7.0 Graphic Update - Elezen feedback

I compiled the difference in eyebrows for face 4.
I wanted to check if it was only the ones I used on my elezen that had been totally changed, or if it was a bigger issue with this face.
They seem to have only done the work to adapt eyebrow #1, and then it's basically a copy paste of that shape on all brows with slight tweaks... So much personality is lost, it's really disapointing and I really hope they fix it for release.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/dc256191...5176b47ce5.jpg

https://64.media.tumblr.com/729c7718...728ad68b5a.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reinha

- The ears glow in peach tones when that's not my skin tone

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That's how light works.
Red/Infrared light penetrates deeper into skin than other narrower wavelengths.
Any subsurface scattering on thin skin will appear red. It doesn't matter what color your skin is, when it's as thin as an ear, it will appear red.

You can observe this by holding your hand up to an extremely bright light.

Fantastic writeup Liamont!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DNSDies

That's how light works.
Red/Infrared light penetrates deeper into skin than other narrower wavelengths.
Any subsurface scattering on thin skin will appear red. It doesn't matter what color your skin is, when it's as thin as an ear, it will appear red.

You can observe this by holding your hand up to an extremely bright light.

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Seconding this with an example. Black cats have grey/black skin underneath their fur. Light shining through their ears is red.
It's very cool and cute.

https://i.imgur.com/X26gBk5.png

Please don't remove the ear glow!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SpiritMuse

Yes, only face 1 currently has dark circles for Duskwights, the rest doesn't. While for Wildwood all faces have them. It honestly looks like they just took the textures for Wildwoods and applied those to Duskwights as well.

Wildwood on the left, Duskwight on the right:
https://i.imgur.com/t2O6FZF.jpeg

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Wildwood: So very tired of just everything.
Duskwight: Aside from tension with the surface and adders, rest and relaxation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Liamont

Updated the first post with the compiled feedback. Will be updating the links in each category as feedback comes in.

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Thank you so much for doing all this work to compile all our posts! Though it seems a couple of the links are broken, specifically the ones that show a url instead of something like "example 1".

Guys, my elezen looks totally different after these changes and I don't feel like she's the same character anymore. See, her chin has been radically altered and changing the lighting doesn't help!

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...4e97de0534.jpg

I would like to see the lines under my eyes removed as in face 3; the shadows lightened.

Face 2 became a new man. Duskwight have become Wildwood.

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d...0d970c~mv2.png

I also wrote it in Japanese.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6445020

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ericamber

現在のシェーダー顔タイプ２・２顔は目の下の皺が薄く、影がない顔つきです。
ベンチマークでは、皺が濃くなり、影ができ、目元の涼やかさが失われてしまいました。

フェイスペイントで多少目尻部分は明るくできますが、目頭や瞳の下に不自然な影が残ります。

顔タイプ２だけではなく、シェーダー族全体の目の影が強くなり
フォレスターとシェーダーの違いが肌色と眉下の影の濃さしかないように見えます。

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It's amazing to me how stark the difference is in my case. The face has lost all definition and become super flat. I'm very displeased.

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

Top is old, backlit then frontlit. Bottom is new, same order.

Duskwight face 3
Hair colour: Row 2 Col 4

With the shadows being toned down in the new version it really looks like a different character (to me at least).

The freckles (or pores, idk) seem more pronounced than they used to be.
Eyebrows might have changes a little, I'm not sure.
The eyelashes have been removed/reduced significantly from the upper lid
The tattoo suggests that the iris size has been made smaller? That or the tattoo has become thicker.
The inner ear shapes have changed entirely. this one doesn't bother me, just something I noticed.

Here's my WoL. On the left is the benchmark, on the right is live. I've tried to match lighting/position as best as possible. His options are:

Quote:

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Wildwood Elezen Male
Height 38
Skin color: 1,1
Hair color: 12,6 | Highlights 12, 4
Face: 2
Jaw: 1
Eyes: 4
Iris size: Large
Eye color: 19, 2
Brows: 4
Nose: 4
Mouth: 4
Lip color: None
Ear shape: 1
Ear size: 100
Ear clasp color: 1, 7

---

https://i.imgur.com/4ODBj7Y.png


Look how dead and lifeless his eyes look. He's in direct sun - There should be plenty of light reflecting in his eyes, but there's basically none. The catchlights on male elezen in particular, and really everyone, need to be turned WAY up. Dynamic is a great idea! But even in indirect light you still get light bouncing into your eye and reflecting. Make it more the size it was before and keep it from getting eaten by the new eyelashes and sure.

