New 7.1 hairstyle looks nothing like the winning hairstyle from the 2023 contest

Replying to add to this as well, I can't believe the hairstyle looks so vastly different... the model isn't curls, it's wavy... this isn't the winner's hair at all, how could they??

Imagine my shock.

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Originally Posted by Glyphs

Another agreement. I also had to go through all the Hairstyle Design Contest winners when I saw this, because it felt like it had to be a different style, right? But no, this is the only one with any resemblance to the new hairstyle.

The "A new hairstyle inspired by a FFXIV Hairstyle Design Contest" wording, when previous winners have used the phrasing "A winning entry from the FFXIV Hairstyle Design Contest" is then also incredibly damning, and shows some self awareness.

This would be disappointing for any entry, but it seems that the development team does not understand the gravity that this particular hairstyle holds, as a rare and eagerly anticipated textured hairstyle. Even taking the "inspired by" as "maybe they'll release a more faithful version later on" is a bit disheartening, to see that a style with such importance did not take precedent. It truly seems that the team did not understand the relevance of what they were working with, and the principle of that is the most disappointing part here.

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That as well.
The wording of “inspired by” while no other contest winner had that was just a slap to the face.
Why? Was it because of limitations? I knew there was curls in the game when i made this with that in mind. I also made it in mind of other ethnicities and skin color. So why did it have to be submitted as inspired? Id rather they had just waited on it until it could be properly done or just not at all if it defeated the point of its creation

I don't normally post on the forums (in fact I made this account just to answer this) but I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed how bad it looks. The representation issue is horrible enough (and obviously is the primary issue), but even as is, it looks... bad. Real bad. It looks so flat, like it's not even actually on the example character for the patch notes preview and looks like it'd be incredibly stiff if the preview character moved their head.

I reeeeally hope they fix this, it's such a cute hairstyle and I would have used it for an alt if it didn't look so bad. And to the artist, I'm really sorry they did this to your design, it deserves so much better. As a fellow artist, if I entered something and it was butchered this badly, I'd be causing an uproar. :<

With the Graphical Overhaul coming into play, i had hoped we would see more vibrant texture differences when it came to hair- especially with the newest setting in the game.
So much Love and care went into painstakingly researching the Lands and references used for Dawnwtrail's culture. As a player, i am struggling to see the same measure taken in this latest addition.

I do hope the team will consider extending that to Hair moving forward. and perhaps even work to correct this one.

Same energy

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...OcLq0zh-UE4A&s

I can't really add much to what has already been said, so I'm just going to throw my support behind this. I understand there are probably some limitations on hair modelling, but not to an extent that excuses this.

Please do better.

Yeah it's pretty dire. I hope they fix it up in future patches

I was kinda excited about using the hairstyle on my character after reading the patch notes, but now that I’ve been informed of what the hairstyle is based on, it no longer feels right to use it. Please consider remaking it. Either implement the hair correctly, as the original creator envisioned it, or don’t do it at all. Thank you

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Originally Posted by Madqueenmomo

Hello, I’m the original creator and artist and i just wanted to say thank you for fighting to fix the hair or at lest have SE do better for the other hairstyles that won.

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Sorry for the long post. And thank you.

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Please don't apologize for the long post this is so beautiful and eloquently put it a way that is kind and respectful to all involved. Thank you so much for the care you put into this in both design and care for others and how they deserve to feel represented. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, it must feel awful when you put that specific care and intent into it, I really hope there is a resolution that a) gives people the diversity in hair textures they want a b) makes you feel like you've been made a bit whole in it all

I didn’t even realize which hairstyle this was ‘inspired by’ until I saw this thread :/ really disappointing. I hope they fix this bc the situation is ridiculous

It feels like they went with a safe option based on their design documents, but those design documents resulted in the joke afro we currently have. Please squeenix, get some outside consultants to look at the designs like these. I refuse to believe its a rendering issue.

Adding my support as well. I had to double check if that hair really was supposed to be inspired by that entry, because it looks nothing like it. And there were so many people celebrating it when it got selected as a winner!

It looks so far off that if they added that hair and said nothing about it being "inspired by" a winner entry, most people wouldn't even be able to tell. But them confirming it was, it is disappointing because it looks like they didn't even try to replicate it, or completely misunderstood it.

Replying here to voice my frustration with this. I've wanted to see properly rendered curls of some kind in game for a long time, and seeing a really well-made concept implemented with so little care feels horrible.

