FFXIV Graphics Engine change

[Mireille]

I very much like the current look of the character I created, so I am curious will the graphics change come with a change in the artistic style of the game for example like a move to the more cartoonish style of WoW? Since the option to update character race, gender etc. seems tied to this change as opposed to just adding more character options. I'm also curious if this option to update character graphics will be a one time thing at login, or provided as a part of a barbershop option? Will we see more concept art for characters published as the v2 launch comes closer?

[SolArisa]

They talked about a modernized graphics engine instead of the current Crystal Tools which were developed for FF III and XIV.
They did not talk about changing the models or turning cartoonish.

[Evangelus]

maybe luminous engine?

[Mireille]

They did stipulate that because of the change they will be letting us change a lot of character options which to me implies we may not like the way what we chose in V1 looks in V2. Based on the art that was released the artistic style of the game is changing. Cartoonish was just an example of radical change to the artistic direction of the game.

[Kinseykinz]

I think the main reason they are allowing us to change (an it'll be a one time only thing from what I understand) is because some race/class options weren't available when we started playing the game. For example: maybe you wanted to be a Roegadyn but are a girl and don't like playing cross-gender...well then you might have selected Hyur or Lalafell instead. I think the decision is based more on this than a drastic change to how our characters will look.

[Genome]

I REALLY hope its possible to completely pick a new character type. With the new additions of male and female types that weren't available before it would be disappointing if with the new release we aren't given the option to choose from all of the new available options.

[Reika]

It will hopefully be an engine that supports DX11 and all features of the newer graphics cards.....

[Jinko]

There is a good chance the new engine will have DX11 and tessellation features which could make your character appear different.

Also as someone else said there will be a lot more customisation choices.

People have been asking for this anyway.

[VydarrTyr]

They talked about a modernized graphics engine instead of the current Crystal Tools which were developed for FF III and XIV.
They did not talk about changing the models or turning cartoonish.

From the .pdf on the release:

The new graphics engine will cause certain objects to display differently than they do in the current version. Because of this, we will allow all current players the opportunity to re-customize the race, gender, and appearance of their characters upon the implementation of the new engine.

So, yes, the character models will probably look different.

The point of the revision seems to be to decrease the computer power required to render the character and environmental models. They may make them more efficient, but it's also possible that they'll be a bit less well-defined.

But considering that they also say they're aiming for "Genre-leading graphics on high-end PCs," and fully customizable graphics, I'm hoping that people with high end PCs will still get the same, outstanding graphics we can get with the current system.

[tymora]

The BG interview suggests DX11 support may not be there at 2.0 launch but will be added in a subsequent patch.