If it were only graphical, I'd agree. If I'm correctly remembering what the other MMO did, it completely eliminated the transfer of data regarding individual equipment and character models. Would that not drastically reduce server load here? Especially given the current max characters displayed and how frequently current characters displayed changes, would that not free up enough resources to warrant implementing?

Granted, in the grand picture character model data probably accounts for a small percentage of the overall processing power and bandwidth, yet small changes can sometimes allow for a great impact. *Real example: business changed over last year from halogen to LCD bulbs. Energy consumption was noticeably smaller -a few thousand dollars less (no other significant power changes were made); a big change from a small percentage of our energy usage.* My point being, in the course of a single event, a small change in server load could provide noticeable benefits.