Benchmark/Graphics Update - Show your WoL's before and after

[Tamlen]

Not happy with it at all. Some of my characters, my friends' characters, and my siblings' characters are drastically changed. Sure some might think they look better, or that it isn't that different, but they're not the same characters we've all played with since 1.0/2.0 and 3.0 (in the case of au ra). So below are some comparisons and comments by the respective players:



Here SE made the nostrils bigger, the philtrum smaller, the lips no longer have the tubercles, the oral commissure is less pronounced/barely visible, the bridge of the nose has changed entirely, the nostrils are wider and rounder, epicanthal folds were shortened and receded.
He looks soulless, aged, unhappy, like he's had blepharoplasty and rhinoplasty by force at the hands of some Steppe butcher. It's as if all of the characters' happiness and spirit was sucked out of them and shoved into their nostrils.
This is a character my brother helped design before passing away, so I'm especially displeased with how he's so drastically changed. It's not just different textures, his facial structure is affected. He looks similar, yes, but it's not the same character.
Also, his eyelashes are gone.. why?
https://imgsli.com/MjU2MTAw

Here's another picture of the same face, both using nose 6- before and after 7.0's changes.

Some races have a nose that was taller before and gets noticeably shorter after, or the opposite issue of this image.


She doesn't even look like the same character, the lips look completely different, the philtrum is wider and more pronounced, the lips aren't as full and the nose looks more like they went for a Disney look rather than something that fits in the game. The eyes are okay, but the pupils are a bit wider now.. which looks strange if you've gotten used to looking at how they used to look
Her bottom lip seems to lack the "plump" that it used to have, as well.


This character is meant to be childish and alien looking, made by someone who at the time was a child. She looks like she's been given a redesign to look softer, conventionally attractive, and generally more appealing to men- yet somehow more uncanny and creepy.

Why are the nose shapes changing so much? You can increase the quality of a model without altering its aesthetic to this degree.

Additionally, everything looks washed out. The makeup is less drastic even on the dark settings with saturated colours. There's more shine on skin where it feels weird and oily and the shine from glossy lips has been almost entirely removed.
Certain light hair colours don't look good now;


Another example where the shape of the lips and nose were changed rather than upscaled;

She's making a 2000s duckface.

This persons' duskwight looks like someone ripped the textures from the other older-looking male elezen face and put them onto the only youthful one


These are the *exact* same options on one character, the only difference is the new graphical 'update'. They're not even close to the same.


I know none of this will be amended either prior to or after the release of 7.0, but it's another dissatisfaction drop we've all had among many in the bucket with the direction being taken for FF14 right now.