Wanted to throw in on this. Extremely disappointing to get a hairstyle that so aggressively avoids the very spirit of the winning design. Flat, wet hair waves are not at all a substitute for tight curls. I don't know if the screenshot previews are just particularly unfortunate, but in general the shots presented make that hair feel remarkably low quality, especially compared to other recent hairstyles, especially Hrothgal hairs, which DO have curls.

Coming into this thread to say this, both in support of those commenting and square enix's devs. I'm very disappointed by this hair, especially as someone with curly hair, but I will say that I do not blame the devs entirely that this is the result based on how the game currently handles hair. That being said, I think this is a good sign that things need to be changed, at least slightly.

For those who may not know, hair in this game is nothing more than flat pieces of paper stacked on top of each other (that's why Miqote's fluffy tails have that cross(+) at the end of it for example. It's just two flat pngs). As such, any curls they make would end up as flat images, like the ones on female highlanders.

In response to some of the comments made in this thread. Using enemy models as a basis on what can be accomplished with character models is not the same. When designing an enemy, Square Enix never has to consider 300-1000+ of those models being on the same map and standing in the same location (Patch day MSQ locations, Hunt trains, holiday events, hell-- Limsa Lominsa's lobby). What Square Enix can accomplish on enemies is not feasible logically on players in an mmorpg, at least if they want to be considerate to as many people's computer/console specs as they can. Even if you hide most players from sight, the presence of that many players still affects your gameplay performance to some degree.

That being said, this hair could definitely be better. Literally just adding a few defining strands at the top I think would be nice to add volume. And at least add SOME curls to the texture. With their current system, having nothing but curls would probably look bad from most angles, but a few here and there I think would help create a better illusion of a large amount of curly hair rather than just waves.

(edit): fixing some typos. Probably still missed some.

The whole point of winning the contest is to have your hairstyle design implemented into the game. Its not for SE to be "inspired" by it, then add a hairstyle thats only similarity to the winner is that its a hairstyle.

Disappointing, Square Enix. Do better, actually try for once.

Please please consider updating this hairstyle with the constructive criticism that has been mentioned in this thread. It lost so much of the original concept. "Inspired by" is such a disservice to the true intent of the hairstyle.

This hairstyle is stunningly in bad faith and terribly executed. SE you should be ashamed, especially when there's tons of curly hair textures already in the game on non player models.

A good contemporary MMO to compare graphic capabilities to is Guild Wars 2, which came out around the same time as 2.0. Like in this game, hair is made with flat polygons + textures, but by using similar techniques to how you would render say, voluminous plants like trees or bushes, combining polygons at many angles with good texturework can create voluminous hair with tight curl patterns. And yes, I do mean for player characters! Guild Wars 2 implemented a bunch of textured hairstyles in some of its later expansions.

it is incredibly mean spirited to replicate that artist's hair design so poorly. a lot of people have been asking for curly hair options for years, and the contest design sheet even included color coded segments of hair to help the modeller visualize volume/curls. there is no excuse, this is a completely different hairstyle.

The FFXIV team needs to do better on these curly hairstyles!

this is absolutely unacceptable! its a spit in the face of the contest winner, every other contest hairstyle that has been added has been very faithful to their entries, but suddenly with a more textured hair its merely "inspired by" because apparently they cant figure out how to model curls? please listen to feedback and consider revising the design, so many were excited at the idea of having more natural hairstyles

Extending my voice in here for support. This contest entry was meant to diversify the hairstyles in the game away from the typical 'wavy' or 'straight' haired look. It's really a shame that they textured it in this way.

Had to +1 the thread to hope there's some change made here.

My first impression was that it looks awful. Oily/greasy. Flat as paper. I assumed maybe the screenshot was just bad. But...

Discovering it is not only bad, but an incredibly botched take on curly hair? Yikes.

I'm not sure if wet effects were left on for this preview or what, but I don't think that could account for all of this. PLEASE go back and do this hairstyle correctly. You selected a wonderful design for the contest that brings in personal representation that players (especially Black and other People of Color) have wanted for ages. Let players with textured hair see that in their WoL.

I understand that hair is one of the hardest things to render in 3-D animation, but please hear this with respect: if modeling this kind of textured curls is outside the skillset of your team, PLEASE contract an Artist of Color to do the work.

