DX11 - Why were our expectations so high?

One of the main issues was marked as Not A Bug which isn't encouraging.

It's not on "minimal support"

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro

You must have found a link to Version 21H2, which has indeed been discontinued. However if one keeps current with updates, they'd be on Version 22H2 which is still actively supported until Oct 14, 2025 with monthly security updates.

Being accused of lying though was a bit much.

Not sure I would call just getting security updates much support.

My expectations were "game will continue to run as before", sadly that counts as "high expectations"

My expectations were as high as a pregnant ants belly.

Well my gameplay is now as choppy as meth'd out chef dicing carrots for a Kim Jong Un dinner that was supposed to happen 15 minutes ago knowing his family is 1 minute away from lifelong hard labor at a prison camp.

I just want to slide off of trees when autorunning like we did before DX9 turned every hitbox into velcro concrete.

I've noticed this as well.

Well, tbh, my expectations weren't that high per se, because I was in fact expecting some things to catch on fire during this transition, and what has been delivered is actually pretty much in line with what I expected it to be for an initial API port on an old game of this magnitude. If anything I actually feel they did a pretty good job. We have seen these things happen a number of times now, because EQ1 launched with DirectX6 / Glide and climbed its way up to DirectX9/11. Changes like these will cause headaches and issues for some ppl ofc, that is to be expected, but they can be ironed out as we go. I won't judge Darkpaw for releasing it in the state that it is right now, because we don't know the exact details of what is going on behind the scenes. What I know to be true is that some projects prolong their deadlines so far into the future, that whatever it is that they were trying to do never comes to fruition in the end. Sometimes when you gotta go, you gotta go and deal with it as you roll out. We're not the only ones with the transitional pain that comes bundled with a fresh wind of change. Here are just a few examples of other mmorpgs that had the very same issue when initially changing bigger parts of their game for something more modern:

• World of Warcraft after upgrading their shadows, water rendering and more (lots of glitching, hitching and performance degradations during the first phase post release)
• World of Warcraft when upgrading to DirectX11/12 and this came along with so many different issues that they literally implemented and suggested to use "DirectX11 legacy mode" for a while until they manage to iron out the initial upgrade issues
• Guild Wars 2 after going DirectX11, which was no easy transition to begin with
• Age of Conan with its DirectX10 render = it was performing worse than the DirectX9 client at first, glitching around more too, but it got better as time went on
• Lotro had to deal with some of this too after going from DX9 to DX11 eons ago
• Swtor is prepping up their switch to DirectX12 and I'm sure they'll have their fair share of issues too

Sources:

• Myself because I was there to test and play these games during their transition, and I saw them get better over time too
• https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/101904-directx-11-graphics-issues/page/19/
• Guild Wars 2 native DirectX11 good, but with Linux and DXVK even better: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/104592-dx11-update-nice-but-dx11dxvk-even-better/
• GW2 Devs talking about how challenging an API change to an old game really is and its benefits: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/directx11-support-is-coming-to-guild-wars-2/
• https://steamcommunity.com/app/217750/discussions/0/351659808492486453/?l=french
• https://bit-tech.net/news/gaming/age-of-conan-directx-10-content-looks-stunning/1/
• https://forums-archive.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?181678-DX-10-error
• just to name a few

Some video examples:

GW2 DirectX9 vs. 11: problematic at first and then DirectX11 surpassed DX9

GW2: DirectX9 vs. 11 vs. 12

Lotro: DX9 vs. DX11

Lotro: DX11 improved shadow and water rendering big time

In the end the upgrade was absolutely worth it, but it took lots of spit, some ducktape and a lot of hard work to get there. So I would say Darkpaw is doing well all things considered. I applaud the fact that we're seeing things like 64-bit, UI engine upgrades, DirectX11 and in the future new art, tech and more to go along with all of these new toys. Not even the biggest and most powerful mmo communities have made the transition from one API to the other completely flawless and without starting issues arising one way or the other. I remember when we Linux users first started translating DirectX9 code over to DXVK / Vulkan, and boy was it plagued by a bunch of issues when things came fresh out of the oven. After some time though, performance and stability not only caught up to the native Windows experience, but now we have actually been vastly surpassing Windows native performance on all fronts - despite the use of a translation layer on top. Imagine then what will become possible once we do all things natively and without the additional overhead on top in the near future. That's one heck of a jump if you ask me, and I expect the same to be true for EQ1/2 after we address a few things.

