Kill the PS2 limitations end of the Dark Ages Era

im not to sure but i think the ps2 limitations are built into parts of the engine like the 30 FPS cap and the limit of each zones content i dont think that they can just drop ps2 support because the core engine wouldn't get any better

also the HDD on the ps2 is full because they are having problems updating the ps2 at all now have to use this new fangled update system

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Converting an application from DirectX 8 to DirectX 9 is not some incredibly difficult programming task. If you know anything about D3D you know this is not true.

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How is DX9 better than DX8? Specifics? More importantly, compare DirectX to OpenGL. You think anything would change if they moved to a later version of DirectX? No. You don't want DirectX 9 support. You want the game engine to be overhauled.

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Even if they don't do a full graphics update there are things they could do to modernize the existing client and make it work better on modern PC's without affecting PS2 support. I'll just copy past from the other thread because apparently not many people actually looked at it.

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How does this youtube video look? Shadows... MSAA... etc etc. I must be doing something right cuz ppl keep asking me how I make the game look as good as it does (PS2 emulation?).

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Originally Posted by Jar

im not to sure but i think the ps2 limitations are built into parts of the engine like the 30 FPS cap and the limit of each zones content i dont think that they can just drop ps2 support because the core engine wouldn't get any better

also the HDD on the ps2 is full because they are having problems updating the ps2 at all now have to use this new fangled update system

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The HDD is not full. FFXI uses only about 10 GB of the ~38 GB available. The PS2 HDD requires that each program be installed to its own partition, and the largest known partition created by any game is FFXI's 8 GB partition. That partition is getting full, but isn't there yet, it's at about 5 GB at last count. The lack of space error was due to old patch files being retained, and that the install process used to copy files instead of moving them to the new location after download, so you needed twice the free space as the patch you were trying to download and install.

The space issue could be fixed, if the upper size limit of a partition in the PS2 HDD file system is 8 GB, by spreading the expansions across several 8 GB partitions. Programs can access data on other partitions, as shown by being able to save game files to the HDD save partition in some games (like Japanese Xenosaga Episode 1), and PlayOnline Viewer messages being saved to the POL user folder while running FFXI, as well as FFXI screenshots being saved to a POL file folder in the PlayOnline Viewer partition. Making the game use multiple partitions would allow it to use more of the hard drive space. The one limiting factor there could be that new partitions may have to be created from an install disc, which old model PS2s likely can no longer read, and the cost of making and shipping out the discs would be high.

lol, I think it will take a little more than dropping the ps2 to make this game look like XIV

but seriously, with a good card and a simple regedit, XI can still look pretty good for its age.

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...M7NwDqOjQjbzZA

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Originally Posted by bungiefan

The HDD is not full. FFXI uses only about 10 GB of the ~38 GB available. The PS2 HDD requires that each program be installed to its own partition, and the largest known partition created by any game is FFXI's 8 GB partition. That partition is getting full, but isn't there yet, it's at about 5 GB at last count. The lack of space error was due to old patch files being retained, and that the install process used to copy files instead of moving them to the new location after download, so you needed twice the free space as the patch you were trying to download and install.

The space issue could be fixed, if the upper size limit of a partition in the PS2 HDD file system is 8 GB, by spreading the expansions across several 8 GB partitions. Programs can access data on other partitions, as shown by being able to save game files to the HDD save partition in some games (like Japanese Xenosaga Episode 1), and PlayOnline Viewer messages being saved to the POL user folder while running FFXI, as well as FFXI screenshots being saved to a POL file folder in the PlayOnline Viewer partition. Making the game use multiple partitions would allow it to use more of the hard drive space. The one limiting factor there could be that new partitions may have to be created from an install disc, which old model PS2s likely can no longer read, and the cost of making and shipping out the discs would be high.

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lol the ps2 file system really only hits 8gb max the game is 10 GB on pc atm

also they could make the partition stuff downloadable like an update

FFXI will die before they drop Ps2 support.

Also that "fun in abyssea=darkages" tag is epic.

Just giving a idea and my personal opinion.

(I hate post in troll topics -__-)

Well remake all the game with graphics like Blade & soul will cost a lot of money and that will need a lot of time and for make this a go is necesary stop give service to ps2 users sadly =(.

