State of Character Creation in 2025

*I’m using mobile and I’m really not sure at all on how this website works and the lack of feedback regarding things not relating to the website it seems the sub forums are really specific and pertain to things that this isn’t about necessarily I also had to shorten it by a 1000 words so you can imagine how much I had to omit, sorry if it seems crazy*

TLDR: let me be a Hyur with elezen ears and aura bangs

I was talking to a friend about FFXIV, we’ve both played varying amount of times, me since HW and I’ve completed the game several times. They story skipped SHB. BUT one thing we agree on is just the state of general character customisation in the game as a whole.

1. Unique NPC’s. I’m really not even going to pretend that I know anything about game design or coding or whatever. But understandably it takes the devs time to adjust hairstyles etc amongst all the races because of the models mesh’s (spelling?). But why do some of the NPC’s not seem bound by these rules? Ascians with Viera specific hairstyles, Alphinaud, Alisae and Hilda not having to be 143ft tall but still being able to have cute elezen ears. To have interesting ears you need to be either the shortest race in the game or the tallest race in the game. There’s no in between which I think is the crux of the issue. Four face options per race, some hair being available on certain races, In DT Sphene looks genuinely stunning and charming.

2. Character Creation.
Now I’ve been told there is potentially some sort of revamp happening here? So I don’t want to assume too much. But just the typical why aren\\'t Au’ra horns changeable among other Au’ra? I also think the game could benefit from its collabs for Monster Hunters approach to character creation; you can keep the four face options but allow players to choose two and kind of blend between them? The options would be so much more varied and personal. Change Sclera eye colour, have the choice of two types of make up ie blush AND eye makeup, TWO tattoos the list goes on. I understand the game is bound to certain constrains of its time but that doesn’t seem to hold true now with the things DT managed to achieve graphically etc? As I stated previously I have no clue so please as a forum newbie inform me. Also Please give Highlander Males an eyebrow option?

As I said I had to cut in the words of Yuna and Leanne, a 1000 words so sorry if it seems abrupt

You can edit your post and add as much text as you want. It bypasses the limit.

1. The reason why unique NPCs aren't "bound" by same constraints is because they have separate textures and separate models. Or, in simpler words, they exist outside of existing character creator system.

2. The reason Auri cannot change their horns separate from their face comes from an older limitation that was in place when they were created (and might be still in place in upcoming 8.0, but we don't know yet). Basically, current character creator has a limited amount of categories it can provide, and that's why Auri have their horns tied to their face, plus also why Auri/Viera/Miqo'te cannot adjust muscle level - it's replaced with tail/ears instead.

Both points you raised are something players have been talking about for a long time, and are something SE will only be able to remove if they will do a complete overhaul of current character creator. Which we don't really know if they're working on, although they did make some off-handed mentions of that in the past.

Also, you can bypass word limitation by editing your post after posting.

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Originally Posted by Halivel

1.
Basically, current character creator has a limited amount of categories it can provide, and that's why Auri have their horns tied to their face, plus also why Auri/Viera/Miqo'te cannot adjust muscle level - it's replaced with tail/ears instead.

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It actually would be possible to separate them despite the stated category limit, by adding every combination of face+horns as a separate "face". They could make the UI display the faces and horns as separate features on the character creation screen for ease of use, but still have them be lumped together as "faces" on the backend.

This type of workaround could also be used to add things like hairstyle variants, alternate highlight patterns and gear toggles.

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Originally Posted by Underscore

It actually would be possible to separate them despite the stated category limit, by adding every combination of face+horns as a separate "face". They could make the UI display the faces and horns as separate features on the character creation screen for ease of use, but still have them be lumped together as "faces" on the backend.

This type of workaround could also be used to add things like hairstyle variants, alternate highlight patterns and gear toggles.

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It should be possible to do it that way, yes. They probably just didn't want to do it for memory related reasons. I do remember they also said that creator as a whole also had a limited amount of slots available for things - which is why we didn't really get any new face paints, for example, because haircuts got a higher priority.

I'm pretty sure they mentioned drastically increasing that slots limit during preparation for 7.0, so it shouldn't be as much of an issue right now as it was back then, and perhaps they'll look into expanding those options now.

