Thancred's graphical update does not match the fidelity of other NPC updates
Date & Time: N/A
Frequency: Always
World name: N/A
Character name: N/A
Retainer name: N/A
NPC name: Thancred
Monster name: N/A
Class/Level: N/A
Party or solo: Either
In-game time: Always
Area and coordinates: N/A
Housing: N/A
Steps:
1. Play through a section of MSQ where Thancred appears or watch a cutscene where Thancred appears in the inn/Unending Journey.
2. Note that his model is very different in appearance to 6.58, whereas other NPCs retain faithful appearances, even after the graphical update.
This bug report is in regard to how Thancred's face has significantly changed since the release of 7.0. Not only do these changes fail to meet the aims of the graphical update keeping the 'overall look that we know and love', but this is also an anomaly/bug, as every other NPC with a custom face model has been treated with a lot more care in preserving their original appearance. Thancred should be treated the same - he is an important and well-loved character who appears prominently in the MSQ.
Please see below for a fully-translated, comprehensive English and Japanese website fans from all across the world have put together which gives several examples/comparisons, sliders, and detailed notes on how each element of his face has significantly changed. The lips/mouth and nose are of particular issue but this is broken down into detail here.
>>WEBSITE WITH EXAMPLES/SCREENSHOTS<<
While Thancred’s original face was based on a player character face - that being male Midlander face 1 - it was in fact a custom face, impossible to recreate using the in-game character creator. There were several changes made to the model in order to give him a unique look and feel that captured his personality. In Dawntrail, all of his unique features, that were crafted with care and intention, have been removed. He is now, for all intents and purposes, a default, face 1 Midlander. We feel that, with intended aim of the graphical update, his original look should be preserved as faithfully as possible, allowing fans to experience the story with the character they remember.
To those of us who adore this character, he now looks like a different person, which is causing many of us significant upset and distress.
Examples of NPCs with unique faces who have received fantastic graphical updates and retained their original look are Alphinaud, Alisaie, Emet-Selch, Aymeric, Lyse, Gaius and Hien. Here is a comparison of Thancred and Emet-Selch/Aymeric before and after the updates:
https://i.imgur.com/H1oEZhm.png
And some further comparisons (larger versions of all these images can be found on the website):
https://i.imgur.com/TcrJJ6o.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/M09aMiI.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/AKtLUtQ.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/2VrpOLb.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/pojyYcM.gif
https://i.imgur.com/ktrA5le.gif
We have an active thread on the English forums about this issue with over 100 likes, another detailed post on the Japanese forums with over 200 likes, as well as likes which total in the thousands across social media (X, Tumblr and Bluesky), supporting the fix. I have refrained from logging a bug report until now in the hope that it would be changed, but now that we have seen several NPCs treated far better than Thancred, it only confirms that there is no reason he should be an exception.
We would appreciate if this could be looked at. This character means a lot to many of us, and we would greatly appreciate a response on this issue, as fans all across the world have spent a lot of time and effort in documenting the problems, working on translations and coming together for the character we know and love. Thank you so much!
■ PC Specs
-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-
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