Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain

Bump for awareness

Finished the MSQ and wanted to compile a list of visual details that caused me eye strain, headaches and nausea (contains spoilers for the DT MSQ from lvl 96 onwards):

• Player's own battle effects (when set to "Full") are noticeably brighter and flash a lot more than in Endwalker.

• Enemies' battle effects (both single-target ones & raid wides) are noticeably brighter and flash a lot more than in Endwalker.

• All dungeons & battle instances from lvl 97 onwards feature enemies & environments with the lightning element. This means that all trash mobs and bosses use lots of flashing lightning attacks, and the dungeon environments have lots of flashing, bright spots in them, too.

• Solution 9 is a location that is really bad for the eyes: bright, sometimes flashing surfaces and lots of flickering (this is probably due to the fact that I'm playing the PS4 version on PS5 and can't fiddle with the anti-aliasing settings).

• The environmental lightning effect in the middle of the last dungeon made it really difficult to focus on the fights themselves.

• Worst offenders are the "particle effects" that signify that the computer programs related to Sphene are failing. These effects made the last dungeon & trial really painful to play.

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Originally Posted by Ainariel

Finished the MSQ and wanted to compile a list of visual details that caused me eye strain, headaches and nausea (contains spoilers for the DT MSQ from lvl 96 onwards)

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Many thanks for this! Unfortunately my own eye strain is far too severe for me to play through the remaining MSQ to figure out what my own list would look like.

Then again, the sharpness of the graphics themselves, along with the blurring and flickering effects, seems to be the main issue for me, so the list would probably be somewhat redundant anyway.

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Originally Posted by Ainariel

Finished the MSQ and wanted to compile a list of visual details that caused me eye strain, headaches and nausea (contains spoilers for the DT MSQ from lvl 96 onwards):

• Player's own battle effects (when set to "Full") are noticeably brighter and flash a lot more than in Endwalker.

• Enemies' battle effects (both single-target ones & raid wides) are noticeably brighter and flash a lot more than in Endwalker.

• All dungeons & battle instances from lvl 97 onwards feature enemies & environments with the lightning element. This means that all trash mobs and bosses use lots of flashing lightning attacks, and the dungeon environments have lots of flashing, bright spots in them, too.

• Solution 9 is a location that is really bad for the eyes: bright, sometimes flashing surfaces and lots of flickering (this is probably due to the fact that I'm playing the PS4 version on PS5 and can't fiddle with the anti-aliasing settings).

• The environmental lightning effect in the middle of the last dungeon made it really difficult to focus on the fights themselves.

• Worst offenders are the "particle effects" that signify that the computer programs related to Sphene are failing. These effects made the last dungeon & trial really painful to play.

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Seconding this. The flashing in 97 stuff onwards is downright unplayable.

I wanted to add a few additional points in the game where flashing effects are a problem:

• Any thunderstorms in the Shroud and La Noscea. Even prior to DT I would avoid those zones during that weather.
• The last pull in Sirensong Sea.
• The second section of the Dead Ends.

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Originally Posted by Wind-Krysvein

Bump for awareness

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Bump for a dead subject.

Pretty sure SE cares about as much as you do when it comes to replying to a legitimate request lmao.

Good luck getting this solved at this point mate. Doubt this is even on their radar since it doesn't affect their bottom line. SE (and most JP companies) only care about that all mighty dollar.

Since this thread hasn't been all that informative to begin with, this will be my last bump. I don't really care at this point. SE wins. Time to move on to games that don't visually look like trash. Peace and good luck!

Bump! Watch out for Gaelicats.

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Originally Posted by Vesplume

Seconding this. The flashing in 97 stuff onwards is downright unplayable.

I wanted to add a few additional points in the game where flashing effects are a problem:

• Any thunderstorms in the Shroud and La Noscea. Even prior to DT I would avoid those zones during that weather.
• The last pull in Sirensong Sea.
• The second section of the Dead Ends.

