Fem Au Ra Face 2 just not the same

Honestly I am not sure if there is anything they plan to do now since the Graphical update has already taken place but I am making this post with the hope that they address Fem Au Ra Face 2 differences.

Ever since the update I have felt like my character just looks fundamentally different. When I look at the changes made to the other fem Au Ra faces, I feel the change isn't as dramatic as it was for face 2. Specifically the eyes and the lips.

For the eyes: The black in the pupil is still rather large, this combined w/ new Limbal rings washes out over all color of the eye especially w/ this new starburst like pattern that is happening

My primary concern/complaint is with the mouth though. The mouth shape for face 2 is probably the most changed. The shape is fundamentally different now making her look so much different.

For the Mouth: The outside corners of the mouth no longer look elongated, looks like her mouth just got cut off at the ends abruptly. Before there were these little lines that extended past the colored/filled in part of the lip that made it look like they had dimples.
The mouth was wider as a whole and now it just feels shortened.
The lip color is the hard end at the outer corners and the cupids bow is not as prominent.
The top lip had a little curvature near the cupids bow to make the lip feel almost as full and long as the bottom lip but now it's just not there. It's very sad.

Honestly as a whole, I think they did really well with the graphical update and I still really really like face 2. I do feel however, if they were to try and work on anything for this face it would have to be the lips/mouth. Compared to the old lips/mouth the shape just feels a little too different to me. I really miss the dimples and without them she just doesn't feel the same. The mouth is too small/round now.

DAWNTRAIL:

https://i.imgur.com/EUbSc5P.jpeg

PRE DAWNTRAIL
https://i.imgur.com/zr6nA9L.jpeg

I miss the fishy face look of my fishy face.

To give you some hope: They DID say it was the first graphics update. I believe that means the current changes aren't set in stone.

I personally like the changes to fishwives. I think they look better.

Honestly I agree with you, I think they look great as well but as a fish wife I feel like they just did not do the lip/mouth justice compared to before. However I understand Fem Au Ra face 2 is my main and I probably stare at it more than others.

I've complained about how they changed this particular face an annoying amount already, but, once again, I 100% agree. It really feels like they didn't try at all for this particular face to "keep the impression as close as possible". That is just outright a different mouth, and it becomes really obvious in most of the in-game lighting. And while I'm not a fan of the other changes to it either, I feel like they'd be at least less jarring if the mouth looked the same as it did before...

It had a really adorable frog-like impression, IMO. Not all of the faces need more "conventionally"-shaped lips.

Every one of my Au Ra's facial features has been changed, and regardless of what I could do with a fantasia she still looks terrible. What's worse is SE's total refusal to acknowledge the last few weeks of feedback on player character changes (not just Au Ra), and giving us only vague rumours to work with about future improvements- no timeline, no 'we hear you and we're working on it', no accountability for their *paid* subscription service. They're picking and choosing what feedback to address or ignore and that's almost as bad as making the update when it clearly wasn't ready in the first place.

Yes, my au'ra is a little different, but I can't help it and I don't want to go crying to Yoshi-P, so I go with it o7

The Sneer and Smirk emotion is less striking too...

I think face2 is looking better than ever. It's different because those weird creases around the lips are gone, they were kinda screwed up before, with the lipstick extending too far beyond the shape of the lips, now all that lines up correctly. It's going to look different since more polygons fixed that stuff, but it looks good to me.

My Aura is also so changed I don't like her anymore :( (anyway I can't play the game at all since the graphics update because I get motion sickness and eye strain...)

Their unique looking mouth was their charm...and I loved that, I thought it was weird at first but when I made my aura I loved it. It was really cute. Sad to see that face get the axe. I don't think I can return to her again after they dolled her up.

+1 for this, I miss my Au Ra's fish mouth so much :( It was such a charm point of this face and they took it away.

