Lackluster Graphics in FFXIV

[Abriael]

In a prior post, you said something like if SE changed the way light functions, they'd have to go in and do it manually for each individual light source that's already in the game...

The light sources are already there. All SE has to do is change one part of the engine. All they have to do is add the an option to change the behavior of light. That technology is already in their engine, as proven by you [character's casting shadows perfectly]. All SE has to do is use that same technology for landscapes and structures. It would take a novice programmer to add that behavior to the light module. WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM

And that's where your idea of game development is oversimplified . It's not just a single toggle.
if you have a static light that is there just "for effect", there are a lot of parameters that you don't need to set. Or better again, you need to set them *only* for the visual effect that you included.

Say you have three lights in a room. Those three lights, as they are implemented now, just need to look good in their lighting effect, no other tweaks are needed. Setting their intensity and direction is very simple, because the effect you want to attain is simple.

Now say that the three lights have to involve dynamic shading and lighting. You need to manually reset every single intensity and direction, because now the lights have a completely different environmental and aesthetical effect than they did. They cast shadows, they interact with each other. They may be too intense and actually hide details of the environment that you don't want to hide, or even be too much "in the face" of the camera, detracting from the whole scene. You may also have to tweak the color, because it's very possible that the original color doesn't interact well with the textures of the environment.

You cannot just toggle "lights on!" and leave it like that. The result would be ugly. If a novice programmer could easily do that (it's not even just a matter of coding, it involves art direction and coordination with the art department), I'm afraid that novice programmers would find jobs in the industry much easier.

It's not random that development studios have dedicated artists just for lighting.