We need to compromise as a player base

[DiaDeem]

I actually won't argue with this. Current lighting is atrocious, especially for dark skinned characters. That being said, however, I'm not (totally) certain the current lighting will be much better. The only hope I have is that in shade (not complete darkness) the character seems self-lit. However, as I said in my previous reply, I worry that this is due to skin translucency and not necessarily a net-positive for the lighting. So while darker skinned characters look better in shade, they may look horrendous in direct light. As far as the cutscene goes, there actually wasn't a shot where the character experiences direct sunlight (they always seem to be standing in their own shadow) ; something that happens a lot in-game. Nor was there a shot of total darkness. As far as harsh shadows go, that opening ship cutscene was enough to make me grapple with the same concerns I have now regarding lighting.

So, I really do think the lighting might be better in some ways (maybe a lot of ways) but I worry that when it's worse, it's going to be a (a lot) worse.

I appreciate your posts, Verrot. Your comparisons have also been really good, and I'm sure very useful to any dev looking to tackle concerns. I know dark skinned characters have always had it rough in XIV and I can only hope the final product will be better than what we've seen so far.

[decomposer]

I appreciate your posts, Verrot. Your comparisons have also been really good, and I'm sure very useful to any dev looking to tackle concerns. I know dark skinned characters have always had it rough in XIV and I can only hope the final product will be better than what we've seen so far.

Thank you! I've put a lot of heart in my character, and for those reasons I'm really attuned to the changes. But on the same token, I can look at parts of the benchmark (both CC and cutscene) and think "hey, this is really promising!" I think everyone would do well to remember this is an admitted work in progress (says so on the website!) so these discussions are hopefully going to be heard. No one needs to throw out their subscription or character yet, just as no one should feel like feedback is necessary. The update has done wonders on some characters, and that gives me hope!