This is something I’ve griped about myself. I’m a big sucker for atmosphere, and one of the things I really love is night time lighting and the ambience it gives. In this game night time lighting is present in many places, but it’s mostly washed out by the pseudo-daylight everywhere else. This also applies to underground environments, as well.
ANet has their philosophy on art/gfx style, but I want the choice to decide how dark it is. I’m the one looking at the screen, after all. If I want “realistic” dark nights where I can’t see six feet in front of me while I’m out in the wilderness, who’s it going to affect but me?
I know ANet has a vision for its art presentation but IMO this would only enhance it. I see no downside to it, especially as when implemented as a graphics option rather than a globally enforced “one-size-fits-all” change. Fortunately, ANet’s been pretty good about providing player-chosen options, so there’s always hope they’ll agree this is a worthwhile option to consider.
As for how it might affect WvW, if it’s an option, there’s no issue.
The only other thing I can think of that may require a bit of extra consideration is how this would affect underwater environments as the lighting/visibility is handled a little differently. Even so, it shouldn’t be hard to strike a baseline relative balance between open land areas and underwater, and let a single slider control both. Or provide independent sliders.