The fact of the matter is

[Zion_Cross]

Source.
Unreal 3.
CryEngine 3.
Avalanche 2.0.
Frostbite 2.0.

There are enough engines out there that make Crystal Tools look like a kids toy.

And your above statement is seriously flawed. Take a look at this screenshot.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink
Notice the difference in the rocks just in front of me, and the sidewalk on the right. It's pretty clear to me it cannot render large sections with high resolution textures. It has a serious pop in effect due to an apparent lack of mipmap support.

Source isn't that amazing.
Unreal handles static meshes well and can be heavily modded
CryEngine 3 is being used for controlled areas and small playing fields
Avalanche... really?
Frostbite - Low poly models to compensate for the large maps it's used on.

Crystal engine takes advantage of the normal maps to no end to create an illusion that wins over every engine you mentioned concerning over MMO elements, not to mention the game already looks amazing when it comes to the details of every single individual model( Aka every single piece of armor or weapon). You can't put the cryengine 3 running on an MMO because it's already been designed into small scale play. You don't have 1k players in there noting the server every action they make. You have yourself and a programmed AI, let alone the amount of landscape put out into the world. UE3 isn't that much different either as it works under sections and devs have to use the same normal maps illusion to get by on the terrain and landscape. I won't get too much into detail, but, I will say this much - I feel that the world in ffxiv needs a bit of a jump start on moving npc's like in sandoria, more beastmen outside of towns working as scouts. If you kill on of the beastmen the other would run away into a dark corner of an uldahn mountain and spawn two others to give him some back up. If you kill him before then you might get an item or something. Something that speaks up a little bit of dynamic movement between the player and the atmosphere of the game.

To be frank it's the devs behind the engine that can make the most out of it and they do just that in their own controlled environment ( being the reason why the title games under their respective engines were built in such ways as either single player, small scale multi player, or massive online shooter ( which were low poly as hell on console ).

P.S. links busted.

[ShenDrakar]

While I agree that the server changes would probably be the most important change the devs could make to the game, changing the engine is out of the question in my book. Changing the engine in an MMO is kind of like changing ATV into a volkswagen, while it can been done and has been done, it requires a massive amount of work. The development of the Crystal Engine itself took about three years to complete and I personally don't see anything wrong with it. The engine can easily render massive areas beautifully with high resolution textures a feat that I have yet to see another engine pull off as well thus far. Because the server response is so bad, we aren't able to even scratch the surface of what the Crystal Engine can do.

...bootleneck VB...overheat...hummm yeah I still think it needs to be fixed.

[Zion_Cross]

I just want to ask the forum here... offtopic... How many of you use a mouse... really?

[Esk]

Me Zion.. G9x + N52te

I can access everything without having to move my hands off the controllers.
(vent, TS, macros, all the menus, the camera, I mean everything including out of game stuff like webpage's, card games while forming a group and so on.. now if only I could get the Pc to make me cups of tea or fetch beer...)
I only use my key bored to type .

[Zion_Cross]

Me Zion.. G9x + N52te

I can access everything without having to move my hands off the controllers.
(vent, TS, macros, all the menus, the camera, I mean everything including out of game stuff like webpage's, card games while forming a group and so on.. now if only I could get the Pc to make me cups of tea or fetch beer...)
I only use my key bored to type .

I must be an oldie ffxi player, cause all I use is the keyboard. Use the mouse to craft press wait and so on instead of the UI slow response. I ask cause I've always wondered who out there still plays the way XI was generally handled.

Also a sidenote, how's that n52 work out for you? what's your setup on the keys? Again offtopic

[Esk]

lol would be a long explanation and I'm off out in 10 for a bit, I'll pm you when im back later or in the morning save dragging the topic away from the OP..

But without the game pad I would probably be on the key bored myself.
For me they are amazing for gaming once you have them set up, far better then a key bored or control pad.
Much more versatile when paired with a good mouse and you can still have your key bored set up for other tasks if you need it.

[Tonka]

I agree with this OP so hard. I read about the upcoming changes and I get excited about things like chocobos and stuff and then I realize that there is no way I'm going to put up with that UI long enough to enjoy it. Until PC players at least have an option for a UI designed specifically for PC users, there is no way I'm giving this game another chance. But, I will keep popping into the Lodesetone (as I am doing now) to see any progress on this issue.

[Alexis_Arteme]

I believe this must continue to be discussed as I don't see much about it (yet) in the deluge of information that is 1.19.

Also OP should probably fix the title of the thread because it's not very accurate to the discussion.

[Betelgeuzah]

I believe this must continue to be discussed as I don't see much about it (yet) in the deluge of information that is 1.19.

Also OP should probably fix the title of the thread because it's not very accurate to the discussion.

I don't think I can. Otherwise I would.

You're absolutely right in that even though 1.19 looks great as expected, the mysterious server and engine modifications are nowhere to be seen. The timeframe is not important, though, as much as the actual scope of changes is... But knowing what they aim for (slight tweaks here and there or something more grandeur) would probably suffice.

[quantumsaint]

Me Zion.. G9x + N52te

I can access everything without having to move my hands off the controllers.
(vent, TS, macros, all the menus, the camera, I mean everything including out of game stuff like webpage's, card games while forming a group and so on.. now if only I could get the Pc to make me cups of tea or fetch beer...)
I only use my key bored to type .

Sorry to nitpick, but it's "keyboard." You keep writing "key bored." If that's just you being whimsical, carry on.

Again, sorry to be "that guy."

Also +1 the topic at hand.