Can we please have more options to lower graphics settings?

[VenKitsune]

Computers that never get more than 15 FPS are one thing, but I would like more MMOs to remember that some people simply prefer FPS to graphics quality.

If I can't get 60 FPS in a game, I turn something graphical off. If I still don't reach 60 FPS, I keep turning stuff off until I do.

And no, it isn't entirely a matter of the user's hardware being under the minimum specs because the minimum specs are designed with a certain level of predicted margin.

If you have a bridge with a total, overall weight limit of 20 tons and 30 1-ton cars drive over it and cause it to break, then it might have been better to build a stronger bridge. I get high framerates in instances and massive lag spikes in populated cities like Limsa.

The game is almost 7 years old now - If a PC can't run the game, it simply wasn't designed for it and either needs to be upgraded or replaced. Nothing has changed with how they render the graphics or how intense the graphics are, the game still uses the same engine and the same API as it has for almost 3 years. Your friend knew the system requirements for the game, its on any store page you buy it from, and every expansion has a free to download benchmarking tool that's released a month or more before the expansion is released. This is not the games fault, and thus not something they need to fix.

Benchmarks are more of an indication of potential performance than an actual undisputed grade. The only true test is playing the actual game.

Not really, Benchmarks are designed as a WORST CASE SCENARIO, they're designed to test and thus they stress the machine to the limit of its capabilities of running the software. That's why its called a "Benchmark" and not a "Software that will show you what you MIGHT get"

[Penthea]

Not really, Benchmarks are designed as a WORST CASE SCENARIO, they're designed to test and thus they stress the machine to the limit of its capabilities of running the software. That's why its called a "Benchmark" and not a "Software that will show you what you MIGHT get"

Somehow accidentally deleted my post instead of editing it, derp.

Benchmarks sometimes don't quite take heat into account because very often the duration of the benchmark itself is far shorter than a gaming session. So you might get an okay enough result for a benchmark, but in an actual gaming session you might find that the longer you play the worse your performance gets due to heat issues.

Certainly the FFXIV benchmarks are far shorter than most people would play in a normal gaming session.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Somehow accidentally deleted my post instead of editing it, derp.

Benchmarks sometimes don't quite take heat into account because very often the duration of the benchmark itself is far shorter than a gaming session. So you might get an okay enough result for a benchmark, but in an actual gaming session you might find that the longer you play the worse your performance gets due to heat issues.

Certainly the FFXIV benchmarks are far shorter than most people would play in a normal gaming session.

Benchmarks, at least in the case of xiv, should be enough to bring the heatsinks on low end equipment to their heat soak, if that's going to be an issue. You won't see a large heat differential in laptops between the benchmark and normal gameplay, for the most part.

[Penthea]

Benchmarks, at least in the case of xiv, should be enough to bring the heatsinks on low end equipment to their heat soak, if that's going to be an issue. You won't see a large heat differential in laptops between the benchmark and normal gameplay, for the most part.

I personally cannot comment on the accuracy of the FFXIV benchmark, but I have encountered others in the past that gave misleading results due to the benchmark itself not lasting long enough to make heat issues obvious. So I think it is possible it could happen with the FFXIV benchmark.

Anyone who wants to truly test their pc performance, and knows what they're doing, won't use something as niche as a benchmark for one specific game. They would use software that does more generalised stress testing, and these stress tests typically last a lot longer than the duration of the FFXIV benchmark.

Benchmarks aren't there to do anything except show you how your computer performs while doing whatever said benchmark does.

And this is why people sometimes use more than one piece of software to stress test and/or analyse the performance of their machine. Different benchmarks test for different things. I frequently have seen people use both Furmark and another separate piece of software to monitor cpu core use and heat.

[VenKitsune]

Somehow accidentally deleted my post instead of editing it, derp.

Benchmarks sometimes don't quite take heat into account because very often the duration of the benchmark itself is far shorter than a gaming session. So you might get an okay enough result for a benchmark, but in an actual gaming session you might find that the longer you play the worse your performance gets due to heat issues.

Certainly the FFXIV benchmarks are far shorter than most people would play in a normal gaming session.

I'm sorry but if your computer can run the benchmark perfectly fine, but not the game due to "heat issues" thats a problem with the computer and only something you can fix by blowing out dust or re-applying thermal paste. SE don't need to add lower graphical options for an almost decade old game just because you're too lazy to maintain your PC/console by blowing through it with compressed air every few years.

not a "worse case scenario" ...at all

Benchmarks aren't there to do anything except show you how your computer performs while doing whatever said benchmark does. In this instance, playing a game. You can change settings to get better worse performance so you know where you are comfortable playing at (is it grainy etc) anyways yea

THATS why its called a benchmark, because the user can use it AS A BENCHMARK TO SEE HOW

This is hardly true. You know why? Because you dont "play" anything while you're running the benchmark - its running through a sequence, its a basis for standardised performance and thus if you can only just about get 30fps on the lowest settings on a benchmark, you cant expect the actual game, with you PLAYING and INTERACTING with it, to be as such, therefore, its a worst case scenario, or by some measures even a best case scenario.

[tdb]

I'm sorry but if your computer can run the benchmark perfectly fine, but not the game due to "heat issues" thats a problem with the computer and only something you can fix by blowing out dust or re-applying thermal paste. SE don't need to add lower graphical options for an almost decade old game just because you're too lazy to maintain your PC/console by blowing through it with compressed air every few years.

Since both the OP and his friend have laptops, this is also worth mentioning: some laptops have poor thermal design and just plain can't run at full load for long periods of time, even if they are squeaky clean. When purchasing a laptop for gaming, it pays to read reviews for this kind of thing and not just buy the cheapest model with the specs you want.

[VenKitsune]

Since both the OP and his friend have laptops, this is also worth mentioning: some laptops have poor thermal design and just plain can't run at full load for long periods of time, even if they are squeaky clean. When purchasing a laptop for gaming, it pays to read reviews for this kind of thing and not just buy the cheapest model with the specs you want.

A can of compressed air is like £5 on amazon. It's simple - Just power down the PC/laptop, blow the can through it a few times, and boom. If they're still having issues in thermals then its their own fault for trying to play on a machine not designed for the task, in which i'll bring up my original argument that that PC required specs are listed on any store page you buy it from. No ammount of lowerered graphical settings is going to stop a PC from overheating it it doesnt pass muster to run it smoothly in the first place.

[tdb]

If they're still having issues in thermals then its their own fault for trying to play on a machine not designed for the task

This is what I was saying. I just wanted to note that even a laptop which ostensibly has enough power may not be designed for the task of using all that power continuously. Some manufacturers unfortunately pick powerful components but then cut corners on thermal design to bring the price and/or weight down. So you need to look at more than just the listed specs of the machine.

[VenKitsune]

This is what I was saying. I just wanted to note that even a laptop which ostensibly has enough power may not be designed for the task of using all that power continuously. Some manufacturers unfortunately pick powerful components but then cut corners on thermal design to bring the price and/or weight down. So you need to look at more than just the listed specs of the machine.

And again...how is that the games fault if that's the case? Why should SE spend money and time they would otherwise spend making new content, for every tom dick and harry and bought the equivalent of a house with no openable windows, who also complain they can't open them?
Weird metaphors aside, very few modern machines are like that, with exception to maybe some macbooks. Any machine that cant run FF14 of all things, for extended periods of time even with proper maintenance, are little more than glorified internet browser machines.