Ah Geez,
"For non-expansion users, it would stand to reason that the major (if not
sole) barrier between them and DirectX 7+ play would be the Vah Shir model."
Obviously you never played on the test server the final few weeks before the
release of Luclin, when they implemented the DirectX 8.1 coding. There were
no new models, no new menus, interfaces, etc. The old world flew... The
"old" models under the character selection screen spun so fast, they were
making me dizzy. :) The introduction of DX8 streamlined the entire game
(old and new graphics). This also made room, from a graphical latency
standpoint, to provide an engine that could handle the new models as well as
upgraded resolution for every texture in the game.
"I think you're misreading my arguments, I don't in any way feel that it's
necessary for Verant to offer backward compatability for expansion users."
**** Previous Post
"There has been no enhancements (at least to my knowledge) of the pre-Luclin
graphics aside from the new character models all of which can be disabled
except for the Vah Shir model. By allowing users to get by with an older
version of DirectX, older video cards are still acceptable."
*****
Not sure how I could have misread you. You wish that they would offer the
old DX7 compatible engine.. Alongside the new DX8 engine. There is no way
to offer such a implementation other then having multiple engines. Again,
this expansion and update goes beyond the addition of the Vah Shir model.
See the first paragraph... Heck read it from the developers themselves ->
http://eq.castersrealm.com/viewarticle.asp?Article=3966
"If it came at no significant cost, everyone would want the improved
graphics (except that silly new troll model ;) but there is a cost involved,
and one that a significant portion of people are unwilling to pay."
Yeah that's like saying why do I need a color T.V.. Everyone would love a
color one if they could afford it, yet a significant portion of people are
unwilling to pay. Move beyond the past. Please remember... the days of
going to Radio Shack and paying outrageous prices for PC hardware has been
replaced by the overwelming competition these days. Computer parts now
(unless your insisting on having the top of the line in home computing) are
cheap. And even the specifications introduced with the expansion fall well
within the "Cheap" hardware range.
"Bah, that was just a way of expressing that to myself and more than a few
others, RPGs are more about content and depth than pretty pictures. If you
want stylish graphics, go play Quake or something. The graphics on most
first person shooters are far superior to even the new Luclin models."
With the intro of Luclin they added both content as well as graphic
enhancements. Who cares about Quake... If some night I feel like playing it
that would have nothing to do with the graphics. In my past post I limited
my comparison to other MMORPG's. And I would have to say the detail on the
new luclin models are nothing to scoff at.
"As things moved on, their games got worse and worse, but it was their
pushing
graphical boundaries initially that started their decline. (notice that
Sierra who put out just as many horrid games, if not more, but at least
stuck to reasonable requirements, is still around and successful today)"
Yeah well nothing like complaining about pushing graphical boundaries...
That just sounds silly :). Some reason I never found their games to be
taxing on my system in the least. I was even running and old 286 at the
time. I sincerely doubt that the requirements they requested (that was the
pre-3d accelerated cards era) had any significance with their demise. I
remember that they spent well over 4 million dollars to create Wing
Commander 3, and even hired Mark Hamil *Luke Skywalker* as the lead roll in
their live action segments. Their demise came from losing their deal with
LucasArts for the creation of the X-wing series. Which if any of you
remember required the same hardware standards as the Wing Commander line,
the only difference was that Star Wars magic. Origin from that point was
Dead.
"(again, referring to people who cannot play EQ Classic due to the patches,
not people who are unable to run Luclin)"
All I hear is a violin playing in the background. I'm willing to bet that a
majority of the players out there that have problems right now , apart from
a few bugs, are due to the retirement of Windows 95. If Microsoft had
released a final DX8 for that OS I doubt we would even be having this
dialogue. But then again, does a **gaming** company compete by supporting
an OS that's over 7 years old now and which is retired? Even that question
in itself sounds ridiculous to ask. Well we will see, aye if you like the
game I believe you will find that loyal customers will find a way to play.
This doesn't even include the number of players out there still running
Voodoo cards - that's a whole different issue in itself.
Later Guys/Gals,