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

Adding my voice to the disappointment in the new hairstyle. I know polycount isn't the problem. The artist had so lovingly detailed the sections of the hair and what that might look like under a hat, on top of showing off what it might look like on a character's model. SE's version of the new hairstyle looks so different as to be mistaken as something else completely, and to my eye it looks bedraggled and wet, nothing like the original artist's vision.

I have not ordered Dawntrail out of apprehension for SE's handling of cultures outside their wheelhouse. This act has confirmed to me that the FFXIV dev team does not stand by its values of inclusion and allowing people to feel represented; values that the game's director has directly mentioned in interviews, whether that is in sentimental anecdotes, or statements of affirmation towards inclusivity and diversity. It is clear that the dev team is lacking in structural commitment to those values.

Chiming in with all the other voices on this topic. Even setting aside for a moment the obvious issue of the cultural inclusion aspect, the style just fails to capture the spirit of the original design at all. The volume of the hair was a crucial part of what differentiated the contest winner from other hairstyles in the game, and I find it concerning that they’re so willing to make changes to a style after it’s already won. The point of the contest is for the winners to be included in the game; what’s the point if executive whim might be allowed to do this at any time?

what ppl saw :

https://i.redd.it/ez2rqirq9oj41.jpg

what SE saw :

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/1c/a7/4b/1...2197c61009.jpg

Yeah this is honestly horrendous. It looks so wet and soggy rather than volumous and bouncy. If Guild Wars 2 could do fairly decent curly hair years ago, CBU3 has basically no excuse to not do better than this with our current engine. They really need to give this another pass.

Adding my voice in support.

Square’s track record with characters of color, specifically black-coded ones, is questionable at best and abysmal at worst. Not only does the artist deserve to have their vision and effort honored, the players deserve to have accurate and respectfully rendered afro-textured hair options.

I say ‘options’ plural because there are myriad textures that the overarching phrase ‘Afro-textured’ describes. Rectifying the game rendition of this contest entry is only one of them.

A cursory internet search (I used the phrase ‘types of Afro-textured hair’) turns up all sorts of resources. I chose the link below as an example of one that is by a black creator. Paying attention to how black folks talk about, wear, and perhaps even care for their hair would be a step in the right direction in providing players with multiple respectfully-executed Afro-textured hair options in game.

https://youtu.be/gkWhewD0AWc?si=GwU9apGb1jNRop-6

Square needs to fix this. They already dont have great POC hair, but this feels like a huge slap in the face. Square needs to do better, if modders can make something good, square can too.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...960&height=514
My biggest complaint with this hair is the texture is something else entirely.
The artist drew something around 3A to 3B
The hair we got is 2A, barely 2B
I know this game has it's 3D limitations but it's genuinely believe the FFXIV visual team can do a better, more accurate job.

As a person whose curl pattern is almost exactly like the original design, this one that's being implemented in 7.1 is just... I understand that the devs are overworked and stressed and tired, but when it comes to things like this where minorities are being advocated for and represented, there can be little room for lack of care - and do not get me wrong, that is not at ALL what I'm saying is happening here.

This hair requires more care and attention that most other hairstyles in the game, and with the graphical update, more can be done to hairstyles to make them appear fuller, etc. As was the case with several creatures (the alpacas have fluffy fur, etc.) Now granted, I don't know how hair works in this game, but the only two other textured hairstyles we have are both from ARR, and neither of them hold up well at all.

I am asking as a minority and as someone who was excited to use this hair upon its implementation for a revision of this hair and an update to it if at all possible, and if it's not, then I ask that future hairstyles be treated with far more care. It's only right.

Thank you.

That hairstyle looks bad and SE should feel bad.

I agree that the new style has nothing to do with the concept.

Edit: A friend just mentioned the new hairstyle looks like Emet-Selch just got out of the shower and now I can't unsee it. xD

I'm also disappointed if the new hairstyle is supposed to be based off of the Natural Curls entry. I remember the creator on social media being excited to add a curly option to the game if they won. This does not match that intent.

Gonna chime in here as well. This is horrendous. And it wouldn’t have been hard to just make the hair look like the original design. I was excited for this hair and I couldn’t be more disappointed.