But there 2 things can be changed, for pc and for xbox360, easy and this dont need a "massive money and time"

Is remake the characters movements, animations, gear textures and character textures. Only the playable characters, mithra, elvan, humes, tarus and fatygalkas. We can have characters like TERA or blade & soul, yes this is posible without a lot of work. (Just the characters, no mobs, no npcs, no areas.)


The second thing can be changed, is the in game effects, like rain, sunny, wind storms, thunder storm, ice storm, fire storm. Even put on the characters, effects like wet skin by the rain.

This can be done in a few months and dont need a lot of man power. They can sell us $6 dolars for fatygalkas $8 ^^ jk, new remaked character and wheater effects.

But remake every area, with every mob and every npc. Can take years and ridicolous amount of money.

Lets say First remaked areas in ffxi. sandy, bastok, windy, gustaberg, ronfaure, saratabaruta, derfland, Norvallen, aragoneu. $ 12 dolars

Second remake areas 3 months after of first ones Rise of zilart areas and Cop areas. $12 dolars

Third remake 3 months after Abbysea and Wings of godess areas. $12 dolars

Four remake 3 months after TAU areas $12 dolars

The remaked areas will have, new mobs/old mobs, a lot of NMS and HNMS like abbysea, gear for high lv jobs, full texture scenario updates, sky, effects, npcs, grounds of valors mobs for low, med and high lvs.

We need give FFXI DEV team the money for they can do this remake.

A example of costs for FFXI DEVS.

For remake 1 area lets say south gustaberg. Mininium will need 8 days of work with 20 programers (Having ready the new engine and the project ready).

If they pay 4000 dolars per month to programers is $ 20 000 dolars just for 1 week counting only the programers and not counting the over time programers necesary for this >_>. i work as programer not as 3D games maker but i know what im talking about in costs and realism projects.

Price for FFXI DEV Team per 3 months of work = $ 400 000 - $ 600,000 dolars, counting 3D graphics designs, and more workers needed, no only programers. (Dont forget they need get the new engine get the Licence can cost a few millions or they can use ff14 engine "No thanks" in my opinion blade & soul destroy in graphics ff14)

They can reduce the cost, giving jobs to university programers, they will work for 1/4 by money of a hardcore programer.

If FFXI have at least 500k of players active we can found a project $ 6 millions per mini remake expansion.

This can be a good deal for DEVS team in ffxi, they will win nice money giving us the remaked areas.

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Originally Posted by Laraul

How is DX9 better than DX8? Specifics? More importantly, compare DirectX to OpenGL. You think anything would change if they moved to a later version of DirectX? No. You don't want DirectX 9 support. You want the game engine to be overhauled.

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Minor tweaks =/= complete overhaul

DirectX 8 is emulated in Vista and Windows 7. A lot of the problems with running it on modern Windows would disappear because it would be running directly on the DirectX 9 HAL instead of indirectly via a D3D8 -> D3D9 wrapper.

Also, DirectX 9 is capable of doing FSAA with offscreen rendering unlike DirectX 8 (this is why FSAA doesn't work with FFXI) It would still require some code changes to make it possible, but it *would* be possible.

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Originally Posted by Akujima

FFXI will die before they drop Ps2 support.

Also that "fun in abyssea=darkages" tag is epic.

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You don't get off it do you?

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Originally Posted by Leonlionheart

You don't get off it do you?

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I dont understand...?

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Originally Posted by Akujima

I dont understand...?

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It's like every post has something against abyssea.

@ CrazyVIC

The problem is, such a change would not be a one time deal. Any time new content comes out (or rather, they reskin a zone)--they may have to go through the same process to crank out all the updated versions. This could turn into a more complicated issue. As it is now, they can simply replicate the vast majority of the content.

That is the big point most everyone seems to be missing--SE's determined to keep things as similar as possible across all platforms to reduce as many negative aspects of the development/support cycles.

It's like opting to code for Java instead of VB--a Java app can run on any environment capable of running that level of Java or higher, so it doesn't matter if it's Redhat/Debian Linux, or Win2k, XP, Vista, 7, Mac, AS400/i5/i7...., Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Navigator......so long as they have the right JDK support, the app runs.

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Originally Posted by Laraul

How does this youtube video look? Shadows... MSAA... etc etc. I must be doing something right cuz ppl keep asking me how I make the game look as good as it does (PS2 emulation?).

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It looks nothing special, and it's impossible to even tell that it's got AA when it's (what looks like) capturing in a lower res than what the game runs at, for so to upload it at a higher resolution again to youtube.

