If current-generation AAA games are any indication, either very few artists ever learned the raster workarounds or few artists ever had time to implement the workarounds.

I think ray-tracing will be a game changer. Raster shadows are easy to get subtly wrong and very difficult to get right. Cube-maps are easy to get subtly wrong and very difficult to get right. Transparency is easy to get subtly wrong and very difficult to get right. The list goes on.

> Even in AAA games, there are tons of artifacts in the shadows. Same goes for reflections.

Exactly! I can't count the number of times I've seen shadows pointing in the wrong direction, having the wrong color, having the wrong penumbra/antumbra, casting through solid objects, etc. Cube-map reflections are even worse (yay for faucet handles reflecting forrest scenes) especially when they're moving. Expect to see a reflection slide up the body of a car as it comes to a stop? If you're not in a car-racing game, forget about it.

All of those problems can be overcome with artist sweat and tears. The code has already been written and is in the big engines, but the effects still regularly fail to happen in AAA titles.

Ray-tracing makes it easy to do things right. None of the raster techniques have achieved that landmark. This WILL be a game changer.