Full disclosure: My computer isn't the best by any stretch of the imagination. It was built in 2012. Overprovisioned for the time (32GB of RAM), but the motherboard is 10 years old. I don't have an RTX card, I don't have a raid array, and I don't have a 1440p monitor, and won't any time soon.

 

That said, I'm seeing people on the forums complain about possible upgrades to various parts of the game that might result in higher texture densities.

 

Feel free to make some grandiose display of holding your account hostage if you want (it doesn't work), but please don't penalize the rest of us who want the game to advance by convincing EA that these updates should not occur.

 

And please don't ask that EA subsequently spend the rest of the year or however long developing some buggy two-tier system to support the graphical haves versus have-nots.

 

Turn down your shader complexity. Turn down your shadow quality. Pull back on the anti-aliasing. Turn off enhanced shadows. Turn down grass, trees, and shadow map resolution.

 

But don't sit there and whine to the point that EA abandons what some would welcome as a wonderful first step at improving old content. It's not fair to the rest of us.

• Fixing longstanding bugs
  
• Fixing more recent bugs
  
• Solving longstanding problems
  
• QoL improvements
  
• Restoring all removed content
  

 

All these things should be prioritized before a graphical update.

2012 is ancient in PC terms. So you mention you have 32GB RAM but the more telling parts are your CPU and GPU. I also don't have an RTX card (GTX 1070 Ti) and I do run 1440p but my CPU is at 4.5 Ghz and I have 16 GB RAM. So I can run this game without problems at 1440p and ultra settings.

 

It's my view that BioWare are not very good at coding and so for them to take a new engine that is only half finished and then finish it themselves was always going to be troublesome. What I'm saying is that they may not be able to fix this anymore. So then I'm like, well, either I accept that and build a PC accordingly or I don't accept it but then I'll be like Don Quixote fighting windmills.

 

I guess that's the path you chose. I commend you for the principle of it, but it's not a very practical approach all things considered. It's just not realistic and I wish BioWare had learned their lesson and had gone back to using proper engines, but no, they had to adapt Frostbite to RPG style games. Frostbite is great but it's not great for RPGs. So they keep failing at it. Anthem was the latest in that and the menu structure like not being able to have a proper inventory and not being able to equip new gear outside in the world, etc. are all due to that as far as I'm concerned. They just insist on focusing their efforts and take what they're good at for granted so also there the quality goes down.

 

So yeah, I get it, but it's not realistic in my view. (Provided I got your post because I'm actually having to guess at what you're getting at).

• Fixing longstanding bugs
  
• Fixing more recent bugs
  
• Solving longstanding problems
  
• QoL improvements
  
• Restoring all removed content
  

 

All these things should be prioritized before a graphical update.

 

Absolutely agree with this 100%.

 

Graphical updates can wait until game breaking bugs are fixed. Then and only then, should they look at tweaking graphics. Because otherwise they are building on a faulty foundation of bugs and it’s like a house of cards waiting to tumble.

You don’t build new structures on faulty structures, which is what the OP is suggesting (probably without realising it). You fix the old structure and supports first and then you Addon your renovations or second floor.

Feel free to make some grandiose display of holding your account hostage if you want (it doesn't work), but please don't penalize the rest of us who want the game to advance by convincing EA that these updates should not occur.

 

Why whatever do you mean? All we have to do is put pressure on BW by writing lots of unhappy forum posts and they will certainly do what we say. My aunt Karen swears by it.

 

And please don't ask that EA subsequently spend the rest of the year or however long developing some buggy two-tier system to support the graphical haves versus have-nots.

Don't you have any empathy for your fellow players? Just because your system is fine does not give you the right to preemptively complain about other people complaining. How can you be so callous? Now me I would never make a thread like this because I am compassionate to the plight of others! Aha, but wait you're complaining about complaining which therefore (somehow) invalidates your argument!

Edited July 30, 2020 by Ardrossan

That's not Bioware's choice. That's EA dictating to Bioware, "you will use Frostbite to develop this game. No exceptions!" because "Oh, it works for CoD, so it should work for other games." EA is too kriffing cheap to either develop their own engine for a genre other than FPSs or license one for other genres. The one time they allowed a studio to license an engine, they kriff it up by using an engine that wasn't even finished at the time of development (HeroEngine) and then modifying it to the point they can't just upgrade it. They would've been better off developing their own engine.

 

EA also exercises too much control over their subsidiaries. You can't just have one engine for all types of games and expect it to run them well. Classic jack of all trades, master of none.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Tofu_Shark

2012 is ancient in PC terms. So you mention you have 32GB RAM but the more telling parts are your CPU and GPU. I also don't have an RTX card (GTX 1070 Ti) and I do run 1440p but my CPU is at 4.5 Ghz and I have 16 GB RAM. So I can run this game without problems at 1440p and ultra settings.

 

It's my view that BioWare are not very good at coding and so for them to take a new engine that is only half finished and then finish it themselves was always going to be troublesome. What I'm saying is that they may not be able to fix this anymore. So then I'm like, well, either I accept that and build a PC accordingly or I don't accept it but then I'll be like Don Quixote fighting windmills.

