Character graphical changes are NOT in an acceptable state, please make it optional

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

Compromise. Many are looking at the existing models with heavily rose-tinted glasses. Under certain lighting in the existing game, characters look bad. More than bad, they can look terrible. The same still applies in the benchmark to some extent, hence my most recent post - there are still some unflattering lighting angles which affects our characters appearance. Now, if we selectively focus on the worst in the benchmark, for fair comparison alone, the same strict rules should be applied to the existing game. But in some cases, that's not the case. This is what is being disputed.

---

Further to this:

Characters under unflattering lighting in the Benchmark:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

https://i.imgur.com/dxyLQrt.png

---

Characters under unflattering lighting in the existing game:

https://i.imgur.com/VLYfzOl.png


We can all choose selectively if it suits our point

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

Many are looking at the existing models with heavily rose-tinted glasses. Under certain lighting in the existing game, characters look bad.

---

We are not disputing that characters can look bad in the current version of the game. Many people even agree with that. What we say is that they don't look the same.
Even in the most atrocious lighting scenarios I still feel like my char is my char. She looks like a terrible gremlin but I still love her.
In the benchmark she doesn't feel like the char I want, even in the best scenes.

It is frustrating when you try to calmly and respectfully explain (as many actually have) with graphs and images that something you like about your char and have liked for years, and that was a very deliberate choice during their character creation bc charm points, has objectively been changed beyond what terrible or good lighting can achieve.

And then people essentially boil it down to rose-tinted glasses, a type of irrationality.

It feels a bit hypocritical to point out the lack of patience of those who are unhappy but then accuse us of having rose-tinted glasses despite coming to the meeting with powerpoint presentations of examples. :/

--

Edit:

I have written something about the lighting of the current game here. Putting it under a spoiler to not make this post unreasonably long for others.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Loggos

The thing is, yes the lighting is terrible, esp. in the first pic. But even in the creepy flashlight-to-the-face-and-telling-you-a-horror-story lighting context I can still recognise/perceive the coherence of her features and her "facial identity" if you will.

The shadows do resculpt certain parts but through that their characteristic look still shines through so to speak.
I may think "wtf is wrong with you girl - but you're still my girl" (not my char obviously, but I think you get what I mean).

For example, as weird as the eyes look, I can still perceive that the eye shape is consistent throughout all pictures. It's the same, it's just contextualised differently.
Never did I have the feeling the lighting takes what I perceive as my character's face's personality away. It may just be unflattering.

This is why I think the "it's just the lighting, move your char out of the shadows" mindset is not helpful for me.
Besides the by now well-documented point that actual features have been altered and it's not just the lighting, if lighting were to change my core perception of their identity and they'd only feel like themslves in the right light this would still lead to a suboptimal experience.
We can't control the light in cutscenes or in environments, e.g., when we do dungeons or do quests in shady forest areas vs. well-lit plains.
So due to external forces there'd be considerable portions of the game where we would not perceive the visual core identity we have designed for our characters.

Maybe I have a strange perception in that regard but for me "unflattering" is not the same as "feels like a different person". I can live with the first one. It's how I have experienced a lot of ARR to EW and often I was like "meh this looks really weird lol" but it never felt OOC, broke my immersion or profoundly upset me.

But as soon as I saw my char in the (better lit) benchmark video I had this feeling of "no, sorry, this isn't really you :/ " and was, as a consequence, less excited and immersed in it.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

...

We can all choose selectively if it suits our point

---

The current one looks like a character in bad lighting. The benchmark looks like a wax doll.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

now I want to ask those people who look up to the Japanese forum, you claim that they just post constructive suggestions and that's it, and we just complain and that's it. But that's not the case, go read the topic carefully again, users often say that they are surprised, stunned, do not want to play their new characters, want to cancel pre-orders and so on.