And I can see that you have a ton of that texture-flickering glitch that most likely is a DX issue, lol.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

It looks nothing special, and it's impossible to even tell that it's got AA when it's (what looks like) capturing in a lower res than what the game runs at, for so to upload it at a higher resolution again to youtube.

And I can see that you have a ton of that texture-flickering glitch that most likely is a DX issue, lol.

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And that's also supersampling not MSAA

The texture flickering glitch is caused by the D3D8 emulation in Vista/Win7 forcing FFXI to use Shader Model 2.0 instead of Shader Model 1.0 If you have an ATI card and use the PixelShaderVersion and VertextShaderVersion registry keys in ATI's registry settings to restrict the drivers to Shader Model 1.0 then the glitches go away.

FYI this happens on Nvidia cards too so it's not specific to ATI.

I didnt get to read the whole thread to check if this was said, but there is definately a difference in graphics. At least for certain things. If you put ps2 and pc versions (even xbox) and cast bar spells you will see a difference in the effects you see. Its one of the first things i ever noticed when i saw my roommate playin on pc and now when i do play on pc and have played on the xbox.

Going back to the ps2 or ps2 version on ps3 It feels like my eyes have been gouged out by how bad the graphics (geometry, ect...) are compared to xbox or pc. I got used to it however but was very happy when my 360 got fixed. But the game had all the same content, it jsut looked ugly.

For a while tho my xbox would freeze for a few seconds everytime i zoned. When i got wotg on xbox this problem stopped but restarted after a while. Im not sure if that was jsut my xbox or something everyone gets on xbox now.

You guys need to remember how much to this game there actually is and what it would take to start producing for a next generation console. Art assets and technical overall hauls would require a lot of resources that SE probably isn't willing to take a risk on. They probably don't regard FFXI the way they should since it's old and they have like 6 or 7 projects currently in development (that they really shouldn't given the deep shit they have been in lately).

The country has also recently suffered a massive disaster. It's really surprising the way SE bounced back but you still need to stop and think what that costs a company and a significant chunk of the people supporting it. Earthquakes and rolling blackouts probably don't do much good for moral.

What they really need to do is remonetize the game and go to a free to play model. The west has finally(FINALLY!!!) warmed up to the concept of microtransactions and if you look at what it offers both the player and the developer there isn't even a question of whether you should or not.

We also need to support Eidos and Crystal Dynamics so they do well with their games. They blew a lot of people away at E3 and are taking their projects seriously so a success on their part will probably give SE the reality check they need for current and future development projects.

anyone that plays on ps2 knows they are taking a hit on graphics. I don't think I fully understand the argument with eliminating ps2. When I play on my ps2, I know I am going to experience ps2 graphics. Why can't we have a situation where people who play on pc or 360 can view their game in hd and ps2's remain unchanged?

I will quit if ffxi becomes f2p

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Originally Posted by JackDaniels

I will quit if ffxi becomes f2p

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eh..if they did that, they'd probly make it so you'd have to pay to play abyssea, seeing as that seems to be the core of FFXI lately.

Upgrades could be done to the PC and 360 clients that could be done that would not require them to upgrade the art assets and geometry of the game or drop PS2 support but which would still vastly improve it.

Most texture artists create textures in a higher resolution and then scale it down to whats needed by the project rather that working on 256x256 postage stamps. Geometry is usually created the same way, you make a high poly version of the object first and then bake the surface and transfer those textures to a low poly version of the object. Unless SE has been throwing all of their files out they already have high res textures and models for most of this stuff. You don't just toss files when you are done with a project you archive them for later use in other projects.

I'm glad that this is 12 pages of people saying "Accounts aren't system-linked." We got it after the first reply. >_>

You know something... the other 90% of players don't care... as long as it runs...

And some of us play on PS2 because it tends to run better with less troubleshooting than a PC does.

It is definitely less troublesome playing it on a PS2 than using a PC. And in many ways the PS2 version looks better. Weather effects, the blurring of textures in the distance that slowly sharpen as you get closer. Very nice effect... both console versions also have a more responsive UI when not under heavy load. (I.E. on a battlefield, not in Jeuno).

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Originally Posted by Atomic_Skull

Minor tweaks =/= complete overhaul

DirectX 8 is emulated in Vista and Windows 7. A lot of the problems with running it on modern Windows would disappear because it would be running directly on the DirectX 9 HAL instead of indirectly via a D3D8 -> D3D9 wrapper.

