female au ra face 4 lips/nose/philtrum/eyes/rings look awful

im struggling to put into words how upset i am about this. the graphical update has just.. murdered my characters face. how is this okay, square? what made you think this looks good? i went from having a decent eastern au ra female to having a fish person straight out of whoville.
the lips are larger and have terrible details for no reason.
the nose is pointier for no reason.
the philtrum (which i had to google the name of) is just a hyper detailed flat line for no reason.
the eyes lost their sharpness and just seem alien for no reason.
the limbal rings are soulless and lightless for no reason.
why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why?

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...fe0277c114861&https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...45d0f713dc75f&
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...ec4447e9dcf3e&https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...36f56d6eb97ec&
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...6ae21bcd06d58&https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...9273504351613&
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...a13b35ce98f74&https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...2b8be9a4cd30e&

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inue

...fish person...

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I mean... The Raen Aura village we encountered, as far as I can remember, was located under sea.
So calling them "fish people" might not be too far fetched. /s

The before was kinda giving FAS, tbf.

https://media.springernature.com/lw6..._Fig6_HTML.png

The rings can get their brighter colors back, you just need to shift it around a little bit.
Also, personally, while the face does seem a bit off here and there it only really seems to be the resting face. Click on the emotes for the voice check, they seem to be pretty well done.

The limbals are so dark now and they blend so much with the iris. I've TRIED playing with the colors and looking at her in the cinematic and they're still so dark and blended, because her iris are indigo and her limbals are a light blue - any lighter and they look white so that doesn't fix it. I swear they said they'd let us use the old look so I'm hoping we can get the sharp transition of color from limbal to iris back as a toggle

also my au ra's skin doesn't look wet or oily she looks covered in chalk dust :(
and why won't they let us wear lipstick why are our lip color options all barely do anything and look so grey

https://i.imgur.com/vlxDtTv.png
and yes i try to restore by changing color its still not as striking
https://i.imgur.com/czjfAhK.png

Edit to add, the lip reshape and loss of definition (as in the loss of that fake shadow under the bottom lip) is upsetting me too
https://i.imgur.com/YCWugYr.png

My Au ra also became unrecognisable.
The eyes, the nose, the lips..
It's not an upscaled version of my character, it's just a completely different character and i hate it.

https://imgur.com/a/6gAKOP7

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...cbd4dfd842e1a&
She looks like a completely different character to me. Her lips are so strange.

The difference between the eye color itself and the pupil is very difficult to get any distinction between... The iris just blends too much even without any limbal rings. My alt just looks so strange like this.

Similar deal for me honestly, it's so off putting. All the choices are the same but it just looks so much worse.
I'm in love with the horns but half the facial features are just. not even remotely the same :')
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLKO70fX...g&name=900x900
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLKO8U7W...g&name=900x900
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLKPk0yX...g&name=900x900
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLKPlb6X...g&name=900x900

It's not bad head on but from any angle (which there are a lot of) it just looks so off. This is mostly in the eyes and mouth, but the eyebrows and nose also bother me slightly.

face 4 really did get it rough this update.. my character literally looks so bad that im kind of speechless- who is this woman? i dont know her?
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...tXtlVjytGMWZG4
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...3kKWEiC9DhWvBA

even trying to fix it didnt work, shes just not right- her personality is fully gone.
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...5Pm9o-nzdVteZA

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ACupofCobaltTea

face 4 really did get it rough this update.. my character literally looks so bad that im kind of speechless- who is this woman? i dont know her?
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...tXtlVjytGMWZG4
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...3kKWEiC9DhWvBA

even trying to fix it didnt work, shes just not right- her personality is fully gone.
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...5Pm9o-nzdVteZA

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Yeah seems about right.
Face 2 had it bad too tbh. They're just no longer our characters :/

I do not like it ... the Aesthetic of my character has changed.
https://imgur.com/a/EoqPklo

Posting here too. The aesthetic and shape of her features is completely different now.

