Windows 7 and the future of PoE?

I couldn't decide where to put this, so feel free to move it.

As a Windows 7 user I'm beginning to feel a little concerned about the future of PoE on this platform. With the introduction of DX11 and the subsequent patches, especially 2.5.2, which adds features unsupported by the Windows 7 DX feature level, there's been an endless stream of problems with the game. We've had major graphical glitches, pretty serious performance issues and even game overlays, like RTSS not working.

Granted, some of these issues can be worked around by using additional command line parameters or switching to one of the DX9 clients, but these options are less than ideal. For some, myself included, the DX9 clients are unusable.

I understand you have to prioritise development for the newer platforms but I'd really like to know what may be in store for us in the near future, is it more of the same? Are we going to be relegated to the DX9 clients?

For what it's worth, the last two days I've played the game, on the same PC, under Windows 7 and Windows 10, with none of the issues outlined above being present under Windows 10. The difference is almost night and day and it has nothing to do with Windows 10 being a better gaming platform.

So, are we Windows 7 users now persona non grata, relegated to the corner to be seen and not heard?

Running win7x64 and i honestly haven't experienced any of the issues described apart from the usual bad performance.
Perhaps a win update is in order.
They'd have to be unbelievably dumb to gun for an OS that will be replaced by yet another one within few years,not to mention that win10 is far from decent when it comes to using an os for gaming.

i have the confirmation from chris that win7 x64 currently doesn't have any limitations graphics wise on the dx9 and dx11 clients and will not have in the foreseeable future if you installed all service packs and updates.

i had the same concerns because dx11.1 is only partially supported by win7.

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vio a écrit :

i have the confirmation from chris that win7 x64 currently doesn't have any limitations graphics wise on the dx9 and dx11 clients and will not have in the foreseeable future if you installed all service packs and updates

It was also Chris who that said the Platform Update wouldn't be needed for DX11, after there was an outcry from people who believed the update was the sum of all evil.

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i had the same concerns because dx11.1 is only partially supported by win7.

As I posted elsewhere, Windows 7 doesn't support some of the features they've introduced in the latest patches. Whether or not that's the problem now, I have no way of knowing and perhaps it's just a coincidence that the day the patch, with these features lands, the performance with the DX11 client becomes 'sketchy' at best.

As far as the DX9 clients are concerned, ever since DX11 landed I and others have had serious issues using these clients. This wasn't the case the day before 2.4.2 but it is now.

Really, we need some sort of 'real' answer on where things are going. Clearly, with Xbox coming, they're pushing DX, for now 11.1/2 and some of that is already beyond Windows 7.

Somehow, I get the feeling they're patching the patches to make them backwards compatible with Windows 7, hence the issues since 2.4.2 and beyond.

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Daiena a écrit :

Running win7x64 and i honestly haven't experienced any of the issues described apart from the usual bad performance.

Perhaps you've just been lucky but you only have to read the tech support or bug report forums to see just how many have/are having issues with Windows 7 (AMD hardware may also be playing a role)

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Perhaps a win update is in order.

Nothing outdated.

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They'd have to be unbelievably dumb to gun for an OS that will be replaced by yet another one within few years,not to mention that win10 is far from decent when it comes to using an os for gaming.

Sooner or later they'll have to start focusing on Xbox and Windows 10, regardless of how bad we might think they are. DX11 and it's iterations are starting to get old, but unless they go completely UPW and DX12, without going OpenGL/Vulkan (we can only hope), it's the only viable option. But Windows 7 will start to loose out, simply because it doesn't support the features.

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Kellog a écrit :

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vio a écrit :

i have the confirmation from chris that win7 x64 currently doesn't have any limitations graphics wise on the dx9 and dx11 clients and will not have in the foreseeable future if you installed all service packs and updates

It was also Chris who that said the Platform Update wouldn't be needed for DX11, after there was an outcry from people who believed the update was the sum of all evil.

really? didn't see that.

but i remember reading on reddit that win updates were essential for the game to work properly.

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Kellog a écrit :

As I posted elsewhere, Windows 7 doesn't support some of the features they've introduced in the latest patches.

when you come across these posts again, would you mind dropping a link here, i'm really interested in that. please quote me so i get a pm. [/quote]

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vio a écrit :

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Kellog a écrit :

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vio a écrit :

i have the confirmation from chris that win7 x64 currently doesn't have any limitations graphics wise on the dx9 and dx11 clients and will not have in the foreseeable future if you installed all service packs and updates

It was also Chris who that said the Platform Update wouldn't be needed for DX11, after there was an outcry from people who believed the update was the sum of all evil.

really? didn't see that.

but i remember reading on reddit that win updates were essential for the game to work properly.

