The piece covers a lot of ground, including everything from GW2's painterly user interface to the company culture at ArenaNet (which was founded by a group of engineers but also boasts one of the MMO industry's premier artistic rosters). This is no accident, Dociu explains, and one of his goals as ArenaNet's art director is to ensure that game art is given the respect it deserves. "Too often in this industry art is an afterthought. More often than not the expectations are set too low. It isn't always regarded as an equally important component next to game design or technology," he explains.
So what's up with the hand-crafted aesthetic that permeates everything from Guild Wars 2's client interface to its marketing materials? It's very deliberate, Dociu says, and it resulted in a marriage between talented artists and the realities of a finite budget. "We've unified stylistically the cinematics, user interface, and all visual branding... It all started because it was something we wanted to do, but we had to wait for the right moment and approach it from the resources angle."
