Quote Originally Posted by Saccharin View Post
...and the problem 1.0 had is that they went overboard with the graphics quality so the game caused issues with people that didn't have the latest gaming rig. If you want an MMO to be successful you need to open it up to as many players as possible. I didn't play in 1.x and maybe it did look better but the game as it is now looks great and most importantly it uses little system resources even up fairly high; the devs did a great job with the client. The bottoms were reshaped to allow for better gear. Bigger bums cause problems with the gear.
1.0 had an engine that allowed for gear deformation so they wouldn't have to resize each set manually. And allowing for different graphic options for higher tier computers shouldn't be detrimental to lower end machines.

But as much as I would seriously love to have the physics back, there's the issue of animation cancel/merging. That sort of thing really would require all machines be on the same level of capability, and as it is, those features where removed specifically to allow for the new battle system and lower end machines. Not to mention weakened server-client relations that would result in characters seeming to walk over/through walls, which was a real problem in 1.0.

I do hate the stiff mechanical animations we have now in comparison, but unfortunately it comes at a price that would demand the whole game be reworked yet again, or some really intense engineering at a cost I doubt Square would find comparable to the reward.