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To follow up on problematic game instances (or the overall game experience).:

I just did Nabriales ARR Trial with the battle effects settings on limited for myself and the party, i also toned down the color vibrance of my GPU trying not to mute the color palette too much (in the end it didnt help with the light intensity).

The base luminosity of the game lighsources is way above of what it should be, almost like a stong LED light effect in some situations, and there is no way to "dim/brighten" it separately with a slider/option.
Even if i mess with my monitors settings or GPU control panel the game lightsources intensity cant be changed while preserving the rest of the image quality and brightness.
I dont know if this is an intentional change from SE to make the game feel more alive/realistic or if they tuned something horribly bad within the new lighting system, it didnt use to be this harsh.

This results in blinding sudden effects during encounters as you can see in the middle of the image, with the overwhelming whites contrasting with nabriales color effects and darkness around it. Also in the lower section, the pure bright light effect coming from the healer is much more intense than previous xpacs.

Now, i've tried to see if there was any difference between my two monitors, and in the main monitor is more noticeable, but even on the secondary monitor is overwhelming.
Main monitor -> LG 27" - 1440p - IPS
Secondary monitor -> LG 24" - 1080p - IPS
Both monitors are using the regular sRGB color coverage.


https://i.imgur.com/P3XJMsG.png


I also have this second image example with an intense lightsource coming from the ground at the start of a frontline match, it looks horrible, and makes me feel with nausea.


https://i.imgur.com/AMH0Hcs.jpg

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Originally Posted by LucisBlack

Bump for a dead subject.

Pretty sure SE cares about as much as you do when it comes to replying to a legitimate request lmao.

Good luck getting this solved at this point mate. Doubt this is even on their radar since it doesn't affect their bottom line. SE (and most JP companies) only care about that all mighty dollar.

Since this thread hasn't been all that informative to begin with, this will be my last bump. I don't really care at this point. SE wins. Time to move on to games that don't visually look like trash. Peace and good luck!

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I struggle to understand how this overhaul helped 'the bottom line'. It didn't *need* an update, it's already light years ahead of anything else that's out there. Wow is trading on the same outdated look and feel since launch, little incremental updates here and there, but overall it still looks as shitty as it ever did but plays as great as it always has. SE didn't *need* to prioritize this, and it certainly seems like they thought it would carry the rest of the very weak presentation. In another thread someone posted that slide show when YoshiP was first brought on board that had a line about not being obsessed with flashy graphics. Someone needs to re-read that. I would much rather have had another 2 years of Endwalker graphics if it meant the budget could go pay better writers.

And bump goes the weasel.

For the new people just joining the thread: remember to send a support ticket to Square Enix's official tech support. The more people we have who voice their displeasure about the eye strain issues, the faster they'll fix the issue. At least in theory.

Well looks like they're actually addressing the issue given it's in the "confirmed/planning to address" section: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...hics-Upscaling
Maybe I dont have to cancel my sub.

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Originally Posted by MiaBlaze-Cari

Well looks like they're actually addressing the issue given it's in the "confirmed/planning to address" section: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...hics-Upscaling
Maybe I dont have to cancel my sub.

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oh thank goodness! Great spot! Thanks!!

Sent a ticket to the general support center regarding the new mount tilt & these new visuals which cause eye strain last week. Received this reply today:

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Thank you for contacting the Square Enix Support Centre.

We are very sorry to hear that you are facing photosensitivity issues while playing FFXIV. Be advised that game feedback should be shared on the official FFXIV forums. Find forums link below:

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...086.1708014874

Alternatively, you can reach contact-accessibility@eu.square-enix.com to get in touch with the Accessibility team.
..
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,

The Square Enix Support Centre team

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Basically, they're asking us to post feedback on these official forums (as we've already done), and we could also get in touch with the Accessibility team via that email address they mentioned. Already sent said team a message with detailed feedback.

