Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[faiarrow]

There was absolutely no reason to expect detailed talking about character graphics when doing the live letter as a presentation on stage at a major convention. As much as I want to hear their plans, this was never going to be the time to talk about it.

Thanks.

None of us were expecting it, it was at TGS I knew it was just going to be a quick PR shill, but I guess I should shelve any hope for more than a footnote at the end of the PLL huh after fighting against these graphic changes since October last year.

Read the room lmfao.

[Doopliss]

Please don't argue with each other when we're lookin' for the same thing here...

I can understand where Iscah is coming from, like, fundamentally, but I think people should be allowed to be emotional. The company doesn't need defending, and CBU3 should be smart enough to discern what is legitimate for criticism and what is somebody just venting.

I hope people can try to view 7.1 optimistically instead... This is technically the longest amount of time they've had the chance to actually adjust things, versus the rush before an entire expansion release. I really can't blame anyone for holding a pessimistic view, though... Since this is a graphics update, this is all so unprecedented.

[Iscah]

Thanks.

None of us were expecting it, it was at TGS I knew it was just going to be a quick PR shill, but I guess I should shelve any hope for more than a footnote at the end of the PLL huh after fighting against these graphic changes since October last year.

Read the room lmfao.

I did read the room – it clearly wasn't the time for Yoshida to be giving that sort of talk. It was a whirlwind presentation of positive things presented with a chance of drawing a wider audience into the game or luring back ex-players; saying "our character designs are kind of wonky and we need to fix them" is going to put people off.

I've also been fighting against these changes from day 1 and I've posted a great deal in both this thread and its predecessors. Of course I want to get more tangible updates sooner, but this was not the time.

If we're really getting no previews until the second live letter then that's disappointing, but if we were going to get anything sooner then I would expect it to be through some other channel, not this particular live letter.

[faiarrow]

Peace, enjoy. You won I'll leave this thread since clearly being upset isn't allowed.

[Doopliss]

... I'll still be hopin' that your Roegadyn returns to you safely, sooner rather than later. Please don't target one another like this, guys!

[Turnintino]

This should absolutely remain a place to continue airing grievances and criticisms on the topic at hand, and I don't believe anyone is suggesting otherwise. I also agree that we only set ourselves up for disappointment when we expect those grievances to be addressed at a publicity event. It's not unreasonable to want this to be addressed/clarified ASAP, especially when this shouldn't have been an issue to begin with, but I believe we should temper our expectations -- especially about special Live Letters like the one we just had.

That said, personally... I really don't much care what their spokespeople have to say about this either way lol. Yoshida has already demonstrated to me that he doesn't personally really understand the criticisms being raised (or he's playing dumb to publicly diminish the misstep for PR, as we've previously speculated), and I don't particularly expect that to change in future addresses. In fact, I expect to be further aggravated by more obfuscation and/or misfocus. Though I'm happy to be surprised! (Please, surprise me!)

All I want is results... And I'm happy to wait for them, on a reasonable timeline (I thought the one they suggested in the last address sounded fine), as long as we do get them.

[Sui-Kune]

Look, Iscah, no one expected going into the PLL that there'd be something substantial re: fixing the graphics update. But that doesn't mean we still weren't massively disappointed in it, and we're allowed to be. It's absolutely silly that you keep picking arguments when we all want the same thing!!

Look, I get that it's disheartening to see the can kicked down the road continuously, if not just plain glossed over, but with all due respect, you're the one who needs to check your emotions. You keep picking at people who are already really, truly, upset, and it's unnecessary, even if it's unintentional. Please be more mindful in the future.

(And before you go, 'but they picked at me too', you're the instigator. For one, the Hyurification comments were not confrontational/diminishing of what's happened to hyurs too, but a descriptor of races ending up looking more hyuran. You saw an argument when there was none, and then you did it again here. I'm sorry, it really takes a lot for me to be this directly confrontational, but I'm trying to get you to see our point here.)

[Turnintino]

With all due respect, let's stop protracting this particular derailment and get back to what this thread is here for. It's irrelevant and, regardless of anyone's intentions, inflammatory. If our goal is stop hurting each other's feelings, this isn't mitigating that.

I believe Iscah interjected (in both instances) in good faith, not to antagonize but to clarify. Some felt dismissed or hurt by that nonetheless, and I understand why. That's a shame, so let's stop the cycle here and now. We're all here for the same reasons.

Please and thank you.

[Iscah]

For one, the Hyurification comments were not confrontational/diminishing of what's happened to hyurs too, but a descriptor of races ending up looking more hyuran.

I had no intention of that even being an argument. I just think it's a mistake to portray the problem as "the races look more Hyuran" because I don't think that's the problem – and because I think phrasing it that way makes it sound like characters who are already Hyuran are therefore fine when they really aren't.

To be clear, I've been brewing thoughts on this for a while and this is not meant to be arguing back.

As I said previously, the actual problem seems to be that they are moving all characters towards one generic human face, or perhaps just did a poor job of moulding that face to match the individual face shapes, which is a problem for all character faces because it moves that character away from the character's individual (rather than racial) identity.

For some races like Roegadyn the individual and racial identities are linked because the only thing that defines Roegadyn as a race (besides their colour) is that they are humans with a particular subset of human features and moving towards the generic face moves them away from the features that define them.

For other races that's not the same problem. My Miqo'te and Au Ra haven't lost the non-human features that indicate their race, but they have lost the specific face shapes that defined them as individual people.

I just feel like it's really important to be clear on the problem, and not risk them interpreting it as "Hyurs are fine, only the other races have identity issues".

[Argantaelle]

In the corresponding Japanese thread, a player retold Mr. Yoshida's words that screenshots can lead to confusion. It seems like we'll receive another black bag without an opportunity to preview its contents and have to deal with the results. At least that's what Google Translate tells me.

I'm afraid there won't be anything substantial in the next PLL too, except maybe for a brief mention: "We are working on characters; please look forward to it.".

So we'll have to endure yet another month of waiting and uncertainty.