Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[duckslap]

I've posted feedback on the graphics update when the benchmarks came out, but I thought I'd try again it's been confirmed this thread is being looked through by devs.

Here is my Au Ra in 6.55 vs Dawntrail:


Since the first DT benchmark came out, my main issues have been with the eyes and lips.



- The larger pupils, especially when some other races got to keep their smaller pupils, are an issue for me. Male Au Ra had their pupil size reduced after feedback, so I'm still hoping female Au Ra can have their smaller pupils restored as well.
- I'm using eye shape 3, which are the most upturned eyes, but I feel like they're more downturned and rounder now.
- The limbal rings are too small for the irises, making the irises appear smaller. The larger pupils on top of this makes the iris colour even less visible compared to before.
- The upper eyeliner is less dark now.
- Not related to eyes, but you can see the forehead scale has rounder edges in the update compared to the sharp edges in 6.55.



- The new lips are more downturned and have a very different feel compared to the old ones.

[Alice9]

Please offer an option to keep Face 4 F Au Ra's sharp face. Previously mentioned by others with similar woes but the main issues are:

- Face 4 F Au Ra face has been rounded off significantly, losing a significant degree of sharpness. The sharp angular stare is no longer present, and thus the characterization and charm of the face has been lost. The face is overall fatter, and the chin sticks out. The jaw especially is uncanny- particularly during animations.
- The lips are completely different from Endwalker. It is not a upscale but a complete, undesired change.
- The eyes are completely different from Endwalker. Similarly, not an upscale but a complete, undesired change.

Personally, I'd like to be able to simply retain my original appearance and just have the face upscaled instead of this style shift. To be able to even just retain the original lip appearance, the shape and stare of the eyes, and remove all the unnatural fat the jaw and the cheeks have added would alone would be a significant improvement. There are just way too many unnecessary adjustments that were not requested and resultingly has caused a big style shift that I wish could be returned. It has been some time since Dawntrails release and even longer since the benchmarks and I have still not gotten used to the Au Ra appearance.

[Moonfallen]

We would like to thank everyone for their feedback regarding the graphical update.
The Development team has been carefully reviewing this thread and many others, including bug reports and concerns raised outside of the official forums.

We are currently working on an update based on the feedback provided, as well as preparing to share details about our planned course of action.
As these are undergoing thorough final inspections, we expect to make an announcement in late August.

Thank you all for your patience as we continue fine-tuning the graphical update.

Thank you so much for addressing this! I look forward to the announcement and continue to hope that there is a resolution for all of us.

[Einnecy]

Very thankful to see a representative response. I had intended to go through my previous comments and expand upon them with new observations and thoughts and knowing now that our feedback is being heard I feel emboldened to do so and also hopeful. Looking forward to late August. May it be a step in the right direction.

[DoorMattFE]

Hiiii ty for the team working on DT as a whole and addressing any issues. Had a very good time playing through the MSQ and everything after, and the graphics update has ruined my screenshot folder

I think my one small thing I have is that Hellsguard Roegadeyns have had their noses look like a smudge of ash on the tip rather than a near opaque, black mark. Hopefully this sends correctly never have sent screenshots or links through the fourms

But yeah it just seems like some ash or soot on their nose compared to a solid black mark. For Fem Roes who I love to see and we need more of, I sometimes need to double back to see if it was actually a Female Roe since their marking was relatively smaller. I wish I had a good example on hand but if anyone else does that would be great to see a comparison!

I know not everything can be 1-1 with what the game once looked like, and this is a difference I don't HATE. But I do prefer the older look since it was more distinct.

1st image is current game, second image was 6.55/prior

[Valetan]

Hrothgar eyes have been very closed in my adventurer plates and instant portraits. The pupils are also bigger for some reason. Can the former please be fixed and the latter looked at?

[Amaya-Asha]

I just wanted to add OLDER ps5 (mine is a 2021 model) cant play in 4k without a hard crash. I reported as bug and talk with support. Before graphics up date 4k and all setting maxed now I have to play if I want to in 4k with 30fps limit looks bad. My current setting are WQHD (4K Upscaling) no fps limit no crash and looks better but... <<not happy after seeing game in 4k but hard crash>

Xbox got a fix and feedback please look into ps5 issue.

[Mikky]

As a PS player I only had the opportunity to check on the changes after 7.0 was launched. Despite most of the changes being amazing, I am still upset with how much my WoL’s lips have changed. This was one of the features I liked a lot about her.

I think I have only realised it because I draw her a lot and had spent hours practicing drawing her features.

I am not a very good person to describe well the changes with words but to me it looked like her lips were from a kind of heart shaped pouty ones to a more straight one dimensional one. Then there’s the curve of the lips where they part, the 6.x was kind of like a Cupid’s bow type where the 7.0 update it’s a straight line. Also the lower lip lost the curves they had in 6.x

Here are some images, to better express the difference I noticed. (I apologise if they get too big for the reply on the forum)

Vhyev is a veena Viera face 2 mouth 4.

[Mr_Gucky]

We would like to thank everyone for their feedback regarding the graphical update.
The Development team has been carefully reviewing this thread and many others, including bug reports and concerns raised outside of the official forums.

We are currently working on an update based on the feedback provided, as well as preparing to share details about our planned course of action.
As these are undergoing thorough final inspections, we expect to make an announcement in late August.

Thank you all for your patience as we continue fine-tuning the graphical update.

Thank you very much for the words. Now I have hope again that maybe everything will be fine after all.

Please offer an option to keep Face 4 F Au Ra's sharp face. Previously mentioned by others with similar woes but the main issues are:

- Face 4 F Au Ra face has been rounded off significantly, losing a significant degree of sharpness. The sharp angular stare is no longer present, and thus the characterization and charm of the face has been lost. The face is overall fatter, and the chin sticks out. The jaw especially is uncanny- particularly during animations.
- The lips are completely different from Endwalker. It is not a upscale but a complete, undesired change.
- The eyes are completely different from Endwalker. Similarly, not an upscale but a complete, undesired change.

Personally, I'd like to be able to simply retain my original appearance and just have the face upscaled instead of this style shift. To be able to even just retain the original lip appearance, the shape and stare of the eyes, and remove all the unnatural fat the jaw and the cheeks have added would alone would be a significant improvement. There are just way too many unnecessary adjustments that were not requested and resultingly has caused a big style shift that I wish could be returned. It has been some time since Dawntrails release and even longer since the benchmarks and I have still not gotten used to the Au Ra appearance.

I can agree with you 100%. As shown in my Post, the DT face is completely ruining the soul of my WoL.

So my appeal to the developers:

Please try to find a way to make the pre-DT faces available. Even if this would take some time, it wouldn't be a problem if I knew that in the end I could see my WoL again as I have loved her for 4 years.

This will decide whether I play ffxiv for another few years or whether I slowly retire from the game. It's in your hands.

[noumen0nn]

We would like to thank everyone for their feedback regarding the graphical update.
The Development team has been carefully reviewing this thread and many others, including bug reports and concerns raised outside of the official forums.

We are currently working on an update based on the feedback provided, as well as preparing to share details about our planned course of action.
As these are undergoing thorough final inspections, we expect to make an announcement in late August.

Thank you all for your patience as we continue fine-tuning the graphical update.

I am extremely grateful for this response, as I'm sure many are. I'll be posting my cumulative feedback ASAP, now that I'm out of the savage raid grind! Thank you again