Runescape: Graphic Update to Amour and Gnomes

It looks much better while you're spinning around and changing angles

 Yesterday marked the graphic update to much of Runescapes armour, plus the gnomes.  This is the first of the promised changes for March.  The others comprise new teleports to major towns, a Bonus Experience Weekend, and a Morytania Task Set.  (Other stuff too, but these are the ones I'm looking forward to!)

As far as the graphic update goes, it's a bit of a mixed bag.  Overall, I do like the changes.  Some, though, could have been a bit better.  I speak particularly to Rune Armour, which now looks a little... baggy.

In the main, the changes were for the better.  The Dragonfire Shield is especially excellent, making use of lighting effects to "glow" the dragon-mouth on the face.

The Bandos set, and the Armadyll set, are both huge improvements.  Now when I wear them, it doesn't look like a dress.  They look more appropriate to 'manly' men's wear   :^)

The Black Dragonhide looks excellent.  Monique thinks that since it looks so much more complex, we ought to get more crafting exp for making it now.  Not sure that follows, but heck, she'd a lot higher than me in Crafting, I'm all for anything that makes the game more fun!

Not too impressed with the Varrock Armour.  It's not bad, but I think I liked the original design better.  The Full Slayer Helm is fabulous - If you've ever seen the old Anime series, "The Guyver", the new Slayer Helm reminds me of the Guyver.  Especially with that blue gem glowing in the middle of the forehead.

When you stop to think about all the work involved, the graphic update becomes very impressive.  It's not like they simply drew a new design and slapped it on.  Many of the new designs involve re-worked 3-d shapes, and have to be modeled to move through each and every frame a player is likely to be in.  That's a lot of hard labor, and mistakes are all too easy to make.  Remember the old 'flesh-colored post' on the flying carpet?  It extended well below the carpet, and looked extremely bad.  If I remember right, we used to sit down, until then.  I guess they couldn't figure out a fix, so changed the character to stand instead of sit.  Or maybe the timing was just coincidental. 

I'm completely blown away by the Gnome updates, though.  The characters finally look believable, now that they no longer have the super-wide frog mouths.  And the view from on top of the Grand Tree is just amazing.  Really worth the trip.  The subtle changes, the rich colors, and complex lighting are visible all the way from the top to the ground.  Nice place to lay out a blanket and have a picnic.

Overall, the upgrade was a positive step by Jagex.  Keeping Runescape attractive is important, and as computers become more and more capable, the improvements need to keep pace.  This latest effort might not be perfect, but represents the commitment Jagex has to keeping Runescape current.

For me, the one single best improvement was the Dragonfire Shield.  My least favorite?  I'm going to cheat, and go a week or two further back... I hated when they changed Baby Jad!

What was your favorite change?  How about the one you hated the most?