Benchmark/Graphics Update - Show your WoL's before and after

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Originally Posted by Gemina

Forgive my ignorance. Is this a simulation that only a PC can access? I wanna play along T_T

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It is only for PC I think, but you can still check it out!

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/

Yeah it's the PC benchmark tool. It's something that PC users can use to check if their PCs will perform well enough to play the game

I hate it. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLIeRHbW...pg&name=medium

Here's current and benchmark images of my female Xaela.

https://i.imgur.com/yk65t8x.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/FzrmRsm.png

Some things that I noticed are;

• Reduction in neck scales
• Jagged edges on scales
• Cheek scales have moved back
• Larger pupils
• Less pronounced bottom eyeliner (?)
• Eye shape feels different
• Mouth/lips feel different

There are some things that I like, like I'm glad they didn't destroy her white limbal rings, but hopefully they can fix rest of the problems.

i feel like i am attached too much to my current character lol
the new one definitely tries to depend more on environment lighting. but i do miss the shading on the eye area and the static light on the pupil
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...f053834dfc64a&
left to right: pre-DT; post-DT; post-DT with painted light; post-DT with painted light and removed eyelashes
it is just he looks more sleazy post-DT. welp

edit: also i think this is already good time for highlander to have eyebrows. this update makes facepaint a bit duller, not to mention the "eagle eye" art direction on them is kinda removed and only dependant on the lighting when the lighting so far is not right???

https://i.imgur.com/YVPq1EJ.png

This goes far beyond a simple upgrade and is more like a complete overhaul. I love male midlanders specifically because they don't look like male humans in games typically do... but now it feels like their facial features have been changed to almost resemble male highlander ones? It's all so plastic and dead looking, it's uncanny and I don't recognize any of my characters...

The appeal of FFXIV's graphics to me were that they were stylized more than leaning into aspects of realism such as with pores. I don't think this is an aesthetic change that I can get used to seeing even further down the line.

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Originally Posted by Boblawblah

It is only for PC I think, but you can still check it out!

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/

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Coool! Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Jessica_VS

If it makes you feel any better, I like both versions and the new version looks great to me. He's an attractive character.

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I'd feel better about it if the look was something I was opting into rather than being subjected to, but I appreciate it regardless.

I hope people can get their characters looking as good as they can.

While I absolutely adore the upgrade and stand by my opinions about it, I understand how close we can be to our characters, and it makes me sad that not everyone is getting a look that they're fully happy with.
Last thing I'd wish is to feel disconnected from a character that means so much to me.

I truly hope the best for everyone.

I’m writing on the forum for the first time because I couldn’t ignore this topic. I'm definitely disappointed with the character's graphical update. The character in the update looks like a faded copy of the original.
I feel upset about pretty much everything:
- Skin and hair color changes;
- No shine\gloss on lips and hair;
- Nose form change (previously, the character had a small crease on her nose);
- No proper shadows (might be benchmark issue? idk) so character look kinda "flat";

So I feel my character like it's 2D, kinda "flat". I wish they would keep everything like it was before just with new textures.

https://i.ibb.co/s9XDbS3/My-Collages.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/1QGWnV7/My-Collages1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/8jyTB0Y/My-Collages3.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/YQYXxGb/My-Collages4.jpg

I know perma anime eye sparkles aren't "realistic" but its wild how dead all my characters' eyes look without the highlight dot ;-;

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Originally Posted by Rokke

I know perma anime eye sparkles aren't "realistic" but its wild how dead all my characters' eyes look without the highlight dot ;-;

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the hightlight dot made a WORLD of difference and I want it back

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLIYxi2XsAAELhJ.jpg:large

This is someone elses beautiful character that i added the highlight dot back into on the bottom image using paint and to me its night and day . Both images are 7.0 moon miqote

Not a fan. The more I look at it the less I like it. I don't really notice any improvements really. It just looks different, not better.

