The Daily Grind: Do you like seeing concept art?
Concept art is a tricky thing. Players love seeing it, naturally, because it's designed to make everything in the game look as cool as possible. The problem is that concept art is under none of the restrictions operating within the actual game, so you can wind up with amazingly cool art that's coupled with a somewhat underwhelming final product. In the most severe case, the concept art actually makes the game look worse in the long run, which is far from the goal.
Naturally, getting conceptual sketches down is a big part of the development stage for any game or expansion. You can't start working on finished models without a picture of the end result, after all. But do you like seeing it made publicly available? Do you think it makes the finished art look less impressive? Can you think of any game whose art looked better in the concept stage than the final execution?
