This....needs to be replaced ASAP

[Amnmaat]

Look at any modern 3D video game from the last 10 years and you'll see the same thing across the board: anything that isn't directly interactable in the environment or extreme background like your image is low polly or just a simple flat image. This so the dev team doesn't have to waste time with extra work and like I said, to not put a strain on some systems. Just because your CPU/GPU might not explode from the extra burden of needless textures doesn't mean other's won't.

Do you realize that these environment design choices have everything to do with 32bit OS limitations (computers people bought before 2008) and not about today's computers? The ps3 specifically held 2.0 areas back because it virtually had no RAM in it. You're not really understanding the hardware that today's gamers are using.

I never said otherwise. I merely repeated what Yoshida has said. I have enough criticisms about how the game can be handled, but I feel more keen to listen to him on concerns of staffing compared to a forum poster. On the topic of the forums, NA Forums actually don’t see a lot of activity or input from the developers or community mods. I hear they are more active on the JP forums, so perhaps it is a language thing. I’m sure they read some of the threads, but they probably pay attention to the ones that are fairly large and egregious (like Housing, for example).

I feel like you’re seriously underestimating the time it would take for them to go back and make textures for every thing you find unsatisfactory. I don’t think that this is a large enough complaint to really get priority over other things at this time. Not when there are other complaints that more people find concerning and that probably need to be seriously addressed—like the Housing system or healer balance, to give two hot topics right now.

I personally don’t care either. HD Textures would be nice, but I can play the game just fine as it is. The random low resolution trees or rocks in the far distance don’t bother me even at 2K.

Nothing's stopping you from advocating for those issues you think they should work on.
I feel the game's quality should be upped to the standard they have already set. Some textures/locations could use patching up.

[Joven]

Do you realize that these environment design choices have everything to do with 32bit OS limitations (computers people bought before 2008) and not about today's computers? The ps3 specifically held 2.0 areas back because it virtually had no RAM in it. You're not really understanding the hardware that today's gamers are using.

You can only speak for your own hardware, not other's. They want as many people as they can to play the game so it needs to be able to run on as many systems as possible. Before I upgraded my GPU I had to use my on-board graphics which, while the game ran fine, it still struggled at times.