Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[GreenLeafy]

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I think its extremely prejudiced to come in here and assume that all the ones who miss their old faces want for people who do enjoy the new look of their WoLst to have every single change reverted. If you look at a multitude of posts on this thread and others there are people who came in here happy with their faces and graphical update and faced no backlash. People who miss the old features wish to retain the option to have those features again. And say that in the same breath that the character customization menu should be expanded to preserve both old and new.
Its extremely entitled to come into this thread to voice your opinion and think it has higher merit even though it is YOUR subjective view on the matter whilst simultaneously ignoring everything that people have been actively fighting for on here for the past few months. You're lashing out at people who've been here advocating to preserve things that you've come to love with the update whilst also pleading to have that same courtesy extended to them for features that they found better in their opinion and have been taken away from them without a say in the matter when they've had them for near a decade.

Stop being an ego hyprocrite and learn some empathy , even more so toward people who have been on your side the whole time. The reason people are having a somewhat more resistant stance to you stomping your boots into this thread to fight against everything being fought for in here is because there have been countless more people exactly like you beforehand that have tried to silence the voices of people trying to get nothing more than some more extra options and variety for everyone that also preserve the integrity of racial and clan distinction that has been in the game since its conception.

[Larirawiel]

- I am using the highest settings + DLSS + strongest shadows. Like with previous examples, I do get some weirdness with shadows ingame, see the side of the mouth/lower cheek here;

The normal- and shadow maps are completely f****d up. I have reported it here:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...e-Elezen-faces

But they closed it as "unsufficient information". And i have no clue why it is "insufficient".



Cheers

[Doopliss]

It is presumptuous, and it is unfair to say that because someone elects to not reply to you detailing what they liked about the graphics update, that means that them preferring the updated assets is of lesser value. No, people who preferred the old assets do not hold greater value then people who don't. It doesn't matter how long someone's been playing (I've had an XIV account since before ShB, does my opinion matter more or less based on how long I've played?)
Whether you prefer the old or new assets, or certain aspects of said assets, is subjective. My opinion is of equal weight to yours. My intention is to voice to CBU3 that people who are happy are significantly less likely to provide feedback as they don't feel any need to do so.

CBU3 has stated that they'd try to recreate the original assets but warned that there'd still be differences/minute changes/preferences which is why everyone got a free fantasia to create something that you like with the new assets. To me, they did recreate and improve upon the original 6.X assets, which is what I've repetitively stated. In regards to Female Au Ra face 2, I do think the 7.0 assets are an improvement over 6.X, and I feel it maintained the same impression of 'dainty, cute, doll-like'.

I see you also just tend to ignore parts of posts that point out claims you make that are outright wrong and stick strictly to the more opinionated stuff. Unfortunately you claiming a real lip shape that exists isn't real discredits your eye a bit.

Anyway, like GreenLeafy said, you know this isn't actually asking to fully revert the graphical update, right? But that old lip shape has been completely replaced by something else entirely new, and should be adjusted so that, you know, the promises they made to their customers don't read like outright lies. It's the same issues with several eye shape or nose shape options essentially being deleted because they made them look too similar to other, already existing options.

I wanted my character to appear more like a plain, girl-next-door and specifically frog-like rather than a doll. It was pretty awesome I felt that I could do that, while other people had the ability to use other options for that face to make it instead look more like how you described. I've even seen people make that same face look more mature and womanly!

Unfortunately, with the update, we only have one way to go with the face now, lol. Anyway, regardless of how heated you get, I stand by my point: they promised their customers--a large amount who didn't ask for this update and who are often too afraid to post to the forum even if they have a negative opinion--that their character impressions would stay the same. They failed many, and so they're adjusting it.

If you truly thought they kept the impression the same, you wouldn't be so against them returning the shapes back to their original forms while keeping the updated polygon count and textures.

[illiere]

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At what point have I stated that my opinion holds greater weight than someone who dislikes the 7.0 assets. In the very post you quoted I am asking for people who view the 7.0 assets negatively to understand that people who prefer the 7.0 assets do hold equal value to them.
I haven't lashed out at anyone, I haven't been aggressive to anyone. I've just replied to posts that replied to me, and separately listed feedback for the Graphics Update. You're reply here is more aggressive than anything I've posted.

I'd also add, countless more people like me? If people want to voice positive feedback to the graphics update, they have every right to do so, same as people voicing negative feedback. Yet I've seen that people who post opinions in favour of the 7.0 assets tend to get multiple quotes/replies telling them that they're wrong for doing so.

Yet again, to the complaints that CBU3 didn't maintain the original faces with the updated 7.0 assets. I just disagree. I do think CBU3 did a good job and maintained and improved upon their original intention behind the 6.X assets. My opinion differing to the trend of this thread doesn't make it lesser then those who disagree with me.

