gear design contest heal top 10 - hi everyone, im iva

first of all, congratulations to everyone being in the top10 and the winners rei and kare. im really looking forward to reis design ingame, which could increase my interest and playing my summoner again.
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...bb881c4948f8ab

i would like to thank isaria and ardynluciscaelum on reddit, who liked my design, thundermelons who liked it and gave reasonable criticism.
mature rudlum and rosalunacelestia in the SE Forum who liked it and serilda who gave reasonable criticism.
richard schmidt and sergej stark from the fb survey who really loved it.
the japanese community who had a lot of fun discussing different things in their forums and of course thanks to takeo suzuki and the SE Team for giving me a place in the top 10.

i just wanted to take the time and say a few things and talk to you about future wishes. so uhm... here is my full concept for the old and new covenant:
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...enantbyIVA.jpg
hd version: https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...femalefull.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964...mentaryjpg.jpg

what hasnt been showed:
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964...nttitlejpg.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...wpmandfjpg.jpg
hd version: https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...eandfemale.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...ferencejpg.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964...taryexpjpg.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...tofarmsjpg.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...servantjpg.jpg
while the weapon concept for scholar and whitemage was focused on halones shield and spear, the astrologian weapon was a bit more complicated. my main focus was the ARR Intro Flames of Truth fight between louisoix leveilleur and bahamtu to show an aspect between the gods and the dragons.
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...eweaponjpg.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...mesoftruth.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...llringsjpg.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...dgementjpg.jpg
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964...rstringgif.gif
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...dgementgif.gif
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964...pleonchars.jpg
and because we can never have enough bonus material... heres a fairy glamour design
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964...glamourjpg.jpg
here my 250 reference screenshots:
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...erence2gif.gif
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...erence3gif.gif
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...erence1gif.gif

https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962456/QNA.jpg
Q:
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964274/femonly.jpg

A:
first of all, we have one month. most of us (including me) prob already started way before that, after we heard about the tank contest, just to work on a full concept. i worked for nearly 4 months on it and only finished the head piece and a part of the chest in that time when the contest had been announced.
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32964...ntversions.jpg
sometimes you have different ideas, or you can't decide between a few designs, so you waste DAYS until you can decide which one to use. i tried to do too much in that time, including all the bonus stuff, so i had to design and create the WHOLE backside in one day to get it done until the deadline.
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962464/back.jpg
i was a sobbing mess. it didnt come out the way i wanted it to be and a lot of details are missing.
comparing female to male designs, female designs tend to be more complicated, so if you would chose to design one as an example, its actually better to create the female version, because you can still imagine the male version being the same, just a little bit toned down. it took me A LOOOONG TIME to create something androgyneous enough, so it could fit both genders with the only exception being transparency on the pants and shirt and a slightly toned down shoe version. while creating a male design without seeing the female version, you usually imagine them to be a little bland, so i focused on finishing one. i ONLY submitted the female version and the commentary in the email, so everything you guys see here is bonus exclusively for you.

Q:
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962474/WHYWHITE.jpg

A:
this is my character.
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...eenshotiva.jpg
i love white. i will continue to love white and im most likely not going to change that glamour for the next 2 years (again), because im not a fan of eastern gear style.
BUT
what the design contest rules dont mention is, if the gear has to be dyeable and if it will be dyeable. for the combination of whitemage, scholar and astrologian, i wanted to create something, that fits into a category of being a heal, with the main color being white (i didnt include red, because that would have been whm based).
if the gear is dyeable, who cares if its white or not? if i design it dyeable and in the end its not, i wasted a lot of time on that instead of finishing something else i could have shown. when i created that design, i had the male version in black in my head, but not as female being white and male being black. i just wanted to show the difference of how the set itself would change. unfortunately i couldnt finish it in time.

Q:
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962488/whatwewant.jpg

A: congrats, what now...
ok, so i was talking to around 500 people... maybe some here got questioned by me in dungeons, raids or on the server shiva. i even created pf groups for questions. after that i read through comments on sm and forums to compare them with what people ingame wanted. the results were:
more armor
more cute dresses
more revealing outfits
lots of feathers
more tribe looking sets
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962495/ribbons.jpg

so i tried to combine some of them and see how it would come out. in fact, i do not like my set. the only thing i really wanted and created for myself was the head piece (which was the only thing that got a compliment *sadlife*).

point one - more armor

most of the comments i read were "i want full on plate like a paladin"
so... something like this
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962506/stoneu.jpg
hd version: https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962509/stoneu.jpg

yeah... no....
i tried to play with my set after the contest and added more metal into it. the result was this
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...eldversion.jpg
hd version: https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...randshield.jpg
it does not look like a healer set anymore. no it doesnt. head and gloves look like a different set, the sleeves dont fit anymore, the chest is a mess. result: FAIL
i redesigned it as halones shield and spear version.
note: spear and sword are SE Designs.


