They should scrap the PS3 version.

[Abriael]

You can't stream common assets, this is why games have minimum memory requirements to begin with. You could stream local assets but you'd still need to keep your common asset memory size constant for performance reasons.

Also I don't really see any evidence the ARR engine is streaming any assets except LOD. That will save on mipmapping memory requirements and nothing much else.

Which is exactly why memory restrictions have absolutely nothing to do with the reduction of the zone size. Zones have a theme, and even if they're not tiled anymore they use pretty much the same assets fitting that theme all over the zone. Having a zone even twice as big wouldn't cause many more assets to be loaded whether it's streaming or not, unless the theme changed radically from one side to the other, and it doesn't.

Your argument is centered around "the lead platforms are switched." Yes, this is a "basic" and "understandable" concept, however, your argument is still flawed.

It's not just MY argument. It's also Yoshida's argument, and if you think you know better then him, I'm sure you'll forgive me if i have a laugh.

That really doesn't matter. Even if the "main" version isn't held back, the other versions still are

And? It doesn't matter of the PS3 version is held back. That's the problem of PS3 players. I'm sure they'll have no problem deciding between not playing the game at all and playing it with lesser graphics.

and you still end up buying a new console later to keep playing when support is dropped.

There's no reason to believe that support will be dropped any time soon.

The problem of "we can't do this" is less pronounced, but problems still exist- Problems that would never happen if the game wasn't released on those non-upgradable platforms in the first place.

Nope. The problem does not exist, as most assets can be downgraded with a single click activating a batch operation and ALL assets can be downgraded in general to fit.

Wrong. I told you why it is ON the mark, and I do have an argument- which I spent a 10 mile long post explaining, and have continued to elaborate on there.

Your post being 10 mile long doesn't make it any less misguided and misleading. It's just misguided and misleading for 10 miles.

Cry as much as you want, but the PS3 version is here to stay, and PC gamers that actually know how this works have nothing to worry about it.

[Ladon]

Which is exactly why memory restrictions have absolutely nothing to do with the reduction of the zone size. Zones have a theme, and even if they're not tiled anymore they use pretty much the same assets fitting that theme all over the zone. Having a zone even twice as big wouldn't cause many more assets to be loaded whether it's streaming or not, unless the theme changed radically from one side to the other, and it doesn't.

Yes they do. As I said, the only evidence of stream we have are LOD assets (as per the benchmark for example) also the PS3 videos shown so far don't show any of the typical artifacts that would be present if the game was streaming local assets.

This means that it is highly unlikely that ARR engine supports asset stream as say UE3 might. This is also why it makes sense that zone size is restrictive as it is. Your zone size itself has no impact on network performance. From the network side, the main reason they went with a zoning system is that they can hard cap the amount of players that are in any given zone and this allows them to determine a solid capacity number they can work with.

It's far more likely that zone size is a product of assets they can load in a given area and if you start stretching your assets thin then you end up with the old 1.0, cut-n-paste and barren areas which I am sure they wanted to avoid at all costs.

[Abriael]

Yes they do. As I said, the only evidence of stream we have are LOD assets (as per the benchmark for example) also the PS3 videos shown so far don't show any of the typical artifacts that would be present if the game was streaming local assets.

This means that it is highly unlikely that ARR engine supports asset stream as say UE3 might.

ARR's engine is based on Luminous, that does support asset streaming.

This is also why it makes sense that zone size is restrictive as it is. Your zone size itself has no impact on network performance. From the network side, the main reason they went with a zoning system is that they can hard cap the amount of players that are in any given zone and this allows them to determine a solid capacity number they can work with.

It's not just that. If you have smaller zones and your content is well spread, your population will automatically be spread between more zones, resulting in less traffic per server in the cluster.

It's far more likely that zone size is a product of assets they can load in a given area and if you start stretching your assets thin then you end up with the old 1.0, cut-n-paste and barren areas which I am sure they wanted to avoid at all costs.

They don't need to stretch anything thin. Even if the areas aren't cut and paste, every game has themed texture packages. If you look at every ARR video and the benchmark you'll see that textures and models are kept consistent throughout a zone. They just aren't arranged in larger tiles for ease of placing like 1.0 did.

Which means that it doesn't really matter if a zone is 10000 square feet or 40000. The assets are still pretty much the same. They are just repeated in a much more clever and less sloppy way than they were in 1.0.

[Demacus]

From the network side, the main reason they went with a zoning system is that they can hard cap the amount of players that are in any given zone and this allows them to determine a solid capacity number they can work with.

That's funny. I thought this was why they went to a zoning system:

"The current maps in FINAL FANTASY XIV are not only massive, but allow for seamless passage across wide expanses of the realm. In order to maintain this seamlessness, however, we were forced to heavily reuse assets, resulting in static, repetitive areas.
To provide our users with areas that feel fresh and dynamic throughout the extended lifespan of the game, we are both revamping and redesigning area maps. We hope that this, in turn, will equate to increased opportunities for adventure."

"・Abolishing seamless areas to allow for more dynamic map design"

Quoted from the first FFXIV:ARR Roadmap
Link below:

http://gdl.square-enix.com/ffxiv/dow...Outline_EN.pdf