Quote Originally Posted by Naunet View Post
I'll add: Trion made a little post with some user-friendly explanation when they transitioned to a 64-bit client a little over a year ago.

HOWEVER, I will also point out that Rift's update to its wardrobe system actually happened over TWO years ago. Clearly the 32-bit client was plenty sufficient to manage such a feature, and it should NOT be the limitation in FFXIV.



This.
You can not directly compare two different MMORPG 's unless they use the same engine.

When the developers refer to memory limits, they a directly referring to the capacity of the server 's ability to save state. If they recompile a 32bit instance to a 64bit one, that means that it can ACCESS >4GB of memory (disk or RAM), if they recompile the game client for 64bit , that means now the CPU and GPU can access >4GB along with >4GB of disk. Keep in mind that it IS possible to use 64bit pointers on a 32bit CPU, if the OS supports it, which on Windows that primarily is in regard to file sizes. This is why 32bit versions of Windows can't play or record video files over 2GB in certain containers because it is a signed integer in the file system. If you have ever tried to record a video that crosses the 2GB limit using a 32bit video recorder it starts overwriting the video due to overflow.



The client memory limits are in regard to display lists used for rendering objects. In a 32bit client, your CPU can't use the RAM in the GPU or system RAM over 2GB. The OS reserves part of this, and the rest is imposed by the OS. This is why even 64bit software tends to be crunched down to 2GB to stay in RAM. But your game client is not an instance on the server, it can impulsively load data when it needs it, but unless the underlying filesystem is fast (which is rare) this results in stuttering, or textures popping in and out while the page file thrashes.

The question that has to be asked is how long does it take to sync. If FFXIV takes seconds to save state, then the game integrity is hard to damage. But if it takes minutes or hours, then if the game server crashes, the data is stale when it recovers. Add 25 more items (one page) that is 25 more items that have to be synced, per player. Presumably the real reason is the 32bit limits on the client limits is to reduce the bandwidth requirements, hence latency. Is a inventory manipulation packet 1KB, or is it 10KB. Does adding anything to the inventory cause the entire inventory to be synced or just the item?

The V1 client and other MMORPG games generally pushed large packets when you changed inventory, (presumably syncing the entire inventory) and in some of these games it causes seconds of latency, not microseconds , with larger inventory bags.