[ Graphical Update Feedback ] Examples of Darker Skinned Characters/Darker Lighting

[QwertySparrow]

I want to say I am very happy to see the graphical updates to all the characters and how it adds so much quality to the WOL. And I am a fan of the majority of changes to skin tones and defining features, but I am sad to say that I am disappointed in the direction they took the viera noses. My fav part of the viera's faces were their cute bunny like noses and it makes me sad to see the team make them sharper in the 7.0 update. It makes them lose a lot of their charm and makes it feel like Im playing a hyur with bunny ears. I just hope it doesn't change the nose of the viera face I am using because I love my viera's bunny nose a lot.

[Ambarhaura]

I want to say I am very happy to see the graphical updates to all the characters and how it adds so much quality to the WOL. And I am a fan of the majority of changes to skin tones and defining features, but I am sad to say that I am disappointed in the direction they took the viera noses. My fav part of the viera's faces were their cute bunny like noses and it makes me sad to see the team make them sharper in the 7.0 update. It makes them lose a lot of their charm and makes it feel like Im playing a hyur with bunny ears. I just hope it doesn't change the nose of the viera face I am using because I love my viera's bunny nose a lot.

Agreed, why did they give the bunny-like race a more human nose in the before/after "graphics update" example? That isn't just a graphics update, it is a fundamental design change and not cool. I hope that is a mistake/bug/not finished yet.

[PercibelTheren]

I'm concerned about this, too. My character is a dark grey Duskwight (as you can see). I'm worried his skin will end up looking shiny and like plastic.

[Wyssahtyn]

just whitewash yourself like y'shtola, problem solved /s

[WeebPolice]

Original Post

Citizen, I too believe that our enjoyment of the game should not be impacted by our immutable characteristics, such as the color of our skin. Let the call for equality echo from every mountaintop and throughout every valley of Eorzea.



Fight as one.

[SiriuslyEmily]

Seconding everything the op said here. My character’s skin is just mid-toned and I’ve experienced some of the issues that plague players with darker-skinned characters in terms of cutscene and environmental lighting. I’m glad the devs are taking the time to provide all these graphical updates but I really hope they keep in mind that a large number of player characters (and several significant npcs!) are not pale and need to have an equal amount of attention applied to them too. It’s going to be extremely disappointing if the only characters who wind up coming out of these changes favorably are pale.
—particularly when characters like Erenville are set to be featured in DT.

[paninis]

I really hope they take darker skin tones into consideration. It's incredibly frustrating to play through an important cutscene with slightly darker lighting and only seeing a blob for a face with no visibility for expressions or anything of the like. The same goes for important NPCs. I'll take anything that will address the lighting issues with all the areas in game, where darker skintones won't be shafted and can be visible like the lighter skin tones in any lighting.

[Turtledeluxe]

bh 100% is not ideal there generally speaking but for Ultima Thule, it looks accurate to me.

The cutscene image looks bad though. Its not the worst but I think they should toy with a cutscene slider.

I'm also viewing the images on an OLED at full brightness though not sure if that makes a difference.

[AdvennaAvis]

This is something I've been thinking about a lot too when seeing all the stuff about the graphical update. Love my character, and normally I adjust the lighting as much as I can to keep my character pretty visible, but in cutscenes I definitely she gets a bit washed out depending on the weather, time of day, etc. (Ultima Thule especially)

Character lighting 0


Character Lighting at 100


Cutscene comparison in UT


Other examples from other areas (and when I was Viera briefly)




I'm very curious to see the updates as we get closer to the next expansion, but this is definitely something I'm most interested in.

[Niwurr]

Yeah I'll echo all that's being said so far. My WoL and most of my alts are medium-dark skinned and all of them are cold-toned too (grey/blue) And we have no clue what those tones will look like!

Even in relatively "well lit" scenarios the balance is already tough to find for those with cold undertones.

(see here, my alt and my bestie when we got hitched, the shirts are almost getting washed out, but our skins are barely lit lol)

Aside from just being a dark blob I really wonder how the cool skintones will be told to adjust to the SSS being integrated in the shaders. I particularly wonder how the backface scattering will look on like... they blueish grey duskwight ears?

^ That is what I'm referring to
Like obviously for "normal" tones it'll skew reddish, so will grey-blue ears skew pink? or just... lighter grey/blue? (which imo would look quite awkward)