Yes, they have less of it, but they get well-deserved approval *likes* for these messages, but what about us? For every critical message you receive a message in the spirit of -don't like - don't play! This is the same character, I am an artist and I know better! And I like everything, so you have to use your fanta to adjust your character) I'm fine and I don't care what you have)is she or he thinking to himself*! The company should not make concessions to everyone and so on)

Of course, again, I don't mean everyone, there are those who are happy and happy and want others to be happy with the upcoming updates, and so on, they are great!

I can continue this list indefinitely, but why do you already know all this? And that's why I think you should also look at your behavior, and not poke us into their forum. Everyone's mentalities are also different, the Japanese are very modest and even they allow themselves some emotions that I wrote about above.
The Japanese are mostly secretive people. Unlike, for example, other countries, they do not express their feelings openly.
And yes, regarding emotionality, for example, I am a very emotional and sentimental person and I do not know how to hide my emotions, and when I do this, or others do too, then why do you forbid us to do this? After all, I am talking exclusively about myself and in no way offend other members of the community and just write as it really is!

---

To be honest, a lot of people just post inflammatory or contradictory things because they want a reaction and aren't interested in contributing to the conversation in any meaningful way. It's very common on the English forums regardless of the topic and gets exhausting to read.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

We can all choose selectively if it suits our point

---

https://i.imgur.com/HQIhQdg.png

I personally think Miqo players are overracting. Call me blind but the new and old are near identical to my eyes, and in most cases the new looks noticebly better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AirisRay

Please, try to tell me that they are similar.

https://i.imgur.com/FqYorRK.png

---

Hey, I just wanted to chime in as well because I know a lot of heat leaves and comes your way in particular. If it also helps you feel a little better, I also can easily spot the differences.

In the benchmark, her eyebrows have been combed and have ever-so-slightly less of an arch. Her hairline is different, due to the new head models not accommodating all of the current hairs. It rests lower on her forehead, and the sides are farther apart because the model is different. The cupid's bow of her lip is weaker, and the inner line of her mouth is straighter. The color of her bottom lip extends farther than it did before, causing the shape to look more homogeneous. She has much thicker mascara and the fat under her eyes is more defined. The star face paint has moved farther toward the front of her face--you can use her eyes as a reference. Light does appear to hit her lips in a blocky sort of way, which I'm assuming is a small error in the mapping.

I will say that she is indeed similar to eyes less used to paying attention to these things. But for you, myself, and many others, these tiny differences all adding up give an uncanny and different impression. Just focus on relaying your feelings to SE, and perhaps take a breath before doing so.

I know some people are responding with genuine confusion or curiosity, but there are a lot of people responding to anything like this in bad faith as well, regardless of one's attempts to "prove" themselves. It'll likely do your heart better to not interact with them or egg them on. I hope you're faring well, and just remember there are many people feeling the same way you do.

And yes, to be honest, it is very surprising. And I always think that ff14 has the best community, and that's really true, but in three 3 days on the forum I met and read so many toxic messages that I haven't seen in all the time I've been playing ff14. how glad I am that they are only on the forums, and there are very few of them in the game :3

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luca_

To be honest, a lot of people just post inflammatory or contradictory things because they want a reaction and aren't interested in contributing to the conversation in any meaningful way. It's very common on the English forums regardless of the topic and gets exhausting to read.

---

They happen to disagree with something that you believe = they aren't contributing in a meaningful way

It is posts such as these which, rather than seek to discuss what was said, just attempt to close it down with 'it's not worth listening to' which don't contribute.

Now, where was that post asking for sympathy and understanding...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Anarnee

Don't feel discouraged. I was getting really stressed by this circus over here so I took the time to go into the JP thread and they have absolutely been giving the same feedback as us. Even me, who has a very specific complaint about Face 2 femroe, found multiple people that made posts about my worries that got a relatively high amount of upvotes. I'm sure that everyone from the more played races will have their complaints either addressed or at least acknowledged. I only went out of my way to read the Roegadyn posts, but I saw so many of other races with detailed pictures and drawings.

