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

[OgruMogru]

I've tried something to illustrate why for some people certain changes may completely alter a character's perceived personality and why people like me are unhappy about it.

I hope with this I can communicate a bit better how some of the changes feel to me (and perhaps to some other people) and why something seemingly small like resculpting a mouth can be "such a big deal" and lead to people saying "this looks like a different person".

I have drawn two pictures of my EW char and my DT char (full disclosure, I traced it and just stylised her features):

The goal was not to 1:1 trace her features and accurately document the differences (I've done that here).
It was to depict how I would interpret, capture and stylise her personality if someone asked me to draw the character in the respective screenshot.

It's about the vibe/feeling/emotion I get when looking at the EW and the DT models.
That's why her features are exaggerated to be more stern/cute.

I think this is a really great example of how slight changes to proportions can change how the "soul" of the face is read. I feel bad saying it but I feel like everyone let down by the less severe look has been misled somewhat by wishful thinking in regards to the Au Ra female faces. They have -always- looked very milky and gentle to me and like any harshness in their face is very subjective. I'm not saying anyone is wrong in feeling this way - personally I prefer severe faces and the illustration on the right is very close to how i -wanted- that Aura face to look from when they were first implemented. I'm not even denying that there are differences to how the new face looks but they have never looked that severe and it's a shame they've strayed even further from it.

[Doopliss]

I think this is a really great example of how slight changes to proportions can change how the "soul" of the face is read. I feel bad saying it but I feel like everyone let down by the less severe look has been misled somewhat by wishful thinking in regards to the Au Ra female faces. They have -always- looked very milky and gentle to me and like any harshness in their face is very subjective. I'm not saying anyone is wrong in feeling this way - personally I prefer severe faces and the illustration on the right is very close to how i -wanted- that Aura face to look from when they were first implemented. I'm not even denying that there are differences to how the new face looks but they have never looked that severe and it's a shame they've strayed even further from it.

The artwork by Loggos is indeed one subjective interpretation. However, I said this in another thread--I can't even remember which anymore, I really need to take another break from the forums after this--but artists regularly work within their restrictions, not against them. Square Enix is full of professional character designers, and the art team working on the original impression of the faces absolutely knew what they were doing. Do you think they chose to design Sadu with this face accidentally? I'm sorry, again, if this sounds like an attack. I only wish people wouldn't readily discredit artist intention so easily when it's on something they perceive as old. I just personally don't think, for example, the people who carefully crafted the delicate lip shapes and other features of male Viera truly believe the curves, corners, and edges that make those up getting sanded down was actually their true intention after all. More people interpret things correctly than one might think, even subconsciously.

[OgruMogru]

The artwork by Loggos is indeed one subjective interpretation. However, I said this in another thread--I can't even remember which anymore, I really need to take another break from the forums after this--but artists regularly work within their restrictions, not against them. Square Enix is full of professional character designers, and the art team working on the original impression of the faces absolutely knew what they were doing. Do you think they chose to design Sadu with this face accidentally? I'm sorry, again, if this sounds like an attack. I only wish people wouldn't readily discredit artist intention so easily when it's on something they perceive as old. I just personally don't think, for example, the people who carefully crafted the delicate lip shapes and other features of male Viera truly believe the curves, corners, and edges that make those up getting sanded down was actually their true intention after all. More people interpret things correctly than one might think, even subconsciously.

No worries I know things can get fraught and people are emotionally on edge because it's a big change! I'm not trying to discredit artist intention or anything like that! Like I said I prefer severe faces and actively try to seek out those options whenever possible. Because of this I'm probably more discerning over what I consider severe enough and the Aura fem faces to me have never expressed that strongly enough. If it had been me doing the upscaling, I would have leant more into the severe look as per Loggo's illustration because I look for and enjoy those aspects, along with making the eyebrows slightly more angular and reducing pupil size would be a good starting point , likewise using this face for Sadu is the obvious choice. I understand the intention I just disagree to the extent of the execution. Sadu's characterization and animations do a lot of the heavy lifting so I'm curious to see how much the new facebones help with expressions and mitigating that placid vacant look.

[Loggos]

Because of this I'm probably more discerning over what I consider severe enough and the Aura fem faces to me have never expressed that strongly enough.

I actually completely agree. This is why I'm clinging so hard to the tiny bit of edge that's offered in face 4, haha. Because now even this pathetic hint of severity is gone.

