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

[AirisRay]

I suppose what I'm saying is that these images are very selectively chosen for their unflattering lighting. I can't say that I noticed it at all while running through the benchmark myself on my own alt before checking forums, but then I'm clearly more relaxed than others seem to be when it comes to the adjustments.

Of course, these images were chosen selectively. I chose those images in which this defect is best visible. In almost all my posts I talked about “light on her face”. If I had posted a picture from Gridania, where the defect is not visible at all, because there is no light falling on the face, I think I would have received even more responses in the style of “It's the same picture”.

This type of light is very common in the game. This is not “the light in CC is bad”. It's exactly like this in a huge number of locations, raids, dungeons, cutscenes. Near my house in Myst it's even worse. This means that very often this effect will appear on my character’s face. Should I stop approaching to my house so as not to see this? I also already said: I cannot constantly turn her so that she stands back to the light. She's not a vampire after all. I also mentioned that all Miqo faces are susceptible to this effect to varying degrees. The most damaged is face 3.
And I also added a few pictures in different lighting on my big post.

I really can’t write the same words in every topic and give the same explanations to every doubter. And most importantly, the point here is not the light. Light just shows this deformation very well.

In your “arguments” you have already reached the point where you are trying to accuse me of hoaxes. It's really incredibly funny. The question arises, which of us is taking things too dramatically here? Me, who points out the problem and asks for it to be fixed, or you, who in 3 large posts trying to prove that I'm deceiving someone with screenshots with directional light? Just unbelieveble.

I will follow the good advice I received and will no longer respond to these types of messages at all. It doesn’t matter who they come from. Honestly, I won't even read them.

[LlymlaenGreene]

Thank you, I appreciate your answer, what different opinions we have. That's probably why it looks new to me now, because they made it more realistic. But that's just one screenshot, she actually looks very emotional *to me* in the cut scenes :3

But the new character in the cutscenes of the benchmark looks as if with a strained face and a smile

[witchymumma]

Under certain lighting in the existing game, characters look bad. More than bad, they can look terrible. The same still applies in the benchmark to some extent, hence my most recent post - there are still some unflattering lighting angles which affects our characters appearance.

Oh yeah, some of the lighting angles in the benchmark are yikes. Like that face close-up on the boat.
As much as I am not a fan of the noticeable lip shape change on bun-girl face 4, and it didn't really feel like my girl anymore, I kept telling myself that it wasn't that bad, that the lips were literally the only thing I didn't like so I'm not gonna change faces and I'd just have to get used to it... that one close-up shot on the boat was the only time my automatic, visceral reaction was "WTF IS THAT?! yeah nah, thanks I hate it" hahaha

Aside from the fact that basically everyone looks like they're plotting world domination or something equally nefarious in that shot (strange choice of expression for the situation but ok lol) the way the light and shadow falls on my girl's new lips just looks... off, kinda creepy. she kinda looks possessed... I would even dare to say that the evil smirk she had that one time she actually was possessed looked much less terrifying rofl

(I then made the mistake of having a look at the other bun-girl faces in the trailer and comparing that one screenshot. They all still look they're up to no good but lips/smirk of face 1 is prolly the closest to how 4's is meant to look so it made me a little sad)...

Admittedly, I don't really remember much more of my reaction to her face outside of that one close-up. I kept getting distracted by the little details like various texture changes, squeeing over minions/animals, etc lol :P

[Arzalis]

Not sure why people keep saying the eyes not reflecting light in even the slightest shadow is "realistic." It's not at all.

[WiccaP]

Thank you, I appreciate your answer, what different opinions we have. That's probably why it looks new to me now, because they made it more realistic. But that's just one screenshot, she actually looks very emotional *to me* in the cut scenes :3

But the new character in the cutscenes of the benchmark looks as if with a strained face and a smile

No problem, when people first started posting about the graphics update, I had the opinion that a lot of people were over reacting. But after going through the benchmark multiple times and reading some of the less inflammatory responses, I see where people are coming from more. Just out of curiosity, the first time you ran the benchmark, did you try to recreate your character or try it with the stock model or create something new? Like I tried the female Hroth first and then tried other models before running it as one that resembles what my current WoL looks like. I have a theory that those who are having the most issues with the graphics update tried to recreate their WoL for the first benchmark and created an almost Uncanny Valley experience. Im wondering if experiencing the graphics with a character that isn't supposed to look like your character first sort of eased people in and the changes wouldn't seem as jarring.

[Luca_]

Not sure why people keep saying the eyes not reflecting light in even the slightest shadow is "realistic." It's not at all.

I swear the people saying this don't actually know how human eyes reflect light. They're very shiny! They pick light up from everywhere! Look at yourself in the rearview mirror of a car during the day. Even though you're in shadow your eyes will still reflect the ambient light around you very clearly.

Even if it was realistic, FFXIV isn't exactly shooting for realism. It just comes out looking uncanny.

[WiccaP]

Because humans have dark colored cells behind their retinas that absorb light rather than reflect, so a realistic non-nocturnal humanoid's eyes wouldnt reflect light in shadow. We could argue that Hroth and Miq' eyes could structurally resemble a cat's eyes more and have a tapetum lucidum that would reflect light but that may be very difficult to produce a natural appearance at the scale of the game. So if the idea that because the races are humanoid, their eye structure would resemble a human's eyes, they would shine in the dark.

[WiccaP]

I swear the people saying this don't actually know how human eyes reflect light. They're very shiny! They pick light up from everywhere! Look at yourself in the rearview mirror of a car during the day. Even though you're in shadow your eyes will still reflect the ambient light around you very clearly.

Even if it was realistic, FFXIV isn't exactly shooting for realism. It just comes out looking uncanny.

Non-nocturnal creature's eyes dont not reflect a ton of light, they typically do not possess the tapetum lucidum structure that gives the reflective shiny appearance that a cat or raccoons eyes do.

[OgruMogru]

Non-nocturnal creature's eyes dont not reflect a ton of light, they typically do not possess the tapetum lucidum structure that gives the reflective shiny appearance that a cat or raccoons eyes do.

I think people are complaining that the lighting is struggling to convey that eyes are round and wet, not that it is failing to make human eyes reflective like a possum caught eating trash in the driveway.

[Doopliss]

I swear the people saying this don't actually know how human eyes reflect light. They're very shiny! They pick light up from everywhere! Look at yourself in the rearview mirror of a car during the day. Even though you're in shadow your eyes will still reflect the ambient light around you very clearly.

Even if it was realistic, FFXIV isn't exactly shooting for realism. It just comes out looking uncanny.

At risk of sounding petty, I really, really do dislike when peoples' unspoken implication is that something looking more realistic = "better". FFXIV has a distinct artstyle with most (but not all, I know) races having way larger eyes than our own, often shaped in exaggerated ways. This goes for many facial features, really.

One of the only reasons I even felt compelled to post more on the forums is so that I could find any comfort in people feeling the same as me, outside of the circle of friends who I play the game with. A few days ago on reddit I saw a 400+ upvoted comment saying they think the new teeth placement for Lalafell is better because it's more "realistic". Some reply even spoke about how they raised their head in the mirror and found their teeth looked the same way. I couldn't help but think. Just. Whuh. Are you shaped like a Lalafell too? It's not uncanny to them!? I felt like a crazy person!