My best advice is to report the people being willfully antagonistic, don't reply to them. Upvote folks with good well thought out posts that have shown the issues to make sure those posts get the devs attention, and take care of yourself by walking away from time to time cause it's mentally taxing in here.

---

Thank you so much for you kind words honestly. I wonder if any of them complained about the Miqo F4 nose/mouth gap/lip situation, I've been wanting to look at that thread but everytime I open it up I feel exhausted and drained. Some people on this thread and others are providing amazing paint overs etc but it feels like 'unless we're on the JP side of the forums, we're screaming into a void'. I thought about maybe using a translator and collecting what I found and posting it there but I'm honestly really scared of doing that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

They happen to disagree with something that you believe = they aren't contributing in a meaningful way

It is posts such as these which, rather than seek to discuss what was said, just attempt to close it down with 'it's not worth listening to' which don't contribute.

Now, where was that post asking for sympathy and understanding...

---

Where did I say that? No, I meant like the person who was calling everyone else ugly and copy pasted like five pages ago, lol. That wasn't exactly constructive.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by decomposer

This brings up a very interesting point I have been meaning to articulate on these forums. I am a professional artist as well, and beyond my commercial client work, my supplemental (and sometimes primary) income is private commissions for clients. Most of these clients are FFXIV players. For the last 5+ years, drawing peoples FFXIV characters and warriors of light has, quite literally, been a breadwinner.

If other artists see no changes, that's okay! Artists are not uniform. We all look at the world differently and translate it visually ; that's what makes our "style."

However, when I look at a lot of the changes I've seen on this forum (especially to eyes, lips, noses, and jawlines) I immediately see how I would draw that character differently. Even my own character no longer has a defined brow bridge and nose hook ; defining traits that I have stylized in my own artwork of him. They make him who he is!

This sort of branches into a different subject entirely, but I think it's a good thing to note that FFXIV players (at least according to my own clientele and the clientele of my friends) far surpass even DND, WOW, and BG3 players in terms of how often they commission their characters. Not to say that buying artwork = more love for a character, but there's a culture of loving one's WOL here that isn't always the same elsewhere. There's people out there that a Louve-worth of artwork of their precious characters. Entire ita-bags dedicated to their characters!

TLDR; these character changes might seem "small" to some (or even most!) but to others, changing features and altering the lighting so drastically that the character looks different will not only be noticeable, it might have lasting implications for clients who (do) enjoy commissioning artwork of their ocs.

I definitely think some people are being a bit reactive (out of love, I know) but there have been a good handful of characters I've seen on here where I've thought "damn, I would draw this character very differently, or cast them with a different mood entirely." I hope that we can all find a happy medium, and that the devs listen to some of the very real concerns.

---

Oh, this is a very interesting point! Thank you for sharing! I am not a commission artist but my first reaction when I saw the new features also was an intuitive "ok, that is a completely different line/shape now. I would draw this or that feature very differently and would approach the face as a whole from a different angle to capture a different vibe/pesonality."

I'm not saying other artists have to feel this way at all. It's just cool to read someone sharing your experience. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luca_

To be honest, a lot of people just post inflammatory or contradictory things because they want a reaction and aren't interested in contributing to the conversation in any meaningful way. It's very common on the English forums regardless of the topic and gets exhausting to read.

---

Yes, this is also the case, but in this topic I see only legitimate feelings and I agree that they have their own point of view and rights. Where is the incitement in this, if a person sees the difference and complains about it.And in response, he gets only negative feedback from people who disagree. Some characters really only got new lips and for other players it looks the same, BUT it doesn't matter, because it's not them who's playing, but the owner, and the owner is not happy and he makes reasonable claims.
And it turns out that I literally need to take my old character and a new one and sit down to draw differences for developers and send it to a Japanese forum so that they return what they promised to do themselves, namely, to quote our favorite developers:
"The goal is to improve the overall look you know and love, rather than to change things to meet a certain threshold. Players have been playing for 10 years, so they want to prioritize and take care to avoid situations where people don’t feel their character looks theirs."

