Graphics. Does AA make a big difference?

AA - removes jagged edges and softens them

Yes it can make a bit of a to the smoothness of things.

AA does make a big difference, but I like to have the graphics maxed but turn the Drawing waay down to give it that FFXI kinda feel.

AA makes a big difference in my opinion. Sorry I don't have screenshots.

Besides Buffer Size, Anti-Aliasing has the most effect on graphics I think.

AAx2 is good enough for me. Looks better than without AA and is noticable. 4x doesnt have that much noticability

I posted some image samples on my Lodestone blog.
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...entry?e=161478

Its effects are most noticeable on the high contrast lines.
There are diminishing returns for higher AA settings, but it does make a difference if you are looking closely. ^^

In game when fighting or running around you probably won't notice AA differences beyond 2x or 4x. But I spent a lot of time crafting and so I do notice a difference between 8x and 16x.

Yes, it makes the game look quite a bit better. Though what you like is subjective. 2x AA has a very noticeable effect on the graphics quality, 4x AA is noticeably better still. After 4x AA the incremental benefit is minor. AA usually imposes a substantial performance hit on your overall frame rate so a powerful video card is advised, especially for FFXIV as it can be very demanding on hardware.

There are a lot of links on Google with guides and comparisons that illustrate the effect of AA and its variations. Simply Google "anti-aliasing" you'll get what you're looking for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crevox

2x makes a huge difference with minor performance impact.
4x makes a decent difference, a bit higher of performance but not too bad.
8x you probably won't even notice, but it takes a lot of performance.

Pictures are hard to show it because you notice a lot of it in the motion and animations.

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Aliasing is more noticeable on still images. You will see it better in stills that when the game is in motion.

Here's a random guide: http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_11.html