[Official High Resolution Textures Post] Can we get a clarification on this?

[Fetchem]

The sad thing is this is the whole reason I left EQ2, because Smokeblower took over and made all these changes, introduced a ton of bugs and ignored the playerbase. Then and to this day the devs expect players to help them fix the bugs and itemization issues. The 2 year attack/pathing bug that only got worse finally pushed me out. Everyone spin in circles, so we can hit the mob, lol. Anyway, point being that they lost alot of players, because of ignoring the players suggestions or telling them "Beastlords will never be in EQ2", then when it's profitable introduce them anyway.

 

I really don't care to experience deja vu with this game...deception does not build confidence.

[Segaki]

A lot of people cancelling thier subscriptions or not subscribing at all? Where do you think it'll lead?

 

Not to boast, but I have been working in the gaming industry for about 10+ years now, alot of that in support.

 

"I will quit playing" is something you learn first year, hardly is intimidating or true.

 

Why?

People comitted enough to speak up in the forums/ticket you wont lose.

 

The ones you never hear (wich is the community majority) are the ones to keep satisfied, and they are not represented by the ones speaking up.

 

So THIS is what you have to watch closely, while the community management pushes the rest in the right direction.

(Or even better the community itself does)

 

This is not a: haha

It's rather a very objective nudge to reality.

[Civix]

Bioware makes masterpieces, go enjoy some more amazing stories while we wait.

[VicSkimmr]

There is a difference in quality of what the OP did, and what is happening now.

 

Not saying it was wrong to bring up, just hate the way it went down now that we got hands down from Bioware.

 

They reply, open up don't try to silence it down, and they get a nerdrage.

Guess where that'll lead to...

 

Well, after the "solution" Stephen Reid provided, what else could be expected? They obviously knew what the reaction was going to be, otherwise they wouldn't have spent so much time trying to figure out how to spin it. As long as people are voicing their complaints in one manner or another, it will get the message across. Yeah, most people reply with highly immature replies claiming to cancel their subs or tacking on other gripes they have about the game. As long as this thread keeps growing at an exponential rate, the devs will realize that it's a high priority issue, and that's all that is really needed.

[CygnusMX]

I'm hoping Anti-ailising will be in this next patch tonight (Thursday)

its a step in the right direction and should be an improvement on an already nice looking game.

 

Next beast I hope they tackle would be High Rez, This is a really fun game,Ive no complaints about gameplay or design.

 

If they could High rez textures would be iceing on a really good cake.I hate seeing the graphic artists creations diminished just as a directors movies is "formatted to fit your Old 1981 Tube TV4:3 aspect ratio TV screen.

The director of these movies didnt intend to have their Epic scenes butchered down and cropped, and Ide like to see the art work by the graphic artists displayed as intended by the artists in ToR.

Edited January 12, 2012 by CygnusMX

[TerrorRizzing]

im not a console gamer, but im not going to sit here and rage about the textures. Overall this has been one of the best mmo launches and I think the biggest. Things are bound to improve, and I think its pretty damn good right now.

[Abruptum]

im not a console gamer, but im not going to sit here and rage about the textures. Overall this has been one of the best mmo launches and I think the biggest. Things are bound to improve, and I think its pretty damn good right now.

 

Emotive language doesn't help the topic. I'm not just "sit(ting) here and rag(ing) about the textures", I'm spending half an hour out of today trying to figure out why my game doesn't look how it did on the box when I bought it.

[sdream]

They reply, open up don't try to silence it down, and they get a nerdrage.

 

Well, see, it didn't happen because people rage if they don't get things their way (often they do, but this isn't the case). To me when I read Mr. Reid's response, I felt like he was treating people for fools and speaking for entire MMO industry i.e. you guys want what MMO industry can't offer you, because of the nature of the game. Yet, there are numerous examples of other MMOs who offer better graphic options in this day and age. Even a friend of mine, who's a rabid SW fan and ToR fan, couldn't defend such arrogant response.

 

Personally, I was underwhelmed when I saw this game in action for the first time to begin with. There are glaring deficiencies in the graphics quality department and now this. \

 

As someone else stated, you can't ride it out on the IP, this is very competitive market and there are number of big profile titles on the horizon i.e. Tera Online, The Secret World, Guild Wars 2. Sure, they might fail, especially first 2, but customers will go to check them out. And in many I cases, I believe, they'll unsubscribe from SWToR to do so. Can EA/Bioware take subscriber hit after investing so much money into this product? I don't know, but my guess is that there's very little margin for failure. And it's not the fact that the customers will come back, either.