To that end: Don't forgot to give DCUO some love too @Daybreak. ;-)

This company has a track record of releasing stuff unfinished / not ready. Why would you be expecting anything else?

What I find annoying is that they push stuff to Test, but clearly have a roadmap of when the stuff should be released and it seems that roadmap > success.

So, regardless of whether something is buggy / problematic, they only have a set window to release it.

But with those other games ... did they onboard a user interface to accommodate or flat out tell their player base to adjust their comp to play and then change it back for everything else?

Yes.
I am running EQ on a 2 year-old system with an I7 with 3070 graphics.
Performance is significantly worse (frame rates, gamma making the UI cause eye strain, and the bag issue).
Only thing better is that I don't have to close my lid to suspend/restart the graphics if I have multiple instances loading at once.

This is NOT GOOD.
Fix it.

DirectX 12 provides developers with low-level hardware access, the freedom to manage hardware resources themselves.

Great idea for the few teams who have crazy good programmers who are able to take advantage of this.

But most don't have those in their team, and 99% of game developers are better off with DirectX11, because they'll mess up way more than gain from using DirectX12.

DirectX12 is like giving a sports bike to random people, a few will be able to handle it, the rest will just do this:

Zoning / logging in now takes me 2 minutes and UP.
Went on Raid last night and just to get there (normally 5 min tops) took me nearly 15 minutes. All because of "Pre-loading X"
I want the option to turn this off. Because if you are forced into "Pre-loading" on log in, then why do I now have to do it every time I zone now. I understand the zone files, but Character Textures don't change just because I go from PoK to Hollowshade. Or zone into KC with no one there except me.
(And if anyone knows how to prevent the pre load, please tell me.)
That's not even addressing the fact that I can no longer turn with the mouse. At. All. Choppy, spinning, running into places, getting dead because of lag spinning you into mobs... Great going.

Now I get the rush to dx11

The open beta of Nvidia's RTX Remix is ready to grab: Remaster your favourite old games to give them a massive graphics upgrade

Now, with the release of Nvidia's RTX Remix open beta, you'll be able to do it yourself to any DirectX 8 or 9 game

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-open-be...ames-to-give-them-a-massive-graphics-upgrade/

What will this do to current EQ game?

I don't know how to prevent the pre load but my Pre-loading character textures went back to the same time as before the patch by following these instructions (I also deleted my eqclient.ini file but do not do that unless you know how to restore many of the settings there): https://fanraeq.blogspot.com/2024/01/january-17-2024-game-update-possible.html

Thats what they upgrading too, they are using what?
DirectX 9 was released in 2002

They tend to upgrade when lifecycle ends, depreciation, not supported anymore. Those kind of things make games upgrade their stuff.

Just fyi, it runs smoother but takes more resources. So if you barely box 6, you might not be able to 6 anymore unless you ugprade your own machine.

Those games unlike EQ, they 1 account and fun. EQ box crews.
Yet still no box UI.
Gotta download maps, gotta download GINA, gotta download box UI, gotta download dps parser, download download.
Sure you can do it raw but those people all those downloads they living life easy.

Don't be complaining these software/downloads are ruining experiences for those playing raw. Just download thats simple solution.

Nothing because dx11. With dx9 who knows.

Expect bugs with big changes. DX11 is a big change. There are bugs. There are also a couple work-arounds for the stuttering. One increased performance beyond the pre-DX11 change for me.