Character graphical changes are NOT in an acceptable state, please make it optional

[Shiro-Marusu]

I think most of us who think you guys are wildly overreacting can see the differences, we simply disagree that they are 'huge' and 'completely ruin' the character, who is now 'unrecognisable'. If I have to look at two more pictures of 99% identical catgirls and be told that they 'don't even look remotely similar' I will spontaneously combust.

I'm actually curious now what you think of the differences as highlighted in my posts here and here (the sliders show more examples)
Individually, the differences may be small, but add enough small differences together and you end up with an overall different impression, I would say.

I agree I can't see the differences as well in many other examples but I assumed it's because I haven't been looking at those characters as much (some are very obvious to me though, even if it's not my own character).

Whether other people /like/ the differences is sort of beside the point when people are arguing it no longer looks like their character, I think.

[SongOfTheWind]

I'm actually curious now what you think of the differences as highlighted in my posts here and here (the sliders show more examples)
Individually, the differences may be small, but add enough small differences together and you end up with an overall different impression, I would say.

I agree I can't see the differences as well in many other examples but I assumed it's because I haven't been looking at those characters as much (some are very obvious to me though, even if it's not my own character).

Whether other people /like/ the differences is sort of beside the point when people are arguing it no longer looks like their character, I think.

I think you did a great job personally, I was impressed. But if you keep engaging in these type of arguments - it will never end, as some past conversations here showed. It only invites more provocation as a result. A never ending cycle.
So it is obviously up to you, but ignore is a wonderful feature. I highly recommend.

[Shiro-Marusu]

I think you did a great job personally, I was impressed. But if you keep engaging in these type of arguments - it will never end, as some past conversations here showed. It only invites more provocation as a result. A never ending cycle.
So it is obviously up to you, but ignore is a wonderful feature. I highly recommend.

Hm, you may be right. I suppose I was just curious how others perceived the differences I pointed out as for me they seem more obvious than others I've seen. Not like it's a competition of any kind of course, but I was wondering how much of it was the fact that I have known this character for literally 10 years xD
But I agree that perhaps such a discussion is off-topic. I do hope that if devs read this thread they will find the posts that are actually constructive.

[Rueby]

Snip

Hello, I've had a male miqo main for a few years and I've used Face 1 for its soft features and to my eyes aesthetically appealing proportions of nose to mouth. At first glance of Face 4 I can already see that it's as if they took Face 1 and Face 4 together, and Face 4 lost alot of its unique identity in the process in my personal opinion. I gravitate toward's softer looks rather than harsh/angular ones- which to me is the main charm of Face 4. Even to someone like me who was never a fan of that face, I feel like the charming/defining factors have been lost/watered down.

I feel like alot of other faces have suffered the 'the uniqueness is gone' compared to other faces in the same race category. I see it too in face 4 for female miqos.

[Catwho]

Another suggestion for everyone: Please remember to use the UNIQUE animation when previewing your character, and snap a few screenshots with the different patterns of shadows and light. The sparkle came right back into my Highlander's eyes (and lips and hair) once I did that. The high noon fair weather light is atrocious for showing off some of the textures.

[Gyson]

I'm really disappointed with the way the update impacted my character. I honestly feel like the older visuals (left) look much better than the newer ones (right). All the life is gone from my character's eyes. The older hair seemed much more detailed and layered, and the two color tones blended together much better with the original art. The lip shape has changed and become larger (particularly the upper lip), and the painted on eyebrows have moved to a higher location on the forehead. The chin has been shortened. The ridge of the nose has been widened. The skin tone has changed.

The quality of the lighting seems to also have taken a hit in the update as that's the same settings/angle/location/time in both captures.

Personally I'm not a fan of sharpening up the detail on the textures for the clothing without updating the model as well, as it just highlights the low-poly nature of it even more.

I really wish you were giving us the option to use the older art assets, although I doubt that's practical. I prefer that you reduce the instances of dramatic difference, as some faces (like Highlanders) were hit very hard by the update. I went from being excited about this update to dreading it the moment I saw how my character from the last 10 years has turned out. I don't recognize the character I'm looking at any longer.

[slippdipp]

I think, while there are some actual changes that need to be addressed such as texture opacity and lips, saying you're "mourning" a videogame is generally just indicative of an overly unhealthy attachment to an ephemeral concept in your computer. What will you do, 10 years down the line, when XIV shuts down?
Either way, there's changes to be addressed, but this thread is a crash course on how not to do it. Look at the JP masterpost of criticism. Civil, proper with proper alternatives.
Please remember, it's only a videogame. Go outside and take a deep breath. Things will be ok, just a little bit different.

[Doopliss]

Hello again. I was originally going to post this error in the Elezen thread, but felt here would be better, since the first post of this thread has done a good job at collecting some errors.

I'll start by saying that I have both the live version and the benchmark at the default gamma (50), and the live version with character lighting set at 100, which I believe the current benchmark is running at, and the cause of characters appearing to glow. The previous two benchmarks had character lighting at 0, for reference.

I believe certain hair colors aren't displaying correctly for several race/gender combinations. I don't want to fill this with even more screenshots, though, so I'm using my main for reference.

At first I thought it was just the new lighting messing with my eyes, but I believe it looks substantially different enough from the live version that it is a mistake.



If I move the hair color just one slide over, it appears much more in line with the current version. However, you can see that her Duskwight earclasps change color according to the way they do in vanilla, so they're darker than current. I also think this is a problem because this means some race/gender combos who have the darkest shade selected can no longer achieve that look. This is likely why some characters with jet black hair appear dark grey, instead.

I'm not sure what would cause this specific issue, but I believe it's part of what's affecting Gyson's Highlander above. However, this seems to be far from only a hair issue, as others have also reported Facial Feature, Tattoo, and Facepaint color differences that appear independent from lighting changes.


For further proof--and Elezen women are very convenient in this case, having four variations of the same hairstyle--you can see the color changes a shade between these two different, yet fundamentally same hairstyles. I did not select a different color here. It's more difficult to discern in a side by side screenshot, but looking for one's self between fem Elezen's hairstyles #13 & #14 may make it easier to discern.

With everything considered, I fully believe there is some coloring bugs all throughout the benchmark's build.

[Banriikku]

So many side by side sreenshots and people still talk about "upgrade". This is not an upgrade, this is mostly a redesign nobody asked for. And thats the whole problem. If they wanted to redesign they should have give us more options. Besides light and shadow are "upgraded" but buggy as hell and need fixing on technical levels. We are 3 months away from release.... this means THIS IS IT. Thats what we are getting at launch.... are they mad?
Where is QA? Still alive?

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

So many side by side sreenshots and people still talk about "upgrade". This is not an upgrade, this is mostly a redesign nobody asked for. And thats the whole problem. If they wanted to redesign they should have give us more options. Besides light and shadow are "upgraded" but buggy as hell and need fixing on technical levels. We are 3 months away from release.... this means THIS IS IT. Thats what we are getting at launch.... are they mad?
Where is QA? Still alive?

There's also some of us who were around when EW benchmark happened till the actual release of EW: that benchmark was released about 4-5(?) months prior to the actual release. That's about TWICE the length of time for players to send in feedback... if there's anything they dislike. Not that they made too much changes back in EW.

Now compare it to DT where they have warned about the graphic overhaul... this benchmark is released about just 2 and a half month prior to its actual release? I'm just beyond amazed.