So... What Exactly ARE the PS3 Limitations

[Kurogaea]

...

What the PS3 does to treat their limitations:

Lowered Frame Rate

Lowered Textures

Decreased Shadow Quality

Removed Specific Physics (boobs, clothes, etc)

Lowered Viewing Distance (PS3 players see less far away objects and beings than PS4)

Lowered Resolution

Less player clutter in populated areas (reducing memory usage and prioritizing things like monsters and bosses)

and more that I can't think of atm.

These are PS3 limitations, but these do NOT effect the game as a whole, or PS4 or PC players. For one, the devs create content for this game. With what they have now, saying limitations on PS3 is because how things are going now is hilarious. Diadem? Nah, totally PS3 limitations. Airships being un-drivable, yep, dem limitations. Every dungeon after 3.0 being a blatent tribute to FF13, WOOOT, limitations. BS, double BS.

Its a crap excuse for lack of content when players request things on the forums because others have no other excuse for it to not be in the game. Someone says PS3 limitations? Ask them why SE added Lord of Verminion which is probably the most boring minigame to date, as well as tidbits of other useless crap such as Diadem, Airships which are giant retainers that you send out, and we alllll know what squadrons will be, because PS3 LIMITATIONS. Get real.

SE can't come up with innovative content due to cowardly players too afraid to jump over ropes, have ideas taken from forum threads that are not official, or anything that (god forbid) messes with their immersion. Right, they need to Let it Go, like the Shiva achievement. Pfft

[Kosmos992k]

All too often, people throw out the excuse of "PS3 limitations" when asked why certain features don't exist in the game or why changes can't be made. Examples include:

- We can't have more inventory because of PS3 limitations
- We can't wear two hats because of PS3 limitations
- Balmung exists because of PS3 limitations
- PS3 limitations are the reason we can't seperate Balmung into it's own server away from everyone else

So, has the developer given a list of any actual PS3 limitations? Has anything been confirmed to be missing/unchangeable due to PS3 limitation that aren't heresay?

EDIT: Rephrasing to clarify. What I'm asking is what total game additions/changes cannot be made due to the PS3 being the limiting factor. In other words, what are PC/PS4 players missing out on because the PS3 flat-out couldn't handle it?

Very large zones might be an issue due to memory limitations. Solo PS3 games resolve this by streaming data overlays as players move around to give the impression of a larger field. In an MMORPG there are many external data factors due to the online interactive nature of the game that make that more difficult.

Large scale battles are a problem on PS3 because it cannot render the same number of players, NPCs and monsters, as well as other objects as PCs/Mac or PS4. This would be the largest limitation I can think of in fact. The game is client server after all, so the client can scale to the platform.

Hmmm. Well first and foremost we can start with High Definition textures. These will take up more RAM for the game to process visually along with character models etc. .

That is not a PS3 limitation, that is an SE decision. they could easily create a high definition texture pack for high end PCs and even have the textures scale depending on platform, and have the PS3 continue to use the existing textures as the default base resolution. It's pretty well false to call this a PS3 limitation.

[MugenMugetsu]

That is not a PS3 limitation, that is an SE decision. they could easily create a high definition texture pack for high end PCs and even have the textures scale depending on platform, and have the PS3 continue to use the existing textures as the default base resolution. It's pretty well false to call this a PS3 limitation.

Ok. My bad. I was implying that the HD textures would be provided for all platforms, and because the PS3 would not be able to handle the addition of an HD texture pack, the PS3 is limiting/holding back the game because like I stated, SE wants all players to have a similar experience, and this could very well be the reason why SE has decided to not provide us with an HD texture pack. Therefore, PS3 limitation.

[Annah]

That is not a PS3 limitation, that is an SE decision. It's pretty well false to call this a PS3 limitation.

That's still a PS3 Limitation.

The question wasn't: "why hasn't SE upgraded the graphics in this game?" It was based on PS3 limitations. It's def a PS3 limitation

[Niwashi]

That's still a PS3 Limitation.

The question wasn't: "why hasn't SE upgraded the graphics in this game?" It was based on PS3 limitations. It's def a PS3 limitation

Though it's limited on PS3, it's equally limited on a lot of PCs. Not all PCs are high-end gaming rigs that can handle all the high-def extras. So even if it were to be added, it would have to be an optional feature, where you could run either PC with high def or PC without high def. That definitely falls into the category of features they could leave out of the PS3 version without affecting PS4 or PC.

It's a PS3 limitation only in the sense that the option wouldn't be available on that system (or other low-end systems, either). But it's not a PS3 limitation in the sense that it makes PS3 hold the rest of the game back, because it doesn't.