Old:
https://i.imgur.com/7YGjEMF.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/MNeR72D.png

New:
https://i.imgur.com/Pjwh7BZ.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/fc031Mi.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/GNfpa8j.jpg

I did change the nose because the new version was too far away from the lips and i thought it looked stupid but aside of that the changes are fine for me.

Just hope they'll add a lot more customization options at some point in the future since this game is really lacking on that part.

Just want to add in: SE please fix face 4.
- Unnecessary bigger lips: If we want bigger lips we would have chosen the big lips you guys provided on the current build. This alone changes the whole image of face 4.
- Unnecessary thicker lower eye lashes: Significantly reduces the impact of eyeshadow number 3.
- Dilated pupils: She just looks dead all the time now. With the bigger pupils, right now fem aura looks like she the current build limbal always on as the only bright spot is near the edge. Adding the new bright colored limbal makes this worse. Note: this is very prominent if seen from a distance, not from close up.
- Missing artificial eye highlights: contributes to the deadness of the eye.

The changes you guys introduced with this "graphical update" completely ruined face 4. Either fix or just revert.

https://imgur.com/a/ne2RiCu
First image in the album is her in live right now. Her face has become so round, her lips so pouty, and she has dimples for some unknown reason? If I wanted one of the cuter faces I would've picked them on creation instead of the slightly more aggressive looking Face 4. Now they're all just cute and if I don't want to be super cutesy I have to start over from scratch with a completely different character (not literally in the game, but from a story perspective).

I have the same issue. My character's angular features were all removed and was rounded off. I loved her expression so much, she always looked a bit moody and now she's...not right. It's hard to put into words without it sounding silly, but my character means a lot to me. I love how she looks. The unnecessary sculpt update has ruined my image of her and it makes it hard to find a desire to continue playing. I spend a lot of time gposing and that's rendered moot if she doesn't look like how I've known her for several years. I can only hope that they let us use the old models or opt out somehow, some way. It's wishful thinking but one can hope.

https://imgur.com/a/M2ZIfBv

Every after picture in your examples looks better to me, personally. I think you just got very attached to the 2 polygons that constitute your current face.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bitmoar

Every after picture in your examples looks better to me, personally. I think you just got very attached to the 2 polygons that constitute your current face.

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It only looks better if you don't care about personality. Sure, face 4 is now more conventionally attractive. But if I wanted a cutesy soft conventionally attractive face I have three other faces that fit the bill. This was the only face that was even close to looking more aggressive or stern and now it's just another cutesy rounded face.

ETA reference picture:
https://i.imgur.com/5r72iI8.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fuyume

It only looks better if you don't care about personality. Sure, face 4 is now more conventionally attractive. But if I wanted a cutesy soft conventionally attractive face I have three other faces that fit the bill. This was the only face that was even close to looking more aggressive or stern and now it's just another cutesy rounded face.

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Exactly my concern. It may look "better" from a fidelity standpoint, but loses the stern looks that alot of Face 4 options had that differentiated it from the other faces.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EusisLandale

The rings can get their brighter colors back, you just need to shift it around a little bit.
Also, personally, while the face does seem a bit off here and there it only really seems to be the resting face. Click on the emotes for the voice check, they seem to be pretty well done.

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Though it's the resting face that is iconic for the auras. And this update changed their expression.

The two tomboyish options are also made a lot more feminine.

Just adding my feedback to the mix:

I didn't think it would be that bad, and then I looked- it is very bad. The new facial structure of face 4 is almost completely unrecognizable to the original version. All the sharp and angular features that defined the look have been lost.