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Originally Posted by Halivel

I'm pretty sure they mentioned drastically increasing that slots limit during preparation for 7.0, so it shouldn't be as much of an issue right now as it was back then, and perhaps they'll look into expanding those options now.

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They did increase the current number by 7 with the second dye channels and facewear slots, so I hope so.

Honestly the graphics update was their biggest opportunity to update the character creator and they blew it. There is still a chance for 8.0 but I dont think it will happen. They would need to pull the people who work on mogstation items in to help because the character creator overhaul is a huge effort that would have a great payoff for new players and fantasia sales.

Introducing new faces and facial animations is tough with the current code. Its sad the character creator hasnt had a big update since launch( graphics update doesnt count).

idk the game already has a really robust character customization system. You get to pick between catgirl 1, catgirl 2, catgirl 3, and even catgirl 4. That's four whole options, how much more can you need? :p

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Originally Posted by Derio

Introducing new faces and facial animations is tough with the current code. Its sad the character creator hasnt had a big update since launch( graphics update doesnt count).

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I think they said that it got a memory limit increase so that they could add Derplander with stubble, but it's not like they've done much of anything else with that increase.

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Originally Posted by Daralii

I think they said that it got a memory limit increase so that they could add Derplander with stubble, but it's not like they've done much of anything else with that increase.

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They just duplicated midlander face 5, but only with a permanent stubble texture that you can't opt out.

It doesn't make sense for me because if there was a supposed memory increase, or something improving the structure, that stubble should've been added as an extra option to face 5.

I am not clued up on how things work and I know there are members here who know way more on the technical side.

I remember them saying no to the separate horns like others have said and at the time it was a big downer for a lot of players as when they where introducing the Au ra they said there would be multiple options.....and the horns was one of the things players where excited about and then nope not happening. I adore face 3 the face Yugiri uses but her horns are different and although I like the original ones on face 3 it would be nice to have the option.

They should have redone the CC for dawntrail and although the graphical update is good in some parts in others it really changed a lot of the faces and mouths >.<

I want to be a half elezen like Hilda or I would like to be a little smaller on a Viera and the new Hrothgar females are just to huge for me and I would have loved them to be more akin to Mithra from FFXI.

I hope they take a long hard look and if they want to bring players back then the CC overhaul adding new faces and please add something to give our characters some shape in the lower body department we all look like sticks and flat and it is now 2025 and even FFXI has way more shapely females.

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Originally Posted by Luluna

They should have redone the CC for dawntrail and although the graphical update is good in some parts in others it really changed a lot of the faces and mouths >.<

I want to be a half elezen like Hilda or I would like to be a little smaller on a Viera and the new Hrothgar females are just to huge for me and I would have loved them to be more akin to Mithra from FFXI.

I hope they take a long hard look and if they want to bring players back then the CC overhaul adding new faces and please add something to give our characters some shape in the lower body department we all look like sticks and flat and it is now 2025 and even FFXI has way more shapely females.

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Agreed. Honestly I was fine with the graphics as they were, especially since some faces look like totally different characters after the graphics update (RIP my original Hyurs and their pouty, more natural looking lips!). I would rather they had held back the graphics update until they could expand the character creator at the same time.

One thing I think that would be an immediate help is to be a little more loose with the racial characteristics. By that I mean, allowing for things like shorter Elezens or taller Au Ra, quit restricting hairstyles to races and clans (and faces in the case of Hrothgar!), let all the face options be shared within the same race (only the Facial Features tab should be clan-exclusive), and more sliders in general. Make half-races possible by adding an ears (maybe Au Ra horns could go here?) and tail tab to the CC for all races. It’s a big world and most of the places we visit have all the races present. It’s not unthinkable that we would have mixed race characters.

Beyond that we need more options for every section. Either create another 4-5 faces for each race (again allowing all faces to be shared within their races), or go the more complicated route of making face sliders. Alternatively, a middle option could be adding a third clan to add more variety that can be mixed and match within the races.

As far as I know, so far the graphic update has only affected our characters from the neck up, they haven’t worked on the rest of the body yet, which is probably why CC updates are something they’re planning on for the future. While I think they should’ve waited until it could be done all at once, might as well put our wish lists out there!

More character options would be greatly appreciated, especially faces.