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I don't think so... you better back this up with some good references... D3D9 will work with all prior D3D versions... D3D9Ex (D3D9.1) is a different story.

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Also, DirectX 9 is capable of doing FSAA with offscreen rendering unlike DirectX 8 (this is why FSAA doesn't work with FFXI) It would still require some code changes to make it possible, but it *would* be possible.

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Again please back this up with some references. FFXI does not draw the 3D rendering to the frame buffer. Obviously if it did you wouldn't have separate settings for the UI/screen resolution and a 3D world resolution setting.

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Originally Posted by Laraul

It is definitely less troublesome playing it on a PS2 than using a PC. And in many ways the PS2 version looks better.

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Not ps2 dont look better. In pc you can play FFXI 1080p, with background textures 2048 x 2048, and MipMaps 6. FFXI looks a lot better in PC than in ps2 and xbox 360. You can set drawdistance to 5.0 with program for make ffxi window mode and you can see almost the entire map

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Originally Posted by Laraul

Weather effects, the blurring of textures in the distance that slowly sharpen as you get closer. Very nice effect... both console versions also have a more responsive UI when not under heavy load. (I.E. on a battlefield, not in Jeuno).

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What the people dont understand about ffxi is this. If you have a oldd video card lets take as example 8800 gt nvidia. FFXI will use the 30% from it and the other 70% will be charged to the CPU. (FFXI dont need a super video card the game hardly will use it)

For play FFXI is necesary a VERY GOOD cpu, a old cpu Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E8400
(6M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB. Over clocked to 3.8 ghz. is enough for cap 30 frames even in AH, and crowed areas.

i have the game for xbox360, pc and ps2. I can tell you FFXI in a good pc looks superior to console VER. (Like the 90% from the games console vs gaming pc)

I run the game in 2048x2048, looks fantastic.

But yeah, how about giving us updates for PC users specifically? I'm sick of all these ridiculous limitations due solely to the low RAM of the PS2.

PS2 users don't like it? Get with the times.

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Originally Posted by Atomic_Skull

Upgrades could be done to the PC and 360 clients that could be done that would not require them to upgrade the art assets and geometry of the game or drop PS2 support but which would still vastly improve it.

Most texture artists create textures in a higher resolution and then scale it down to whats needed by the project rather that working on 256x256 postage stamps. Geometry is usually created the same way, you make a high poly version of the object first and then bake the surface and transfer those textures to a low poly version of the object. Unless SE has been throwing all of their files out they already have high res textures and models for most of this stuff. You don't just toss files when you are done with a project you archive them for later use in other projects.

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The problem is, the other platforms are still using code designed with the PS2 environment in mind, so their are simply logical limitations to what can be done within that environment. To truly fix it would require a massive overhaul. PC/360 users already get the high quality textures before they are downsampled for the PS2. Granted, they may be able to upscale them higher, but I guess they don't see much point in putting them out there since they are already like 3x the resolution or something (don't know the actual PPI resolution, but they are markedly higher from what I've heard people say who have multiple clients to compare against.).

As for putting it on a next gen console--it isn't just the art assets that have to be redone. You are talking about hosting it in a completely differnt operating environment. Compare it to older software that was released originally for Windows OS. They had to write new versions specifically for Mac and Linux because the operating environment was vastly different. While Linux could be running on the same hardware, the API's were still different--with the older Mac's, there was no Intel support so you had to actually code to different hardware at times. Same goes for consoles--they run on different chips with different command structures, so you would have to create a custom layer to interface with the PS2 encoding (ie, they'd need to write a new "wrapper" for the new console)--you would STILL be fighting the original PS2 design though, as that is the virtual environment the game is actually running under.

Until those specific pieces of legacy coding are scrapped--no matter what you play it on, it is going to have some level of PS2 restrictions. As long as the PS2 is actively supported, we are less likely to see that legacy code go away. Once Ps2 is gone, then they have to make a decsision wether to drop said code and rebuild to newer specs.--but ultimately it will come down to whether they view it as a cost-effective change or not.

I'm sure it been said but, the limitations SE has is not the PS2, its the budget put into the game, they are already stretched thin with all the additions they are working on, overhauling the game would require more artists for the graphics, more devs for the recoding, and more testing for these improvements, all of which add up to more $$$, its been said if it aint broken dont fix it, it's most of you PC users are Nazi "KILL THE PS2s!!! Heil, mein PC!!!". Really if you don't like it why do you still pay to play the game every month, obviously its not for the graphics :P

Are the majority of PS2 users using 12 year old computers?? Can their computers even run microsoft word 2007?? Like.. wtf..

