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

[HeyMcFly]

I'm personally happy that the lipgloss is gone BUT I wish it was optional - lipstick with gloss as well as lipstick without gloss.
It's a feature for character creator that should have been options added forever ago.
I very much like the matte lipstick in the benchmark, because lipgloss has been plagued with a metallic look in certain lighting or would appear to have a 'glow' and looked awkward.

Other two issues I have are Why are the eyebrows so much lighter & thinner in the DT benchmark?
I chose the hair color for my miqo bc it was the perfect balance of darker eyebrow and lighter hair without it being too light or her eyebrows disappearing.
Now, in the benchmark, I'd have to darken her hair for the sake of her eyebrows, which then blends in too much with her skin.
Why can't we just have eyebrow color separated from hair color?? Why the devs make such things, even insignificant ones a bigger hassle than they should be?
With my complains set aside, I do love the glow up my miqo does have in the DT benchmark. I am swooning over her, but would also love to have subtle things fixed like eyebrows and fangs.


eyebrows in EW:


eyebrows in DT benchmark:

[ACupofCobaltTea]

my characters feel like entirely different people to me now. they lack the personality i felt they had, and in a lot of places have had their eyes/lips/nose literally change shape or move.

No it isn't just lighting, i ran through the benchmark with them and no matter the angle or lighting they feel like extremely different characters.
My Au'ra, for example;

[decomposer]

Okay. Reading through this thread is a trip and a half because I literally don't know what half of you are talking about...
Black hair is grey? I was literally asking myself why my character (with black hair) had so much darker hair in the bench mark then live game. His hair is PITCH BLACK, so dark I can't even see the detail of it.
Perhaps you should all check the settings you are using the benchmark. Check your gamma.

I'm not replying to argue, but to show you that my characters with black hair no longer have black hair. My settings are the exact same. I have included color swatches, and the swatches are picked from the same place. I think it's quite obvious that the hair has been lightened. This was also an issue with black hair in Baldur's Gate 3 ; it's not uncommon in these newer "realistic" takes on hair despite not being realistic at all.



I am genuinely happy for those who experienced the exact opposite of me! In some cases, I have seen skintones darken rather than lighten, and in others I have seen hair darken rather than lighten. It seems very hit or miss.

[ShroudedMuridian]

Hello, I am a veteran player of FFXIV. After many years of playing the game, this is my first time posting on the forums.


On the left is my character in the current graphics engine.
On the right is how she looks in the graphics update.
Almost all facial definition has been lost, and the previously consistent subtle undershadow defining the nose is gone, with the new lighting giving it a distinctly piglike appearance.
It is not a gamma issue.



Although I am happy with the lipstick texture being darker and more defined, its shape has changed drastically, and the new lip geometry unfortunately hides the upper lip from view from most angles.



The first image is what I expected my character to look like. The second image is the actual screenshot taken by the benchmark.

I am not going to waste words, because I feel that the problems with this are self-evident. I am simply asking politely. Please fix it. I do not want my character to look like this.

[SKAshe]

I certainly think there are a lot of issues, but I don't really get all the doom and gloom surrounding this, as it's a work in progress and given the outcry I imagine they will try to fix these issues. The vast majority seem to be related to a poor recreation of the old models with the new, Ultimately though I think they just need to tweak the new models to have more defined facial features to better match the old ones. As many have pointed out they didn't do so well and smoothed/altered a lot of the features way too much. It's good that we are pointing out specific cases though as it can show them which parts, exactly, to change. There are also clearly some texturing issues and lack of skin imperfections that make the skin look waxy and plastic-y.

Given that most of the complaints are about models and shader parameters, I genuinely think they can fix the vast majority of complaints before Dawntrail. That being said I think the devs should ABSOLUTELY focus fixing these issues before release because it's clear a lot of the changes have completely changed a lot of characters.

