please reconsider this character graphical update

I want my HD Chocobo suit

i agree to me i prefer the current graphics we have it looks nostalgic to me , but at the same time i would prefer if they added the option to turn it on/off so people who want this update can have it too , i am not sure if they said we can from the settings? but i hope we get the option .

Don't worry OP, I'm sure some great modder will make up for it by allowing you to downgrade your graphics.

"ontop of this the apparent clash there will be between players and npcs who receive and dont receive a graphical update will just ruin the immersion of players, especially newer ones."

Just for this point : People were able to immerse themselves in the game at the time of T4C. They should be able to overcome the small potential gap between the player and the NPC.

I don't know how anyone can be against this. People run mods to give them better light and shading.

My only concern is that PS4 support to be dropped after 7.0. While I have a PS5 and many play on powerful PCs, this could hurt their playerbase a little. Such is the life of MMO that sticks around many console generations.

I'm torn between seeing it as a legitimate post from OP that goes against everything the community has wanted for a while now, or if it's just a troll.

I for one am glad they're finally moving to update the graphics of the game, it's long overdue and I'm hoping some of the more *ahem* serious offenders are the ones to get the overhaul in the first wave (Raubahn, Hien, Pixel Exarch (poor raha)). In addition from the overview player animations will get some updating as well which is definitely another bonus. Noone is expecting of course 8k Super Ultra High Photorealism but the existing game IS starting to show it's age somewhat especially since back when arr was launched FHD would have been the mainstay but now we got more and more people with 4k monitors. Many of the textures in the game are definately like hair are definately in need of upscaling so regardless of the result I'm glad they're working on this.

"bland and generic"

"bland and generic"

"BLAND AND GENERIC"

Op, you for reals man?

maybe OP should try FFXI , graphic would be just fine for you , just lower details abit !

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C9MN3Bvkeek/maxresdefault.jpg

The things we do for progress.

https://i.ibb.co/YL6FRh6/Oh-Mah-Graps.png

This graphics update is the best thing that could have happened to this game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SilverObi

Oh is it time for the arguments about graphic changes again? Taking a page from the forum playbook circa 2012 when people were arguing over grass.

---

I'm waiting for Rokien to make a comeback about this.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Istaru

I'm waiting for Rokien to make a comeback about this.

---

Haha that brought back memories :D

I don't really see the argument that the character charm is being lost. Since they've mentioned they don't want to go photoreal and the examples they showed after I think 1 month of internal testing show pretty much the identical models just with updated textures and a better lighting and shader model that allows for more detailed shadows and reflections without being overbearing. Obviously we'll see where things are gonna end up once they have more to show closer to the release of 7.0
But nonetheless at least from the results we've seen they're pretty damn faithful to what we have now.

How much of the charm is just nostalgia though? I remember when Blizzard updated all vanilla character models and animations during Warlords of Draenor and it was a real sore spot for many long-term players. They were different and your character felt different even though the models and animations were of a much higher quality. The situation improved over time as they added more customisation options to the game but the community needed time to readjust. This was also helped by them adding more Allied Races and customisation options in time as well.

I'm sure Square Enix will take the time they need to appropriately update the existing models and customisation options while hopefully providing us extra features to use as well. That way people who don't like the new look will have more options to alter their appearance going forward.

I don't think any of the charm is lost. If anything it seems very true to the aesthetic XIV has always wanted to convey.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Miiu

I don't really see the argument that the character charm is being lost. Since they've mentioned they don't want to go photoreal and the examples they showed after I think 1 month of internal testing show pretty much the identical models just with updated textures and a better lighting and shader model that allows for more detailed shadows and reflections without being overbearing. Obviously we'll see where things are gonna end up once they have more to show closer to the release of 7.0
But nonetheless at least from the results we've seen they're pretty damn faithful to what we have now.

---

cant wait to see the same old sausage fingers with 4k textures

I think the way characters currently look is really bland & generic- Au Ra look like E-girls with scales pasted on them so the graphical upgrade might actually make them look like a proper "beast" race. (they're hardly a beast race though.)
The upgrade gives our characters more depth & what was shown is likely not what we will get.(meaning it might look even better than what we saw) I am really excited to see how Elezen & female hyur look with the upgrades because it looks like we will get better ear/eye/skin textures as well.

If the graphic upgrade upsets you, just play at the lowest graphic settings possible.

The graphical updates were moreso a mockup of what could be. While they aren't the finalized designs and everything is subject to change I feel the main bullet points of said changes are al followed.

. Better Lighting textures so that the facial features look more defined/reaistic and less "nightmarish" in certain light. Even with the simple changes made to the amount of light hitting off the character it looks 10X better compared to the current design.

.Improved hair textures, less grainy visuals, removal of pretty much any blocky looking texture but of course they already said it wouldn't be a 1:1 conversion. So the game is gonna look a bit weird when you play in the older expansions.

Basically 2.0-6.0 series will have a mix of high def and low def characters as they don't have the manpower to fully evolve all the character designs however moving into 7.0+ odds are all the characters will follow the high def look(at least one can hope otherwise that would be really awkward to play through). Since I can understand them not fixing everything but moving forward they would focus on it, but it would be rather jarring playing through 7.0 and seeing dif character textures standing beside one another.

