Microsoft about to reveal dx12, yet we must wait a year for dx11

[Moheeheeko]

I'm not concerned with this game not gettinng 12, I'm more concerned that we are forced to use an api that is so old, a large chunk of the playerbase wasn't even in kindergarten when it was released!

Keep the option there sure, but don't force me to look at 12 year old tech because a few can't handle it.

[C-croft]

If the rumors of MS solving the cpu overhead with DX12 are legit, I wouldn't be too surprised if it picked up steam fairly quickly compared to DX11 did. As it stands, Nvidia has some goodies in store for later this year with Maxwell and they will be speaking at GDC this year when MS presents DX12. DX12 hardware most likely won't be far off. Considering the collaboration partners, I think DX12 will be off to a good start. If it really does solve cpu overhead, I could see more developers utilizing it as it could potentially allow gamers who don't have a $3000 pc play AAA with great fidelity.

[Lurkios]

It really is a shame that we're still waiting for the directx11 client.

I'm not sure why ARR didn't release with dx11.

[Moheeheeko]

I'm not sure why ARR didn't release with dx11.

Honestly? Because Japan doesn't use win7. Majority of the country is on xp.

[Pseudopsia]

There's a lot of blame to go around why there are so many DX9 games.

I mostly blame Microsoft with trying to force gamers to upgrade by not allowing you to use a higher version of DirectX than 9.0c on Windows XP.

It hasn't worked very well from what I see from Steam survey. 20.62% of steam gamers are using a DX10/DX11 GPU with windows XP. 6% of steam gamers are using windows XP. This means for the developer if they make a DX10/11 only game they are losing 6% possible sales.
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

Reason why FFXIV is DX9 is that during the early beta they were still supporting Windows XP.

Edit: updated numbers based on survey details.

[Shioban]

Keep the option there sure, but don't force me to look at 12 year old tech because a few can't handle it.

Sadly it's not a 'few'.

Its a very very very large number of the people who subscribe and keep the game that you enjoy so much running.
Most computers have the capability of working in DX9 and 10, but for the most part it's a easier to just work with DX9 (as the leap from 9-10 wasn't substantial enough to merit it).


"But surely everyone can use DX10/11 by now???"

Nope.

Jimmy Johnson playing on the laptop his mother got him for Christmas with a mobile-chipset that runs the game decently but only supports Dx9 will want to play the game.

Sadly this is your average user-base. Low-Mid range hardware, making sure the game operated on launch for the average user-base was ciritical to the sucess we all witnessed in the first few months. Allowing the common denominator to access and play your game at a decent frame-rate on an average machine is imperative to your games survival.


Could they have dropped the PS3 and focused only on high-end gaming rigs again?
Yes, but they'd be cutting out a MASSIVE part of the market, which no-one in their right mind trying to turn a profit would even consider.


Thankfully however, most hardware is shifting now. DX10/11 is becoming the standard and most GPUs (even mobile chipsets) are sitting at around 512-1024MB of video memory.
Meaning that DX9 is filtering out (faster than you'd think), but there's still a large base of users stuck on DX9 ranged hardware.

Keep the option there sure, but don't force me to look at 12 year old tech because a few can't handle it.

And ontop of all this they've already announced a Dx11 client SPECIFICALLY for people who can.

Why the hell are you whining that they're not giving it to you when it's RIGHT THERE that they're going to do it.

I'm not sure why ARR didn't release with dx11.

The original game required a beastly PC and most players dicovered this very quickly in the Alpha/Beta and release. Even a decent gaming computer for that time could barely run FFXIV smoothyl. (Although 1.23 used Dx9, it still has a valid point)

DirectX11 would cut out a very large portion of people who are still stuck on Dx9/10/10.1 hardware, which is a very very large amount of players. Seeing as Square Enix wanted to nail the casual market and draw them into FFXIV (as well as old Final Fantasy fans), to do so the game had to run as smoothly as possible on the 'average computer' that most people would have in their homes for games (or even not originally intended for games).

They wanted accessibility over a luxury niche market.

There's a lot of blame to go around why there are so many DX9 games.

I mostly blame Microsoft with trying to force gamers to upgrade by not allowing you to use a higher version of DirectX than 9.0c on Windows XP.

