Frankly, I see even them improving graphics as very unlikely. My best guess is that whatever we get as PC gamers will be under the hood performance improvements. Nothing else.
And, frankly, even after my recent upgrade to top of the line hardware, I don't want them to invest resources in improving graphics so that a hyper small fraction of the player base can enjoy slightly higher resolution textures. I'd rather they invest in improving the systems in place. The game looks more than good enough already.
Heck, I'd rather they invest in improving their communication. Wishful thinking, I know.
What I deem possible is that if there was downgrade, the subject of which is still up for debate, than those shackles might be removed with the next-gen patch. Other than that, they might be able to improve the game's LOD in general and with the integration of FSR and further improvements, they might feel confident to increase the RT fidelity. The did something similar with Witcher 3, where they increased the water's quality a couple of months after the release. But generally, on PC I do not suspect 1.5 to be any different than 1.2 or 1.3 and thus I just expect it to consist of bug fixes and other nice features.
Regarding your second point, a render engine developer will not start changing the game's systems and therefore he will have the capacity to take care of visual fidelity. Furthermore, render engine developers will work on the engine anyway since they need to integrate RT on consoles.
I see so many people, PC gamers included, waiting on the next-gen patch with bated breath as if the second coming. I have no doubt there are many people who are going to be severely disappointed in the next-gen patch.
I'm afraid that you are right.
That doesn't sound like the same game at all to me, but don't take this as I don't believe it. I believe it 100%. But the problems are and have been numerous for a lot of us.
Yeah, people have different hardware with different drivers and different save games which contributes to a different gameplay experience. I also didn't have any block or quest stopper and the bugs I have experienced were just annoying graphic glitches or unlootable objects.
As much as I'm looking forward to the future of the game, especially the expansions I'm gonna set my expectations super low for 2022 and assume 1.5 arriving in the first months means April/May. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.
It is always best to manage expectations. However, there are some indications that 1.5 will be released in early Q1. I will update
my thread with my take on it after I have listened to the investors call.