But those dead eyes aren't all, oh no.

- His chin is different, and you see it even more in the side shot below how much the profile has changed.
- His nose is narrower and shorter.
- The lip shape has changed significantly.
- The eyebrows are different, especially at the outer point.
- The eyes are different. The shape has changed. Someone's given him botox and concealer, where are the darker shades around his eyes? And the lines? And of course the catchlights...
- The ears are different. The tips are shaped differently, the folds of the ear itself appear differently.
- The ear clasps have changed shape and color. They also don't sit right.
- His skin color has changed.
- His hair is duller and feels darker.

Side and inside shots:
https://i.imgur.com/BWudCNl.png

Look at that chin and nose.

https://i.imgur.com/Am3Btfh.png

You can see the lip shape better here I think. And his eyes have more light reflection inside than outside.

But it's not just my WoL getting hit, of course, it's everyone. Even your favorite NPCs! Look at poor Haurchefant here:

https://i.imgur.com/hXz495P.png
https://i.imgur.com/GWu63ze.png

It's so painful.

A final bit of pain:
https://i.imgur.com/jHdJQWb.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/dSaZSWI.png

An adventurous smirk looks creepier and more terrifying than my WoL literally being possessed.

This is not my WoL, devs. I don't know who this person is, but he's not the character I've loved for years. Please don't take my beloved WoL from me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jessica_VS

Guys, my elezen looks totally different after these changes and I don't feel like she's the same character anymore. See, her chin has been radically altered and changing the lighting doesn't help!

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...4e97de0534.jpg

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https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2...rvPW/giphy.gif

First of all, I want to thank the team for quickly acknowledging the issues! However, a lot of the things frequently brought up in the forums were not mentioned, and while I hope that was done to make the announcement digestible, I would like to re-affirm some of them just in case.

A
-"Dead eyes" effect and skin glow issues are not limited to the character creation and are also noticed in the Benchmark itself.
- Some hair highlights drastically changed their shape and/or behavior in regards to color.
- Some hair look darker than others due to the updated textures and make hair color overall more inconsistent (especially crucial at the lightest and darkest ones, when further adjustment is impossible).
- A lot of face details: nose, lips, eyes, eyebrows and overall shape have been changed beyond what a texture or lighting affects.

B
- As was already multiple times mentioned in both EN and JP forums, addition of Wildwood dark circles to Duskwight faces. While I hope this was a texture mistake, I do want to accentuate that this part changes look of most characters drastically and erases one of the defining clan appearance differences.
- There's also an issue with how "eyeshadow" type facepaint behaves around new eyes, explained in-detail in this post , and I hope this will not go unnoticed.

Many eyeshapes for Duskwight elezens were affected by the issues under section B thus making an impression that the shape changed through excessively highlighting the outer bottom corner waterline (facepanit) or over-accentuating inner upper corner, making it much darker (dark circles in combination with more defined upper lid and nose bridge area).
However there're still modeling changes to size and/or shape of some of the eyes that go beyond that and are in further detail covered in this thread and I would appreciate if you take them into account.

In my case, a rough edit to remove dark circles and change to the original brow shape has pretty much brought back the original impression of the character despite slight changes to the eyeshape. (Sorry for he poor quality but I believe this is enough to bring my point across)

https://i.imgur.com/4xlcdyH.png

I hope this feedback would provide useful and thank you again for listening to our concerns. I would be looking forward to the updated Benchmark and thank you for providing us an opportunity to look at the addressed issues before the expansion release!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Velaneth

Here's my WoL. On the left is the benchmark, on the right is live. I've tried to match lighting/position as best as possible.

https://i.imgur.com/4ODBj7Y.png


Look how dead and lifeless his eyes look. He's in direct sun - There should be plenty of light reflecting in his eyes, but there's basically none. The catchlights on male elezen in particular, and really everyone, need to be turned WAY up. Dynamic is a great idea! But even in indirect light you still get light bouncing into your eye and reflecting. Make it more the size it was before and keep it from getting eaten by the new eyelashes and sure.

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It's crazy how much of a difference the light dot in the eyes makes

https://i.imgur.com/cts0RMe.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GodModule

It's crazy how much of a difference the light dot in the eyes makes

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Agreed! They need to crank up that new dynamic sparkle a lot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trager24

It's amazing to me how stark the difference is in my case. The face has lost all definition and become super flat. I'm very displeased.

