I agree with a lot of you, which also is supported by others because all of you have good ratings.
I think I like the argument of Graphics vs. Game Play. I think 1.0 was a very pretty game but the world was dead. They were focusing to much on, as Catwho put it, my beggar outfit and not enough, imo, the environment, the world,. I know that they are addressing that issue in ARR.
I guess its hard to say and its different for everyone. I personally would love an awesome game with dumbed down graphics because the game would be more enjoyable, better AI, better UI, just more fun. Tons of games have made the switch to true beauty comes from the looks NOT from the heart and to be blunt, it pisses me off. That however is another argument... Unless we are about to change topics, but maybe we should stick to graphics.
I don't know how I really feel. I love the way we can use colors now and I love how smooth it looks when I do something illegal with my guns in a violent game. I think we're at a plateau but at the same time I may have said the same thing when GTA VI and FFX came out. I look at the CS from MGS5 and wonder how feakin sick that game is going to look, I guess one day we will have to have "retina gaming" where they install Google Glass directly into your eye and you can turn the real world into a video game or at the very least they could be terminator vision simulators, lol.