EDIT:
There are refurbished laptops that could run at least three ffxi clients at once that sell for at most 300 dollars. Time to upgrade! Down with ps2!

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Originally Posted by Thebattousai

I'm sure it been said but, the limitations SE has is not the PS2, its the budget put into the game, they are already stretched thin with all the additions they are working on, overhauling the game would require more artists for the graphics, more devs for the recoding, and more testing for these improvements, all of which add up to more $$$, its been said if it aint broken dont fix it, it's most of you PC users are Nazi "KILL THE PS2s!!! Heil, mein PC!!!". Really if you don't like it why do you still pay to play the game every month, obviously its not for the graphics :P

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Actually, yes it IS because of the PS2. As was stated earlier, this game was coded for the PS2 environment. They later (like, 2 years later I think, forget the exact time line) created a wrapper to allow the game to be played on the PC--it was sort of emulated on the PC. Not true emulation, but the PC is more or less running the PS2 logic, while certain aspects are passed off to DirectX and such, so it's kind of 50/50 or maybe 75/25 emulation--but a large part of the core is still restricted by the original PS2 environmental support built into the game engine. They pretty much repeated the same process to stick it on the 360 several years later.

So, again as stated before, dropping PS2 support is just one piece of the puzzle. After that, they have to drop all the legacy code (and the restrictions bound to them) and generate a whole new environment for the game to run in. Wouldn't hold my breath on that happening any time soon for a game this old. Maybe once XP and DX8.1/9.0c emulation is completely dropped by Microsoft it'll happen....if FFXI is still thriving by then.

indeed. i first started FFXI on ps2, then got it for XBox360, then PC. same account used on all these platforms

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Originally Posted by Laraul

I don't think so... you better back this up with some good references... D3D9 will work with all prior D3D versions... D3D9Ex (D3D9.1) is a different story.

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DirectX 8 and DirectX 9 are seperate. That's why there is a d3d8.dll and d3d9.dll that applications call depending on whether they're using DirectX 8 or DirectX 9.

In windows 7 and Windows Vista, d3d8.dll is actually a wrapper that translates DirectX 8 functions to DirectX 9.

Application -> d3d8.dll -> d3d9.dll -> HAL -> device driver -> GPU

As opposed to Windows XP where it's:

Application -> d3d8.dll -> HAL -> device driver -> GPU

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Again please back this up with some references. FFXI does not draw the 3D rendering to the frame buffer. Obviously if it did you wouldn't have separate settings for the UI/screen resolution and a 3D world resolution setting.

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No really? That's exactly what I said. FFXI draws the 3D scene into an offscreen drawing surface (render to texture) which is why driver level FSAA doesn't work with FFXI as DirectX 8 can't perform FSAA on applications that don't render to the framebuffer.

hehe.. not this debate over the frame buffer and render to texture method... wasn't this settled in like..... 2004?

I actually think the AA was working somewhat last time I tinkered with it ages ago, just not on the actually game components we want--seemed like my chat and such in the overlay was crisper. A lot of good that does us...lol.

Check the link and compare the screenshots

http://gameguide.na.aiononline.com/a...raphics+Engine

In that link is a clear example of what can be done, with a update this elements.

Weather effects
Water Effects
Shaders
Shadows
Lights
Background detail.

All this elements can be introduced, by "Updates". Not is necesary kill the ps2 users, just work on pc/xbox360 users with this graphics update.

I play aion 2.5 and i can say guys there after since this was introduced. The diference is a lot.

Now the main reason for the devs say "Ps2 limitation is this". In japan almost all players "Hate play on pc and xbox360". In japan they love play on jp consoles. Actually the 80% by japan players play ffxi on ps3/ps2. Yes they hate play in PC and xbox360.

The devs can give us our graphic update for pc and xbox360, and keep give service to the jp guys.Kill the 70% from the ffxi population not is cool. (We have to be realistic, the JP comunity is x 2 or almost x 3 more big than America/Europe.)

Now after the graphic update, they can release the new ffxi ver on ps3 so the jp guys will be happy.