[Caspian_Rho]

This whole thread makes me sick...With all the bugs out there for people to recycle this garbage is disgusting, no wonder they don't reply to every fanatical piece of crap thread out there.

 

WHO GIVES A CRAP IF YOU SEE YOUR TOON IN "MEDIUM" TEXTURE REZ!!!!!!

 

There are bugs that:

 

Prevent people from launching, playing, loading, fps issues, lag issues, flashpoint/op/pvp issues, etc...MAJOR in-game playability issues...AND this is the topic YOU choose to rant on? One that has ZERO effect on anything in this game.

 

What a joke. If they spend more than 10 seconds on this topic before addressing everything else out there, I would be pissed off.

 

And ya, you have a right to make this garbage thread and protest a VERY VERY VERY minor cosmetic issue with EA and BW, but I also have a right to post in here every page to remind people how idiotic and how much of a non isssue this really is.

 

I just wish more people would post the same.

 

Some of those issues you mentioned are tied into this texture issue actually. So it's addressing those concerns partially also.

[Zezel]

Not to boast, but I have been working in the gaming industry for about 10+ years now, alot of that in support.

 

"I will quit playing" is something you learn first year, hardly is intimidating or true.

 

Why?

People comitted enough to speak up in the forums/ticket you wont lose.

 

The ones you never hear (wich is the community majority) are the ones to keep satisfied, and they are not represented by the ones speaking up.

 

So THIS is what you have to watch closely, while the community management pushes the rest in the right direction.

(Or even better the community itself does)

 

This is not a: haha

It's rather a very objective nudge to reality.

 

Reallity is that in the MMO world (WoW, GW2 etc) can you afford to drop the ball on your release?

[TerrorRizzing]

Emotive language doesn't help the topic. I'm not just "sit(ting) here and rag(ing) about the textures", I'm spending half an hour out of today trying to figure out why my game doesn't look how it did on the box when I bought it.

 

well they did explain it, and it does look quite a bit better with aa which is coming in a patch or can be forced via driver.

[Cioffaz]

im not a console gamer, but im not going to sit here and rage about the textures. Overall this has been one of the best mmo launches and I think the biggest. Things are bound to improve, and I think its pretty damn good right now.

 

Agreed sir, this is why i'm here complaining AND playing.

 

The game is only one month old, is fun, we've waited for it years and we can wait for it some more months, but is not the right thing imho to promise a thing and then hide it somewhere...is not right to explain things with the phrase "it was a bug..."

 

To return in topic: let us choose

[Redorbz]

Might want to catch up on the thread... you missed some information.

 

And you're trolling if you are trying to claim WoW has better models.

 

This is certainly NOT trolling. I still have a wow account and I can tell you after logging in this morning that the T7 gear on my priest looks amazing compared to the muddled and fuzzy crap they expect us to accept on my Operative. My Lotro characters cosmetic set and my Rift armor also look WAY better, because of the resolution and shadows.

 

I was in Beta, I subbed based on what I saw there, and what I saw was gorgeous. You, who never saw it the way it was, and the way its supposed to look, have no idea.

 

And again, if you think wows current, or even 3 year old armor models (compared to the current lowres swtor ones) are not more hires, and clearer, with some beautiful and intricate details then your in denial, have no idea what your talking about, or have a low end system.

 

To the guy who said he worked as cust supp for a game listen up, its not just people posting who have noticed. Ive spoke with dozens of people who've never been to the forums, and THEY ALL NOTICED THIS ISSUE and were shocked to find out its not their machine, as they assumed, but that Bioware decided to bone us. In fact, thats how I discovered this issue. trying to fix what I thought was a problem on my own machine.

 

 

TLDR:

 

1)Wow, lotro and Rift armor sets (even the older ones) look better and more hires when compred to the current blurry, malformed ingame sets in swtor because of this issue.

 

2) LOTS of people have noticed this issue and assumed it was a problem on their end, and dismayed and upset to learn the truth.

 

3) This is a service we pay for not a product. Please everyone keep that in mind. You own a console game, you rent an mmo. Its like Netflix vs buying a DVD. vote with your dollars according to the quality of the serivce your receiving.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Redorbz

[Segaki]

As someone else stated, you can't ride it out on the IP, this is very competitive market and there are number of big profile titles on the horizon i.e. Tera Online, The Secret World, Guild Wars 2. Sure, they might fail, especially first 2, but customers will go to check them out. And in many I cases, I believe, they'll unsubscribe from SWToR to do so. Can EA/Bioware take subscriber hit after investing so much money into this product? I don't know, but my guess is that there's very little margin for failure. And it's not the fact that the customers will come back, either.

 

I do agree in some parts, yet it is also appearant from some recent examples that for example polish > content won't save you either.

