Character graphical changes are NOT in an acceptable state, please make it optional

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Originally Posted by Scintilla

They happen to disagree with something that you believe = they aren't contributing in a meaningful way

It is posts such as these which, rather than seek to discuss what was said, just attempt to close it down with 'it's not worth listening to' which don't contribute.

Now, where was that post asking for sympathy and understanding...

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Where did I say that? No, I meant like the person who was calling everyone else ugly and copy pasted like five pages ago, lol. That wasn't exactly constructive.

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Originally Posted by decomposer

This brings up a very interesting point I have been meaning to articulate on these forums. I am a professional artist as well, and beyond my commercial client work, my supplemental (and sometimes primary) income is private commissions for clients. Most of these clients are FFXIV players. For the last 5+ years, drawing peoples FFXIV characters and warriors of light has, quite literally, been a breadwinner.

If other artists see no changes, that's okay! Artists are not uniform. We all look at the world differently and translate it visually ; that's what makes our "style."

However, when I look at a lot of the changes I've seen on this forum (especially to eyes, lips, noses, and jawlines) I immediately see how I would draw that character differently. Even my own character no longer has a defined brow bridge and nose hook ; defining traits that I have stylized in my own artwork of him. They make him who he is!

This sort of branches into a different subject entirely, but I think it's a good thing to note that FFXIV players (at least according to my own clientele and the clientele of my friends) far surpass even DND, WOW, and BG3 players in terms of how often they commission their characters. Not to say that buying artwork = more love for a character, but there's a culture of loving one's WOL here that isn't always the same elsewhere. There's people out there that a Louve-worth of artwork of their precious characters. Entire ita-bags dedicated to their characters!

TLDR; these character changes might seem "small" to some (or even most!) but to others, changing features and altering the lighting so drastically that the character looks different will not only be noticeable, it might have lasting implications for clients who (do) enjoy commissioning artwork of their ocs.

I definitely think some people are being a bit reactive (out of love, I know) but there have been a good handful of characters I've seen on here where I've thought "damn, I would draw this character very differently, or cast them with a different mood entirely." I hope that we can all find a happy medium, and that the devs listen to some of the very real concerns.

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Oh, this is a very interesting point! Thank you for sharing! I am not a commission artist but my first reaction when I saw the new features also was an intuitive "ok, that is a completely different line/shape now. I would draw this or that feature very differently and would approach the face as a whole from a different angle to capture a different vibe/pesonality."

I'm not saying other artists have to feel this way at all. It's just cool to read someone sharing your experience. :)

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Originally Posted by Luca_

To be honest, a lot of people just post inflammatory or contradictory things because they want a reaction and aren't interested in contributing to the conversation in any meaningful way. It's very common on the English forums regardless of the topic and gets exhausting to read.

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Yes, this is also the case, but in this topic I see only legitimate feelings and I agree that they have their own point of view and rights. Where is the incitement in this, if a person sees the difference and complains about it.And in response, he gets only negative feedback from people who disagree. Some characters really only got new lips and for other players it looks the same, BUT it doesn't matter, because it's not them who's playing, but the owner, and the owner is not happy and he makes reasonable claims.
And it turns out that I literally need to take my old character and a new one and sit down to draw differences for developers and send it to a Japanese forum so that they return what they promised to do themselves, namely, to quote our favorite developers:
"The goal is to improve the overall look you know and love, rather than to change things to meet a certain threshold. Players have been playing for 10 years, so they want to prioritize and take care to avoid situations where people don’t feel their character looks theirs."

Yoshida says the final version will be of higher quality, but they really did take care to make sure that your impressions of the characters wouldn’t change. The hair texture, eyes, and skin were ones they paid particular attention to."

This is ultimately more of a joke, but as they say, there is some truth in every joke

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Originally Posted by Luca_

Where did I say that? No, I meant like the person who was calling everyone else ugly and copy pasted like five pages ago, lol. That wasn't exactly constructive.

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In which case, I apologise. With such an active chat as this I seem to have missed that post. Unsurprising as I've been writing some pretty long posts today :p

Yes, anything resorting to irrelevant insults is totally unwarranted and adds nothing to the conversation

Came in to say how JP forums works over there is they have one 'official' feedback thread, most people will post high-effort feedbacks with multiple pictures with fair comparisons (same light/angle), pointed out the problems on the pictures (some even with drawings), stating their opinions both good and bad, suggesting how to change or improve, in a clear and constructive way, very politely, and leave.
No quotes. No arguments. No drama. These posts are meant for the devs anyway. No reason to fight.