EDIT: Here were my suggestions from the last benchmark, in case there's any chance at all for them to be seen...

https://i.imgur.com/j0QRgsz.png

My old character use this same face and i too reacted poorly to the mouth change.. She had this cute and friendly feel to her that now is kind of gone. I could sort of salvage it with a different mouth option when i played around with the benchmark, but wouldn't be the same as what she had since like heavensward. I wonder who on the dev team decided to pucker up the lips with how small they look now..

This is exactly how i feel regarding the mouth, and eyes as well, but more so the mouth. Before the update, my Au ra had cute lips that gave her friendly, kind, and gentle look. The new mouth, coupled with the eye changes, gives her a very stiff and kind of dead looking dollish look. In certain cutscenes, her face puffs up so much that she ends up looking like she got stung by a bee or got botox. It makes me so sad because the entire reason i fell in love with her, and more so the game, is because i loved looking at her every chance i got. Now i don't really like looking at her much, if at all, and i stopped doing MSQ. I don't log in excited or happy like before, i log in feeling dread.

EW https://i.imgur.com/WAJAm2m.png
DT https://i.imgur.com/lEaxbI2.png

Looks better to me

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by roseychan

This is exactly how i feel regarding the mouth, and eyes as well, but more so the mouth. Before the update, my Au ra had cute lips that gave her friendly, kind, and gentle look. The new mouth, coupled with the eye changes, gives her a very stiff and kind of dead looking dollish look. In certain cutscenes, her face puffs up so much that she ends up looking like she got stung by a bee or got botox. It makes me so sad because the entire reason i fell in love with her, and more so the game, is because i loved looking at her every chance i got. Now i don't really like looking at her much, if at all, and i stopped doing MSQ. I don't log in excited or happy like before, i log in feeling dread.

EW https://i.imgur.com/WAJAm2m.png
DT https://i.imgur.com/lEaxbI2.png

---

I think I prefer the new eyes, but the mouth is a real downgrade. I miss looking like a proper fish lizard.

Worst is also how pronounced the area around the eyes have become now. Too real D:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Higashikata

Looks better to me

---

Because you didn’t play this character for years, maybe?…

Empathy is a thing, you know…?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Turethir

+1 for this, I miss my Au Ra's fish mouth so much :( It was such a charm point of this face and they took it away.

EDIT: Here were my suggestions from the last benchmark, in case there's any chance at all for them to be seen...

https://i.imgur.com/j0QRgsz.png

---

ugh the excessively defined philtrum....I'm sure someone on the team had a thing for that...

You get a philtrum and you get a philtrum, everyone gets a philtrum!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Turethir

+1 for this, I miss my Au Ra's fish mouth so much :( It was such a charm point of this face and they took it away.

EDIT: Here were my suggestions from the last benchmark, in case there's any chance at all for them to be seen...

https://i.imgur.com/j0QRgsz.png

---

I am so glad readign this thread that I am not the only one who noticed the lips/mouth. The mouth is so SMOOSHED now. It is not as wide as it was before, or even just a smidge of it? It's so round and small.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by roseychan

This is exactly how i feel regarding the mouth, and eyes as well, but more so the mouth. Before the update, my Au ra had cute lips that gave her friendly, kind, and gentle look. The new mouth, coupled with the eye changes, gives her a very stiff and kind of dead looking dollish look. In certain cutscenes, her face puffs up so much that she ends up looking like she got stung by a bee or got botox. It makes me so sad because the entire reason i fell in love with her, and more so the game, is because i loved looking at her every chance i got. Now i don't really like looking at her much, if at all, and i stopped doing MSQ. I don't log in excited or happy like before, i log in feeling dread.

EW https://i.imgur.com/WAJAm2m.png
DT https://i.imgur.com/lEaxbI2.png

---

I agree with you. I have been playing since 2017 and am an active gposer/chronicler of my game experience. I have so many screenshots of my character from before and the new lip shape makes her look so different. I have tried changing the nose, changing the lip, changing the lip color and it just is not what it used to be and it really bothers me. Im currently fantasaid to another race to see if I'll enjoy playing more as not my lizard but Im heartbroken bc like, thats MY GIRL. I have so much lore and history with her.