The eyebrows look basically non-existent and it might be my imagination but does the neck look thicker? I can't tell if it's just the lighting but something definitely looks weird there.

https://i.imgur.com/z1ffh5N.png

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Originally Posted by Rokke

I know perma anime eye sparkles aren't "realistic" but its wild how dead all my characters' eyes look without the highlight dot ;-;

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forgot to add my comparison picture whoops

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

Im feeling eeeehh. The lack of eye shine is bugging me, and his lip corners feel less upturned which makes him look less...happy? playful?

https://i.imgur.com/80QsVIA.png

these lips....

For fun, I had my husband judge the side-by-side pictures of my characters. He doesn't play the game at all and so he had no reference for how the game currently looks.

Out of the 4 characters I showed him, he picked the current graphics every single time. :X

I approve.

https://onedrive.live.com/embed?resi...00&height=1000

I've been with my female Au Ra since just after HW release. I fantasia'd straight into her the moment I got the free fantasia from reaching HW. That was 8 years ago and I never looked back, loved her to bits, didn't change a thing minus hairstyle through aesthetician.

Unfortunately, she lost that... special thing. No longer as confident, no more of that soul piercing gaze, just a soulless doll like generic thing now. Seems that with 7.0, I will be forced to switch.

Current:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...96ccbef436288&
Benchmark:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...71f2e406bda5f&

RIP Female Raen Au Ra face 1.

Seen some valid complaints here for their character. but i do like mine though she is not perfectly like the old one but a step in the right direction
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5e0f7fbfd2.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3706a0bac5.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...310d7085e4.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b75f7af663.jpg

Like i say not perfect like it should be the same lip color but it's not also the eyes are little bigger in the update, but hey we have fingernails now

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Originally Posted by Ryu_Makkuro

I've been with my female Au Ra since just after HW release. I fantasia'd straight into her the moment I got the free fantasia from reaching HW. That was 8 years ago and I never looked back, loved her to bits, didn't change a thing minus hairstyle through aesthetician.

Unfortunately, she lost that... special thing. No longer as confident, no more of that soul piercing gaze, just a soulless doll like generic thing now. Seems that with 7.0, I will be forced to switch.

Current:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...96ccbef436288&
Benchmark:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...71f2e406bda5f&

RIP Female Raen Au Ra face 1.

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I'm sorry you're not happy with her, I think the new one looks beautiful, but you're right, it seems she lost a bit of the intensity in her gaze, and it was replaced with a more elegant, stoic look, which depending on what you like can work, but yea, it is subtly different.

Do characters have self-glow activated?. It's like they placed a lamp in front of the camera which causes the characters to look flat, as if they were cartoons or anime.

My greatest complain is definitely the lips. Most of them have lost their original shape for a very bland one that looks the same in every character. They also lost their glossiness and gradient textures, which are things I always liked.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...02038bf0e2a0d&

Samples.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...1df8363e63745&
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...38aab90bccc3b&

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Originally Posted by Boblawblah

I'm sorry you're not happy with her, I think the new one looks beautiful, but you're right, it seems she lost a bit of the intensity in her gaze, and it was replaced with a more elegant, stoic look, which depending on what you like can work, but yea, it is subtly different.

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If they wanted to provide a more elegant and stoic look, they should've done so through adding a new face option, not replacing existing one. The whole point here is to preserve what players liked about their original choices, not replacing them with things they never were interested in.

At this point my course of action is to change to the only option that even made me remotely fathom the thought of changing from this Au Ra... Viera with Lightning hair. Very different from trying to adjust your existing character around the update changes.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...6db53a6aae246&

I like how clean the hair looks now, the color of the eye too especially for veenas
but I can't get over the lips/nose.
don't really know how to feel about this

I'm way disappointed in the change, my girl (midlander face 5) just doesn't look like herself anymore.

Left:Current
Right: Benchmark

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...a99e81d4bc14a&

- The light has left her eyes, literally why did they go for the dead eye look?
- The new skin texture is odd, with how the game is styled its weird to see pores and makes my WOL look like she has a rash when combined with her blush.
- She now has eyeliner on the lower eyes too, which is a look but not for me, this should be a toggleable thing rather than default.
- Her lips are just wrong, other than losing its slight glossy sheen (which she should have as she has lipstick on), the shape is also different and she lost the slight smile she has going on.
- Her face shape also became rounder for no reason and she lost the sharpness in her face which was what I liked about her.