If it had been me doing the upscaling, I would have leant more into the severe look as per Loggo's illustration because I look for and enjoy those aspects, along with making the eyebrows slightly more angular and reducing pupil size would be a good starting point.

Please infiltrate SE and become their new character artist. I would love more harsh looks for fem au ras. ;0;

[Mouthbone]

I've tried something to illustrate why for some people certain changes may completely alter a character's perceived personality and why people like me are unhappy about it.

I can see the differences in the eyebrows and the eyelashes that make the DT expression more kind, but I would disagree that the difference is as severe as it is in your drawings
To me, the current expression reads as more neutral rather than stern
I feel like its a pretty faithful adaptation

[Loggos]

I can see the differences in the eyebrows and the eyelashes that make the DT expression more kind, but I would disagree that the difference is as severe as it is in your drawings
To me, the current expression reads as more neutral rather than stern
I feel like its a pretty faithful adaptation

But that's the point. I don't try to argue anything objective here. If you want a more objective comparison of the features I've done that here.

The point is to illustrate how I perceive my character and how I perceive those changes and why for some people changing the face does result in that impression of "wow, that's someone else". I accept that other people don't think the changes are big but the whole purpose of those images was to showcase how different people perceive the changes differently.

As I said in my op, I actively exaggerated the features.
The idea was, if someone asked me to draw stylised versions of the screenshots (e.g., as a character commission) how would I interpret them? And that is how I would do it. Because this is how I perceive their personality.
The screenshots themselves are more subtle. The job of stylisation is exaggeration (or a form of caricature if you will) to bring out the essence of their personality I perceive.

I'm sorry I have used the word perceive a gazillion times in this post but that is really what it boils down to.
Small objective changes are indisputably there (the mouth is very different for example).
For you and other people those small (objectively existing) changes don't alter how they perceive the character. That is fine and fair.
But please understand that for other people this effect is there. Neither of us is wrong when it comes to subjective perception.

[Mouthbone]

But that's the point. I don't try to argue anything objective here. If you want a more objective comparison of the features I've done that here.

The point is to illustrate how I perceive my character and how I perceive those changes and why for some people changing the face does result in that impression of "wow, that's someone else". I accept that other people don't think the changes are big but the whole purpose of those images was to showcase how different people perceive the changes differently.

That's an excellent post, I hope the devs see your feedback.
Posts like yours is what I would advocate for - they clearly highlight the changes and explain their reasoning.
It's leagues better than showing two very similar pictures, going "Dude, trust me" and then getting upset when people don't see the difference.

[CidHeiral]

I'm sorry I have used the word perceive a gazillion times in this post but that is really what it boils down to.
Small objective changes are indisputably there (the mouth is very different for example).
For you and other people those small (objectively existing) changes don't alter how they perceive the character. That is fine and fair.
But please understand that for other people this effect is there. Neither of us is wrong when it comes to subjective perception.

This raises an interesting thought. If you and someone else have the same character look, and you perceive it negatively while they perceive it positively, who is correct? Who do the developers listen to?

I'm not saying you're wrong or even referring to you specifically, I'm just thinking about being in the dev's shoes and it seems like quite a pickle. How do you design around individual perception, which is different for every one of the millions of people playing the game?

I certainly don't envy being in their position right now. lol

[Mouthbone]

This raises an interesting thought. If you and someone else have the same character look, and you perceive it negatively while they perceive it positively, who is correct? Who do the developers listen to?

I'm not saying you're wrong or even referring to you specifically, I'm just thinking about being in the dev's shoes and it seems like quite a pickle. How do you design around individual perception, which is different for every one of the millions of people playing the game?

I certainly don't envy being in their position.

I've been thinking about this ever since I've noticed the outpouring of feedback.
Poor Intern-kun that has to comb the forums and choose what to pass onto the devs must be going bald by this point.

[SongOfTheWind]

This raises an interesting thought. If you and someone else have the same character look, and you perceive it negatively while they perceive it positively, who is correct? Who do the developers listen to?

I'm not saying you're wrong or even referring to you specifically, I'm just thinking about being in the dev's shoes and it seems like quite a pickle. How do you design around individual perception, which is different for every one of the millions of people playing the game?

I certainly don't envy being in their position right now. lol

No one would be right or wrong there, but it is exactly why it was important to carefully preserve the existing feature sets. And present all alterations as optional features, not changing the bases. Otherwise they are robbing people of characters they might have known for years in exchange for something new, people just found out they actually like more.
There should not have been such a choice to begin with. It’s rather sad.