Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Kaziek]

I hope that this is the right place to put this, if not I apologize because I've never posted on here before. I just wanted to say that I'm not a huge fan of how much reflection is on this fem Au Ra hairstyle ? It looks borderline greasy

https://imgur.com/a/OU7Ghrl

Yeah they messed up with a lot of the hair sheen, especially the smooth straight ones. Great lengths also looks very greasy, almost like plastic even in bright lighting.

[Moonfallen]

its not just you! There are many people who have been having eye strain, motion sickness, headaches, migraines, and overall unable to play the game since the new graphics update. check out the Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain thread. (idk if its ok to link threads, I'm still relatively new to interacting with the forums.)

Oh wow I had no idea there was an entire thread about this and just how bad it is holy cow. I think you should be able to link other threads, but I am not entirely sure. I've seen others in this thread link to other threads like the JP thread similar to this one and the bug report threads.

[Fiel_Tana]

its not just you! There are many people who have been having eye strain, motion sickness, headaches, migraines, and overall unable to play the game since the new graphics update. check out the Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain thread. (idk if its ok to link threads, I'm still relatively new to interacting with the forums.)

It's OK to link threads, or at least no one has complained when I've done it.

There's 1 main thread about the eye strain from the graphics update:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ate-Eye-Strain

And this one somewhat relates. I add this because the combat, especially Boss and Areana effects, is a major cause of eye strain for me and some others:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-more-gameplay

[Moonfallen]

It's OK to link threads, or at least no one has complained when I've done it.

There's 1 main thread about the eye strain from the graphics update:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ate-Eye-Strain

And this one somewhat relates. I add this because the combat, especially Boss and Areana effects, is a major cause of eye strain for me and some others:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-more-gameplay

Thank you so much for linking the threads! I should put a post in those as well since I have had considerable issues since the new update. I've actually had a hard time completing MSQ and the raid on normal because of the graphics and combat effects.

[AiriDaemonia]

I am glad that feedback is still being listened to. I had a lot of fun playing through Dawntrail but unfortunately I still am not used to my WOL's new look and this took away from my experience as she just looks so very different from what she used to.

PRE DAWNTRAIL




DAWNTRAIL




Eyes: Outer eye corners lack original wing making eyes look massively bigger/rounded. The bottom inside corners also had a little stylistic swoop to them which made the eyes feel defined. Now they just feel very round. The black pupil is HUGE, this combined with new Limbal rings washes out the over all color of the eye. The new starburst pattern does not do any favors in this department as well.

Nose: From the front the nose looks upturned, I assume this is due to the shadowing and the new over definition of the Philtrum.

Mouth: I would say the mouth is my biggest grievance as the mouth is fundamentally a different shape now and this results in the character looking completely different. The outside corners of the mouth no longer look elongated, looks like her mouth got cut off at the ends abruptly as if there is only the full part of the lip instead of the mouth lines that extend out. This results in the loss of dimples for the character as well as the angularness of the mouth and lips in general. The lips feel almost too round. Her cupids bow is no longer prominent either. After staring at my characters smile for almost 8 years it now brings me sadness instead of joy.

In general: The T zone where her cheeks are shaped and meet her nose have lost their angularness, again her features feel more rounded instead of defined. Especially her jaw line as well as where the top part of her face scales & eyes meet the bangs/hair line. There are no defining features or bone structures.

Scales: The Raen scales used to look like they had a golden bone like hue. They now look like a dried out sand dollar to me? They are more white than bone colored which may be intention but I wish there was a way to still have the bone like hue.

I would also like to cite this thread here where more people are conversing about Female Au Ra Face 2, as I feel it is very important to this thread.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...76#post6565176

[Wildwiccan]

Wow great to see feedback is being read! Awesome news!

I may provide pictures later but my biggest grievance as a female Viera player is that lip shine and lip colors are very off. I am unable to make a character that is not wearing lipstick.

The “none” option for my female veena is orange lips that are glossy looking and the light lipstick options are incredibly glossy. I am hoping the none option can be improved a lip glossiness is toned down.

[Cornet]

So, while hopefully there's still a chance this thread is still being read, I wanted to have a try at adding my concerns to the pile/lending my voice to anyone else who have spoken of any of these issues. (Had a slog back far as I could, but so many pages! lol Saw it sorta brought up, but not indepth...) I'd have probably posted far sooner, but only just got new computer that could run the game properly and not at super potato settings. lol

I know Lalafell have been fairly lucky, getting through this with not too many issues. When 1st benchmark dropped, I sure thought mine looked relatively fine! I didn't really check her during the 2nd version, cause I was more concerned for my poor (face 3) bun. It was a surprise when I got in game and discovered her eyebrows had been VERY changed in shape sometime after that first benchmark, in a way that really took away from her softer look.

