Thancred's new face

[Crafoutis]

Oh man, I didn't realize it had changed.

[Turethir]

I just want to give a huge shout out to SE's support team - I reached out to them about the move to "Working as Intended" and they clarified that this was done because it was considered feedback and not a bug report, and to ensure this is reflected more accurately, the thread has now been moved to the "Not a Bug Report" forum instead.

They also said that they had contacted the team in charge of player feedback and confirmed that this will be "raised for consideration", and reassured me that our concerns were not dismissed.

They were super helpful, very quick to respond and really made me feel like I was being listened to - thank you support team

I know this is not a guarantee of a fix, but it makes me feel a great deal better to know that Thancred's face was not considered "Working as Intended", and that this is being reviewed internally. Let's keep this thread from disappearing into the ether in the meantime, and hope that in the future, we get to see Thancred's original face again!

[Keumjo]

I just want to give a huge shout out to SE's support team - I reached out to them about the move to "Working as Intended" and they clarified that this was done because it was considered feedback and not a bug report, and to ensure this is reflected more accurately, the thread has now been moved to the "Not a Bug Report" forum instead.

They also said that they had contacted the team in charge of player feedback and confirmed that this will be "raised for consideration", and reassured me that our concerns were not dismissed.

They were super helpful, very quick to respond and really made me feel like I was being listened to - thank you support team

I know this is not a guarantee of a fix, but it makes me feel a great deal better to know that Thancred's face was not considered "Working as Intended", and that this is being reviewed internally. Let's keep this thread from disappearing into the ether in the meantime, and hope that in the future, we get to see Thancred's original face again!

Shout out to you as well for fighting so hard for this!

[SKAshe]

I'm glad to hear this!

[Khryseis_Astra]

I just want to give a huge shout out to SE's support team - I reached out to them about the move to "Working as Intended" and they clarified that this was done because it was considered feedback and not a bug report, and to ensure this is reflected more accurately, the thread has now been moved to the "Not a Bug Report" forum instead.

They also said that they had contacted the team in charge of player feedback and confirmed that this will be "raised for consideration", and reassured me that our concerns were not dismissed.

They were super helpful, very quick to respond and really made me feel like I was being listened to - thank you support team

I know this is not a guarantee of a fix, but it makes me feel a great deal better to know that Thancred's face was not considered "Working as Intended", and that this is being reviewed internally. Let's keep this thread from disappearing into the ether in the meantime, and hope that in the future, we get to see Thancred's original face again!

Great news! Thank you for all the effort you put into this!

Honestly if we can just get the person in charge of making the decision to see that one comparison pic with Emet, Aymeric and Thancred, surely that alone should be enough to immediately see that Thancred needs some TLC! <3

[Tahli]

I just want to give a huge shout out to SE's support team - I reached out to them about the move to "Working as Intended" and they clarified that this was done because it was considered feedback and not a bug report, and to ensure this is reflected more accurately, the thread has now been moved to the "Not a Bug Report" forum instead.

They also said that they had contacted the team in charge of player feedback and confirmed that this will be "raised for consideration", and reassured me that our concerns were not dismissed.

They were super helpful, very quick to respond and really made me feel like I was being listened to - thank you support team

I know this is not a guarantee of a fix, but it makes me feel a great deal better to know that Thancred's face was not considered "Working as Intended", and that this is being reviewed internally. Let's keep this thread from disappearing into the ether in the meantime, and hope that in the future, we get to see Thancred's original face again!

That's a much better outcome than when I had contacted them about the Miqo'te eyebrow issue, very glad to see a step forward for Thancred's face!

[Luthea]

Great news indeed!
I probably will not press on the matter about his heavensward ugly choker for now (it appears to be made differently from the ARR / gunbreaker choker from the very beginning) but at least there's still some hope in fixing his face!

[Kytrin]

I just want to give a huge shout out to SE's support team - I reached out to them about the move to "Working as Intended" and they clarified that this was done because it was considered feedback and not a bug report, and to ensure this is reflected more accurately, the thread has now been moved to the "Not a Bug Report" forum instead.

They also said that they had contacted the team in charge of player feedback and confirmed that this will be "raised for consideration", and reassured me that our concerns were not dismissed.

They were super helpful, very quick to respond and really made me feel like I was being listened to - thank you support team

I know this is not a guarantee of a fix, but it makes me feel a great deal better to know that Thancred's face was not considered "Working as Intended", and that this is being reviewed internally. Let's keep this thread from disappearing into the ether in the meantime, and hope that in the future, we get to see Thancred's original face again!

This is incredible news! Thank you so much for your dedication and refusal to quit! Here's hoping this will lead to good changes!

[Xrhyse]

really excited to hear that the support team responded so thoroughly! i really hope something comes of this.

i want to again raise some questions i'd have for the team if they decide to keep his face as-is:

- what is gained from such a dramatic change in design? if the plan is to make him look less unique and appear more like an Everyman, frankly, i think it is too late. a decade of a handsome stranger with noticeably different features from other male midlanders being erased is poor treatment of both the character and players that enjoy him.
- what is the plan for e11 boss? was the boss not created to evoke a specific reaction from the audience? changing his face so dramatically diminishes this impact. his design did not change for fru, so why did thancred's change so much for 7.0? this boss is integral to ryne's character arc and makes a large statement about the authority figures in her life. is that not weakened if the link between thancred and e11 boss is weakened first?
- what about official merchandise and swag that include thancred's endwalker render, with a very specific face? personally, i want all of my official thancred merchandise to look uniform and like the same character.
- what is lost by ignoring these concerns? player faith and goodwill. i really urge the team to do some long-term thinking. many of us in this thread have mentioned how hollow and disappointing it feels to replay msq on alts or ng+ now that our favorite character's charm is gone.
- what is gained by taking the time to revisit his new faces and restore his original looks? player faith and goodwill. future subs. future cash shop purchases. personally, if i could see thancred again as i grew to know him, i would be rolling alts until the end of xiv's service. he is that important to me. i know i'm not alone.
- what is lost by revisiting his new faces? development time, presumably. man hours. but would those not eventually be lost if the team were to go back and resculpt e11 boss? to go back and retake still frames shown throughout msq that show his old faces? or was the plan to change him so dramatically, and then leave those as is, providing the players, new and old, with an inconsistent presentation of the character?

i'll be keeping my fingers crossed that we hear some good news soon. a huge thank you to turethir for all of their hard work putting together the site, the bug report, and reaching out to the support team.

[Turethir]

Aw, thank you so much for the kind words everyone - I really appreciate them! And Xhryse, I totally agree with your points - it would make so many of us so happy to see Thancred's original face once again.

My current plan is to sit tight, keep this thread active and bumped (I would always appreciate bumps/help from anyone if they want to assist on this! Let's keep it in the spotlight!) and then if we have seen no changes by 7.5, I will follow up with another query.

Of course, I'd definitely welcome anyone raising awareness of the issue here or on social media!