It hasn't worked very well from what I see from Steam survey. 20.62% of steam gamers are using a DX10/DX11 GPU with windows XP. This means for the developer if they make a DX10/11 only game they are losing 20% possible sales.
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

Reason why FFXIV is DX9 is that during the early beta they were still supporting Windows XP.

Sadly the Steam hardware survey is optional and most people simply ignore it completley.
(As well as the average user not even owning/using steam).
It's a good idea to use for a roughly estimate, but for MMOs is becomes difficult as quite a good chunk of people only installed FFXIV on their PC because "I like Final Fantasy", even if they've never played a PC game before.

It'll be a little longer before Dx11 is the standard.

[Moheeheeko]

And ontop of all this they've already announced a Dx11 client SPECIFICALLY for people who can.

Why the hell are you whining that they're not giving it to you when it's RIGHT THERE that they're going to do it.

Because its so low on Yohi's priority that theres a very likely chance it wont even happen untill the second
expansion pack, and in a time where free to play games support dx11 and a top of the line mmo doesnt is staggering.

DirectX11 would cut out a very large portion....They wanted accessibility over a luxury niche market.

because dx11 support totally killed the playerbase WoW and EVE right?

Oh wait...no..because DX11 is an OPTION like im asking for.

[Shioban]

Its understandable why, the game failed before. They weren't sure if the game would be a success, it was easier to have the game at a stage where it would run on the PS3 and average users computer as compared to;
"Let's make this MMO look better than [othergamehere]"

Oh wait...no..because DX11 is an OPTION like im asking for.

You've clearly not read up on it correctly. Please go have a closer look on the details.
The DirectX11 client IS COMING OUT. But not until after the release of the first expansion, not the second one.

Have a degree of patient and maturity, it's something they clearly want to dedicate the time into doing properly (hence why its after the first expansion) which would afford them the time to do such a venture correctly.

and in a time where free to play games support dx11 and a top of the line mmo doesnt is staggering..

Not really. Most MMOs suffer from performance issues due to over-reaching their capabilities, it was quite a sensible option to go with a lower denominator (the game doesn't look as good as it could, but the game doesn't look THAT bad).

because dx11 support totally killed the playerbase WoW and EVE right?

lolwut.

World of Warcrafts """upgrade"" to DirectX was simply to increase performance and add in enhanced water (and possibility sligthly better shadow casting) it was nothing major or ground breaking. And this happened 8-9 years after the games release as far as I recall, and it didn't even substantially affect the game.

EVE online has an established basebase, and didn't start off with DirectX11 support either.
It was something they added in over TEN YEARS after the game was released. So using both WoW/Eve online as examples here is silly as both games started off with DirectX9 and stuck with it until recently.

Final Fantasy XIV has been out for barely half a year now and they're trying to push out enough content to merit the time to pursue a visual update now that the userbase has been established safely. Maintaining enough content and interest for the game is much more important a task currently than a DirectX11 client.

.because dx11 support totally killed the playerbase WoW and EVE right?

You also missed my point in saying that's why there's going to be TWO clients available after the first expansion is done.

A DX9 client - For those who want to run the standard game.
A DX11 client - For those who want the higher fidelity and enhanced visuals that this optional client
will offer.

By offering two clients no-one gets left in the dust. Stop making it out as if Square Enix are victimising you simply because "OMG these other games did this, I want what they have RIGHT NOW!".
There's a bigger picture than graphics going on here, be more considerate.

[C-croft]

Because its so low on Yohi's priority that theres a very likely chance it wont even happen untill the second
expansion pack, and in a time where free to play games support dx11 and a top of the line mmo doesnt is staggering.

Exaggerate much? In case you were wondering, putting the game on DX11 costs money. Putting FFXIV on PS4 and launching in China costs even more money, but at least it will pay for itself over time. DX11 not so much.

[klepp0906]

Right? No. It was straight up lie from the devs as far as timetable goes. Money comes first to them. We already bought the game they got their $ out of us. Same with nvidia. No SLI with surround due to bad drivers and instead of fixing the drivers for current hArdware, they're main focus is releasing new hardware to make more $ while the old hardware still doesn't function properly with 10 year old tech.

Case in point - 25fps with 4 titans. Awesome! (Hoping a dx11 client would rectify this but naturally it went from right after launch to right around ps4 launch to sometime a year down the road after an expansion)

Sorry gents, by then I'll be peeking at other mmos. Too little too late. (I know this is ultimately nvidias fault but SE has the clout to apply pressure to the proper areas)