And worse, something happened to her smiles! D:

All the closed mouth ones look faint/weak/half hearted etc. (So /smile /beam /changepose with weapon drawn as a WHM etc.) The changes causing it are subtle, but they really do give them entirely a different vibe. My Lala's warm, bright smile is one of my favourite things, so this really sucks.

I feel too like her face is faintly wider? Like, I thought it was my imagination, but the more I put new caps beside old, the more I see it. Not just in the cheek, but also the gap between the eyes. Some time ago I actually swapped her to jaw 3 specifically for a longer/less pudgey face... so go figure. lol Sigh.

She's a Dunefolk with face #2, with eyebrows #2, Jaw #3 and eye shape #6 and with the 1st facial feature (the filled in eyebrows) toggled on.

Here are some comparisons, tracings and notes:









Please at least give my Lala (who I've been lookin' at a VERY long time now, since I'm legacy lol) back her lovely smile (and possibly her eyebrows too?!) SE! ;A;/ Thank you!

[Aurumis]

This pretty lala also got ruined... *sigh*
You know, I don't expect them to fix anything of what we are asking them in this thread. I'm pretty sure the announcement at the end of this month will be another dissapointment. I hope I am wrong and THEY DO LISTEN. All the evidence is in their forums, all the work already showed to them and done by the fans. It's not hard to fix the faces, like, at all....
I just want my miqo'te to have his old eyes shape and color and not look dead inside.

[Lunux]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but some of the head gear no longer sits on our head properly. It's like partially in the back of our head and there is a gap by our forehead. To show what I mean, the Moonfire hachimaki no longer fits on my character's head as it used to before DT.

Here is an NPC wearing the same head piece fitting perfectly fine albeit having a slight gap and what it used to look like on player characters before model updates:




Here is what it looks like when my character wears it:




There is now a HUGE gap and is partially in the back of my head. This was not how it was before. Things like this is why I mean the update was half baked not just the visual changes of our characters, environment, or changes to jobs.

Thank you SO much for bringing this up!
A bunch of headpieces that previously fit me aren't sitting the same way anymore and it's been driving me insane. I'm most sad about the schoolgirls ribbon that would fit perfectly in Endwalker and is now floating above my head with the same hairstyle used.

[Mr_Gucky]

I am glad that feedback is still being listened to. I had a lot of fun playing through Dawntrail but unfortunately I still am not used to my WOL's new look and this took away from my experience as she just looks so very different from what she used to.

PRE DAWNTRAIL




DAWNTRAIL




Eyes: Outer eye corners lack original wing making eyes look massively bigger/rounded. The bottom inside corners also had a little stylistic swoop to them which made the eyes feel defined. Now they just feel very round. The black pupil is HUGE, this combined with new Limbal rings washes out the over all color of the eye. The new starburst pattern does not do any favors in this department as well.

Nose: From the front the nose looks upturned, I assume this is due to the shadowing and the new over definition of the Philtrum.

Mouth: I would say the mouth is my biggest grievance as the mouth is fundamentally a different shape now and this results in the character looking completely different. The outside corners of the mouth no longer look elongated, looks like her mouth got cut off at the ends abruptly as if there is only the full part of the lip instead of the mouth lines that extend out. This results in the loss of dimples for the character as well as the angularness of the mouth and lips in general. The lips feel almost too round. Her cupids bow is no longer prominent either. After staring at my characters smile for almost 8 years it now brings me sadness instead of joy.

In general: The T zone where her cheeks are shaped and meet her nose have lost their angularness, again her features feel more rounded instead of defined. Especially her jaw line as well as where the top part of her face scales & eyes meet the bangs/hair line. There are no defining features or bone structures.....

Same disaster with Au Ra face 4.



I think the picture sums it all up. Especially here shows the significant changes to the mouth, which now looks like a duck's mouth. The shape is different and too striking. The lips are also glossy, even though no lipstick has been applied. I won't go into further details now, I've already done that in previous posts.

Another thing I notice in this comparison is that the light looks strange. The nose seems to stick out of the face. Also the skin colour seems to be lighter. It looks like the face is glowing.