 

I guess that's the path you chose. I commend you for the principle of it, but it's not a very practical approach all things considered. It's just not realistic and I wish BioWare had learned their lesson and had gone back to using proper engines, but no, they had to adapt Frostbite to RPG style games. Frostbite is great but it's not great for RPGs. So they keep failing at it. Anthem was the latest in that and the menu structure like not being able to have a proper inventory and not being able to equip new gear outside in the world, etc. are all due to that as far as I'm concerned. They just insist on focusing their efforts and take what they're good at for granted so also there the quality goes down.

 

So yeah, I get it, but it's not realistic in my view. (Provided I got your post because I'm actually having to guess at what you're getting at).

 

Apparently Star Wars Squadrons uses the new version of the Frostbite engine and it seems to do fairly well according to all reviews.

Of course it is more of a flight sim than an RPG, so I don’t know if it would work as a replacement to the Hero engine,

Apparently Star Wars Squadrons uses the new version of the Frostbite engine and it seems to do fairly well according to all reviews.

Of course it is more of a flight sim than an RPG, so I don’t know if it would work as a replacement to the Hero engine,

 

Looking at DA:I, ME:A and Anthem. Love or hate any of those games but the menu structure is clunky at best. It's like going back 20 years. I'm sure that Squadrons will be great. Not saying the Frostbite engine is bad, on the contrary, but it's not suited for RPGs and so BioWare wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to make it work for RPGs and failed in my opinion. Look at their latest work Anthem as I mentioned already.

 

I'm saying that they should've used a finished engine rather than half-assing a half-finished engine for this game as well. They just don't seem to want to learn from their mistakes. Just think of all the time spent, wasted on finishing that engine and how much that cost the company. I'd like to see a comparison between that and just buying the use of an already finished engine.

 

I'm sure that reworking Frostbite saves money on the one hand but on the other hand when you spend a lot of time on reworking it and then releasing an inferior product, you could wonder what's the sense in that.

 

Be that as it may, the SWTOR hero engine is what it is and I don't think they're going to replace it, so we might as well make the best of it. The entire game breathes workaround so that goes for the hardware you use for it as well. In the end we are still here because whatever it isn't, it's still a great game overall.

So yeah, I get it, but it's not realistic in my view. (Provided I got your post because I'm actually having to guess at what you're getting at).

 

What I got from the post is him urging other players not to discourage EA from updating the system purely because their (players) older/crummier PCs might not be able to handle such an update, and that trying to discourage EA from updating the systems is unfair to players who's PCs can handle such an update, or who want it. Him bringing up his own PC specs is just to say "Hey, my PC isn't new, powerful and shiny either but I still advocate an update of the game graphics/engine", and ending with a "Don't complain and just turn your settings down if your PC can't handle it".

 

That's the gist I got. I was a bit confused initially too as I thought, going off the title, it was directed at EA, but it's just a bit of player policing.

 

That said, I'm seeing people on the forums complain about possible upgrades to various parts of the game that might result in higher texture densities.

 

Feel free to make some grandiose display of holding your account hostage if you want (it doesn't work), but please don't penalize the rest of us who want the game to advance by convincing EA that these updates should not occur.

 

But don't sit there and whine to the point that EA abandons what some would welcome as a wonderful first step at improving old content. It's not fair to the rest of us.

 

Does this mean you support them adding updates for various parts of the game that might result in higher texture densities, or not? I get confused with these sentences they sort of contradict each other in my mind. Or maybe I am just having trouble comprehending today lol.

Let's be realistic. This game still exist, because they make some decent money with the cartel market with probably a tiny team and a few small content updates from time to time.

It's only a guess, but I think they took most of the experienced devs over to Anthem, leaving this game with a core of less experienced or new, cheap coders, that have to churn out small, monetizable content while trying to work with legacy code in a not so great state.

 

When you have so few resources and you have to spend them on new cartel market updates and some minor story content, you just can't do much more. You can fix the occasional bug, especially some new bugs that you introduced because your team is not familiar with all the code, and do some minor improvements. You can also create a new stronghold from time to time, so that players keep spending on decorations.

 

I don't expect the graphics to improve, I don't expect new content on a much larger scale than we got in the past year and I don't expect them to fix a lot of the bugs. Simply, because I guess (again, this is all guess work of course) that they just don't have the resources to do more.

Does this mean you support them adding updates for various parts of the game that might result in higher texture densities, or not? I get confused with these sentences they sort of contradict each other in my mind. Or maybe I am just having trouble comprehending today lol.

It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who got confused at just what they were saying. Between the poor sentence structure and vague arguments, it's hard to tell.

 

But, even more on topic, SWTOR is mostly CPU limited and improving the graphics shouldn't affect too many players, except some who are trying to play with really bottom end graphics like Intel Integrated graphics or a bargain basement nVidia card. Plus there's always the fact that you can turn the graphics settings down (or up).

It Could be worse...

