Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[DynnDiablos]

I know they haven't fixed the eyelids.
I just know.

So, did this eyelid glitch only impact races prior to DT? Because hrothgals don't have this issue..I am assuming it's because we are new and are models are excluded from all graphical updates/tweaks because we never needed them. And that is awful. Scary.

[Asteri]

Another patch is coming, and I still very dearly miss how my character looked in 6.58. I found an old portrait and managed to recreate it and oof... Her expression looked kinder, her eyes and mouth were wider and her scales were cream-colored. I miss my FemRa Face 2 from pre-DT... :<



My bug from one year ago is still in the Accepted pile and I still hold on hope for some changes, but dang...

[Turethir]

Another patch is coming, and I still very dearly miss how my character looked in 6.58. I found an old portrait and managed to recreate it and oof... Her expression looked kinder, her eyes and mouth were wider and her scales were cream-colored. I miss my FemRa Face 2 from pre-DT... :<



My bug from one year ago is still in the Accepted pile and I still hold on hope for some changes, but dang...

As a fellow Face 2 Au Ra, I'm happy to see your report was moved to Accepted Bugs! I too really miss my WoL's mouth and smile

[MoonNoire]

They did not, in fact, fix the eyelids.
But hey, hats (unironically super happy oh my god finally and it looks like they didn't half ass it)

[lunartears]

Not even going to bother with a gif this time, nothing has changed again.

Also, I love the new bangs showing on the hoods! What did I even expect if my bangs are erased when I try to wear normal hats...?

[Iscah]

Ironic that the expansion that gave us Smile also made smiles look so horrible.

I find it more ironic that one of their talking points at the beginning was "better detailed expressions" (or however they exactly phrased it) and yet they can't even figure out how to recreate the ones we had before.

[Aniya_Estlihn]

So, did this eyelid glitch only impact races prior to DT? Because hrothgals don't have this issue..I am assuming it's because we are new and are models are excluded from all graphical updates/tweaks because we never needed them. And that is awful. Scary.

Its a 7.2 issue, exclusively. Likely due to them attempting to make the changes that people keep trying to give feedback on, ironically.

[Hatsuoki]

I think it's possible the talking animation have been adjusted. I haven't been able to confirm everything that I can remember yet but it seems less uncanny. If that has truly been adjusted, thank you.

Edit: Maybe? It is hard to tell since I haven't used it in gpose since the update. The teeth still looks odd, like dentures.

[Heavenchild]

Another patch is coming, and I still very dearly miss how my character looked in 6.58. I found an old portrait and managed to recreate it and oof... Her expression looked kinder, her eyes and mouth were wider and her scales were cream-colored. I miss my FemRa Face 2 from pre-DT... :<



My bug from one year ago is still in the Accepted pile and I still hold on hope for some changes, but dang...

I also really miss the old aura 2 face. The new one is pretty too but it's a whole different person. Did the patch fix something?

[Argantaelle]

(a very long list)

Ok, the graphical corrections are still minimal, but SE finally decided to do at least something; it's a plus (also let's not forget that I had to wait for more than a year to see those corrections). As usual, my feedback concerns Au Ra males, mostly face 2.

I made a long list back then (the post I'm replying to), so let's check it out.

1. Hair
Hair hasn't changed; players still don't have a true black option; the black is diluted with blue strands of hair.

2. Eyebrows
Changes for the better are definitely made, even though some of the EW eyebrows haven't been recreated faithfully (for example, eyebrows 6 lost their small curve between the eyes). Eyebrows 1, 4, and 5 are good.

The eyebrow placement is the other matter entirely. Some of the eyebrows are placed so low that they lose their curve if you look the character straight in the eyes (type 2, type 3). It seems like the curved part is hidden by the brow ridge. But if you tilt the camera slightly up, the curve is there.

It's a step in the right direction, but it would be great to adjust the eyebrow placement also.

a. Front (eyebrows type 2)

b. Bottom-up (eyebrows type 2)

c. Reference (comparison of EW - 7.0 - 7.3 eyebrows)

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.

It seems like eyebrows for other Au Ra male faces have been adjusted too (at least according to player feedback). Also, another of the Au Ra males pain points – the transparent light-haired eyebrows – has been addressed as well. These are good changes.


3. Lines under the eyebrow ridge
The lines are still there. It's how the face is sculpted now, but at least SE artists could have softened the line somehow (or even made the connecting surface between the brow ridge and the corner of the eye shorter and less pronounced, as it was in EW).

a. From the side

b. Front face

Do you see how faithfully the curved line of the EW eyebrows follows the brow ridge, which was unique for the Auri race? The new forehead was unified across many races (one more cause of so-called hyurification many non-human races went through). I guess it was difficult to combine the "hyurified" forehead with stylised Auri eyes; that's why this strange line appeared. The new forehead has become wider and heavier, and the eyebrows look out of place now. This is one of many examples of how the implementation of the unified polygon mesh made non-human races lose their unique traits.


4. Dark eyes
The eyes still look sleepy because of the darker iris; it's so dark that the pupils are almost indistinguishable. Because of these dark irises, the character's face is stuck in the perpetual rolling eyes animation. This issue is especially noticeable when looking at the 4th face.

a. EW and DT irises comparison:

b. ...I roll my eyes so hard

5. Mouths
There haven't been any significant changes to mouths, but it seems like SE artists added small shadows to the mouth corners of the 1st face (to the most popular one, of course). They are much less pronounced than 6.8 shadows, but at least they help to make the face expression less one-dimensional.

Unfortunately, there haven't been any changes to the 2nd face mouth; they are still not what they used to be (and still ugly).

EW - DT comparison:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6497195

Mouth 2 in particular:

The picture was taken from this great and very detailed Au Ra face 1 feedback of a Chinese player.

6. Raen scales
The scales are still dirty.

7. Smiles.
As far as I can see, the lower lip is still protruded and almost at the same level as the tip of the nose if you look at the character's head from the top when they are smiling or laughing. And yes, the smiles are still bad and get even worse when combined with lip movement.

Links to my previous posts.
Smiles: boys
Smiles: girls

The list of "smile" losers (all faces belong to male characters):

Midlanders: faces 4, 5, 6.
Highlanders: faces 1, 3.
Elezens: faces 1, 2 (to the lesser degree, but still U-shaped).
Roegadyns: faces 1, 4.
Au Ra: faces 1, 2, 4. The 3rd face has the best smile + lip movement combination, but still there is room for improvement. The 2nd and the 4th faces are the worst.
Viera: face 2.

Conclusion
It seems like SE did small, purely cosmetic adjustments without touching the face sculpts. The problem is that quite a lot of player dissatisfaction is tied to the universal polygon mesh problems: flat faces; cheeks and philtrums forming an upside-down triangle; badly animated mouths and jawlines. SE will have to do more drastic adjustments to the universal polygon mesh if they are going to get rid of creepy smiles (and dare I say – make their players less disappointed?).