Yoshida says the final version will be of higher quality, but they really did take care to make sure that your impressions of the characters wouldn’t change. The hair texture, eyes, and skin were ones they paid particular attention to."

This is ultimately more of a joke, but as they say, there is some truth in every joke

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luca_

Where did I say that? No, I meant like the person who was calling everyone else ugly and copy pasted like five pages ago, lol. That wasn't exactly constructive.

---

In which case, I apologise. With such an active chat as this I seem to have missed that post. Unsurprising as I've been writing some pretty long posts today :p

Yes, anything resorting to irrelevant insults is totally unwarranted and adds nothing to the conversation

Came in to say how JP forums works over there is they have one 'official' feedback thread, most people will post high-effort feedbacks with multiple pictures with fair comparisons (same light/angle), pointed out the problems on the pictures (some even with drawings), stating their opinions both good and bad, suggesting how to change or improve, in a clear and constructive way, very politely, and leave.
No quotes. No arguments. No drama. These posts are meant for the devs anyway. No reason to fight.

For example I find this post gives a simple solution to their m viera lips by giving slight gradation retouch on lower lip that could work really well in practical.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6442614

We can totally give helpful feedbacks and comments without hurting any parties. Everyone here are human after all.

at this moment, I'm trying to recreate scenes from the benchmark for a more correct comparison, but please tell me if someone *yes, I already posted this photo, but no one answered * then it's really the same character and whether he received updates. photo in the lobby because now my character looks in the game like in the lobby and even more beautiful in the custscenes, the current version of my character is the top screenshots.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...90d61e3471ec2&
because in my opinion it's just terrible, they literally sat another character * I just want to say monster, sorry* :

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

at this moment, I'm trying to recreate scenes from the benchmark for a more correct comparison, but please tell me if someone *yes, I already posted this photo, but no one answered * then it's really the same character and whether he received updates. photo in the lobby because now my character looks in the game like in the lobby and even more beautiful in the custscenes, the current version of my character is the top screenshots.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...90d61e3471ec2&
because in my opinion it's just terrible, they literally sat another character * I just want to say monster, sorry* :

---

With all due respect, this is what people mean by bad comparisons.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mosha

With all due respect, this is what people mean by bad comparisons.

---

everything is fine! now I'm in the process of producing scenes from the benchmark, because there the character looks the most changed, not just the little things, but the whole facial expression

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...f4487e8448d5d&

I am not an expert in the field of beauty, but now she looks flatter, tired, the last character radiates kindness and looks pretty, with a mischievous nose and plump cheeks :3

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

at this moment, I'm trying to recreate scenes from the benchmark for a more correct comparison, but please tell me if someone *yes, I already posted this photo, but no one answered * then it's really the same character and whether he received updates. photo in the lobby because now my character looks in the game like in the lobby and even more beautiful in the custscenes, the current version of my character is the top screenshots.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...90d61e3471ec2&
because in my opinion it's just terrible, they literally sat another character * I just want to say monster, sorry* :

---

To me, the top picture looks more lifeless and doll-like than in the benchmark. The mouth is more narrow from side to side and the shine and highlight mark look painted on and the irises of the eyes look like a porcelain doll. In the benchmark, the character looks more realistic. The mouth, in this instance, looks like it sits more naturally in the facial structure, there's more depth and shadow in the browbone and the freckles look less like dots on the put on the face and more like freckles. The best way I could put it, is the benchmark looks like she could be a real person and more relaxed while the top picture reminds me of M3gan, supposed to look real but doesnt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

Hello if you want to know my opinion, i think your new character looks another, this is not your character anymore in my opinion, she looks like she have botox, lol, but i am not an artist and i can not to say any about the characters *this is a joke, because some people say, what if you not an artist, you do not know anything about art* :3

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by noumen0nn

Just popping in to add to the voices letting you know you are not crazy, if I look at this image and the gifs from later in the thread for more than a second, I start to see very obvious differences. The lips are absolutely the worst offender but the nose shape has been altered quite a bit as well.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Doopliss

Hey, I just wanted to chime in as well because I know a lot of heat leaves and comes your way in particular. If it also helps you feel a little better, I also can easily spot the differences.