I highly doubt there is a product manager out there yet that has the formula to keep all the three main branches of publishing in balance and winning the customers heart.

 

If so, I am eager to see the release his company is planning, and then I'll win him over to us.

 

Possibly I got a different viewpoint to this alltogether having experienced what I have so far, yet I hardly fail with my assumptions.

 

Also I know it is pretty futile to try to change the perception of some, as I would need to show them the other side, even more you need to let a community vent for some time to be able to slowly turn the tides again.

 

Reallity is that in the MMO world (WoW, GW2 etc) can you afford to drop the ball on your release?

You can't absolutely not.

 

The thing is, you need to identify the ball first.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Segaki

[Abruptum]

well they did explain it, and it does look quite a bit better with aa which is coming in a patch or can be forced via driver.

 

It doesn't matter if it's coming, I shouldn't have to wait or force it. We all purchased this game with the promise of much better graphics.

[Dubardo]

I don't care for the other character, at least just put a option to have my character always in HI-DEF.

 

It wont take much performance if it's only one character!

[Acesome]

Not to boast, but I have been working in the gaming industry for about 10+ years now, alot of that in support.

 

"I will quit playing" is something you learn first year, hardly is intimidating or true.

 

Why?

People comitted enough to speak up in the forums/ticket you wont lose.

 

The ones you never hear (wich is the community majority) are the ones to keep satisfied, and they are not represented by the ones speaking up.

 

So THIS is what you have to watch closely, while the community management pushes the rest in the right direction.

(Or even better the community itself does)

 

This is not a: haha

It's rather a very objective nudge to reality.

 

Right on! And as the game starts to hemorrhage subs they can switch to the F2P model.

Given the outlandish budget and absolute need for this game to be successful any person with a community college degree in business would desperately be combing over every aspect of the player base trying to make people happy.

 

They had great launch numbers in part due to the misleading required specs. You can already count the players that have been taken in by that particular gem of 'creative marketing' out of the sub pool.

 

Finally, I absolutely love this game....In my estimation it's the best MMO experience I've had since the first time I logged into U.O. and realized that the people around me weren't npc's. That however is being severely undercut by my disappointment with the way the larger issues are being handled and with the misleading tactic that were employed to boost launch figures.

 

I appreciate your insights, as disheartening as they are.

[sikandar]

Square's FF8 marketing:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8screen.jpg

 

The crap they actually delivered:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8game.jpg

[Redorbz]

That however is being severely undercut by my disappointment with the way the larger issues are being handled and with the misleading tactic that were employed to boost launch figures.

 

I appreciate your insights, as disheartening as they are.

 

^ This.

 

I dont know if its Bioware or if its EA. Ive seen EA make some absolutely terrible decisions in games in the past. I dont like or trust EA. It was one of the main arugments I had against subscribing to swtor in the first place. One of the top 3 things I wrestled with when deciding to sub to swtor was the fact that this game is partially owned and run by EA. This current issue is only one of many issues recently cropping up, which have shown me that they are going down that same path again.

 

They need to rethink their way of doing things, or hire a new team of leaders. because all the issues weve been having recently stem from that. This is a very, very bad sign.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Redorbz

[Archetypee]

Hey everyone, thanks for bearing with us as we investigated the concerns raised here.

 

After investigation, it seems that the confusion here is a combination of a UI issue that's been resolved and a feature that's working as intended, but the reason why it's 'working as intended' needs explanation.

 

First, the UI issue. The preferences menu as it is seen on the Public Test Server for version 1.1 of the game is correct - there are only supposed to be two texture choices, 'Low' and 'High'. This replaces the original three-choice preference of Low/Medium/High because in reality, there was never supposed to be a 'Medium' choice - that was a bug.

 

Here's where we need to explain. As many of you have noted, your character in the game world is rendered using lower resolution textures than inside of cinematic conversation scenes. This was a deliberate decision by the development team. To understand why this was done, I have to briefly talk about MMOs and their engines.

 

In comparison to single player games and other genres of multiplayer online games, MMOs have much higher variability in the number of characters that can be potentially rendered on-screen at the same time. In MMOs, even though most of the time you'll see a relatively small number of characters on screen, there are certain situations in which many more characters will be seen. Some examples of these situations include popular gathering places in-game (in our case, the two fleets), Operations with large teams, and Warzones. In those scenarios the client (and your PC) has to work hard to show off a lot of characters on-screen.

 

During development and testing of The Old Republic, our priorities were to ensure the game looked great and performed well. In testing, we discovered that using our 'maximum resolution' textures on in-game characters during normal gameplay could cause severe performance issues, even on powerful PCs. There were a variety of possible options to help improve performance, but one that was explored and ultimately implemented used what is known as a 'texture atlas'.