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Originally Posted by Swords

It may not be entirely possible to expand the partition size limit if its hard-coded in the system itself. A computer has something called a BIOS chip which contains all the neccessary minimal instructions to start your computer, but ultimately your computer runs off the Hard Drive. The PS2 and most game systems have something similar to a BIOS chip, however it's version contains everything it needs to work and acts independantly without the need of hardware like a Hard Drive. If the data to expand the partition is hard-coded into the chip, there is likely little that can be done to change it's parimiters.

But before anyone says it, the newest generation of consoles have worked around this issue with improved hardware such as flash data storage programmers can update the consoles OS as needed allowing greater flexability to adjust these limits.

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I cannot believe how far into this i had to read before someone pointed out it's a physical limitation in the PS2 architecture.. not a memory issue. Thank you! PS2 cannot (legitimately) be updated in it's current design and treats the HDD like a mass storage device. Kudos sir, Kudos.

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Originally Posted by CrAZYVIC

Check the link and compare the screenshots

http://gameguide.na.aiononline.com/a...raphics+Engine

In that link is a clear example of what can be done, with a update this elements.

Weather effects
Water Effects
Shaders
Shadows
Lights
Background detail.

All this elements can be introduced, by "Updates". Not is necesary kill the ps2 users, just work on pc/xbox360 users with this graphics update.

I play aion 2.5 and i can say guys there after since this was introduced. The diference is a lot.

Now the main reason for the devs say "Ps2 limitation is this". In japan almost all players "Hate play on pc and xbox360". In japan they love play on jp consoles. Actually the 80% by japan players play ffxi on ps3/ps2. Yes they hate play in PC and xbox360.

The devs can give us our graphic update for pc and xbox360, and keep give service to the jp guys.Kill the 70% from the ffxi population not is cool. (We have to be realistic, the JP comunity is x 2 or almost x 3 more big than America/Europe.)

Now after the graphic update, they can release the new ffxi ver on ps3 so the jp guys will be happy.

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Again....missing the key problem. Aion was built to run in a PC environment. Let me state that again--a PC ENVIRONMENT. FFXI was built to run in the PS2 ENVIRONMENT. As such, the engine is "hardcoded" with specific limitations based on the hardware used in the PS2. That SAME code with the SAME RESTRICTIONS exist in the code used on the other platforms because they are run through a WRAPPER (think of the virtual machine in Java). Another way to think of it, running XP Virtual machine in Win7. You are limited to the environment that the program was originally coded to run in. Doesn't matter that you are on a machine that can see and use 8GB of memory--if it is running in an XP 32bit virtual bubble, it will only access and use up to 4GB of memory.

Aion can do a heck of a lot more because it's designed with the more robust enironment of a PC to work with. FFXI was designed with the more restrictive environment in mind, so it has these restrictions built into the code itself. It doesn't matter that your hardware may have access to more resources if the game's engines can't take advantage of those extra resources. The legacy code has "soft" caps on a lot of things that can't be gotten around without dramatically changing those engines for use ONLY on those specific platforms.

So in effect, you would be rolling out a NEW FFXI specific for another platform, and could no longer create certain portions of code that could be ported directly to each platform. You would have to make the same change manually and specifically to each platform's code, instead of changing the code in the specific library once and just dropping it into the package for each platform. It wouldn't be something like the font change either--we are talking about specific limitations built into to specific command lines (like the size limit on the storage containers). You can't necessarily just drop a few lines of code directly into a ROM file, you have to edit the source and recompile. With the font change, they created a complete ROM file and saved it. If they do a big dump of files from an update into the package for PC and that contains the old font files and push that out by mistake--all they have to do is a push out a quick update to copy the updated ROM's over them. If this were to happen and a patched ROM was one that would reset the cap to 80 after they released ones for PC that lifted it to 100...imagine the riot that would spark off. They'd have to go back to the specific PC source containing the 100 cap, edit the source for the new changes, recompile, then push it out.

In short, making a custom environment for each platform (outside of the wrappers designed for each platform's support) is simply more work, and creates a larger margin of error in the update process. By keeping the core portions of the game being emulated consistent across all platforms, it greatly simplifies things, saving SE time and money in the long run. Thus, if it is something in the core of FFXI's code that can't be done on the PS2 or specifically to another platform practically/reliably (like the font change, this was is an easy thing to implement/maintain in comparison)--then SE is less inclined to implement it. That's the way it's been since 2003, and is not likely to change any time soon.

Bottom line is that ffxi is and always will be a ps2 game, get over it.

PS2 should be recycled all over the world and make something more useful