon. In the meantime I can tell you what got me to go from my normal 25.5" to a 22" for this effect.

I run a rig with 2xnVidia GTX280 and have the opportunity to test the "normal" 3D effect with the use of some ordinary red/cyan 3D glasses(Called the nVidia 3D Discover). The glasses for this are only sold in packages with a 3D ready GPU from nVidia, so it's an expensive experiment if you already have a card with support. However, you just need some glasses... I bought a Blueray 3D movie just to get some glasses to test with and have 1 simple thing to say; "It was totally mindblowing! I have become an easy target in PvP plainly because I'm walking around watching the scenery.... I agree with the author that the "world" suddenly becomes quite static, but there's no winds in the 2D version either. Apart from the occasional /fart of course. It's rather that it's easier to notice that the trees don't move. It takes some getting used to and tampering with the settings to get it right, but when you do... You'll never go back to 2D. I got a new challenge, a new world and even a new character.

The details aren't Crysis, but they never have been. It's Wow. It's cartoony, but it's good cartoony. It feels kind of having the biggest papermodel world with alot of papermodel characters running around in front of you. The details are more than satisfying and I think that with trees moving etc. it would be harder to see enemy movements. I tried Far Cry 2 too. Moving leaves is not always a good thing... I still haven't got the full hang of it myself after only 3 days and I feel the strain on my eyes after 1hour or so because of the immense depth and crossing of eyes (the latest nVidia drivers messed up the UI a bit it seems). An older driver (191.07 works for me) is the clue to get an ok UI, but I hope nVidia will correct the issue in a later version.

The fps drop wasn't too noticable, but I run 2x10k rpm drives in striping, i7 920cpu, 6GB ram and 2xGTX280. I had between 100-120 fps in IF and down to 40 in Dalaran. Much the same as without 3D actually. I don't know if the new glasses will affect this though, but I'll try to remember posting here about it if I can. I have only tested the nVidia 3D Discover with colored glasses made of cardboard(Not even the nVidia ones). These makes you loose some color and are causing a strain on, eyes in the long run on the biggest depths. But they made me order the "real thing" because it was a new way to see Azeroth. I even notice that it's easier to remember different locations because of the details in the environment. If you have an nVidia GPU with support for stereoscopic 3D, go get some cheap glasses and test it first. Then decide if you go for the expensive solution. Just remember; Wow must run at Full screen to get the 3D working. Good luck and see you in 3D!
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Spid3y at 3:19am 12th March 2009 Why nVidia would send a test kit to someone that has never played the game in regular 2-D and expects them to write a good review is insane to me. I was looking to see how much better the game is, what the fps drop was. I was not looking for how bad or good you had of a time switching from CoH to WoW. I mean there are plenty of games out there that support the 3-D tech, and you only tried WoW? This would be like me masturbating my whole life, and then when I had sex that lasted 30 seconds, writing a review on the internet about how to find the ****oris.

Have you ever seen honey I shrunk the audience 3-D at Disneyland? Can you compare it to that at all? How about in PvP? Will a shadowbolt pop off the screen at me?

More and more of these review sites are failing their readers because they hand a story to someone that has no idea what they are doing. Did they ever give a Superman story to anyone other than Lois Lane? NO she is sleeping with the dude so of course she gets the story!!!

It is crazy that you are the only review of the tech on the internet so far and there is NO information in this story at all. No one is going to buy a $600 addition to their PC when all you say about it is that leaves are flat.