So... What Exactly ARE the PS3 Limitations

[Musashidon]

The limit will always be RAM. It is the number one reason

that is because rem is better

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Guys ... Do NOT equate "dropping PS3 support" with " removing PS3 as an option to play the game".

When they decide to not provide expansions for PS3, they will still continue to have PS3 players playing content prior to that/those expansions. IE - if they "drop" it with 5.0, PS3 players will still be able to play 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 content. If they maintain PS3 through 7.0, then 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, etc. content will be PC/PS4 only, but 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, and 7.0 content will still be available for PS3 players.

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.

[Kurogaea]

Guys ... Do NOT equate "dropping PS3 support" with " removing PS3 as an option to play the game".

When they decide to not provide expansions for PS3, they will still continue to have PS3 players playing content prior to that/those expansions. IE - if they "drop" it with 5.0, PS3 players will still be able to play 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 content. If they maintain PS3 through 7.0, then 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, etc. content will be PC/PS4 only, but 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, and 7.0 content will still be available for PS3 players.

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.

Just have to point out we were wrong here.
There's alot of threads about this....

[WhiteArchmage]

Wasn't it just very recently that SE shut down FFXI service for the PS2? Literally more than a decade after launch and several years after XI was relevant. What I'm not sure about is if XI continued to release expansions for the PS2 through all of its life or if they stopped at some point. That means that it could be around 10 years before XIV is a PC/PS4 exclusive and by that point we may just have the PS6 making the PS4 irrelevant.

[Istaru]

Wasn't it just very recently that SE shut down FFXI service for the PS2? Literally more than a decade after launch and several years after XI was relevant. What I'm not sure about is if XI continued to release expansions for the PS2 through all of its life or if they stopped at some point. That means that it could be around 10 years before XIV is a PC/PS4 exclusive and by that point we may just have the PS6 making the PS4 irrelevant.

Somewhat, their last expansion in 2013, Seekers of Adoulin, was released for PS2 but only in Japan.

[The_Last_Dragoon]

I played on the PS3 and I get where people are coming from on both sides of the issue. The game does "run" on the PS3 at low settings with a pretty stable frame rate, but it definitely has the lowest specs for the intended platforms. I personally expected them to drop PS3 support for the next expansion since we're talking about technology that's 10 years old, and that would lock in those limitations for another 2 years for new content. This doesn't mean that they won't let you play 2.X and 3.X content on PS3, but they won't allow you to access any new areas or continue the game without upgrading.

In terms of limitations, I personally noticed three major issues when playing:

• Any dungeon with a large number of cutscenes would pretty much add 2-3 minutes of wait time, which meant you'd always be behind others or that you'd always force the group to wait for you. These wait times also became much worse on high population servers when trying to teleport to Mor Dhona.
• It was pretty much impossible to do the Hunts when they came out or participate in Odin. You can't even deal damage with aoe if they aren't rendered on your screen, and their massive popularity in 2.X meant that anything more than 20 people meant you weren't going to see anything.
• Due to it's networking limitations, the PS3 version always had exraneous lag on enemy aoe, meaning that people on the PS3 pretty much had to either predict when these attacks would happen and already be mid-dodge or react immediately with no hesitation in order to dodge even the longest charge times on avoidable aoes.

If you notice, the first two issues prevent SE from putting in an event where you either get cutscenes or transition in the middle of a fight, or from putting too much emphasis on Hunts and anything they might implement as non-instanced content. So yes, the PS3 is and always has held back content in the game, even if it is stable in regular instanced content.

[Reynhart]

If you notice, the first two issues prevent SE from putting in an event where you either get cutscenes or transition in the middle of a fight, or from putting too much emphasis on Hunts and anything they might implement as non-instanced content. So yes, the PS3 is and always has held back content in the game, even if it is stable in regular instanced content.

No, it doesn't. You don't put cutscene in the middle of the fight, because you're not sure that people will play those at the same rate. Some will skip, some will read the dialog in a flash, some will take screenshots of everything that happen...like what often happend in T4 once you activate the elevator.
It you talk about putting a cutscene in between two fights in the same instance, we have that at the end of Aetherochemical Research Facility.

As for hunts and large FATEs, it's also false, since they made a great comeback in HW, and it doesn't really restrict PS3 players' progress in the long run anyway.

These options not being available IS a limitation of the console as it was not designed for people to customize their graphic settings.

But it's not limiting what PC and PS4 players can do. The graphic setting are made to be flexible, especially to provide adequate gameplay for higher and lower specs. After all, DirectX12 offered a graphical upgrade while PS3 stayed the same.

There was no confirmed issue with PS3 support when it comes to how the game runs on PC and PS4.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Yea, that was a surprise. I have to wonder how many are going to take advantage of that PS3->PS4 upgrade program this time around though. If there was still a significant number of people on PS3, I can't believe they'd drop it - and if there's not, then why go through the hassle of another free upgrade program?

[Kurogaea]

Yea, that was a surprise. I have to wonder how many are going to take advantage of that PS3->PS4 upgrade program this time around though. If there was still a significant number of people on PS3, I can't believe they'd drop it - and if there's not, then why go through the hassle of another free upgrade program?

I don't think too many, but if they're reeaally loving the game, someone will make the jump. They should've added the PC transfer service too since they're dropping the whole system. My friend has a pretty good gaming laptop but prefers consoles. No source of income for him so he's in a bit of a pickle atm X(

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.

I see your point. Even then it seems rather cut throat (i hope i used that analogy right lol). I'm on PS4 and most of the new special UI features are not even used by me and I do just as much as PC players, mind you its still utilizing the basic features of my PS3 version of way back when. Someone said something about focus targeting though, what was that about?

[Niwashi]

I have to wonder how many are going to take advantage of that PS3->PS4 upgrade program this time around

I wonder if they're expanding on that. Last time the upgrade program was specifically for going to PS4 because that was the whole reason why they had it, because the PS4 version was just released.

This time, if it's because of dropping PS3 support, it really should be a PS3 to *any* other supported platform upgrade. Just beacuse someone has been on the PS3 version doesn't mean they have access to a PS4 (or want one). They should be able to take their pick of transferring their game to PS4, PC, or Mac. It really wouldn't be fair if they limited it to the same PS3->PS4 upgrade program they did before.