- The facial structure overall is softer, cheeks are insanely puffy, and the chin is oddly fat. It looks as though I've had an allergic reaction to something.
- The eye shape is notably different and softer, the signature "sharp" stare is no longer present. The pupils are too big, look dead and out of focus, and the limbal rings are still not nearly as bright as they should be (you have to go for specific, high contrast colors if you want them to stand out now). The eyes look out of place in the skull.
- The lips are *completely* different. They are fatter, and overly puckered up, it looks like I am always pouting. This is probably the change I dislike the most as it looks nothing like the original. The mouth protrudes strangely from the face, giving the jaw an odd and noticeably different look and angle.
- The scales on the face are duller looking, they look oddly lopsided and lumpy. Personally at least, I'd still prefer them to be sharp.
- Overall the skin and face look more like porcelain. It appears unnatural from most angles and borderline uncanny valley in others, even outside of the character creator and within the benchmark itself.
- Colors are off, while to be expected with a graphical update like this, it has made pale skin tones look notably worse and unnatural, especially when combined with contrasting dark or bright makeup, which blended perfectly originally. Now it seems very out of place.

I appreciate all the work that goes into such an ordeal as this graphical update, but while it of course it is likely easier said than done- I simply wished for an upscale of *my* existing character with the same features that I have come to know and love. Currently, this is an unwanted and surprisingly drastic transformation into a completely different looking character that is no longer my own. It feels almost insulting to have a character for this long and have it be changed this dramatically into something I can hardly recognize. Please fix face 4.

It's rough. I went with a face 4 xaela specifically because they had sharp, stern features that were still pretty in their own way, and it suited their lore as warrior nomads. The softening of various features isn't bad on its own, in fact I'd wager that someone picking up the game for the first time would think the au ra all look quite nice. But SE's stated goal was to increase visual fidelity while preserving the original style, and by that metric the updates to face 4 have been a failure. The sharpness is essential to the look.

https://i.imgur.com/yB858yr.png

I never thought they were supposed to be dimples until I read people's opinions on the forums, but the dimples are really strange on this face. Maybe face 1 or or for wings horns face it would look fine, but on face 4 it looks off and not the image I have for my character. If they want dimples for face 4, then I wish they would make it a toggle on or off option.

I commented this in another thread but yes, the problem to me seems to be that the eyes are more gentle now and the lips are a bit puffier. If you played face 4 for the more aggressive/determined look that it had, it lost a bit of that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bitmoar

Every after picture in your examples looks better to me, personally. I think you just got very attached to the 2 polygons that constitute your current face.

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I think the poster above you has a better looking character than you.
Do you now feel any urge to play as their character? Of course not. You did not make your character for me.
I don't want to play as another character just because you think the new models look better either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fuyume

It only looks better if you don't care about personality. Sure, face 4 is now more conventionally attractive. But if I wanted a cutesy soft conventionally attractive face I have three other faces that fit the bill. This was the only face that was even close to looking more aggressive or stern and now it's just another cutesy rounded face.

ETA reference picture:
https://i.imgur.com/5r72iI8.png

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Your character looks like they've been sucking on sour candy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bitmoar

Every after picture in your examples looks better to me, personally. I think you just got very attached to the 2 polygons that constitute your current face.

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The only differences I see is that the lips are more pouty and the lipstick on the bottom lip was changed from a triangular shape to full-lip coverage. And some limbal rings are a little softer.

Mouths in general seem to be the most screwed up things, with flattened fangs and weird expressions on some races. It's hard to tell if any of these changes are on purpose, maybe they outsourced some of the work or something, because it feels a little sloppy and different for no reason.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bitmoar

Every after picture in your examples looks better to me, personally. I think you just got very attached to the 2 polygons that constitute your current face.

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Whether they have been objectively improved and especially whether you, personally, having never played another person's character, like how their character looks more in the benchmark are not quite the point. Some people have played their character for years, some only using fantasia for a limited period or even not at all. Of course they're going to get attached to the current spirit or feeling of their character (which is what Yoshi-P has said is their goal to preserve), and they're perfectly within their right to do so, and to be upset about updates that change those aspects for the worse.