Census regarding 64-bit requirement for FFXIV

During Fanfest, Yoshi mentioned the desire to upgrade to a 64-bit exclusive game. They began by asking if 32-bit players would upgrade. However, they later said they will still try to make the game stable on 32-bit OS. I hope this poll will help push them reach a definitive decision (64-bit). I added as many translations as the character limitations could fulfill. If you currently have a 64-bit system, just select "yes." The reason I opted for a strawpoll instead of an official forums post was to net players banned from the forums. I also have JP players circulating the poll as well, so it should reach most players. I will need help reaching EU players though. You can find the poll here:

https://www.strawpoll.me/11447024

Before vote. Must clarify that 64 doesn't mean better. Some system will get a low performance on 64bits than 32, like happend with DirectX11 and Directx9. So, it is better they keep both builds to avoid issues. Even if the OS is 64 bits, doesn't mean that 64 bits app will work better, and maye the 32 bits verson will have better performance.

Someone mentioned about 64bit vs 32bit performance in another thread and they're right. Just like DX9 vs DX11, DX9 works better for some, DX11 for others.

EDIT: GDI, they got the repost in on this thread before I could get my response in.

After dropping PS3, dropping 32 Bit Windows support could be a good thing.

32 Bit applications are limited to allocate a maximum of 2 GB RAM under Windows.

This limit seems to be the next important border to break through.

32 bit is limited in RAM while early 64 bit computers start at 4GB of RAM. While stormblood upgraded the RAM requirements from 512 MB to 2GB for all platforms in the long-run it would be best if everyone upgraded if they haven't already

Bereft of its traditional console enemy, how quickly the PC master race turns upon itself! XD

In 2016, do they even sell 32 bit systems anymore? Have they even sold them for the past five years? To be honest if people are still gaming on very very old systems, surely it's a fair expectation that eventually games will begin to outpace them?

I'm all for the game going exclusively 64 bit.

I'm using a 64bit system and nowaday a 32bit system is rather rare they are to be added to the list of endangered species pretty soon if it hasn't been done already ^^.

64-bit systems allow much more memory (RAM) to be used by applications. 32-bit applications are limited to 2 GB of RAM (4 GB if using PAE patch on Windows OS). For large open-world games, it is really advantageous to have the option to utilize more memory.

They don't even make 32 bit processors anymore really for PCs.

32 bit OSes have major ram allocation issues, if I'm correct it can only "see" 4 gigs of RAM total, not above per application. So if you have 16 gigs and a 32 bit OS, you're literally not using the RAM resources of the system.

According to steam, less than 2% of their users use a 32-bit system I would think that around the same percentage applies here as well.

32bit OS is obsolete nowadays. For a PC with 4GB of RAM and above you need 64bit which almost everyone has now. The only one who are still on a 32bit OS are those with really really old PC's/laptops and those don't know a thing about OS licenses thus they purchased the 32bit version (yeah I know a guy who did this mistake). The team wants to push the 64bit version so they must have their reasons. The game needs to improve and move forward and you can't really do that if you are stuck on decade old tech specs.

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Originally Posted by Riardon

32bit OS is obsolete nowadays. For a PC with 4GB of RAM and above you need 64bit which almost everyone has now. The only one who are still on a 32bit OS are those with really really old PC's/laptops and those don't know a thing about OS licenses thus they purchased the 32bit version (yeah I know a guy who did this mistake). The team wants to push the 64bit version so they must have their reasons. The game needs to improve and move forward and you can't really do that if you are stuck on decade old tech specs.

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A windows license is good for either 32 or 64 bit. If you have 32 you can install 64 at no additional cost as long as your cpu supports it.

There are good reasons to run a 32b system.

None of them apply to a gaming machine.

I don't really know if being a 64-Bit OS offers any real practical performance increase over 32-bit...

At most I could see the extra memory affecting possibly loading stuff...

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Originally Posted by CaptainLagbeard

I don't really know if being a 64-Bit OS offers any real practical performance increase over 32-bit...

At most I could see the extra memory affecting possibly loading stuff...

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More memory means you can load larger and more detailed environments, for one. Part of the reason why the main hub cities are split into two parts is because of the PS3's memory limitations.

I just want to bump this thread a little bit because this is something SE should actually consider heavily, the pool itself just show a little bit of the ratio of their current concerns,out of of 300 only 12 said no, on a bigger scale this will probably be much more noticeable, out of the current 500+k active users probably only 500 wont be able to afford a 64-bit system, and that's a stretch. because maybe there are some that legitimately won't be able to "afford" a 64-bit system but maybe some or most of them "don't" have a 64-bit system but will be able to upgrade.