Overall, the character in the benchmark is cute and all but its not my beloved WOL I've been with for years and I hope they make this change optional cos I'm really not feeling it and its killing my excitement for dawntrail

Like, to start of with I do like the color adjustments and some of the textures in the update. I seriously thank the crew for working hard on trying to get this update out for us and letting us play around with it!

...but like a lot of folks I feel like my character's personality went away. Plus smoothing away the more defined features for a softer look makes me sad.
Specifically with the lack of shadows/detail/depth around the eyes and mouths in at least male viera face 4 takes his expression from having this slightly amused character to...empty.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLIsVFnX...g&name=900x900https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLIsakgX...jpg&name=small

https://imgur.com/a/c2ezE6G

I think it is an improvement the only thing I miss is the lips having that glossy, plump and more full look.

Personally I am very pleased with the way my character looks in the benchmark, with the lighting and textures changes. Only the lips look to me a bit smudged, lacking definition, but maybe I can correct that with a drop of gloss... we'll see. That said, I think it looks very natural and much improved.


https://i.postimg.cc/CxKqjnVM/unt4.png


I am only posting an image of my character "after" because I don't like the character creation settings, I always found them very misleading. And now even more so, because they don't look upgraded like the benchmark and that might be the main culprit of making many people unhappy. Or so I hope :S

My character looks like dogshit on the benchmark, and unrecognisable.

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Originally Posted by Reissss

- Her face shape also became rounder for no reason and she lost the sharpness in her face which was what I liked about her.

Overall, the character in the benchmark is cute and all but its not my beloved WOL I've been with for years and I hope they make this change optional cos I'm really not feeling it and its killing my excitement for dawntrail

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This is basically how I feel about my Au Ra. They made her a bit more round, lost the sharpness and ultimately ended with a cute looking doll, rather than the sharp beauty I fell in love with so long ago.

I've immediately stopped looking forward to Dawntrail at this point, since I no longer will be able to enjoy it with the character I've been with for so long. And my plan was to replay the game from start through New Game+, to re-live the journey once more... boy is that plan put to shambles now.

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Originally Posted by magebomb

Like, to start of with I do like the color adjustments and some of the textures in the update. I seriously thank the crew for working hard on trying to get this update out for us and letting us play around with it!

...but like a lot of folks I feel like my character's personality went away. Plus smoothing away the more defined features for a softer look makes me sad.
Specifically with the lack of shadows/detail/depth around the eyes and mouths in at least male viera face 4 takes his expression from having this slightly amused character to...empty.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLIsVFnX...g&name=900x900https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLIsakgX...jpg&name=small

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I appreciate the work the devs put in but yeah unfortunately I'm literally in the same boat as you - this update smoothed out and took all my character's personality with it too. :( Bummer.

comparison (left old, right benchmark):
https://imgur.com/a/tfA31B5

benchmark trailer (eyes look off):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLInlpHX...jpg&name=large

current looks (eyes have more sharpness, mascara isn't as visble + less prominent shadows in iris):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fw7dt3-W...jpg&name=large

benchmark (eyebrows and darkened eyes make his glance dull, less grumpy. his mouth looks almost friendly now which changes his appearance):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLInTfpX...g&name=900x900

i'm incredibly unhappy with my WOL :(
he doesn't look as sharp and grumpy anymore. is there a way to play the game in old graphics? my other characters look more or less fine (tho i have ofc things to complain there too...) but especially for my main character this takes all my joy for him. his eyes are too soft now, he almost smiles bcs they put more focus on that lip folds. and yeah the shadows are gone, he looks so flat. and his eye shadow is so prominent it takes the focus of the sharpness of his glance T_T

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Originally Posted by nordiclania

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

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They just drew a straight line across on those new lips?!?