I wasn't aware of an accessibility team. o: I might write a message myself later on as well.

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Originally Posted by MiaBlaze-Cari

Well looks like they're actually addressing the issue given it's in the "confirmed/planning to address" section: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...hics-Upscaling
Maybe I dont have to cancel my sub.

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I'm currently on a hiatus because of eye strain but I still check this thread every day and this makes me happy! Fingers crossed for a quick fix. :)

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Originally Posted by Ainariel

Sent a ticket to the general support center regarding the new mount tilt & these new visuals which cause eye strain last week. Received this reply today:



Basically, they're asking us to post feedback on these official forums (as we've already done), and we could also get in touch with the Accessibility team via that email address they mentioned. Already sent said team a message with detailed feedback.

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Thank you for the e-mail provided, to the Accessibility Team it goes.

I've sent them an e-mail about the ingame glare/bloom mentioning the "glare: off" option removal, and all the sensory/physical problems that it causes to players, with links to the various threads already created with posts about it.

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Originally Posted by Ainariel

Sent a ticket to the general support center regarding the new mount tilt & these new visuals which cause eye strain last week. Received this reply today:

Basically, they're asking us to post feedback on these official forums (as we've already done), and we could also get in touch with the Accessibility team via that email address they mentioned. Already sent said team a message with detailed feedback.

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Very interesting! I'll definitely send a message to the accessibility team, detailing all of my major issues. With any luck, this will expedite the progress of fixing this whole thing.

Sharper graphics? This game looks like blurry mess on default 100% AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS scaling options, unless you change AMD FSR from 100 to 99%, then indeed its painfully sharp to point of looking like garbage.

Anyhow from both bad options if you want somehow decent looking game, go with DLSS

Oh that's really great news. I will be emailing the accessibility team email myself. I had no idea that was even a thing

I'm glad something might actually happen now..

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Originally Posted by HauntedLasagna

Oh that's really great news. I will be emailing the accessibility team email myself. I had no idea that was even a thing

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Same! I just want an option to turn OFF graphics upscaling and bloom/glare.

After a week+ of extensive playing, I'm now suffering rather extreme migraines. The older zones however don't cause the brain pain anywhere near as much as the new.
I'm not sure if it's the textures being brighter, or just that they're a lot more unnatural and there's a lot more "junk" on the screen to see.
The grey overlay feels like it's been removed from the game however. There used to be a sort of grey film if you will that acted as a barrier to stop us scorching our retina's out (I think), for anywhere but Limsa - where you were just doomed to go blind 6am-6pm in game.

Maybe SE could find a way to introduce a desaturation slider or something to their graphics section? Too much visual information so my brain/eyes are suffering a fair bit.

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Originally Posted by Kaldaka

After a week+ of extensive playing, I'm now suffering rather extreme migraines. The older zones however don't cause the brain pain anywhere near as much as the new.
I'm not sure if it's the textures being brighter, or just that they're a lot more unnatural and there's a lot more "junk" on the screen to see.
The grey overlay feels like it's been removed from the game however. There used to be a sort of grey film if you will that acted as a barrier to stop us scorching our retina's out (I think), for anywhere but Limsa - where you were just doomed to go blind 6am-6pm in game.

Maybe SE could find a way to introduce a desaturation slider or something to their graphics section? Too much visual information so my brain/eyes are suffering a fair bit.

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Completely agree, its a mix of various changes really as you say visual "junk", when you mash them all at once (exaggerated lighting + blurry mess + glows) its quite a spectacle.
The grey overlay you're describing gave a more visual softer feeling, and made visual transitions much smoother, and yep its gone, cya bye bye, i REALLY notice it in my higher res monitor now side by side with a lower res, its eye tearing.

There's an apparent layer of brightness all over the screen, even if you go to old Trials like ARR Leviathan the entire ambient is much much brighter not only the horizon but also the sea and platform, you notice much more the details on leviathan now, but for me even that its a mix of more exaggerated light + better textures, its a bit odd and jarring i dont know how to explain it.