point two - more cute dresses

https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962...albullcrap.gif
*sigh*

i can understand that a lot of people are still waiting for their maiden outfit or eddas dress and i KINDA understand, why people like this style. but it should fit the overall style of the classes and the game and i dont like being a 12 year old magical girl, just because the new stone set is created for anime fans.
i tried a basic design with a bigger half split skirt, but the whole concept didnt end that well.
https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/32962528/brdversion.jpg
it didnt look like a healer, it didnt fit into my concept for ishgard and the dragons. there were way too many wings, so i just combined it with pieces of oschons pvp set to create a bard version instead. result: FAIL

commentary:
with the past 2 years, a lot of new players joined this game, with most of them probably switching from a previous online game. i would like to mention that we play final fantasy. and we love the final fantasy series for what it is: characters having specific designs for their roles.
when i want to create a design for a healer in final fantasy, based on the 3 healing classes whitemage, scholar and astrologian, i do NOT think about world of warcraft holy paladins, shamans, dragon age, skyrim, aion or a free to play waifu anime game. i think about final fantasy and the distinct class designs and how i could combine something, which would fit to them. in future, if we get new healing classes with different types of armors, i will gladly combine them with the cloth typed healers we have right now, to create something new. but as of now, i dont see my whitemage having a bucket on her head and big shiny crystals on her shoulders.

to all the comments on gamefaqs, reddit and co which had so much fun bashing our work with comments like "looks like a*s", "so much garbage", "another f***ing white dress with a stupid hat", the list is endless and yes i read them all. and im sure the tank contest winner from last year who got so many positive comments while the contest was ongoing and got bashed afterwords for "creating another shitty allagan set" prob does not feel good about it either. we put a lot of effort into this and were not just thinking about ourself to have a "lovely s**t outfit* how someone called it. we tried to make something for you with a lot of thoughts and i even thought about the se team to create something with the least amount of hair glitches or sitting positions with the dress. we do not want fake likes, we dont want a "omg iz so great", we just want you to appreciate how much every designer in this contest worked, not just the 104 finalists but even the designs which got rejected. in the end, we are just fan contest participants and not official workes from SE.


final words:

for everyone who came down to this point - congratulations.
i would like to ask you guys about serious suggestions what your wishes for melees, mch and brd are. a concept you would like, a style of armor you would like, some elements you would like to see on it, no matter what. just give us designers some serious input, so we start to work on ideas for the next contests.

lovely greetings, iva

Heya, remember me from Sohm Al? :D

You can bypass the character limit by editing the original post.

hi silka, nice to see you again. thanks for the info!

W O W

You put so much thought and care into the work -- and it really shows! I agree that we should have more time to design since coming up with a good concept is hard enough -- let alone actually making it!

That is amazing. My hat goes off to you for the staggering amount of effort you've clearly put in; a well-deserved position in the list of finalists.

thank you stormfur and serilda. im honestly really glad to read it

Wow, I actually really loved your design, so being able to see the evolution of it as a concept and see the extra images that weren't shown on the finalist page is super interesting! The WHM scythe is super cool, and seeing your design on other races like Roegadyn honestly would have made it a lot more appealing to male characters, so I'm kinda sad that was cut from the final showcase.

Amazing work, and I wish you luck on future ranged/melee design contests! I definitely recognize the struggle that artists have with creating concepts, especially with upcoming ranged/melee designs, since the jobs involved (MCH/BRD, DRG/MNK/NIN) are so vastly different at their core. A wind/forest theme might go great for BRD, but what about MCH? Free-flowing cloth that allows a lot of movement is awesome for MNK or NIN, but what about DRG, who typically wears plate? There are so many factors involved, and I really admire those who are able to put their critical thinking to the test and come up with designs for these contests, even if sometimes I can seem critical of the winners.

I really wanted yours to win. :(

I would have worn the hell out of that outfit.

Wow!!! Your art is STUNNING! You put in so much work into this concept, and all the extra exclusive bits for us is a treat! Its so fascinating seeing the process you artists go through when making these designs and the ideas you come up with. The dress is AMAZING and this game desperately needs some beautiful dresses like that. Seeing the male variant I am absolutely in love! I would've loved to see that on my cat boy. ALSO, that AST GLOBE!! Is to DIE FOR. I am in love with it, and hopefully SE will have a contest for weapon designs because I need it , like, now.

Congratulation on landing the top ten! I absolutely look forward to seeing more of your entries in the future!