I was lucky enough that my character wasn't affected that much, but from the screenshots posted I can absolutely see why people are upset. I just don't think we should be thinking that these changes are permanent yet, because they haven't said that they aren't open to making any more changes. I think we should wait to see how square responds before making any conclusions about quitting the game or anything like that. If they can use this criticism to solve the issues, we should be good

I think the rest of the game seems to look great, at least. I don't think they should revert things back to the way they were with everything, but the characters certainly need to be polished up.

Edit: Some spelling and grammar

[DiaDeem]

I posted on another topic but here's my mine with the gamma matching the original. I know for me, my only issue is my eyebrows as I feel they've been thinned out a bit much lol. But yeah, gamma corrections aside, I think some faces had some changes that are a bit offputting for some folks.

This is another good one. Someone mentioned male characters looking really different, and... yeah, eyebrows will do that.

Most of the issues I'm seeing, I feel have to do with assets being altered too much rather than being a better version of their older selves. This may be why some people are calling their character "a different person". It's also true that some faces got it better than others, and taste being a subjective thing, everyone's milage may vary.

In hindsight, I think it would have been a smart idea for SE to release a character creator way earlier in the development cycle, to bounce back feedback and see what people thought as they went, making progressive updates instead of hitting us with a single thing two months before launch. A bit late for that.

I just wish people didn't get so... tribal about everything. I don't understand why some people are being antagonistic towards people with issues. People love their characters, and have concerns. They have a right to voice them. On the other hand, some people complaining seem to be dismissing some of the most wonderful changes outright, and it makes me sad, because technically, there was a lot of good work done here.

Unlike some people, and despite the fact that I absolutely love the upgrade, I've tried to remain understanding and fair when interacting with the topic today. I just hope to be permitted the same courtesy from the other side of the argument. I'm not trying to grift people when I ask for accurate comparisons. I just think they're better to point out issues, and better for feedback too. Verrot and Sosoma's comparisons are also really good.

I'm a bit tired and I don't know if I'm running out of posts, but I don't think there's much more I can contribute to the topic in general.

Once again, I wish the best for everyone. Take care.

[Rueby]

I ran the benchmark a few times and made some semblance of peace that my chars won't be the same....
I honestly wish they remove the glossy effect that goes over the lips and nose bridge, the chars look 'ok' in shadow but the moment they face ahead w/ direct facing light it feels like they get this uncanny/waxy look. Some shots including the first one on the ship is the mother of uncanny valley to me, something feels extremely eerie about it, perhaps it's the lack of eye shine ?

All in all, I couldn't get a good close up look at my char inside the benchmark with one exception and that one is the serial killer vibe at the start.

I miss my bright limbal rings on my aura and her cute fish face lips...Something just isn't the same. I wish they'd add more mouth options with stuff that look similar to how the old stuff looks. It'll make people happy I think...

These aren't my girls, they're 'look alikes', the intensity in their eyes feel duller now. My aura got hit hardest because she has black hair and the new update washed out alot of the black..

[CidHeiral]

I'm not replying to argue, but to show you that my characters with black hair no longer have black hair.

You're definitely correct that it looks lighter. Not sure if that's the actual color or just the new lighting playing off of it.

Personally I always use black hair and I really like the change there. In the retail version black hair is often just a big black glob unless you put highlights in it. In the benchmark you can have fully black hair and still make out all the details.

[noumen0nn]

I will say... I get why people are unhappy, but it's really frustrating to see comparisons that don't have matching light conditions.

Sachiko's comparisons are really good, Mara's are not.

It's frustrating because it makes some of the comparisons feel misleading and if I didn't know better, I'd think they were made in bad faith. Many people are posting correct comparisons to talk about their grievances, so why are some people not really bothering to do so? If this is important to you and you want to give the best feedback, take the time to make sure your comparisons are accurate.

Can you please elaborate on this? Both of these screenshots were taken in the character creator of the benchmark and current game, and I made sure to match the angle and orientation to the environment as closely as I possibly could. I also have the same graphics settings in both. What should I change to get a more accurate comparison?

[Elissar]

Damn that's why the benchmark focus on our faces right at beginning
it's like a new persona telling us "yes, i murdered your old virtual self. What you gonna do?"
damn...pure evil