While I can understand your want for nostalgia and charm, I will have to disagree. When I see my character in lower lighting and I have horrendous eye bags and my lips look.....two shades darker than what I actually have, then yes we need some changes. And if this is a step in the right direction then I am all for it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StriderShinryu

Honestly, I was thinking the updates didn't change enough. As I play a femiqo, I found that the sample femiqo they showed was barely changed at all from the current model. I'm glad they said they're still trying to push it harder and farther than the samples.

---

Yeah same, although I am admittedly surprised by the scope of what they are doing (wasn't expecting them to extend it to the environments so soon), I'm eager to see if they can do better still. For a first pass, it looks pretty decent.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Istaru

I'm waiting for Rokien to make a comeback about this.

---

I miss rokien. He was a much better troll than what we have these days...

I paid for the graphics card, I want to use the WHOLE graphics card.

In seriousness, as beautiful as this game can be a graphics update is something people have been asking for. Many MMO's have to do this at a certain point to avoid looking dated if possible. Even WoW overhauled their character models with an extremely dated and near exhausted game engine; granted making the players look nice made looking at the environments, gear sets and enemy models look a bit out of place.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lauront

Yeah same, although I am admittedly surprised by the scope of what they are doing (wasn't expecting them to extend it to the environments so soon), I'm eager to see if they can do better still. For a first pass, it looks pretty decent.

---

Absolutely. The environmental changes are fantastic. Even just the extra lighting completely changes the scenes they showed, and that updated shot in Thavnair was like night and day. It's really only the character updates that, so far, aren't really impressing me.

I really like that the updates are subtle enough to feel like the season 2 direction of 7.0 feels more like an FFXIV-2 sequel without being so over the top drastic

I think the changes are awesome even after only being able to test for a month. kudos to the team and I look forward to seeing them in the real world

as for the poor npc's and "immersion". you sit on a chair, in front of a computer, moving with a mouse and typing any words you say to others on the keyboard.

and you worry about some npc's not getting a facelift at the same time as everyone else as being "immersion breaking"? if you tend to examine npc's in the world THAT closely, I suspect immersion breaking isnt the only issue here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SilverObi

Oh is it time for the arguments about graphic changes again? Taking a page from the forum playbook circa 2012 when people were arguing over grass.

---

Never agreed with the doomsayers for grass but I was on the same page that the grass did look bad, funnily enough at the time they did add better quality grass.. multiple times. Then here Yoshida himself says he feels bad that plants sometimes impact the quality of presentation - honestly I feel vindicated. It was annoying people were acting like it had no impact and to have the dev themselves says it can and does is like... HA SO THERE!

Though I am aware some people suggested the game would fail because of it, and that was silly. I also didn't love my own thread on it at the time but I maintain that something that can easily cover 50% + of your screen is.. surprisingly important, and people who made it a clown joke weren't helping >.<.

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.jQJhyA...id=ImgDet&rs=1

This graphics update was long overdue and i'm glad to be alive to see it.

It's fine. But it's an engine update or overhaul that should have been the priority.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Katt_Felista

It's fine. But it's an engine update or overhaul that should have been the priority.

---

They do update the engine incrementally. :)

Cheers

I don't really care about the updated character textures. Would like better UI / glamour/transmog features, crafting without having to remove materials from storage, and other modern gaming features from ten years ago that this game still can't do.

The new character models are cool and all but the grass change makes me so damn happy :')

I thought we were done with grass texture threads in beta

I feel like this thread was only made because op is afraid his PC will burst into flames.

I hope this Miqo'te doesn't look better because it's barely one month in development. Does no one notice the polygon count is exactly the same?.


There is no improvement to the model and better models are required.


The dev team needs to make the models rounder (smoother) by increasing the polygon count even if they have to emphasize the player character above any other players or NPCs like they've done with shadows in Endwalker.


I don't want blocky knees or thighs anymore, I want round fingers and bare feet also.



https://i.imgur.com/Ah0IArZ.png

For the game to stay around for another 10 years a graphic update needs to happen, you have to remember the game is now 11 years old. It still looks great of it's age but we need a bit of a face flit in the age of 4k and all that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Floortank

I don't really care about the updated character textures. Would like better UI / glamour/transmog features, crafting without having to remove materials from storage, and other modern gaming features from ten years ago that this game still can't do.

---

This is my concern as well. A graphical update is well and good, and absolutely needed. But it can just be good vibes obscuring some of the really problematic issues the game has in it's back end. Newer, prettier graphics aren't going to fix an extremely limited glamour system, inventory/database issues, proper housing system updates, etc.

The new upgrade is much needed, this game hasn't seen an update in character models in almost a decade. I think for a month into it, the models so far look great. They still stay true to the original look of the characters with a more polished/crisp/brightened look. I disagree completely with the OP.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SigmaOZ

I hope this Miqo'te doesn't look better because it's barely one month in development. Does no one notice the polygon count is exactly the same?.


There is no improvement to the model and better models are required.


The dev team needs to make the models rounder (smoother) by increasing the polygon count even if they have to emphasize the player character above any other players or NPCs like they've done with shadows in Endwalker.


I don't want blocky knees or thighs anymore, I want round fingers and bare feet also.



https://i.imgur.com/Ah0IArZ.png

---

Yeah, the models need an update. Look at female elezen, for example. Not only are they pretty bad proportion-wise, they're also walking triangles with really weird animations. Only male Au'ra run animation is worse (Goofy).

I do hope they don't go the Blizzard way of Disney-fying the characters, but I don't think we're in danger of seeing that happen.

Another day, another case of someone equating something looking really dated to charm.

Crazy.