Benchmark/Graphics Update - Show your WoL's before and after

[mk-sein]

While I appreciate the improved textures for scales, horns, and clothing, I am overall somewhat disappointed with my Au Ra. Her mouth and eyes are what's changed the most - the lips look a bit different and the eye shine is missing. I realize the latter is more realistic but unless your character is in direct light and has no bangs, their eyes look cold and soulless. I imagine my character to be very warm and friendly, so this is very far from her usual image.
Due to the missing eye shine and the differently shaped lips, her smile looks different now, and I find that upsetting as I've loved her smile ever since I created her when Heavensward first came out.
Comparison: old vs new

Here's a test in direct light with different hairstyles to illustrate the issue of the catchlight: 01 02 03
A lot of hairstyles I enjoy have bangs and I don't want to avoid them just to mitigate this.

The issue also exists in the Benchmark trailer, it's not exclusive to the character creator.



Editing the image slightly (literally 2 seconds in MS Paint, nothing fancy) to add the eye shine back in fixes the cold stare. It does not fix any other issues (scales on darker skin, different lip/nose shapes) but it does help with the "dead inside"-look.



I would love if the static eye shine could be added back in, preferably in the form of a toggle. A lot of people are very happy with their characters' new eyes, which is fantastic, but a not insignificant number of players are unhappy that their characters have gone from looking warm and friendly to looking cold and lifeless. A simple toggle would help a lot.

And here's two more screencaps of my lovely girl, just because I think she is very pretty. (:
01 + 02


To any staff member that may be reading this, thank you very much for your hard work. I hope some of these issues will be addressed, even if they might not be ready by the time Dawntrail launches.