I don't recall if it was here of reddit, but there were quite a few people begging GGG not to require the Platform Update, as it was seen as a major cause of problems in Windows 7. In one post, someone from GGG, I'm pretty sure it was Chris, obviously trying to allay fears, suggested the update wouldn't be requited.

Unfortunately, I can't find the post now and the link I though I had has been removed.

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vio a écrit :

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Kellog a écrit :

As I posted elsewhere, Windows 7 doesn't support some of the features they've introduced in the latest patches.

when you come across these posts again, would you mind dropping a link here, i'm really interested in that. please quote me so i get a pm.

Link to my post in the tech support forum.

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Kellog a écrit :

Spoiler

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Daiena a écrit :

Running win7x64 and i honestly haven't experienced any of the issues described apart from the usual bad performance.

Perhaps you've just been lucky but you only have to read the tech support or bug report forums to see just how many have/are having issues with Windows 7 (AMD hardware may also be playing a role)

Spoiler

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Perhaps a win update is in order.

Nothing outdated.

Spoiler

"

They'd have to be unbelievably dumb to gun for an OS that will be replaced by yet another one within few years,not to mention that win10 is far from decent when it comes to using an os for gaming.

Sooner or later they'll have to start focusing on Xbox and Windows 10, regardless of how bad we might think they are. DX11 and it's iterations are starting to get old, but unless they go completely UPW and DX12, without going OpenGL/Vulkan (we can only hope), it's the only viable option. But Windows 7 will start to loose out, simply because it doesn't support the features.

Well,here is another story then that might be of some interest.
Few days ago i went to a friend of mine who also plays PoE,and i asked him about the performance,he is running below average rig (about 4 years old) on a pirated custom edited windows 7x64 sp2,basically he took a scalpel to the OS and cut away whatever was not necessary for it to boot and function in a basic sense,so it's not exactly up-to-date,and his performance is decent,mostly stable 70-85 fps on x64,he basically has had no issues other than the infamous black screen when they just released x64 update.

The thing is,they should really make some sort of a devlog post regarding these shenanigans so that people know what to expect in future. Some random dev posts hinting at ''something'' on forums or that godawful reddit is not exactly a brick hard evidence of anything. Right now with the whole console announcement they are not exactly in favor with a huge part of PoE player-base,making few things clear at least the wide-spread performance issue-wise would buy them quite a big chunk of good will that they could really use right about now,no matter if it's good or bad news.

The problem never was with the nature of news,good or bad,it was with the lack of it. At the same time someone writes a dirty word somewhere in this forum and somehow a sneaky mod like a ninja manags to find it within minutes and edit it out.

had a quick look: yep the improvements that require "Constant Buffer Offsetting" will not apply on win7 because it requires full directx 11.1 support.

looks like chris wasn't completely right.

To be honest I don't think this is a Windows 7 specific issue.

As I mentioned before I am on Windows 10 and have similar problems with DX 11 as some Windows 7 users. Some Windows 7 users have no problems and run better than some Windows 10 users.

Same goes for AMD vs Nvidia. I have Nvidia AND Windows 10 and am affected by this patch along with many other people with Nvidia, Intel, Windows 10 setups.

Also the DX 9 performance seems to have taken a hit in the most recent patches for many different people on different varieties of harware.

For me this points towards a problem with the patch, which Henry GGG has acknowledged in this thread:

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1825845/page/1#p14144690

Personally I am 100% convinced that this is nothing to do with POE's interaction with Windows 7, I think that is is just a poorly implemented patch.

Here's hoping that they fix the issues at hand a.s.a.p for all users concerned. :)

EDIT:

FYI here is an example thread of what I am taling about:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/5qoiub/is_the_amd_gup_support_dropping_with_each_patch/

Quote from the page.

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[–]necrate 6 points 4 hours ago
My performance has been getting better and better with each patch. My hardware is: Intel i7 4770k @ 3.7GHz, 16GB DDR3, R9 290 4GB (stock); running PoE natively on Win7 64 with up-to-date drivers