This is Cirina's face. The new face is not bad looking and it would be a nice option to have. Maybe just some eye and mouth options? But it's just not her anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SalamanderIX

I think face2 is looking better than ever. It's different because those weird creases around the lips are gone, they were kinda screwed up before, with the lipstick extending too far beyond the shape of the lips, now all that lines up correctly. It's going to look different since more polygons fixed that stuff, but it looks good to me.

---

I agree, Face 2 is the best face in term of the mold. The problem is it has the most intrusive horn (if you don't like it) which I think the reason why people look past it. Same reason why face 1 is the most popular because its horn is least intrusive. This is why many of us has been begging for the ability to separate the horn and the head model.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Naoki34

Yes, my au'ra is a little different, but I can't help it and I don't want to go crying to Yoshi-P, so I go with it o7

The Sneer and Smirk emotion is less striking too...

---

I think, even more than the facial changes u̶n̶n̶e̶c̶e̶s̶s̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶e̶n̶l̶a̶r̶g̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶u̶p̶i̶l̶s̶, I don't like how emotes look on the Au Ra's face now. I'm not sure how to describe it fully. Before, Face 1's expressions had an air of awkwardness to them? This made it endearing to me. The mouth expression was subtle, but the eyes were very expressive. Now the expressions are softened all over. It looks more natural maybe, but I miss the slight awkwardness.

I think face 2 ♀ au ra is objectively the worst face in terms of preservation. It looks nothing like it used to.

(< DT | EW >)
https://i.imgur.com/U082c3A.png

We can argue all day if the changes look better or worse, but the point of the update was to keep our characters looking the same as they did before which they have failed in various stages for various faces with the biggest failure being here. I fully intend to take my observations and grievances to the JP forums and will continue posting, if I can, once my subscription runs out.

Face 2 and 4 were changed the most. All were changed, of course, but you can clearly see it blatantly on those two faces. The eyes, nose, and mouth changes make them look significantly different.

The eyes were shaper before DT with a doe-like look for face 2. The nose was slimmer and pointed, the lips more rounded with dimples on each side. It's odd to me that the devs can look at these two versions side-by-side and tell us that the fidelity of the characters were kept. It is not. The expression is completely different. You can clearly see it in the SS above.

For face 4 every sharp feature it had was smoothed out. Why do this? There were many that chose that particular face because of how fierce and not doll-like it looked. But it seems they are homogenizing the face types just as they are with jobs. Every face seems to be based off of face 1 and that makes no sense. We have very little options to truly make our character facially unique from one another. Taking away what little options we had without at least updating the character creator is a poor choice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Einnecy

but the point of the update was to keep our characters looking the same as they did before which they have failed in various stages for various faces with the biggest failure being here.

---

https://i.imgur.com/r6HOzHN.png

They never promised for the characters to look the same as they did before.
Could SE have done a better job to try and preserve the overall look of the characters though? Probably.
"Altered as little as possible" is not a guarantee to be "they will look the same".
But we have in a different thread got a reponse from a forum admin that they've seen peoples complains and are working on things, so we'll just have to wait and see how that will turn out.
So hopefully things will get better. I doubt things will be "as they once were", but better at least.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evergrey

https://i.imgur.com/r6HOzHN.png

They never promised for the characters to look the same as they did before.
Could SE have done a better job to try and preserve the overall look of the characters though? Probably.
But "altered as little as possible" is not a guarantee as a "they will look the same".
But we have in a different thread got a reponse from a forum admin that they've seen peoples complains and are working on things, so we'll just have to wait and see how that will turn out.
So hopefully things will get better. I doubt things will be "as they once were", but better at least.

---

I have as much hope that my fishy Xaela will be back to her old self as I do that buns and hroths will get to wear every hat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lolnotacat

I have as much hope that my fishy Xaela will be back to her old self as I do that buns and hroths will get to wear every hat.

---

Yeah, I'm not holding any expectations either.
Who knows, this coming "update" might end up as a Monkeys Pawn situation. Where some things might turn out better but other might turn out worse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Yeah, I'm not holding any expectations either.
Who knows, this coming "update" might end up as a Monkeys Pawn situation. Where some things might turn out better but other might turn out worse.

