Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[NekoHina]

My character’s eyes and lips looks better, but that is all I see as an improvement. If they had make just a smidgen of effort to give us more CREATION options instead of messing around with how blades of grass look, I would be over the moon happy.

It has been 10 YEARS and I have no additional options for my character. Same face, same hair, same eyes, same options for underclothes (allowing us to wear other races styles is something that was promised many years ago). It is beyond ridiculous that a game in 2024 that is a subscription has no more options.

I played another MMORPG game for a while during the Dawntrail wait and my character there looks amazing. Yes, a catgirl but she has so many options for hair and makeup not to mention the ability to change her body shape. I was actually sad when I opened FFXIV and saw the character I have loved for 10 years. She looked like everyone else and is built like a boy. It is so frustrating and disheartening because I thought that with 7.0 we would at least get something as far as character options. If nothing else, at least give us the same hairstyles as other races (and vice versa) and some clothing. WHY?

I know the old argument about character bodies and equipment, but we could at least have something new to play with. How much work would it take to give a few new face options, eye styles, fangs or no fangs, type of ears/tails and especially more than one makeup? Giving how much they have supposedly worked on this update, we should have had something. I am so disappointed.

I have paid my subscription everyday since day one. Over 10 years, that is a lot of support. I also have most items from the Mogstation/FFXIV store so I have fully supported FFXIV. Right now, I feel betrayed because I do not feel supported in return.

Please consider giving us something more and not wait until the “next” expansion.

Thank you,
Hina Meishou

[Anneliese_Lev]

Yeah I think the mouth changes are the biggest culprit for complaint with turning characters into wholly different people.

Not only the mouth. The eyes look quite dead and indifferent now

[Eien713]

I had to unearth and salvage whatever old pictures I had on my PS4 to try and show the difference. This is a picture of my favorite portrait of my character before and after the upgrade. No one can convince me she didn't look way prettier before (T_T). She kinda looks less mature now. Old one on the left; new one on the right:

The old version picture is a bit low res since it was taken on the PS4. Had I known, I'd have taken a picture of my beautiful portrait on the PS5 before the cursed update (T_T).

I wish I had a before picture of my current portrait, but I think the after picture is self-explanatory on its own. My character's eyes are just so off. You can barely see them and their colors.


And finally, I tried to recreate 2 of some old pics I had to further show the difference. On the left is the old version and on the right the new one. You can barely see the colors of the eyes. They're so dark and dimmed. And those lashes :'( I also don't like the mouth. The corners of her lips used to be curved slightly upward. This change is probably why she now looks sad/bored/tired.

[ConantSivrha]

You could download the Endwalkder and Dawntrail benchmarks, provided that you saved the character customization in Endwalker or sooner. Or you remember exactly how to recreate your character in the character editor

Is the Endwalker benchmark still available to download? The link in the lodestone post announcing the Endwalker benchmark just goes to the page for the Dawntrail benchmark nowadays.

[Anneliese_Lev]

I'm quite disappointed by the changes to my Au Ra guy. He used to look very gentle before the DT update, but now he looks perpetually angry, even when smiling he has this stern frown on his eyebrows, his eyes seem to be a bit more squinted and over all just doesn't feel right at all. My sweet boy before and now after in DT

More than angry, he looks like an evil villain with a masterplan

[Pigeoms]

Chiming in with my agreement, Face 1 female midlanders have this awful eye bag going on now that makes them look terrible. It's very dependent on the lighting you're in, but under bright conditions it looks very bad. Very unhappy with that change suffice to say.

Agreed :^( Their eyes look so puffy and tired now. Also looks asymmetrical and weird at any angle that's not front-facing.

[Anneliese_Lev]

Is the Endwalker benchmark still available to download? The link in the lodestone post announcing the Endwalker benchmark just goes to the page for the Dawntrail benchmark nowadays.

Somebody in reddit shared this link:

https://archive.org/download/ffxiv-official-benchmarks

[Iakobos]

I am generally happy with how my character turned out. However, his new lips bother me. I have them coloured line six, slot five light. They are supposed to be naturally feminine, but now, they look coated in burgundy lipstick. I do not know what the equivalent of a female Hyur's colourless lips is supposed to be on a male Hyur with line one, slot one skin. If anyone does, let me know:

[sindriiisgaming]

I'm quite disappointed by the changes to my Au Ra guy. He used to look very gentle before the DT update, but now he looks perpetually angry, even when smiling he has this stern frown on his eyebrows, his eyes seem to be a bit more squinted and over all just doesn't feel right at all. My sweet boy before and now after in DT

how on earth do u avoid ur auras eye bags without the strip? mines are terrible.

[Daralii]

Not only the mouth. The eyes look quite dead and indifferent now

Eyes in general are very dim but more reflective, and with strong enough peripheral light sources they can end up looking like they're made of glass. Au ra got hit especially hard with the dimming because of how much it diminished the limbal discs(though I don't think Plasmaspy's character has them).