The patch isn’t out yet they need to go back and fix this ASAP. Ugh

I know hair options in this game aren't the most detailed but damn, this is really a shame. Seeing it win was so nice cause they artist put a lot of thought into it. Plus, ya know we need more than just braids, buzz cuts and a party city lookin afro.

I would absolutely implore the team to revaluate the textures of this hairstyle. Surely there could be a way to make it less limp and AT LEAST more fluffy.

This is so disrespectful to the creator and to people who have curly hair overall. The hair as it's been implemented doesn't even look good on its own, it's like lumpy and sweaty looking, and then to find out that it was "inspired by" such amazing-looking hair is just a slap in the face to all of us. And as others have pointed out, implementing all the other winners in similar contests before as faithfully as possible then to say this one is "inspired by" is so suspicious.
It looks okay from the back (though still very different from the design...) but the top and front are awful. The simplest steps I see to improve quality would be the basically get rid of the part, just let the top be "smooth" (but still with the wavy/fluffy texture of course); and add additional details around the face, like add more strands of hair and make both new and existing strands finer/thinner/more detailed.
But those are just suggestions for quick improvements. I do think the better route would be to pull this from the patch if needed and come back with it truly fixed.

This is super disappointing. Even if it's not a 1:1 copy, more effort should be put into being faithful to the texture. Even aside from the hair clearly not being curly, it just doesn't look very good. Really needs some edits done to be presentable

This is basically a total misfire. What was supposed to be curly hair and black rep was turned into what looks like greasy anime villain hair. There's no texture, or any illusion of a texture. You'd imagine the graphics update would maintain a level of quality among all the hairstyles, but this looks like it could have released along ARR. I wholeheartedly recommend CBU3 to go back and try again and redo this hairstyle.

It feels almost disrespectful to the original designer's intentions. I really hope the new hair style is updated to reflect the original intent.

I'm also here to voice my disappointment. Ever since I saw the hairstyle contest winners last years, as an afro-caribbean, I was very much looking forward to see that short curly hair implemented in the game, since it is exactly the kind of hair I have in real life, and unfortunately the hairstyle in 7.1 does not match what was designed. I also think it is unfortunate that the artist's vision seems to be disrespected in this manner. Please try redoing this hairstyle so that it matches the design.

If it is meant to be based on the Natural Curls entry, I'm also extremely disappointed in how the hairstyle turned out. That was one of my favorites entries for that contest and what's shown in the patch notes just is not it. I didn't even recognize it as one of the winning styles. I thought I'd missed an entry entirely. I'd gladly wait longer for the style to be made to match the artist's vision than to settle for this "sort of wavy, definitely not naturally curly"-looking hair, especially as a person of color with naturally curly hair.

I really think that they dropped the ball on making this hair a respectful recreation of the original artists work. They have proven to be capable of doing so, I'm unsure what exactly happened with this one. It's like, trying really hard. I can see the resemblance, but it's lacking the depth that most other hair styles have in game. While I know the hair styles in this game are a flat plane with texture, the screenshots provided really push that its flat. It also completely lost any of the loose curls that the contestant put into the hair, more like wet gel waves than actual natural curls.

I think its important to bring this up, but there's no reason to belittle the devs for it. I hope that they fix this hair, and if they don't then they learn to do better next time. We don't have many curly hair options that are modern, and its truly a shame that they cannot seem to commit to it.

Its disappointing.

Upvote from me, hope they listen, this is disappointing for sure. ):

Chiming in with my own disappointment here, I've been looking forward to finally having curly hair implemented into the game, but this is just not it. The hair looks nothing like the winning design, and instead just makes the characters look like a sad wet dog. 'Inspired by' is such a slap in the face too to everyone who was looking forward to this hairstyle. I really hope it's updated to a better state where it reflects the winner's design.

had to make a forum account just to reply to this thread.
squeenix backpedaled and redid some grapes when people noticed how low quality they were. if this hairstyle enters the game as it is in this preview, that is a genuine insult to both the playerbase as a whole, and more importantly, the original artist, who provided them the blueprint *for free* and presumably out of love for the game. i cannot imagine how they and other contest winners must feel rn, with the horrible precedent this sets. i would be brought to tears if my work were butchered like this. its unacceptable.