---

Would be par for the course with Dawntrail.

https://i.imgur.com/5wm7RmL.png

I made 2 posts in the big graphics feedback thread but I figure I should copy-paste some of what I wrote there over here.

Quote:

---

Using the following features, for reference:
Eyebrows - 2
Eyes - 3
Nose - 5
Mouth - 3
Jaw - 2


I took comparison screenshots with various lighting from both the Endwalker and final Dawntrail benchmarks, and have tried to match the angle as best as possible.

https://i.imgur.com/L1uFXCM.png

https://i.imgur.com/JjA3Huo.png

https://i.imgur.com/X3IP7JR.png

The biggest point of contention for me is without a doubt the mouth.

Link to image slider comparison

https://i.imgur.com/qOpPU3h.png

Overall, the mouth seems to have been made much narrower. The definition between top and bottom lip has been softened, removing much of the cute cupid's bow appearance. The dimples have been completely obliterated, and the mouth corners overall seem to have been greatly softened. The transition from lip color to skin is far less gradual and now very sharp, which diminishes the mouth corners even further.
All of this contributes to the narrower appearance, and gives her resting expression a sharper, meaner look. I am sure I'm not the only face 2 player who chose their face because it had a softer appearance, so this change is very jarring.

And... the smiles. I used to love seeing her smile, it always had a very gentle but mischievous air to it. Now... I don't even really know how to describe it, but I genuinely flinch and try not to look whenever cutscenes have her smile. It has a very forced and uncanny look to it, likely a result of the narrower and sharper appearance of the mouth overall.

Dawntrail's creepy tiny-mouth smile vs Endwalker's softer one...

https://i.imgur.com/2Qgj3SG.png https://i.imgur.com/BTJiQmQ.png

---

There were a few other minor details I commented on as well, but the mouth being such a big change for the worse is the one part I wanted to highlight, and I hope the devs take note of how many people are upset with the changes to this specific feature.

I also have a lesser used alt with this face. Pulling her out to do the holiday I'm really not happy with her. Like Cirina, she's just not herself anymore.

It's okay, in fact...
https://i.ibb.co/80spz28/comparaison-R.png

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Naoki34

It's okay, in fact...
https://i.ibb.co/80spz28/comparaison-R.png

---

You realize that your AuRa is face 1 right? And this is like....Face 2 thread?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rueby

You realize that your AuRa is face 1 right? And this is like....Face 2 thread?

---

I have no idea what you're talking about, but... on the left, it's from an old screen and the 2nd one is from today.
And if by that you mean I'm off topic, I think that's cool, because there will always be someone to point that out to you, I don't really care....

Has anyone ever told you that the ends of your hair are bleached? OMG!!!
I'll tell you again to complain to my FC's Master as people like to do. Oh Sh* it's me...

I don't look Annoyed (by life), nor do I look like I'm laughing at you like a Zenos expression with Sneer.
Expressions used to be more trollish, what a pity xD...
___
https://i.ibb.co/4fpNPTf/face-expression.png

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Naoki34

I have no idea what you're talking about, but... on the left, it's from an old screen and the 2nd one is from today.
And if by that you mean I'm off topic, I think that's cool, because there will always be someone to point that out to you, I don't really care....

Has anyone ever told you that the ends of your hair are bleached? OMG!!!
I'll tell you again to complain to my FC's Master as people like to do. Oh Sh* it's me...

---

You come to a face 2 thread, where people are complaining about it, post your face 1 aura and say it looks fine? I mean it'd be best to make a face 1 aura thread instead of derailing this one by being off topic.

Though they are small, it looks like the icons have not been updated, at least face 2 looks like the old one to me.
https://i.imgur.com/xXAw7G3.jpg

For those who don't get it, when you create a new character you are given a series of faces to choose from. When referring to one, players number them left to right. Au Ra are particularly easy to distinguish since each face has a specific horn shape, though many wish those will someday be separate choices.