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

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

The overhaul definitely upsets me in plenty ways. OP have raised many of my current issues so I'm just going to add my comparison pics plus few comments on my own.

First, the pics themselves.

Today (taken in Aesthetician, and changed hairstyle because unlockable hairstyle aren't available):


And this is from Benchmark (copied 1 to 1 from saved appearance feature in login screen):


I... am speechless. He's a totally different character.
[-] Waxy/"Ken doll" skin texture. Quite possibly due to the skin translucense issue.
[-] His cheeks. The addition of nasobial folds immediately destroys his 'youthful look' and now he's like 15-20 years old to the future lol. Additionally, these same folds seem to also look more prominent on darker skin tone so my man is more affected vs those who has lighter skin tone.
[-] His lips, particularly the philtrum (upper lips) are thinned beyond recognition. Today we have "Average, Fuller, Puckered, and Thinner". In the benchmark it becomes "Thin, Fuller, Puckered, and Thinner".
[-] His eyes shape. Today's he's got a rounder shape. In the benchmark the shape is more oval/flat, completely butchering his 'Mr.Goodie two shoes/Innocent'-looks.
[-] Eyes are also missing today's catchlight texture would left him looking 'soulless' in places without proper lighting.
[-] His nose bridge. Benchmark's version shrunk it. I don't remember wanting a plastic surgery lol. I'm not sure about other nose options but those wouldn't alleviate how his face contour has been forcefully changed.
[-] Inconsistent shade of color on skin, lips, & hair. It looked like the only way for me to get what I wanted is to make them darker by 1 square but this might also impose an issue to my already established glamour aesthetic on him over the years. As a gpose & glamour enthusiast, this is a HUGE impact.
[+] Upside? His stubble now follows his hair color proper instead of staying black all the time. Might still want to make them look more defined though 'cause at the moment they look like some dried crusty something plastered on his chin.

A gem of a finding though... let's have a closer look to his stubble.

Today:


Benchmark:

"Oh my-- what the-- omg honey what happened to you???"

Yeah... so what's with that oddly cut stubble underneath his chin?

Oh yeah! Did I mentioned of having to change his hairstyle? Yes I did! This is what he looks like proper:


Please also, add the option to use the unlockable hairstyles in the benchmark. Look at how much of a missing hairstyle has ripped him off his character(s).

I should also add that I DO NOT enjoy playing any other character/race/gender than this character I have. Outside the inconsistent color shading, Fantasia will NOT alleviate my issues.

====

Overall? I'm very disappointed with how this turned out. It feels like they've taken 3 steps forward but then do a 15 steps backward after.

EDIT: I know lighting are also a prominent issue. But look it this way: if I keep my man's youthful appearance, then even under a bad lighting I will still see him looking youthful. In /gpose, I can tweak that lighting around to produce a fantastic shot. However if they insist on 'aging him 15 years to the future', then my man will not look youthful even under a good lighting. He's already a different character. I want them to fix BOTH the model and lighting. Telling me "Oh it's just lighting." will not fix the fact he's going to look 15 years older -everywhere-. Not even good lighting will preserve his youthful appearance.

[Supersnow845]

The overhaul definitely upsets me in plenty ways. OP have raised many of my current issues so I'm just going to add my comparison pics plus few comments on my own.

First, the pics themselves.

Today (taken in Aesthetician, and changed hairstyle because unlockable hairstyle aren't available):


And this is from Benchmark (copied 1 to 1 from saved appearance feature in login screen):


I... am speechless. He's like a totally different character.
[-] Eyes missing today's catchlight texture would left him looking 'soulless' in places without proper lighting.
[-] Waxy/"Ken doll" skin texture. I can see his cheeks proper now but they looked out of place & he looked like he just aged 15 years to the future lmao.
[-] His lips, particularly the philtrum (upper lips) are thinned beyond recognition. Now I don't have the 'average lips thickness' option.
[-] Inconsistent shade of color on skin, lips, & hair. It looked like the only way for me to get what I wanted is to make them darker by 1 square but this might also impose an issue to my already established glamour aesthetic on him over the years.
[+] Upside? His stubble now follows his hair color proper instead of staying black all the time.

A gem of a finding though... let's have a closer look to his stubble.

Today:


Benchmark:

"Oh my-- what the-- omg honey what happened to you???"

Yeah... so what's with that oddly cut stubble underneath his chin? Also I do want to add that the stubble is now probably too soft or less defined. But this is a rather minor gripe than what I've mentioned so far.

Oh yeah! Did I mentioned of having to change his hairstyle? Yes I did! This is what he looks like proper:


Please also, add the option to use the unlockable hairstyles. Look at how much of a missing hairstyle has ripped him off his character(s).

====

Overall? I'm very disappointed with how this turned out. It feels like they've taken 3 steps forward but then do a 15 steps backward after.

This is the kind of feedback I feel we should be aiming for, you can clearly see how different his character is, he has identified with photos what he doesn’t like and why he feels like it changes his character and he doesn’t give any vague “my character is ruined”without explaining why

All feedback is valid but this i think is the right way forward, especially since some JP players are translating our best feedback and putting it on the JP forums

Of course I’m not saying don’t give feedback, I’m lucky because my character is entirely unaffected, I’m just saying this is more likely to be productive so to speak

[Zaniel]

And this is from Benchmark (copied 1 to 1 from saved appearance feature in login screen):


I... am speechless. He's like a totally different character.
[-] Eyes missing today's catchlight texture would left him looking 'soulless' in places without proper lighting.

This is a good example of how something that is technically correct actually gives a worse result than something that is technically wrong. The eye glint texture is needed to avoid the uncanny dead look, it doesn't matter that the new system "is more realistic". It doesn't work with the brain's expectation of how it should look.

[Shiro-Marusu]

I... am speechless. He's like a totally different character.

Oh man, the differences are quite noticeable indeed!

Maybe I am weird for thinking this, but the new one reminds me a little bit of David Bowie, lol