In the benchmark, her eyebrows have been combed and have ever-so-slightly less of an arch. Her hairline is different, due to the new head models not accommodating all of the current hairs. It rests lower on her forehead, and the sides are farther apart because the model is different. The cupid's bow of her lip is weaker, and the inner line of her mouth is straighter. The color of her bottom lip extends farther than it did before, causing the shape to look more homogeneous. She has much thicker mascara and the fat under her eyes is more defined. The star face paint has moved farther toward the front of her face--you can use her eyes as a reference. Light does appear to hit her lips in a blocky sort of way, which I'm assuming is a small error in the mapping.

I will say that she is indeed similar to eyes less used to paying attention to these things. But for you, myself, and many others, these tiny differences all adding up give an uncanny and different impression. Just focus on relaying your feelings to SE, and perhaps take a breath before doing so.

I know some people are responding with genuine confusion or curiosity, but there are a lot of people responding to anything like this in bad faith as well, regardless of one's attempts to "prove" themselves. It'll likely do your heart better to not interact with them or egg them on. I hope you're faring well, and just remember there are many people feeling the same way you do.

---

Thank you SO much for your kind support! I appreciate it very much :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

I suppose what I'm saying is that these images are very selectively chosen for their unflattering lighting. I can't say that I noticed it at all while running through the benchmark myself on my own alt before checking forums, but then I'm clearly more relaxed than others seem to be when it comes to the adjustments.

---

Of course, these images were chosen selectively. I chose those images in which this defect is best visible. In almost all my posts I talked about “light on her face”. If I had posted a picture from Gridania, where the defect is not visible at all, because there is no light falling on the face, I think I would have received even more responses in the style of “It's the same picture”.

This type of light is very common in the game. This is not “the light in CC is bad”. It's exactly like this in a huge number of locations, raids, dungeons, cutscenes. Near my house in Myst it's even worse. This means that very often this effect will appear on my character’s face. Should I stop approaching to my house so as not to see this? I also already said: I cannot constantly turn her so that she stands back to the light. She's not a vampire after all. I also mentioned that all Miqo faces are susceptible to this effect to varying degrees. The most damaged is face 3.
And I also added a few pictures in different lighting on my big post.

I really can’t write the same words in every topic and give the same explanations to every doubter. And most importantly, the point here is not the light. Light just shows this deformation very well.

In your “arguments” you have already reached the point where you are trying to accuse me of hoaxes. It's really incredibly funny. The question arises, which of us is taking things too dramatically here? Me, who points out the problem and asks for it to be fixed, or you, who in 3 large posts trying to prove that I'm deceiving someone with screenshots with directional light? Just unbelieveble.

I will follow the good advice I received and will no longer respond to these types of messages at all. It doesn’t matter who they come from. Honestly, I won't even read them.

Thank you, I appreciate your answer, what different opinions we have. That's probably why it looks new to me now, because they made it more realistic. But that's just one screenshot, she actually looks very emotional *to me* in the cut scenes :3

But the new character in the cutscenes of the benchmark looks as if with a strained face and a smile

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scintilla

Under certain lighting in the existing game, characters look bad. More than bad, they can look terrible. The same still applies in the benchmark to some extent, hence my most recent post - there are still some unflattering lighting angles which affects our characters appearance.