One of the worst offenders ive found so far is Aurum Vale Dungeon, they did a really good job capturing the toxic fumes real life experience, now you can experience irl the effect of poisonous/toxic fumes in a closed cave system, it has all the hazy fog with strong lights behind it with all the motion blurs you would need, it simulates really well the nausea, hats off, masterpiece.


Just to add for the sake of the bad implementations.:
.If set DLSS with a filter sharpness @ 20 (from 0-100 slider), the lighting & bloom get much softer, as if it the light gets more scatered instead of sitting in fixed intense sharp points, not as harmful, but theres still the horrible motion blur ofc.
.If i use AMD FSR @ 99 slider scaling the blur is more muted compared to DLSS but the lighting & bloom get dialed to 1000 automatically in intensity.

Just go look at a summoner's carbuncle, you'll instantly see what i mean with the light/shape blending and bad implementations.
The analogy for me is.:
Carbuncle FSR @ 99 -> transparent lightbulb glass (harsh) // Carbuncle DLSS -> frosted lightbulb glass (soft)

Bump. We're closing in on 90 likes! Every single one counts if we are to show the devs/accessibility team/whatever that this is an issue worth fixing

Try to use FSA without TCSMAA - TCSMAA will also make it look blurry a bit (it depends on your monitor and native resolution)

Super Bumper 2: Electric Bumpaloo

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Originally Posted by Wind-Krysvein

Bump. We're closing in on 90 likes! Every single one counts if we are to show the devs/accessibility team/whatever that this is an issue worth fixing

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They're already aware and fixing it.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...hics-Upscaling

Noticed this issue since day one. I'm not someone that suffers from serious eyestrain, but I do heavily dislike motion blur so I notice it right away and turn it off every time I play games. Tried DLSS and FSR and despite turning off Radial blur it makes little difference. You mostly notice it on the edges of trees and plants. It's a very minimal blur, but it's especially bad in Tuliyollal where I almost feel like I'm seeing double in some places. The image will become completely clear when you are standing still, but as soon as movement starts, everything blurs.

31 Pages is a lot to read through, I think i got maybe 15ish in and didnt see anyone having the same issue i am, Im having the primary motion blur eye strain issue, but mine isnt JUST when i move. Every single time something pops up on my screen, a window, a tooltip, hell even mousing over some of my hotkeys activates motion blur for a moment, Im not sure its been happening the whole time ive been playing dawntrail or not but i only just noticed it start happening about 3hours ago and its so noticable in dungeons that im having a hard time staying focused. It might also explain the headaches ive had at the end of long sessions lately.

Adding my voice to the pile, ever since the graphic update dropped I've been having headaches and eyestrain after an hour or two of playing. I've messed around with a lot of the options and swapped between upscalers, but I'm starting to suspect that any upscaling is the problem here.

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Originally Posted by CidHeiral

They're already aware and fixing it.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...hics-Upscaling

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Indeed. However, from what I see, that report talks exclusively about the motion blur and its effects. There's probably more to this than that, considering people have been reporting getting migraines, eye strain and headaches from the sharper textures and lighting issues, as well. Never hurts to cover all of one's bases

Late night bump

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Originally Posted by Wind-Krysvein

Hello. After logging in today, I immediately noticed that the new, sharper graphics cause large amounts of eye strain for me. Talking to other people, it seems I'm at least not the only one with this issue (even if we're obviously a minority). No amount of fiddling with the graphics settings has helped alleviate the problem.

I know it's hopeless to request stuff like this, but please consider allowing players to use the old graphics (or allow us to downgrade the new ones in a way that prevents this eye strain problem) so that we can continue playing FFXIV. Currently, the eye strain caused by the game is really strong, to the point where playing the game for even 15 minutes was enough to force me to stop. FFXIV is really important to me, and I don't want that experience to end because of this.