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

Top is old, backlit then frontlit. Bottom is new, same order.

Duskwight face 3
Hair colour: Row 2 Col 4

With the shadows being toned down in the new version it really looks like a different character (to me at least).

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I am reposting your screenshots as I see this same problem across the board and yours highlight them very well. The faces have lost angles - cheekbones, jawlines have been smoothed out resulting in a more generic look. (Rounder jaws and less angular faces are currently achievable in character customization, but these changes impose a less defined face on all the models.) Also contrast of light and dark on the faces seems reduced, creating an over-exposed look. For me this is no upgrade. The faces don't all look bad to me, but they do look far less customized.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by decomposer

This is something I've been grappling with over the last few days. Are we really meant to think that hooked noses, strong profiles, smaller almond eyes, and full lips were "mistakes?" If so, I'm not sure why they let people build characters with those mistakes for ten years. A lot of people held onto those features as the only crumbs that allowed us to make ethnically diverse characters.

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These customizations have been available to us for years and I am disappointed to see them "smoothed out". Some of us have chosen them on purpose - as did the artists who created Haurchefant for example. I am personally very fond of the Haurchefant hooked nose. The update has drastically altered his profile. I am going to miss cheekbones, noses, and angular jaws and all the other details we currently enjoy.

I'm using Duskwight face 4, eyebrow 2 and mouth 4 for my elezen.

I'm very disappointed with the changes they made. My cool, solemn, proud girl became soft, kind, neighbourhood big sister.

Other than many things people already mentioned in the posts above, here are my main concerns:
1. The shape of the eyebrow. I love the defined pointed turn in the eyebrow 2. It gives so much sharpness and coolness to my character. The new one looks too flat, and making her loses her personality.

2. The slight tilt up of the mouth corners. This makes her look like she's half smiling. It makes her loses the solemn and proud characteristics that scream Elezen. If you cover her ears, I would believe this is a new Hyur model.

https://i.imgur.com/gnUTPtql.jpg

3. The brow bone shape change. You see a clear line coming down from forehead, high at the brow bone, indent on the eye, then follow the cheek bone to the chin. This adds so much depth to the face. However, the new model has barely any change. This cause the face to look so flat.

https://i.imgur.com/9bxkd0ol.jpg

These are all more than the lighting issue that YoshiP mentioned in the benchmark update post. Hope they can fix the model before the release of Dawntrail.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trager24

It's amazing to me how stark the difference is in my case. The face has lost all definition and become super flat. I'm very displeased.

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

Top is old, backlit then frontlit. Bottom is new, same order.

Duskwight face 3
Hair colour: Row 2 Col 4

With the shadows being toned down in the new version it really looks like a different character (to me at least).

The freckles (or pores, idk) seem more pronounced than they used to be.
Eyebrows might have changes a little, I'm not sure.
The eyelashes have been removed/reduced significantly from the upper lid
The tattoo suggests that the iris size has been made smaller? That or the tattoo has become thicker.
The inner ear shapes have changed entirely. this one doesn't bother me, just something I noticed.

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The bottom looks like the tops daughter

Adding to this with my partner’s face 1 elezen male since she doesn’t have a PC. I made him in the benchmark today and the biggest problem is a face paint issue I haven’t seen mentioned. He uses the eyebrow paint to achieve a heavy caterpillar eyebrows look, but now the face paint doesn’t sit on the eyebrows.

https://imgur.com/3R6Ompb.jpg

Hello, I'm posting here in behalf of Nozomi Kei of the Balmung server, Crystal DC, NA. This is my first time posting here so apologies for some errors. This is also going to be a bit of a long feedback

Part 1 of feedback:

"I'm going to try to cover everything I can find wrong and pray that at least the biggest issues are addressed, otherwise I may have to retire the character I've played for almost a decade. I will be talking primarily about face 2 male Duskwight Elezen, as that is what I play. Some of these issues might be present in all Melezen faces or isolated to face 2, but I wouldn't know unless one of you here has talked about it.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/f09fa36b...d1ab78c6cd.pnj

First, an issue several others have mentioned: Face 2 Duskwight suddenly having the textures of a Wildwood; eyebags being especially noticable and unwanted. I chose my character to be Duskwight specifically because I didn't want the eyebags.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3d8dc799...28a9226635.pnj

Actually something seems off with all of the textures on face 2 Duskwight? My previously powder-smooth, even-toned skin now has a mottled, almost artifacted appearance, same with the skin on the lips which have both mottling and oddly darkened edges on the lower lip especially. The eyelid textures seem to have just straight up been placed wrong, with part of the weights snagging a section of the eyebrow down and leaving a notch during blinks. The eyebrows also look like maaaybe they were misplaced and that's why they're thicker for some of us, because they're being stretched over a different area than intended that is bigger than their previous real estate."