Adding my disappointment to this thread. I'm honestly glad this thread gained traction so quickly; this hairstyle is horribly done.

The decidedly "release-ready" design shows such a lack of respect for both the artist and those who possess curly hair types that it's unbelievable. I haven't seen such a large, modern team of artists struggle with the simple task of making any goddamn full-headed curls before. I'm sorry for sounding irritated, but I'm so tired of them going about graphical design choices haphazardly. Especially when the original artist so lovingly mapped out the layers and volume of the curls in their original artwork.

Chiming in again to add as well regarding games managing textured hair using similar methods to FFXIV. Guild Wars 2, which has been brought up a few times in the thread, is honestly a great example. GW2 lauched in 2012, one year before FFXIV: ARR in 2013, and has not had any sort of high end graphics update since then, still working with the same engine, shaders etc since its launch. In the Path of Fire expansion in 2017, GW2 added SEVERAL textured and afro styles to the game and to great success:

https://i.imgur.com/bHE7YF8.png
https://i.imgur.com/yGQgYN2.png

Screenshots don't give you the full impact, but in 3D view and inspecting them in game, they DO use the same flat texture method that a lot of hairstyles in FFXIV use, but stacked, rotated and layered on top of one another. Not only that, but on the more styled hairs seen there, the textures are actually different to appear more velvet-esc in regards on how light bounces across the hair (unlike the more defined highlights which can be seen typically in caucasian hair). Literally it's been shown that velvet textures can now be done in game, as shown on several of our new glamours (SCH AF gear for one, having a LOT of velveteen fabric).

So to say in the least, it's entirely not impossible for such textured hair to be implemented, perhaps with a little more effort on the devs side, but still no excuse regardless. Moreso as someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, some bushes and shrubs in this game literally have more detail and depth than what they did to this hair.

This looks like an entirely different hairstyle! Please delay the release of this hair if this is what the design have to show for it.

i was so excited to have a hairstyle in the game that (almost) looked like mine. that fact that so many years in, there are still only 2 universal textured hairs is so disappointing and i really hope the team takes time to fix this

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SkankyRoe

You mean like the kpop twink hairstyle we got in 7.0?

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Took a look back, and oh my god you're right, they've ALREADY implemented a winner without this "inspired by" shit. There's no way this wasn't intentional then, they put more care into their wording instead of the actual hair as a form of damage control. At this point, I refuse to believe otherwise, and the fact that they seem to have known this would've happened and still released the hair as-is is so unbelievably ridiculous and unprofessional.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amis-amai

Chiming in again to add as well regarding games managing textured hair using similar methods to FFXIV. Guild Wars 2, which has been brought up a few times in the thread, is honestly a great example. GW2 lauched in 2012, one year before FFXIV: ARR in 2013, and has not had any sort of high end graphics update since then, still working with the same engine, shaders etc since its launch. In the Path of Fire expansion in 2017, GW2 added SEVERAL textured and afro styles to the game and to great success:

Screenshots don't give you the full impact, but in 3D view and inspecting them in game, they DO use the same flat texture method that a lot of hairstyles in FFXIV use, but stacked, rotated and layered on top of one another. Not only that, but on the more styled hairs seen there, the textures are actually different to appear more velvet-esc in regards on how light bounces across the hair (unlike the more defined highlights which can be seen typically in caucasian hair).

So to say in the least, it's entirely not impossible for such textured hair to be implemented, perhaps with a little more effort on the devs side, but still no excuse regardless. Moreso as someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, some bushes and shrubs in this game literally have more detail and depth than what they did to this hair.

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what's is even crazier, the female hairstyle on the bottom right is what the contest hair should look like ig

Chiming in for the first time ever because not only was I excited for the hairstyle for my own characters, but for friends who were excited they would finally feel more represented.

At first glance, didn't even realize this was supposed to be *that* hairstyle. Adding it into the game as-is is disrespectful to the original winner and people who sport the hairstyle in real life. the fact that the visual teams can lovingly render tacos and grapes so well but are dropping the ball on a hairstyle that is so important to members of the playerbase is...It feels like a smack in the face.

