The new water effects are on the PTR

[Kalliope]

See title.

If you don't have the beta, but want to see the new watery effects in person, get on the PTR!

[Anyia]

When I was on the PTR the other day I couldn't get any of the fancy water effects - if I had the setting on anything but "low" water surfaces didn't show up all. Got a real good look at the sea floor I might add

[Bellatryx]

This be true.

[Kalliope]

When I was on the PTR the other day I couldn't get any of the fancy water effects - if I had the setting on anything but "low" water surfaces didn't show up all. Got a real good look at the sea floor I might add

That was before the patch.

[Sonata]

I shall now dance for headache free fishing!! It's so shiny!

[Anyia]

Okay, I'm impressed. That is quite gorgeous. Now I just hope it doesn't kill my graphics card while trying to look so good!

[Quin]

Ohhh! That's so pretty!

[Ket Shi]

Do new water effects put a lot of pressure on the system like the nicer shadow settings do?

[Kalliope]

Lil' big, but:

[Bellatryx]

Lil' big, but:

lol. the bear's head is completely submerged in the water.

[Kalliope]

They do that! Even on live. But here, you can see how the water breaks around them.

[Bellatryx]

Channeling my inner Discovery Channel animal explorer type.. person.. thing..

[Anyia]

Just to nitpick - they aren't taking the differing refractive indices of water vs air into account

[Jangalian]

/channels her inner Jacques Cousteau
Zee magnificent grizzleh berh fishes in zee stream for ze trouts. See 'ow 'e submerges 'is 'ead in zee watah to look for 'is dinnah! Oh ho ho ho! Silleh berh, 'e will get watah in 'is ears! 'E needs la 'ear plugs', but ah do not z'ink zat zey come in berh sizes! Oh ho ho ho!

[Anansi]

The new water is amazing in action. The portion of the body underwater ripples and distorts the very same way it does in real life when looking at something half-submerged. It's quite something.

[Mr. Perfect]

It's a big improvement. I was compelled to just splash around in the ThunderBluff pool for a while, seeing how it reacted to different things. That being said, Farcry had water that was about this good back in 2004. It's a shame that MMOs can't push the graphical envelope like single player games.

So far, this is what seems to happen.

"Low" is the original tiled texture water.
"Fair" switches to the new type of water, but has very little detail.
"Good" takes the new water and adds surface reflections, refraction, and waves on the shoreline. It also replaces the white "V" wake with water ripples that spread out and dissipate in the water.
"Ultra" Uhm... Either its really subtle, or I'm not getting it to do anything more then "Good".

Does anyone have a DX11 card that can compare "Good" to "Ultra"? I only have a DX10.1 card, and seam to recall that this was supposed to be DX11. Maybe "Ultra" adds something I can't see.

Just to nitpick - they aren't taking the differing refractive indices of water vs air into account

Meaning the under water bits should look like they're bent at a different angle then the above water bits, right? Where as here under water bits are just kinda wiggly.

[Anansi]

It's a big improvement. I was compelled to just splash around in the ThunderBluff pool for a while, seeing how it reacted to different things. That being said, Farcry had water that was about this good back in 2004. It's a shame that MMOs can't push the graphical envelope like single player games.

WoW has never been about pushing the graphical envelope and one of the cornerstones of the game's success and longevity has been the fact that it has fairly low system requirements and can be played on a massive range of computer builds.
Other MMOs have pushed the graphics up to the level of single player games and they've all failed. Not enough people can run them so the subscriber base isn't large enough and high end graphic requirements tend to perform very badly under the stress of an MMO environment (latency, server load etc).

Blizzard has also been very careful about the blend of realistic effects with the stylised look of WoW, a look that also contributes to it's longevity. When you push for more realistic appearances, the game becomes dated very quickly as graphics advance. With the cartoon look of WoW, it maintains a certain timelessness. This look is kept current by the inclusion of new effects like shadows, improved lighting and now the new water graphics.

Blizzard could very well make WoW push the graphical envelope, but how many of those 11 million subscribers could actually still play the game? Not enough to keep the game solvent I'm sure.

[Mr. Perfect]

Ah, but that's exactly why you put sliders, just like the shadow, water and sun beam ones, on the details. Anyone who needs to maintain performance just leaves everything at the default "Low" settings and goes along their merry way. Meanwhile the rest of the players can inch those bars upwards and get a significantly nicer looking game.