First of all, I think it's important to note that the character creator has never been a perfect indicator of what your character will look like in-game. That said, I don't hate it (honestly the new version looks closer to how I like to draw him). My main critiques are: (1) I don't like how flat his lips look when he's not in direct light, (2) I don't like how dark the shadows under his eye and on his nose looks when he's not in direct light, and (3)I don't like how bright the highlight on his nose looks in direct light (the highlight creates this waxy/plastic effect I don't like). Otherwise, I like the shape of his hair, lips, and jaw- they are a definite upgrade. His hair color is more desaturated, but this doesn't bother me that much.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/7e8843fd...edd0835da3.jpghttps://64.media.tumblr.com/e574b0a9...43030dfbe9.jpg

I'm personally pleased, though there are some changes I noticed!
LEFT: 6.58
RIGHT: BENCHMARK
https://i.imgur.com/y1Mdj7e.png
- Brows have been shifted upward slightly.
- Nose softened but the "hook" to it is more defined (which is PERFECT for me!)
- Big change is how the highlight in the hair is changed. No more shoddy dye job on the topknot!

Of course, some cutscene gifs as well since the character creator lighting isn't great. My boy looks FANTASTIC in motion and emoting, looks and feels more like himself here. Darker skin as a whole looking a LOT better with the update.
https://64.media.tumblr.com/ce8a119a...20b1704f0e.gif
https://64.media.tumblr.com/412e392e...55ec4e2cef.gif
https://64.media.tumblr.com/f460d276...5b2a06517d.gif
I'd definately say M!Middie face 6 got off real good with this update.

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Originally Posted by Aelin_Ashryver

https://imgur.com/a/c2ezE6G

I think it is an improvement the only thing I miss is the lips having that glossy, plump and more full look.

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I am just postulating here, but I don't think the "fullness" of the old lips is necessarily to do with the model or the textures. I do think they could do more to make them look fuller in Dawntrail, of course. But it looks to me more like the fullness in Endwalker/the other screenshot comes from that harsh, black low-quality shadow caused by old lighting and the skin shader's reaction to it. The same shadow effect that caused so many troubles in other environments and in cutscenes. For better or worse, tone contributes a lot to the feeling of depth, and a pure black value (over something lighter) is basically the most drastic effect you can have. Which is also why some characters with the current/old lighting looked gaunt to the point of zombification when their cheeks were in the shadow (and thus created pitch black or nearly pitch black darkness around them). Same problem, different results.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

This is why they didn't change characters much. They said they could have been far more drastic, but they know people are attached to their looks like this, and even these small changes are upsetting some players.

Doubtful. The character you design in the benchmark is meant to be able to be used directly in the character creator upon release (or with the free Fantasia you get). If they changed it, the benchmark would lose part of its purpose and confuse people who are using it for that purpose.

Whether we like it or not, I think we need to accept this is all final.

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They've made visual changes from the benchmark based on player feedback before, and a lot of these are outright quality issues so bad I'd be shocked if they didn't get fixed, so i don't see why a graphics update wouldn't have changed based on player feedback.

figured i'd post my WoL since maybe others share my experience. loading him to the benchmark for the first time made me feel like... well, i kind of hated it. these just do not look like the same face at all to me. (he is also wearing placeholder hair)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...34a02fa678a85&
but later I figured out that most of what I don't like about the new face is caused by the lipstick. after changing the lipstick setting from "dark" to "light" and changing the tone slightly i achieved a look that is much more in line with the way i view my WoL. here is a picture of him with the adjusted lips and his correct hair from the benchmark-
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...8b30c41881f45&
-and here is one of how he looks currently (apologies all my screenshots are with re-shade and im too lazy to go take a vanilla screenshot just for showcase)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...8ecc72cd0b5ed&
so now i dont feel as bad about the update as i did earlier today. maybe i can give some of you hope that sometimes slight tweaks work. i do wish the catchlights stayed though, because his eyes do look pretty dead post update.

i don't even know what to say... my girl looks so bad.. the less prominent shadows on her face make it look like someone grabbed the sides of her face and stretched it out, especially around the eyes and mouth.

i really hope they can make some changes to this bc she looks atrocious now.

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

And here we see Azurhi both pre-and post-good graphics adventure

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLJDZ2MW...jpg&name=large

...boy, I sure hope I can still fix FFXIV's godawful saturation with reshade after this update

I'm pleased with it.

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...a8c9140b0a.jpg
Before

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...27ae628e6f.jpg
After