The normal- and shadow maps are completely f****d up. I have reported it here:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...e-Elezen-faces

But they closed it as "unsufficient information". And i have no clue why it is "insufficient".

I believe the bug reports need to follow a certain guideline? I am not sure why it was rejected, but hopefully you've reposted the examples in your report in the general feedback thread here (and I encourage you to do so if you have not.) FFXIV's lighting has always been iffy from certain angles (even in real life you can't get a universally good looking lighting/angle all the time) and they have been improved with 7.0 but not everything can be covered. I've noticed odd shading particularly around the edges of objects, hopefully this is something they address in the coming patches.

[GreenLeafy]

I cannot stress enough how much you need to read the past 120+ pages of this thread that are before the community rep post so you have a better idea of the type of people you're trying to argue with right now and see how much context you're missing. Clearly you have more time on your hands to keep this up so good luck and have a good day.

[Aurumis]

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 so so so much for replying and let us know!!

As I haven't been in this forum for a while. I want to refresh the issue with this face that we all want fixed PLEASE. Please take note...

Male miqo'te face 4 eyes 3:
The eyes pls. Fix the eyes. They look dead inside, they are more closed than before, and they look too much obscured, like you can barely see the Iris of the Sun Miqo'te's.... We want the eyes how they were before pls. This are dull and looks awful. Nothing like they were. This are not "loyal" to how the characters looked at all.
They also have the eyebrows thinner than before...and the corners of the lips upwards making them smile when they are neutral... and makes the emotes and other faces looks awful because of the coners of the lips now being always upwards. If you use an emote that smiles, it is more exaggerated than before. But please the BIG ISSUE with this face are the EYES. FIX THE EYES. Please please make the devs know... The face is nothing like they used to be...

[Argantaelle]

(part I)

I'm still not sure if the community manager's post is not just some PR air vibration (especially considering FFXIV is going to be released in China and South Korea in a few months), but let's pretend it's not.

Most of my feedback applies to the second face of male Au Ra Xaela (unsurprisingly, the character I played until DT). Let's start from the top.

1. Hair
This issue has been reported multiple times since the first benchmark. True black is gone, instead it got mixed with random patches of deep blue. They are very noticeable in the bright light. It seems like all races are affected by this change.

[Tahli]

Feedback around issues involving NPCs that are yet to be updated (Yotsuyu eyelash clipping, Zenos low res) are mute.

I would disagree that those bits of feedback are moot, considering some 7.0 changes to those npcs aren't simply the same as before, but actually glitched. I appreciate the game staff for accepting my bug report on Zenos, and we have been encouraged to keep reporting bugs as we see them.

[Argantaelle]

(part II)

2. Eyebrows
For some mysterious reason, SE decided to move eyebrows lower, make them less curvy, and turn their lower ends into almost straight lines. This change greatly affected characters's expressions (the lower eyebrows are, the angrier character looks, and male Au Ra hasn't been known for their gentle faces). It's quite interesting that in the first version of the benchmark, the eyebrows were in their natural position; this change occurred only with the second benchmark and later went live.

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2. The second type of eyebrow got affected the most.


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3. Lines under the eyebrows
After the changes in eyebrow shape, a strange phenomenon occurred: in some environments, the second-face type got sharp lines under the muscle part of the eyebrow.
I've already posted about it a few weeks ago; I might as well make a repost.

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4. Light-haired eyebrows
If the hair colour is very light, the eyebrows are almost invisible. Vanilla eyebrows had some kind of second colour, which helped to make them more prominent. With DT, this second colour is gone, thus the eyebrows on some faces almost disappeared.
Many races have this issue, but as for male Au Ra, only the 1st and 4th faces were affected the most.

face 1

face 4

[Argantaelle]

(part 3)
5. Eyes
I'm grateful that SE preserved original eye shapes with minimal changes (only the eyelids became more pronounced). But unfortunately, the new eyes look smaller. The part of the old sclera is taken by the new thicker eyelids and the shadow under the upper eyelid; also, it seems like the irises have been enlarged. Thus, the eyes look darker and narrower.

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3. It's especially noticeable with the 3d eye type, as it is the narrowest of all.


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It would be great if the eyelid and shadow changes were compensated in a way to preserve the initial impression of eye size (by making the whites in the eye more... white, or enlarging the eye size, etc.).

6. Iris
The iris also got changed. Its edges got more rough and looked as if they were corroded with acid. The contrast between the outer ring and the centre got more pronounced, almost as SE decided that the players will always use limbal rings and there is no need to try to make the transition more smooth and natural.