---

Oh yeah, some of the lighting angles in the benchmark are yikes. Like that face close-up on the boat.
As much as I am not a fan of the noticeable lip shape change on bun-girl face 4, and it didn't really feel like my girl anymore, I kept telling myself that it wasn't that bad, that the lips were literally the only thing I didn't like so I'm not gonna change faces and I'd just have to get used to it... that one close-up shot on the boat was the only time my automatic, visceral reaction was "WTF IS THAT?! yeah nah, thanks I hate it" hahaha

Aside from the fact that basically everyone looks like they're plotting world domination or something equally nefarious in that shot (strange choice of expression for the situation but ok lol) the way the light and shadow falls on my girl's new lips just looks... off, kinda creepy. she kinda looks possessed... I would even dare to say that the evil smirk she had that one time she actually was possessed looked much less terrifying rofl

(I then made the mistake of having a look at the other bun-girl faces in the trailer and comparing that one screenshot. They all still look they're up to no good but lips/smirk of face 1 is prolly the closest to how 4's is meant to look so it made me a little sad)...

Admittedly, I don't really remember much more of my reaction to her face outside of that one close-up. I kept getting distracted by the little details like various texture changes, squeeing over minions/animals, etc lol :P

Not sure why people keep saying the eyes not reflecting light in even the slightest shadow is "realistic." It's not at all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

Thank you, I appreciate your answer, what different opinions we have. That's probably why it looks new to me now, because they made it more realistic. But that's just one screenshot, she actually looks very emotional *to me* in the cut scenes :3

But the new character in the cutscenes of the benchmark looks as if with a strained face and a smile

---

No problem, when people first started posting about the graphics update, I had the opinion that a lot of people were over reacting. But after going through the benchmark multiple times and reading some of the less inflammatory responses, I see where people are coming from more. Just out of curiosity, the first time you ran the benchmark, did you try to recreate your character or try it with the stock model or create something new? Like I tried the female Hroth first and then tried other models before running it as one that resembles what my current WoL looks like. I have a theory that those who are having the most issues with the graphics update tried to recreate their WoL for the first benchmark and created an almost Uncanny Valley experience. Im wondering if experiencing the graphics with a character that isn't supposed to look like your character first sort of eased people in and the changes wouldn't seem as jarring.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arzalis

Not sure why people keep saying the eyes not reflecting light in even the slightest shadow is "realistic." It's not at all.

---

I swear the people saying this don't actually know how human eyes reflect light. They're very shiny! They pick light up from everywhere! Look at yourself in the rearview mirror of a car during the day. Even though you're in shadow your eyes will still reflect the ambient light around you very clearly.

Even if it was realistic, FFXIV isn't exactly shooting for realism. It just comes out looking uncanny.

Because humans have dark colored cells behind their retinas that absorb light rather than reflect, so a realistic non-nocturnal humanoid's eyes wouldnt reflect light in shadow. We could argue that Hroth and Miq' eyes could structurally resemble a cat's eyes more and have a tapetum lucidum that would reflect light but that may be very difficult to produce a natural appearance at the scale of the game. So if the idea that because the races are humanoid, their eye structure would resemble a human's eyes, they would shine in the dark.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luca_

I swear the people saying this don't actually know how human eyes reflect light. They're very shiny! They pick light up from everywhere! Look at yourself in the rearview mirror of a car during the day. Even though you're in shadow your eyes will still reflect the ambient light around you very clearly.

Even if it was realistic, FFXIV isn't exactly shooting for realism. It just comes out looking uncanny.

---

Non-nocturnal creature's eyes dont not reflect a ton of light, they typically do not possess the tapetum lucidum structure that gives the reflective shiny appearance that a cat or raccoons eyes do.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WiccaP

Non-nocturnal creature's eyes dont not reflect a ton of light, they typically do not possess the tapetum lucidum structure that gives the reflective shiny appearance that a cat or raccoons eyes do.

---

I think people are complaining that the lighting is struggling to convey that eyes are round and wet, not that it is failing to make human eyes reflective like a possum caught eating trash in the driveway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luca_

I swear the people saying this don't actually know how human eyes reflect light. They're very shiny! They pick light up from everywhere! Look at yourself in the rearview mirror of a car during the day. Even though you're in shadow your eyes will still reflect the ambient light around you very clearly.