For example I find this post gives a simple solution to their m viera lips by giving slight gradation retouch on lower lip that could work really well in practical.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6442614

We can totally give helpful feedbacks and comments without hurting any parties. Everyone here are human after all.

at this moment, I'm trying to recreate scenes from the benchmark for a more correct comparison, but please tell me if someone *yes, I already posted this photo, but no one answered * then it's really the same character and whether he received updates. photo in the lobby because now my character looks in the game like in the lobby and even more beautiful in the custscenes, the current version of my character is the top screenshots.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...90d61e3471ec2&
because in my opinion it's just terrible, they literally sat another character * I just want to say monster, sorry* :

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Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

at this moment, I'm trying to recreate scenes from the benchmark for a more correct comparison, but please tell me if someone *yes, I already posted this photo, but no one answered * then it's really the same character and whether he received updates. photo in the lobby because now my character looks in the game like in the lobby and even more beautiful in the custscenes, the current version of my character is the top screenshots.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...90d61e3471ec2&
because in my opinion it's just terrible, they literally sat another character * I just want to say monster, sorry* :

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With all due respect, this is what people mean by bad comparisons.

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Originally Posted by Mosha

With all due respect, this is what people mean by bad comparisons.

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everything is fine! now I'm in the process of producing scenes from the benchmark, because there the character looks the most changed, not just the little things, but the whole facial expression

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...f4487e8448d5d&

I am not an expert in the field of beauty, but now she looks flatter, tired, the last character radiates kindness and looks pretty, with a mischievous nose and plump cheeks :3

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Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

at this moment, I'm trying to recreate scenes from the benchmark for a more correct comparison, but please tell me if someone *yes, I already posted this photo, but no one answered * then it's really the same character and whether he received updates. photo in the lobby because now my character looks in the game like in the lobby and even more beautiful in the custscenes, the current version of my character is the top screenshots.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...90d61e3471ec2&
because in my opinion it's just terrible, they literally sat another character * I just want to say monster, sorry* :

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To me, the top picture looks more lifeless and doll-like than in the benchmark. The mouth is more narrow from side to side and the shine and highlight mark look painted on and the irises of the eyes look like a porcelain doll. In the benchmark, the character looks more realistic. The mouth, in this instance, looks like it sits more naturally in the facial structure, there's more depth and shadow in the browbone and the freckles look less like dots on the put on the face and more like freckles. The best way I could put it, is the benchmark looks like she could be a real person and more relaxed while the top picture reminds me of M3gan, supposed to look real but doesnt.

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Originally Posted by LlymlaenGreene

Hello if you want to know my opinion, i think your new character looks another, this is not your character anymore in my opinion, she looks like she have botox, lol, but i am not an artist and i can not to say any about the characters *this is a joke, because some people say, what if you not an artist, you do not know anything about art* :3

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Originally Posted by noumen0nn

Just popping in to add to the voices letting you know you are not crazy, if I look at this image and the gifs from later in the thread for more than a second, I start to see very obvious differences. The lips are absolutely the worst offender but the nose shape has been altered quite a bit as well.

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Originally Posted by Doopliss

Hey, I just wanted to chime in as well because I know a lot of heat leaves and comes your way in particular. If it also helps you feel a little better, I also can easily spot the differences.

In the benchmark, her eyebrows have been combed and have ever-so-slightly less of an arch. Her hairline is different, due to the new head models not accommodating all of the current hairs. It rests lower on her forehead, and the sides are farther apart because the model is different. The cupid's bow of her lip is weaker, and the inner line of her mouth is straighter. The color of her bottom lip extends farther than it did before, causing the shape to look more homogeneous. She has much thicker mascara and the fat under her eyes is more defined. The star face paint has moved farther toward the front of her face--you can use her eyes as a reference. Light does appear to hit her lips in a blocky sort of way, which I'm assuming is a small error in the mapping.

I will say that she is indeed similar to eyes less used to paying attention to these things. But for you, myself, and many others, these tiny differences all adding up give an uncanny and different impression. Just focus on relaying your feelings to SE, and perhaps take a breath before doing so.

I know some people are responding with genuine confusion or curiosity, but there are a lot of people responding to anything like this in bad faith as well, regardless of one's attempts to "prove" themselves. It'll likely do your heart better to not interact with them or egg them on. I hope you're faring well, and just remember there are many people feeling the same way you do.

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Thank you SO much for your kind support! I appreciate it very much :)