If you've had similar experiences, please reply below and let the devs know that this is an issue worth addressing. Also, please consider reporting your experiences directly to the Square Enix support center, as well.

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I agree 100% with this.

Bumplander 3: The Bumperer

Bumpy Potter 4: The Bumplet of Fire

The sad thing is that my crafters are still not maxed because I can't play for more than an hour without getting a headache and burning eyes. Back in EW I maxed them in a few days, lol. Now I'm lucky if I can do a couple of roulettes. I miss nolifing XIV. :(

Wow, I never connected that the new graphics could possibly be the reason for my eye strain! I like to play in the dark mind you, but still, I had never had these problems to this extent before. I actually saw an eye doctor about this too, I was so concerned. I even went out of my way to buy some lights you stick to the back of your TV so I could have subtle/ambient lighting in the dark. (I get more immersed when playing games in the dark.) Either way, it eventually got to the point I decided to just play with the lights on and only turn them off for big important moments.

I’m relieved to see I wasn’t the only one suffering with this. I can’t even play as long as I used to anymore. It’s a bummer and gives me FOMO for some of the content.

I've just been playing lots of old school RuneScape

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Originally Posted by MagicPeanut

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No ophthalmologist will save your eyes from the majority of changes/bugs they introduced.

I'm done trying to expose issues to the devs/moderators. This is not because i don't want a change or lack of detailed communication from my part, but because they don't seem to care and downplay them as intended features.

Since the launch of patch 7.0 (28th June) it has become clear to me, that the moderators of this forum don't even bother reading the entirety of the posts even when put under the bug section exposing issues that directly affect players ability/senses to play the game, and downplay them as features.

The convoluted part:
If you don't give alternatives in giving continuaton to a "bug fix" that you move to "working as intended" and its still affecting players, the only option by your own forum moderation logic (as you have shown so far) is to open a new thread AGAIN under the bug reports AGAIN, that you will allways mark as duplicated in an insanity loop. Even when the new bug thread is clearly giving more detailed information.

Example:
This bug report was posted in 28th june and later moved to "working as intended". Players raised the same concern under technical and general sections, then in two technical threads it was asked to be opened as a bug thread by a forum moderator, it was done and later moved as a "duplicate post", this latest attempt had the format asked with all the health concerns raised.

Good luck to all the people suffering from mount tilting, blurry effects, bloom, reflections, and the surprise change in the luminance gamma which is an underliying issue that makes the game base brightness higher as MagicPeanut complains in the quoted bit.

Just a tip for the devs the next time they decide to make across the board graphical changes/introductions.:
Give players on/off options, sliders and drop down menus, because if you take this path of graphical improvements you put yourself into the position to compete against most modern games that also do it but actually have the sanity to give ingame options for the mentioned settings.

A more personal observation to end my post count in these forums.:
Most of the game visuals were fine before 7.0, you didn't need to introduce such a drastic graphical update, now you're left with a huge mess to sort out between old areas of the game and the new expansion pack areas, even the old battle/skill effects clash with new 7.0 ones in clarity and brightness intensity forcing your players to adjust settings depending on the encounters (i've tried the raids and dungeons from ARR to DT, its a mess).
If people thought it was bad just during MSQ and some new content they're in for quite a ride. Peace out.

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Originally Posted by Klauth

Just a tip for the devs the next time they decide to make across the board graphical changes/introductions.:
Give players on/off options, sliders and drop down menus, because if you take this path of graphical improvements you put yourself into the position to compete against most modern games that also do it but actually have the sanity to give ingame options for the mentioned settings.

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Exactly. We got a so-called "graphics update" but now we have less graphics customization options/settings. I'm absolutely baffled by this horrible decision. :|

Might as well mention it here as well. The sharpening filter introduced desaturates and gives the overall image a black and white chromatic aberration like effect. Not an eye strain per se but it makes the game ugly. Needs a toggle.