Part 2 of feedback:

https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3123275...bbaafe7b8a.pnj

"The obvious texture stretching aside, the new eyelid has removed my faint eyeliner, and changed the gently pink lid to the same jaundiced beige as areas like the forehead. Eyelids are naturally pinker in real life because of the thin skin amd abundant blood vessels. This ties into the larger observation I've made about the changes to face skin textures for 7.0, which is that their color now looks unnaturally one-toned and even more lacking in the natural hue variation of living skin than the current faces.

A note on the eyebrows and lips that is more of a suspicion than confirmed, but I'm starting to feel like these features have just been outright homogenized? Perhaps in order to make applying morphs easier? Several people have made mention of their brows being straightened out and/or thickened. The elderly faced gentleman on page 12 posted by Cio had his magnificent, shapely brows reduced to mundanity. A lot of unique lip shapes are being changed in a consistent direction. The 'standard' shape is a strong cupid's bow on top with very pointed peaks, color wrapping around the corners of the mouth, a wide and shallowly curved underside to the bottom lip, and less fullness overall. Some are seeing their gently rounded peaks made pointy, others are seeing skinny-in-width bottom lips widened, folks with broad upper lips are being thinned. My little lift in the center underside of my bottom lip was flattened

My lips are also now weirdly dark by default, and trying to colorcorrect the unattractive mauvish beige leaves me looking like I'm wearing heavy lipstick. I think part of this is the change in how lips handle lighting, and part is the bad texture that was swapped in, plus the harsher edges to the liplines where previously there was a gentle, natural transition.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/dd670572...c1a20b5747.pnj

At first I thought I was imagining it before I imported my current settings, but now I am sure when I say my cute and small triangular ears whose shape added to the sharpness of my face have been made bigger and rounder. I made the smallest, most Tolkien elf ears I could because I wanted them to be subtle and elegant. This reshaping has added to the myriad changes that mean my character no longer looks like the same person."

https://64.media.tumblr.com/48794d69...fcda71856d.pnj

Part 3 of feedback:

"While I can see changes to my beloved hook nose I will concede that at least in profile the shape is nearly identical. Like others observed there has generally been a lessening of the details that made the nose unique. Raised ridge, bigger septum, nostril shortening.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/5bc57169...7778d9db46.pnj

I'm going to try to list things out, starring the things that I think are issues that especially need to be changed/fixed because they are errors rather than just somewhat expected (if unwanted) differences caused by increased poly count and modelling changes.

☆☆• Face 2 Duskwight face textures have been swapped for Wildwood textures?

☆• Lips have been reshaped

☆• Eyebrows have been thickened

• Ears have been made bigger and more rounded in the middle and lobe regions

☆• Lips are darker by default which causes issues with lipstick

• The edges of lips have a hard edge instead of the previous gentle transition

☆• The bizarre 'milk mustache' above the upper lip

• My chin has been made bigger and more round in profile

• My lower lip has been plumped.

☆• Mottled skin textures, especially on my cheeks

• Very flat lip lighting/sheen

☆• Elongated dark smudges about 2cm long on either side of my mouth?

☆☆• Texture issues in eyelid region (very visible during blink animation)

• Harsher, darker eyelashes (not thicker from above though??)

• Lack of eyeshine and dark upper iris making my lids appear lower and changing my default expression

• Angular facial geometry in cheeks seems smoothed which changes the harsher look of the race (possibly just the faulty benchmark lighting)

• Hair lighting has changed; seems more matte, less hue variation between lit and shadowed areas

___

Changes I've seen in other players:

• Face skintone now seems very one-note and unalive

• Waxiness

• Harsher eye makeup that appears too dark or stark

• Removal of texture detail that was unique to individual faces, especially in eye regions

• Moon Miqo fangs drastically shortened"

Part 4 of feedback:

"In seeing all of this unfold I've been dismayed to notice a lot of the unique charm of faces across the board being airbrushed away, from subtle shading in eye areas on various viera faces, to expressive and quirky default expressions being toned down and made more average in Elezen girls and Miqo girls, to wrinkles disappearing from older faces, to facial topology that created personality via cast shadows being rounded and smoothed and lightened into nonexistence. The result is consistently a more calm, mature, generic look. A lot of female characters' makeup has turned weirdly harsh, sharp-edged, and dark so that it more closely resembles stage makeup, both eye and lip. Then the awkwardly single-toned skin tops things off with me left feeling that very few looks are 'upgrades' even when the owner is happy with the result.