 

To understand that I've got to get technical for a minute. When a character in the game is 'seen' by another character - ie, gets close to your field of view - the client has to 'draw' that character for you to see. As the character is 'drawn' for you there are a number of what are known as 'draw calls' where the client pulls information from the repository it has on your hard disk, including textures, and then renders the character. Every draw call that is made is a demand on your PC, so keeping that number of draw calls low per character is important. With our 'maximum resolution' textures a large number of draw calls are made per character, but that wasn't practical for normal gameplay, especially when a large number of characters were in one place; the number of draw calls made on your client would multiply very quickly. The solution was to 'texture atlas' - essentially to put a number of smaller textures together into one larger texture. This reduces the number of draw calls dramatically and allows the client to render characters quicker, which improves performance dramatically.

 

When it comes to cinematic scenes, however, characters are rendered using the higher number of draw calls and maximum resolution textures. This is because in those scenes, we have control over exactly how many characters are rendered and can ensure that the game performs well. The transition between 'atlas textured' characters (out of cinematics) and 'maximum resolution' textures (in cinematics) is mostly hidden by the transition between those two states (when the screen goes black), but obviously it's clear if you pay close attention.

 

In summary; yes, we had a small UI bug that unfortunately caused confusion over how the game is intended to work. The textures you're seeing in the course of normal gameplay are optimized for that mode of play. The textures you're seeing during cinematics are also optimized for that mode of play. They are higher resolution, but that's because we're able to control cinematic scenes to ensure good performance in a way we can't during normal gameplay.

 

We understand the passion and desire for people to see the same textures you see in our cinematic scenes in the main game. Because of the performance issues that would cause for the client, that's not an immediate and easy fix; we need to ensure we're making choices that the majority of our players will be able to benefit from. Having 'atlassed textures' helps performance overall, and that's a very important goal for us.

 

With that said, we've heard your feedback here loud and clear. The development team is exploring options to improve the fidelity of the game, particularly for those of you with high-spec PCs. It will be a significant piece of development work and it won't be an overnight change, but we're listening and we're committed to reacting to your feedback.

 

 

Wow. That is horribly disappointing. This was probably the #1 thing I was looking forward to; improved textures.

[xRaVagEx]

Could someone point me in the direction of the class-action lawsuit brewing for the blatant false advertising that has been used. I'd like to sign up my support for it.

[shakunetsu]

Square's FF8 marketing:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8screen.jpg

 

The crap they actually delivered:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8game.jpg

 

Just because the horse fits doesn't mean you shouldn't buckle the sand.

[mcfabulous]

^ This.

 

I dont know if its Bioware or if its EA. Ive seen EA make some absolutely terrible decisions in games in the past. It was one of the main arugments I had against subscribing to swtor in the first place. One of the top 3 things I wrestled with when subbing was the fact that this game is partially owned and run by EA. This issue, is only one of many issues recently which have shown that they are going down that same path again.

 

this and who it quoted.

 

Square's FF8 marketing:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8screen.jpg

 

The crap they actually delivered:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8game.jpg

 

you seem to be overlooking the fact that they posted in real in game cinematics, not claimed it as in game footage (because it was actually in game footage bioware used)

[Ceridan]

Square's FF8 marketing:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8screen.jpg

 

The crap they actually delivered:

 

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/ff8game.jpg

 

To be frank... that first image was in game... in the intro movie if i'm not mistaking

[DThoran]

I have read the 3-4 full threads on this issue. My problem is this Mr. Reid. What's the problem giving those of us who have the ability to run high-rez, whether it be thru superior equipment or knowledge of how to set our cards/computers up correctly, the ability to run it? You state it like you are protecting us from bad performance by limiting the game for our own good. Nobody is going to accept such a stance, ever.

 

It feels like blowing smoke. I love Bioware. Have been a fan forever, and own literally every title even remotely connected with this studio that has been produced. For the first time, I am losing faith. Bad customer service is one thing, intentional misleading is another.

 

Fix the launcher and other problems that are still preventing some people from even logging in the game, fix the graphics, and on with the show. We are willing to give you beyond a reasonable amount of time, but even the most patient of us eventually lose hope. I know most on here are just screaming to scream. You will have that. I for one am playing my face off, and plan to continue. However, these problems will lose you subs, which will kill my experience. Please be honest and prompt. You don't have to take 3 or 4 days to get all your ducks in a row and cover your bases if you communicate the truth, and in a timely manner.

 

There were 3 people on my entire server for 6-7 hours yesterday. That does not profits make...