[Chessala]

Guys ... Do NOT equate "dropping PS3 support" with " removing PS3 as an option to play the game". [SNIP]
Removing PS3 as a client for previously-existing content will not come for YEARS after they stop bringing the new content to PS3 - if it even comes before they shut FFXIV down.

Yes, the old content will still be available for PS3 still BUT SE would be free to make changes to it like improving the graphics, UI etc. and would not need to give any heed if PS3 players can still play. Alas, they like hiding incompetence behind "limitations" so they will delay it as much as possible.

Though it's limited on PS3, it's equally limited on a lot of PCs. Not all PCs are high-end gaming rigs that can handle all the high-def extras. So even if it were to be added, it would have to be an optional feature, where you could run either PC with high def or PC without high def. That definitely falls into the category of features they could leave out of the PS3 version without affecting PS4 or PC.

It's a PS3 limitation only in the sense that the option wouldn't be available on that system (or other low-end systems, either). But it's not a PS3 limitation in the sense that it makes PS3 hold the rest of the game back, because it doesn't.

The beauty of PCs is that they are in many cases easy to upgrade. Need more RAM? Get some for cheap for example. Also, as you mentioned, PCs are flexible, they can run a game at different quality points. Does your PC not hold the uber graphics? Simply drop some aspect of the graphic quality and you are back in game. These options not being available IS a limitation of the console as it was not designed for people to customize their graphic settings.

[Riardon]

Let's not forget they will have to support PS4 Pro, XBOX One (if the talks with MS will be successful) and the upcoming XBOX project Scorpio (if FFXIV comes to XBOX). PS3 support drop will mean they will be free to develop and provide for us better graphics and better gameplay (more effects, more complex and larger scale battles, larger areas etc).

[Yurimi]

While I am sure there are some limitations for the game due to the aging of the PS3's hardware 90% of the limitations people are claiming are simply due to poor optimization or coding, or a lack of willingness on SE's part to actually impliment something. Those clamoring for high resolution textures but say they wont make them because of ps3 for example I would like to question how you think they make them to begin with. Most every artist starts with an ultra high resolution creation then it is downscaled to be put in engine. The reason the PC doesnt get these is because SE has not and probably will not release them. A lot of the "PS3 limitations" for features that people like to blame are often back end coding implimentations that run server side so blame poor server hardware and coding for most issues. There are some limitations the PS3 cant overcome, it does indeed have limited RAM that is shared between video and system memory but that is where things like draw distance low poly models view fogging and the like can be implimented. Most people want to blame the console but really they should be blaming the programmers lazy spaghetti code and poorly optimized server architecture.

[The_NPC]

as a person who went PS3 to PS4, I can state there are a few things that are diff between both versions: Resolution detail (Texture & draw distance), number of players visable at once (good luck making to a Zerged hunt & seeing it on PS3), speed of information loading (also affecting previous example with Hunts), Effects & slight animations (the shine from gather nodes is dimmer on PS3, also "Jiggle-physics" aren't used on PS3 but are on PS4 then there the shine effect they added to floors in 3.3 that PS3 can't have)

I doubt the PS3 is acutually "Holding us back" like said (as the game is only slightly diferent between PS3 & PS4 but its still playable on PS3 (u just miss out on "Fluff" effects is all) I thinks its more SE & Dev's atempts to keep the only diff being these "fluff" effects (look at the diff between DA: Inquision, PS4 just has more background NPC's & stuff when it ant a cutscene both are playable just 1 "looks" cooler due to having more "Fluff" is all))

[Airget]

I doubt the PS3 is acutually "Holding us back" like said (as the game is only slightly diferent between PS3 & PS4 but its still playable on PS3 (u just miss out on "Fluff" effects is all) I thinks its more SE & Dev's atempts to keep the only diff being these "fluff" effects (look at the diff between DA: Inquision, PS4 just has more background NPC's & stuff when it ant a cutscene both are playable just 1 "looks" cooler due to having more "Fluff" is all))

The thing is, it's because of the PS3 that the differences between PS3 and PS4 are subtle. It's because they couldn't just outright make PS4 superior and then just say "tough luck PS3." This is a key reason why the whole modding thing they've promised to allow people to have more control over customizing their UI hasn't been released yet. Because if they released it, PS3 wouldn't be able to handle it and it would just create a huge fracture between the community because people who are on PS3 would potentially be penalized for not being able to have certain aspects only accessible through PS4/PC.

Content is also developed with mininum requirements in mind, while they can make it look nicer or slightly increase the head count of people you can see in PS4/PC, they can't release content that would hinder PS3 players ability to play through it. So with that respect the slight differences are due to having to keep that in mind.