Other games have successfully introduced textured hairstyles even more detailed. Surely FFXIV can do the same?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shimmy-shammy

Even when I was scrolling through the patch notes this morning, my first thought when I saw that hairstyle was "that looks unfinished" ... and then I learned what hairstyle it was supposed to be. This doesn't even deserve a "you tried" sticker. You didn't even try.

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This was my reaction as well. It does not look good in any respect. If the modelers needed more time to make this one work within the game, they should've taken that time instead of delivering something this insulting to those of us who wanted it. As plenty of people in this thread have mentioned, it should be within their power. Take this one back to team and rework it, please. Take the time to produce actual quality work that doesn't disrespect your diverse player base.

When I saw the patch notes this morning, I honestly didn't recognize the hairstyle at all and didn't find out until much later which one it was supposed to be. For a game already severely lacking in diverse hair options, it's absolutely disappointing to see how this was implemented, and I find the wording "Inspired by" to be egregious at best as that's never been used for an entry in the past. I hope the team will take the time to review the feedback that's been provided in this thread and reconsider releasing this hair as is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by batticus

had to make a forum account just to reply to this thread.
squeenix backpedaled and redid some grapes when people noticed how low quality they were.

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Unfortunately (for them), in this case they can't make any profit off of it by real-time merch or furnishing. Looks like we'll have to wait double that time to get any fixes, if they even bother to address it at the very least..

Its been a long time since SE put any good looking hair style in this game.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anarnee

I doesn't say that it's from a winning entry and they have been known to sometimes use entries that didn't win, so I wonder if it's one of the hairs that didn't win? They didn't do it with hair yet, but they do it with furniture all the time. They usually put "A winning entry from the FFXIV Hairstyle Design Contest is now available." and this it the only time I remember seeing it not say WINNING, it only says entry.

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I was wondering this myself at first, but the sections of the hair are nearly identically placed, down to a couple of loose hairs at the roe's temple, I know they sometimes implement items (far more frequently than hair) that were not winning submissions, but this is too close, if this isn't the same hair I would hope they come out and address that in response to this thread, because with what we see on the public facing side, it's pretty unlikely it's anything else. It's far too similar not to be.

when i saw the patch notes this morning i was underwhelmed by the hair as it is, but seeing that it's supposed to be 'inspired by' that design... wow. that's actually insultingly bad. the artists for this game can and have done much better, so why the poor effort here? it looks reflects on the company extremely poorly to say the least.

you can do better than this.

I'm using PoTD hair. Haven't changed it in a couple of years now. Great Lengths wasn't quite my style as I wanted more bangs covering the forehead.

I was really excited to finally see a more textured hair style getting added to the game but its so disappointing to see it compared to the original concept art :< it completely loses the cute round and curly silhouette of the original and makes the curls looser and flatter, making it look more like wet hair than actually wavy or curly hair. I understand that curly hair like the original concept could be difficult to pull off, but I feel like there had to be a better way to make it? The original natural curls looks so cute and bouncy and curly and they just butchered all of the charm it had :/

How is it that all the other designs were exact duplicates of their items, but this one hairstyle we can't get copied precisely? We need more textured hair options! I know it's an outdated system to some extent but come on! We got the graphics update for a reason, don't disappoint us now.

As someone who could pass as the miqo'te in the art at times (my curls aren't quite as tight) I'm quite disappointed in the results...

That entry was clearly intended to fill the curly hair niche that this game's hair library has been neglecting for so long... And they just gave up and made it this limp, wet, wavy look?
This was the one winner that I was looking forward to seeing the most too T_T


Like it's not a bad hairstyle in its own right, but... "inspired by" is the most generous description you could've used. Like.. yeah it's technically short, not-straight hair... Sure?

Do we need to post in depth breakdowns of references like we did with the character models to get them to see how curly hair actually looks??

:///

chiming in to include my disappointment.

square enix needs to do better and do justice to this hair style. while were at it, include more natural hair, curls, and locs in general. there is much in the way of straight hair options. more textured hair, please.