Even if it was realistic, FFXIV isn't exactly shooting for realism. It just comes out looking uncanny.

---

At risk of sounding petty, I really, really do dislike when peoples' unspoken implication is that something looking more realistic = "better". FFXIV has a distinct artstyle with most (but not all, I know) races having way larger eyes than our own, often shaped in exaggerated ways. This goes for many facial features, really.

One of the only reasons I even felt compelled to post more on the forums is so that I could find any comfort in people feeling the same as me, outside of the circle of friends who I play the game with. A few days ago on reddit I saw a 400+ upvoted comment saying they think the new teeth placement for Lalafell is better because it's more "realistic". Some reply even spoke about how they raised their head in the mirror and found their teeth looked the same way. I couldn't help but think. Just. Whuh. Are you shaped like a Lalafell too? It's not uncanny to them!? I felt like a crazy person!

I know some ppl have made comments elsewhere about floppy-ear bun-bois, but I haven't seen the comments myself, and I don't remember seeing any mentioned on this thread yet... and while I don't doubt it's unintentional and will def get fixed at some point (and rightly so), I am still a little curious... how do our floppy-ear bun-bois here feel about their new glow-stick ears? :P

(in case some ppl don't know what I'm talking about, the male viera's floppy ear option has this weird kinda glow to them in certain lighting)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...1befb66c51aee& https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...e8339f59f78ed&

at first, I thought it was only happening on white/light shades of hair (the photos I've seen and my retainer above all had white/light hair) so I tested it on darker hair on another retainer and while not to the same extent/effect as the light shades, the colour difference is still really clear:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...ality=lossless
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...ality=lossless

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Doopliss

At risk of sounding petty, I really, really do dislike when peoples' unspoken implication is that something looking more realistic = "better". FFXIV has a distinct artstyle with most (but not all, I know) races having way larger eyes than our own, often shaped in exaggerated ways. This goes for many facial features, really.

One of the only reasons I even felt compelled to post more on the forums is so that I could find any comfort in people feeling the same as me, outside of the circle of friends who I play the game with. A few days ago on reddit I saw a 400+ upvoted comment saying they think the new teeth placement for Lalafell is better because it's more "realistic". Some reply even spoke about how they raised their head in the mirror and found their teeth looked the same way. I couldn't help but think. Just. Whuh. Are you shaped like a Lalafell too? It's not uncanny to them!? I felt like a crazy person!

---

I'm just gonna quote a comment from... omg lol 30 plus pages ago (this thread is really hot huh?!):

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zaniel

This is a good example of how something that is technically correct actually gives a worse result than something that is technically wrong. The eye glint texture is needed to avoid the uncanny dead look, it doesn't matter that the new system "is more realistic". It doesn't work with the brain's expectation of how it should look.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WiccaP

Because humans have dark colored cells behind their retinas that absorb light rather than reflect, so a realistic non-nocturnal humanoid's eyes wouldnt reflect light in shadow. We could argue that Hroth and Miq' eyes could structurally resemble a cat's eyes more and have a tapetum lucidum that would reflect light but that may be very difficult to produce a natural appearance at the scale of the game. So if the idea that because the races are humanoid, their eye structure would resemble a human's eyes, they would shine in the dark.

---

You're correct about the function of the dark cells behind the retina, but that has nothing to do with the light that reflects off of the eye. That has almost entirely to do with mirror-like membrane that the outer eyes are constructed of.

The fact of the matter is light needs to be present in order to determine the color of the iris, so if you can see the color of the eye, it's going to reflect the source of that light back to it. Even my three year old niece recognizes this, and adds a reflection to the eyes she draws and colors.