I obviously only looking from the eyes of the majority (sucks that some people will be probably pushed out, will not want it for myself obviously) but I'd believe it will be more beneficial for the big majority and for the devs them self to drop 32-bit support.

Just like ps3 player they should had upgraded long time ago.

Already have 64bit os.


I think it's getting to the point that there just isn't any hardware sold anymore that is limited to a 32bit os...

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Originally Posted by Kiteless

More memory means you can load larger and more detailed environments, for one. Part of the reason why the main hub cities are split into two parts is because of the PS3's memory limitations.

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This may be part of the reason, but officially I believe they stated that they split the cities into multiple zones at 2.0 because of server congestion, particularly in Ul'Dah (which had significantly more story content than the other cities since it contained the predecessor to the Waking Sands). Of course, I've heard claims that they'll be updating their servers as well, so who knows?

This isn't specifically relevant, but I've seen a lot of people theorize that they'll change very little -- after all when SE dropped PS2 support for XI they didn't change a whole lot over there, but I wanted to point out that FFXI was/is a PS2 game that was ported to PC. The PS2 limitations are built into the code. The opposite is true here, where XIV was built for Windows and ported elsewhere. The code shouldn't (shouldn't) cause them nearly as many problems with trying to remove previous limitations.

I already use a 64 bit OS. Have been for several years.

Although I still play using a 32-bit version of Windows (and XP to boot! Yes, I am still running this game under XP - the Direct X9 client runs perfectly under XP, and I should know, I tested it in the Alpha and Beta when XP was still the minimum requirement for the game), I do understand Yoshi's way of thinking, and I do accept that 32-bit OSes are sadly living on borrowed time.

One fact that does need to be remembered though, is that the fundamental aspect of this game, as a game that is meant to be accessible to as many players as possible, including those who are not running a high-end gaming rig but a cheap $300 department store special PC that is good for browsing the internet and doing office work/school work on and not much else, many such PCs still running 32bit versions of Vista and Win 7 because that was how they were installed, thus cutting off support for 32bit OSes would only be cutting off a significant portion of this player base for a negligible benefit - ending 32bit OS support won't suddenly turn the game into Second Life-crossed-with-FFXI.

Given that Yoshi hasn't actually firmly committed to ending 32-bit OS support but instead stating along the lines of "we'll wait and see", it's clear that he's not rushing into this and is wisely and thoughtfully taking everything in account. Whatever the outcome, I trust he will make the best choice for the game's future.

Was the only thing mentioned about minimum PC specifications going up the 32/64 bit thing?

Also, wow, you still use XP? I remember fiddling around with a Windows XP 64bit OS...

SE should really do those surveys that Steam does.

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Originally Posted by kaptainpancake69

32 bit OSes have major ram allocation issues, if I'm correct it can only "see" 4 gigs of RAM total, not above per application. So if you have 16 gigs and a 32 bit OS, you're literally not using the RAM resources of the system.

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Not quite. There are certain hardware "tricks" (PAE) that allowed even processors as old as the Pentium Pro to access up to 64 GB of RAM, and Microsoft Windows (and other OS like Linux or FreeBSD) does know how to utilize that.
Many Windows editions are artificially limited though in how much memory they can use (Starter editions have lower limits than normal consumer editions which in turn have lower limits than Server editions is the usual sequence)

A single 32-bit program cannot see more than 4GB at once though, no matter how much memory the machine may have. Under Windows 32-bit programs are usually limited to 2GB, but there is an OS flag one can use to let them use up to 3GB although that can lead to compatibility problems with certain device drivers and stuff.

I don't think I've used a 32bit OS since Windows XP.

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Originally Posted by MistakeNot

There are certain hardware "tricks" (PAE).

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The issue with PAE is, that every driver and also software must be compatible to it or the system will crash. Thats the reason it is disabled by default. As far I remember, it only got used in server environments.

64bit Windows OS have been in use for over ten years. There's no reason to stick to 32bit when it's greatly inferior in so many aspects when used for gaming. As others have said, it's also possible to upgrade from a 32bit version of Windows to the comparable 64bit for free so there's no need to worry about cost. If you have a system that is capable of running FFXIV at a decent rate then it's likely to be 64bit compatible.