A couple side notes: Something odd is happening to the hairline on this style near the middle? Looks like an error. My racial gear necklaces have changed from a visible leather texture to some unidentifiable line-y texture?

We know they're listening and I appreciate that."

End feedback

The biggest thing they're missing on all skin tones is natural contouring, it's all very flat now & in the update & the shiny rubber look makes skin tones even more hollow looking.

I've never used the XIV forums before so I apologise if I mess up something while trying to post this reply here! But I thought I'd throw in some of my Elezen update thoughts :D I won't really be going into the lighting issues since that IS something that has been officially addressed, this is more about the face textures and mesh changes, a lot of which has already been pointed out by others in this thread but I still want to put in my own feedback regardless <:3 Benchmark pics on the left and the current graphics on the right!

This is my main boy, Lumi! I actually use the type 1 ear shape in game, but I'll be changing them to type 2 in Dawntrail since I really like how the new version looks! I've always envisioned him with somewhat droopy ears but didn't like how the type 2 ears looked previously to use them :') I have temporarily swapped the ears in the live version of the CC to type 2 though for comparison's sake.

https://i.postimg.cc/pTF3PmLk/lumi1.png

Things I Like
I love the new eye textures and ears! I also think the new eyelashes are really nice as they were barely noticeable on the old version (personal preference/style etc etc Lumi canonically has Very long pretty eyelashes that match his hair/eyebrow colour when I draw him but I don't have that option in game, so seeing him with more prominent eyelashes now is very nice <:3)

Things I Don't Like / Am On The Fence About
Eyebags
This one's my main issue. Duskwights seem to have SUPER prominent dark eyebags in the graphics update akin to what Wildwood Elezen have always had, and now makes Lumi's gaze look very intense as opposed to his previous softer, gentler look. It gets worse when zoomed out too and in the benchmark test ;_; The shadows under the eyebrows are also very dark.

https://i.postimg.cc/xTL5nWVv/lumi4.png
https://i.postimg.cc/TwLkv1c0/lumi5.png

Eyebrows
Not too bothered by the thickness being changed but moreso the angle? The new shape looks furrowed and angry in place of the old straight and softer looking shape...

https://i.postimg.cc/mrq0xYBt/lumi3.png

Some mesh changes
Noticed that his nose tip is less pointy and that his chin has gotten more squared? (See all above pictures for the chin shape changes) I liked his old rounder chin shape.

https://i.postimg.cc/SRb3RmX4/lumi2.png

Mouth shape
Aside from the top lip texture not aligning with the corners of his mouth anymore, his cupids bow has gotten sharper and slightly wider, but I'm not too bothered by it.

https://i.postimg.cc/cL0fBCgj/lumi6.png

Also an extra thing I'd like to point out, I'm not sure if this affects every ear shape or if it's a lighting issue but I've noticed this strange crease along the back of the ears on all of my Elezen?

https://i.postimg.cc/yYFFRcdc/lumi7.png

I will post some feedback on some of my other Elezen later!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SpiritMuse

Thank you so much for doing all this work to compile all our posts! Though it seems a couple of the links are broken, specifically the ones that show a url instead of something like "example 1".

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Thanks for the catch! I've attempted to fix them, let me know which posts if there are still any containing broken links.

I assembled a proper comparison picture for Sylviel:

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...005af9b5f8.jpg

Character settings:

Face 2
Skin 24,4
Hair 1,3
Jaw 4

EYES
Shape 4
Iris L
Colour 13,6
Brows 4

EARS
Shape 3
Size 25

Nose 4
Mouth 4
No lip colour

Features: (4) scar on left cheek

Tattoos: (1) right
Colour: 19,8 - Blue 8 (RGB 28,32,39)

Paint: none

I don't think the altered version captures the mood of the original face at all.

I love his current appearance and that it gives the feeling of a very calm, solemn sort of person, which has influenced how I've imagined the character since I made this initial design.