Adding my support. I didn't even realize this was supposted to be "inspired by" that winning design from the contest until people started pointing it out. I hope it gets touched on after the feedback, judging by the pictures it really needs to be fixed. To respect the original artist's work, to give people more actually varied options and be more inclusive.

First time ever even making a forum account just to comment on this.

This hairstyle is the most disappointing thing I've seen in a long time from the FFXIV team. Not only does it not even resemble the winning contest entry, like it is meant to, but it doesn't even measure up to FFXIV's current graphics standards. Even if this hairstyle was not 'inspired by' a tight-curl hairstyle and was simply one they wanted to add into the game regardless, it looks like someone drew on the character models in MS Paint. This does not even measure up to the graphic quality BEFORE the graphics update.

Please, SE. Take another look at this and realize how bad this represents your big graphics update and reflects poorly on your inclusion of diverse hairstyles.

First time posting in the forums, and I'd have to agree with OP. It is tiring seeing a lack of natural hair styles for black characters. The game is well over 10+ years old at this point, so the fact this is still occurring after people have made it pretty clear they want more curled/textured hairstyles in game to better fit their characters/better represent themselves in game is appalling.

Never used the forums before but thought it was the right time to do so. This hairstyle is frankly a disgrace to the original artwork, and to all the people who were excited to see themselves represented in-game at last.

We know this team can provide great work, and they have the funding to do so, given how popular the game is. Nonwhite players deserve better in particular, given the lack of actual curly hair in the game, and the fact that the only identifiably nonwhite hairstyles we have in the game are a stereotypical afro style from the last century and one set of "dreads" (I don't even want to call them that, they're VERY much not styled on an actual black person's hair).

There's a whole spectrum of unique hair from all around the world, for every hair texture in existence. I believe we owe it to our vast variety of players to actually put the work in to represent them. Not to mention, represent a dedicated player's artwork correctly - because this lack of care in translating the design is honestly concerning.

I hope they see this thread, I really do. They can do so much better.

Adding my support as well, this is an absolute mockery of the original artist's design. The team is absolutely capable of making curly textures but never seems to want to do it on hair usable by the player. Why is this? Please do better, your players deserve better.

I really think this hairstyle needs to be redone. The original winner was clearly going for a textured hair approach, and the version we're receiving in game does a very poor job at portraying this. The game already struggled a lot when it comes to more diverse hair choices, and I am incredibly disappointed with how the winning hairstyle was executed in game.

Also adding my voice to support this thread.

All other winners have been implemented faithfully. Failing to recreate this hairstyle properly feels disrespectful.

It's so disgusting and ridiculous. Where the hell are the curls?

I said it already, but Dragons Dogma 2 and Elden Ring got quite excellent curly and coily (black) hairstyles.

Do better. This is abysmal. Stop failing your black players, thank you.

Agreed, knowing that textures similar to the original design already exist in game, and the care the designer put into it makes this attempt even more blatantly half-hearted and sloppy. It's extremely disappointing to see and I hope it's revised soon.

This hairstyle's execution is so deeply disappointing. What was shown in the patch notes just looks unfinished in its own right, and when you put it next to the design it was 'inspired by' its even worse. I don't believe that a textured/curly hairstyle like this is impossible to implement faithfully in-engine, and if they just weren't sure how to do so the devs should've held off on releasing this until they could do it justice. The designer and the players (especially black and POC players who've been asking for a hairstyle that represents them for years!) deserve better.

Adding my agreement. This implementation is atrocious, and, frankly, really racist (a clear instance of "whitewashing" a natural textured hairstyle).

Do better.

How much should we bet that they're not going to pull this "inspired by" bs when it comes to any of the straight hair winners, and they'll ACTUALLY put effort into replicating it? I was so excited to see some different hair textures in the game, you can tell a whole lot of these winners put more care into the designs, sucks to know that they're all going to be butchered to hell because SE decided to choose hairstyles they know they can't actually replicate in-game.

I fully agree with most people's takes here, this hair back in the contest looked extremely promising as FFXIV has a huge lack of curly hair in the current game and a really lacking customization, this would've been an incredible step in customization and variation but unfortunately the in game result of this hair's contest is close to an insult, I'm hoping that this can get reworked it does not matter how long it takes, as long as it actually looks like the hair shown in the contest.

Adding my support - I refuse to believe that this is the best CS3 can do.