 

BW & EA may decide to just transfer everything to new servers and force us all to start from square one even though the important things like collections and subscription service would stay the same.

It Could be worse...

 

BW & EA may decide to just transfer everything to new servers and force us all to start from square one even though the important things like collections and subscription service would stay the same.

 

I think if they forced everyone to start from square one, they'd lose a lot of players.

What I got from the post is him urging other players not to discourage EA from updating the system purely because their (players) older/crummier PCs might not be able to handle such an update, and that trying to discourage EA from updating the systems is unfair to players who's PCs can handle such an update, or who want it. Him bringing up his own PC specs is just to say "Hey, my PC isn't new, powerful and shiny either but I still advocate an update of the game graphics/engine", and ending with a "Don't complain and just turn your settings down if your PC can't handle it".

 

That's the gist I got. I was a bit confused initially too as I thought, going off the title, it was directed at EA, but it's just a bit of player policing.

 

Ahh right. Think I misinterpreted it then.

Why whatever do you mean?

The people who threaten to rage-quit at changes (and then subsequently boomerang back to the game again, and again, and again, as some on this forum do). Not only is EA not swayed by doing that, the person doing it loses influence for doing it, not gain.

You shouldn't even bothered, OP. These days devs can't even make a small patch without some bugs, do you think they gonna try to do something as big as graphics update?

 

Anyone who seriously asks about it today falls into one of 2 catagories: 1) really delusional about current state of game or 2) Is a new or returning player. Hell. the last thread was made by a guy who hasnt played since 2013.

 

So yea, we are in no danger of receiving any graphics update.

Okay, since some people are confused by my post, I apologize. It comes down this:

 

1. I do not have God's gift to gaming computers. Any update that occurs may hamper me to an extent, whatever that extent may be, just as it would other players.

 

2. That does not mean I want to see EA halt or abandon plans for updates because people with aging, underequipped, underpowered computers scream on the forums for them not to make the changes.

Edited July 30, 2020 by xordevoreaux

Excuse me game support no even said a thing it no mke you right to hack me delected my chracter i specnd money i was playing hard says and hours to gear up to be allow to do the things on game i dont have alts or hackeinggame content

i not in guild

So yea, we are in no danger of receiving any graphics update.

Can I quote you later with a lot of LOLs if it happens?

Can I quote you later with a lot of LOLs if it happens?

Please do!

Gotta love how your hypocrisy is showing, "the rest of us" well what about the rest of us that can't upgrade just for a single 2011 game? I guess we'll just be left behind? Have you ever thought of that or are you too busy thinking about yourself? Great that you have a computer that can handle the game, not everyone does so please get off of your high horse. We're not holding anyone hostage, we'd just like to keep playing the game. If you want "ultra HD 4K" graphics go play some newer game instead of this, SWTOR graphics are fine for its age and they should focus on optimizing what they currently have rather than adding an entire new tier of graphical updates to make the game even laggier. Edited July 30, 2020 by FlameYOL

Gotta love how your hypocrisy is showing, "the rest of us" well what about the rest of us that can't upgrade just for a single 2011 game? I guess we'll just be left behind? Have you ever thought of that or are you too busy thinking about yourself? Great that you have a computer that can handle the game, not everyone does so please get off of your high horse. We're not holding anyone hostage, we'd just like to keep playing the game. If you want "ultra HD 4K" graphics go play some newer game instead of this, SWTOR graphics are fine for its age and they should focus on optimizing what they currently have rather than adding an entire new tier of graphical updates to make the game even laggier.

 

So if this game survives to 2025 you want it still catering to people with 15-year-old computers or would you hope to hell by then that those machines have died and people have upgraded so that the game can finally progress?

 

Some would have it that until the last player on integrated graphics on a 2008 computer finally upgrades, the game can never receive high-quality texture updates.

 

And had you read my later post, rather than just my first, you'll see where I'm clearly stating that I don't have God's gift to gaming computers, and that I'll be hampered just as likely as the next player in an update, but that doesn't mean I want the game held back, so save the indignation.

Edited July 30, 2020 by xordevoreaux

So if this game survives to 2025 you want it still catering to people with 15-year-old computers or would you hope to hell by then that those machines have died and people have upgraded so that the game can finally progress?

I would like the game to remain accessible, not everyone can upgrade to a brand new machine and I would not like people to be left behind, myself included.

 

Some would have it that until the last player on integrated graphics on a 2008 computer finally upgrades, the game can never receive high-quality texture updates.

Spare me your nonsensical strawman of my point.

 

And had you read my later post, rather than just my first, you'll see where I'm clearly stating that I don't have God's gift to gaming computers, and that I'll be hampered just as likely as the next player in an update, but that doesn't mean I want the game held back, so save the indignation.

I won't "save" anything, you made a thread asking for graphical upgrades and shaming others over concerns about it.

Edited July 30, 2020 by FlameYOL

I won't "save" anything, you made a thread asking for graphical upgrades and shaming others over concerns about it.

I made a post saying the game shouldn't cater to ancient machines, mine included.