Absolutely hate what they did to Hyur midlander females. Face 1 is totally different and, as someone else mentioned, closer to highlander now. I hate it. I always came back to it between fantasias but I guess I will stick to Mi'qote now, but it makes me sad.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

I do not dispute that there are those who are satisfied with this, if you carefully read the forums, that is, those who have not been affected by the changes, or those who have become really more beautiful, let's be honest : 3 and there are those who did not win this lottery *, including me* I will now provide you with some screenshots of my character with whom I have 850 hours /playtime and it follows that I am incredibly attached to someone * yes, I do not play with ARR, which is actually a shame that I learned about this great game relatively recently*, and you will say that you would be happy with this Or not? Or someone else tell me if you would like this character of yours to become like this * if he were yours*, because it seems to me that huyr midlander 1 has changed beyond recognition * I have many friends with this type of face and they are all just cuties, which you can't say after the update *

it was
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...9449018b84ca2&

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...761dd095a06dc&
now

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...8fc6a03920986&https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...4f5124a2bcfbb&
i know the difference scenes and etc, but any frame in benchmark with my upgraded wol is terrible, yes :3

---

Yep, I use the same face. Absolutely hate the change. I won't play Hyur female again.

I really like the Female Hrothgar but their shoulders are weird and move unnaturally sometimes and maybe they need a bit of improvement.
Some examples:

https://i.imgur.com/Qp4Ya1q.png

https://i.imgur.com/jLajsfX.png

https://i.imgur.com/KMWxqOQ.png

https://i.imgur.com/qMjrRps.png

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WiccaP

when people first started posting about the graphics update, I had the opinion that a lot of people were over reacting. But after going through the benchmark multiple times and reading some of the less inflammatory responses, I see where people are coming from more.

---

There being legitimate issues and people overreacting aren't mutually exclusive.

It is true that there are problems that should be fixed like the lala upper lip, catgirl fangs, and a number of other little details.

It is also true that people are posting hysterical unhinged comments and comparisons of their "ruined" characters that look practically identical.

I am quite pleased with how the face I use turned out, but it has what I perceive to be a big problem with the lower lip that I would like to see fixed. I could probably zoom in and find a number of other differences, but to imply she looks unrecognizable would be insane. Before anyone says "but your face is one of the good ones" I literally saw a post a minute ago on this forum of someone who hates how this face turned out lol.

Trolling people posting their concerns isn't productive (and no, someone simply disagreeing with you isn't trolling) but neither is saying your benchmark catgirl with a slightly different mouth is an "unrecognizable disgusting joker freak."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CidHeiral

There being legitimate issues and people overreacting aren't mutually exclusive.

It is true that there are problems that should be fixed like the lala upper lip, catgirl fangs, and a number of other little details.

It is also true that people are posting hysterical unhinged comments and comparisons of their "ruined" characters that look practically identical.

I am quite pleased with how the face I use turned out, but it has what I perceive to be a big problem with the lower lip that I would like to see fixed. I could probably zoom in and find a number of other differences, but to imply she looks unrecognizable would be insane. Before anyone says "but your face is one of the good ones" I literally saw a post a minute ago on this forum of someone who hates how this face turned out lol.

Trolling people posting their concerns isn't productive (and no, someone simply disagreeing with you isn't trolling) but neither is saying your benchmark catgirl with a slightly different mouth is an "unrecognizable disgusting joker freak."

---

I think some of the issues with people are having with the mouths or "my character's jaw changed" is due to the new facial rigging and will be ironed out eventually.

oke :3
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...53530aa593315&

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...eaf12f62235fe&
Well, I tried to repeat the scene as closely as possible and now I'm really disappointed! The graphical upgrade looks like PS3 version and i am say this, this the worst upgrade for midlander 1 face, this is really freak!!! *this only my opinion, and yes i am a very emotional person, sorry for that* All in new upgrade on this looks terrible!

Please tell me, where is my cute character and what kind of monster did they make of him? Only the skin looks improved and then it looks old, lol! Yes, I declare responsibly, for me this is a downgrade, I'm talking about my character!

If that character looks like a freak and a monster as you said earlier then I must be an eldritch horror. She's making a determined face in that part of the cutscene while your character is not emoting.