Just fifteen month back, according to Kirith Kodachi’s EVE Tribune article “Growing and Growing,” the Trinity expansion to EVE Online introduced the premium graphics option to the game.
At the time I was not impressed.
Of course I was flying some ships that were newer in the game than most, so their forms did not change much in the jump from classic to premium, and others that looked pretty good as they were designed. Drakes, Cormorants, Merlins, mining barges, Mammoths, and even Badgers did not change dramatically in the jump to premium, so it seemed like a big yawn to me.
Then I built a Raven.
Now there was a ship that was seriously improved by the premium graphics option.
As a reminder of how much of an improvement there was, I set my machine to classic graphics mode and took one last picture in the old art style for comparison. The subject: My Raven Navy Issue.
Raven Navy Issue - Premium Graphics
Raven Navy Issue - Classic Graphics
With Apocrypha the classic graphics are gone. Now, if you want to boost performance, you can alter your settings to show lower resolution versions of the premium models.
But it is always good to remind ourselves once in a while where things once stood.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
I always thought one of Eve’s greatest strengths was the low system requirements and high availability to different users. Game content aside, whether you liked it or didn’t like it, you could at least give the trial a shot on pretty much any system handy. I understand moving forward, but I think this will have a serious negative impact to their population. Maybe people will buy new rigs for WoW, but would you buy one for Eve?
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It’s a classic case of “you can’t please everyone”.
If they don’t update the game with fresh, modern graphics from time to time, it will stagnate and people will get bored with the look & feel of the world.
If they maintain two sets of graphics, then there is twice as much work to do as every texture and object will need both a low-res and high-res version. This commits a large amount of programming effort to appease a minority of gamers.
If they force-upgrade the graphics, then people who used to be able to play the game will be forced to upgrade their hardware and will be angry.
I see no easy solution here. Personally, I’m thrilled that EVE offers expansions and graphics updates without feeling the need to charge separately for each one.
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I look at the Raven itself, and let’s face facts, the premium version is much better. The station on the other hand……i kinda miss the look fo the old one, especially for that SS.
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I don’t think it will have a “serious negative impact.” The requirements demand a graphics card capable of shader model 2.0 .. that’s what? the Geforece 5000 series?! New Rig maybe required but we’re not talking requiring a top of the line gaming rig.
The rumors of Eve’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
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I stand corrected — not even an issue. 42k online right now.
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I don’t see how the system requirements could really gate EVE’s playerbase, even with the premium graphics they’re just not that harsh. I broke down last week and am trying the EVE trial for the 3rd time (and am actually liking it this time!). I’m running the game on a 4 1/2 year old Dell with settings up pretty high (I think) without any issues besides server lag. I do have a newer video card (9600gt) but you can buy those things for about $80 these days.
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lol.
I’d bet that most of the people who will have trouble with the loss of the classic client are people who run multiple accounts on one computer or even use multiple boxes. Those players are the ones who maintain two, three, four accounts? I hardly think it’s likely to affect them long-term. There will be a few people who were running a hauler or miner alt on an old laptop who can no longer do that. I know two such people and it’s only a minor inconvienience for them.
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