The updated face is harder to read, but the eyebrows have changed to be more slanted and more of a determined look instead of the very horizontal position of the original, in addition to being thicker.

The addition of dark circles under the eyes makes him look either tired, annoyed or "over it".

The face shape has changed in general, but I think people have gone into that in detail elsewhere.

Apart from the expression, the scar has changed from actually looking like a jagged cut on the face in the original model, to a textureless brown line that might as well have been painted on.

I forgot to take an additional screenshot, but if the left side Duskwight tattoo is turned on, the scar slashes through it and breaks it up. Again, in the current model that looks convincing, but in the changed model the brown line looks just as flat as the tattoo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Iscah

The addition of dark circles under the eyes makes him look either tired, annoyed or "over it".

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I really dislike this on my own male Duskwight. When I first saw him in the benchmark I immediately thought it makes him look like he's a user of unauthorized medications or hasn't slept in days.

Sadly with both my female and male Elezens being altered that leaves me no Elezen characters I'd enjoy after launch, if these changes persist.

I'm sorry if my feedback isn't as detailed as others with drawovers and such but I just wanted to speak up. I haven't seen a lot of feedback regarding the specific features my character uses.

Many subtle changes result in a face I didn't recognize as the same person.

<Mouth Type 2>
https://i.imgur.com/MduVQVA.gif
The lip shape change is so obvious I don't know what else to say. The top lip contour has completely changed.
Where the lips meet has become more of a straight line and the top lips lost plumpness.
The slight cleft in the bottom lip contour has been rounded out.
The original lips are a really beautiful shape, please preserve them.
I miss the option to give a high gloss effect on the lips by changing the lip color. In the new character creator it applies only matte color to the lips.
I would like it if the shine was still an option, even without having to add extra color.

<Face Type 1, Jaw Type 1>

https://i.imgur.com/02gaz0g.gif
https://i.imgur.com/tl0T9dJ.gif

The high cheekbone and shadow contour that previously gave a more gaunt/hollow cheeks impression is now gone.
The jaw, chin, and lower half of the face overall looks more plump and rounded out.
The combined effect is that the character looks 10 years younger than he does in the live version.

<Eyebrow Type 2>
The eyebrow shape is different. I noticed on all the eyebrows for this face (Wildwood Face 1) the outside edge of the eyebrow has a "notch." Where the hair texture seems to have a small gap in the bottom.
It seems like a copy-paste error.
The inside part of the eyebrow is also no longer tapered but I personally do not mind it.
The eyebrows, while different, I don't think are detrimental to recognizing the face.

<Eye Shape Type 4, Iris Size Large>
https://i.imgur.com/bFei47j.gif
The eyes I would describe as looking too "young." The dark circles under the eyes align differently to the bottom of the eye, which may be making them appear de-emphasized.
It seems like the upper eyelid, inner brow and eyelash contour has been lifted, or changed in a way that makes the eyes overall look bigger and gives a more alert expression.
This undermines the tired, placid expression that appealed to me when I created him.
Not specific to my character but I noticed that the sclera of the eyes seem unnaturally bright in some situations. Even when the face is in shadow the whites of the eyes pop out and it looks odd almost like the eyes are glowing from within.

To be completely fair, I can kind of see the appeal of this young fresh-faced twerp I see in the benchmark but it just simply isn't the face I know anymore.
I think many people who chose to play male Elezen embrace their more harsh features and I don't appreciate changes that result in him looking de-aged and "prettified" overall.
I think these subtle changes would be nice additional options to add to suit other tastes, not as replacements.

Further to my post the other day, I did an edited version of the benchmark screenshot:

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...3dda2d1948.jpg

To repeat the notes on the image:

Quote:

---

Issues with the benchmark appearance:

• eyebrow position and thickness (type 4) has changed and altered the character's expression
• sharp crease under the lower eyelid (note the changed angle of the tattoo under the eye)
• dark shadows under the eyes
• scar looks flat

Adjustments in the lower picture:

• eyebrows shifted (still not quite right)
• erased shadows under the eyes
• slightly darker shading line on edge of scar

---

In the process of doing this, as I mentioned in the notes, I noticed that the shape of the face around the eyes has clearly been altered and it's not just a matter of different lighting, because the tattoo now has a sharp bend under the eyelid. I can't find any angle where it does that on the original model.

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...438a52c36c.jpg


I'm still not keen on the shifted art style, but the edits at least bring it back to looking mostly like the same face.