Quote Originally Posted by Tupster View Post
I completely agree. The number of visible models was simply amazing even if it wasn't absolutely perfect. For years I had a theory that Square Enix only had graphics experts but their Network and User Interface guys were just hacks who wouldn't cut it anywhere and they must have nobody who really understands how to make something for PC.

The work on version 2.0 tells me that they finally got their act together on this because the network, ui, and pc issues all seem to be a thing of the past. If they had done this well when FFXI came out then I honestly believe that WoW and FFXI would be two rival MMORPGs instead of it just being WoW.

Edit: Thinking a little more, they would have also have made FFXI a little less hard core, but I still think technical issues were FFXI's main problem.
From a JP website interview with yoshida. Has high res images close up of the character model in-game. It's similar to 1.0 polish, shiny and good rendering to me. However, 1.0 character skin is still the same on 2.0 Alpha.
http://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/201211220009/image/26/

Don't worry too much, it still looks awesome.