Was This Graphical Update Necessary?

[Oizen]

Yeah and whatever the fuck that playstation model that hermes was sad that the ancients killed is why.

[Jeeqbit]

I guess I barely process graphics in that way. It's always been a non-issue for me. You'd have to point it out for me to even notice what details you're addressing. I didn't even know about the Pixel Exarch bit. And I've watched all the cutscenes.

It's probably harder to notice if you have a smaller screen like a laptop. It's also harder to notice if you don't max your graphics and increase "Character Lighting" to 100%, because that tends to blur distant objects and reduce lighting on them.

Where it bothers me is that if I look at the walls in Old Sharlayan and Labyrinthos, pixelation is clearly visible and that's ridiculous. It's also visible on newer gear such as the Archfiend set when you zoom in. Pixelated gear is even visible on close-up shots of Clive in the latest crossover even.

The other big issue to me is really just how grainy everything looks and that will be fixed with the better anti-aliasing. You no doubt see it when you run towards lots of trees or grass. It looks like salt moving around in a jar.

I agree these things are minor overall, since obviously I still play the game, but with 1080p being the average/reasonable resolution to cover "most people" in 2024, and with 2060 being the average specs (980 Ti or some 10 series can be similar in spec), it makes sense to aim everything at the 2060. Even further because it's the first in the "RTX" series. If you're getting a gaming computer now, you would surely at minimum be wanting a 2060 or something with similar spec, so it's just logical to upgrade the game to this checkpoint.

Anyone who has a GPU below a 900 series, I'm sorry but they need to upgrade their computer. They are 9-10 year-old cards. You should be able to play to a similar effect with a 980 Ti because specs are similar to 2060 (minimum spec will be 970 though), but again we need to stress these are cards from 9-10 years ago. There's just no reason not to upgrade the graphics to 2060-level when you understand the context that even the best 10-year-old cards had specs similar to a 2060.

[mallleable]

Yes it is.

[Somnolence]

It was necessary, but mainly texture upscaling due to all the pixelation.

This was done, but in addition to that we got polygon changes to the face which shifted facial features for no reason. And lightning, shader etc. changes that turned skin very weird and unrealistic and eyes lifeless.

In general it feels like facial changes were not tested properly because some changes are so bad if you show the pictures to random people of the street they think old one is upgraded version.

[xxmiamorecadenza]

you didn't notice exarch's ps1 body with all 7 of those illuminating pixels being heavily contrasted by his dark clothes...? if you're seriously not kidding then i'm almost jealous of this super power

I did not - no. I guess I was super into the story. So I didn't really take into account the models beyond a cursory glance. My mind was mostly fixated on the story aspect - not the aesthetic behind it.

[RulerKelso]

I'm not opposed to the update.

And, considering the fact I'm playing as a FemHroth, I'm generally apathetic toward how characters will change from Endwalker to DawnTrail.

But I'm wondering if it was needed and is it a solid selling point for the game? The game already looks quite lovely from my perspective considering its age. And I wanted to politely inquire as to why the time and effort taken to tune up the graphics wasn't instead invested toward expanding upon character customization, making mount movement more dynamic - which they showcased, yes - improving upon character movement, puzzling out how to improve housing and apartments and so on.

Yes, the grass is prettier. The water does the thing.

Maybe I'm entirely ignorant and I've been living in a cave - but was the update a big ask in the community?

Depends which part of graphical update.
-New enviroment, object details, water, effects, certainly yes!. Sceneries in benchmark are really beautiful, looks like a new game. Im excited how they update older cities too. Age of the game is certainly begins to show

-Characters rework - not so sure - probably not (need more time to polish for sure or postpone if necessarry).
This may be subjective depending on which race(s) you plays. Some races benefited from this, such as Hyur, Pototoes and Miqotes, but the little visual upgrade we see is just not so big to justify that our faces just looks unrecognizable.
And most other races just look different wihtout any great visual upgrade. I would consider only a really big visual uplift to justify the risk of changing our old characters beyond recognition and piss many players. And I dont consider higher ress textures and a little more polygons in face as big graphic uplift
In case of M and F Viera, these look even worse compared to original, on top of butchering our old faces.
I think devs are reworking and fixing races one by one, with Hyur and Miqote being complete or almost completed and the rest of races still need some more polishment... and not enough time to polish everything in a little time we left until 7.0

-New animations as shown in benchmark cinematics - certainly yes!. Till now our WOLs did what? just nodding their head or making basic emotes in cutscenes. You can see our character showing new facial emotions, turning head to look around and behind, using attachments such as compass/map, etc. Im glad to see the game set the course for the 21th century in its more cinematic feel.

*paragraph editing

[Moqi]

It absolutely was. The terrain and clothes texture can be truly awful sometimes.

They just messed our characters (and they still can't give Viera and Hrothgar hats).

[Mosha]

This was done, but in addition to that we got polygon changes to the face which shifted facial features for no reason.

I wouldn't call 60 bones into the face model "for no reason"

[WantlessYoYo]

Go to Elpis and go look a tree closely

Look. That. Tree.

[Reinha]

-Characters rework - not so sure - probably not (need more time to polish for sure or postpone if necessary).
This may be subjective depending on which race(s) you plays. Some races benefited from this, such as Hyur, Pototoes and Miqotes, but the little visual upgrade we see is just not so big to justify that our faces just looks unrecognizable.

And most other races just look different wihtout any great visual upgrade. I would consider only a really big visual uplift to justify the risk of changing our old characters beyond recognition and piss many players. And I dont consider higher ress textures and a little more polygons in face as big graphic uplift In case of M and F Viera, these look even worse compared to original, on top of butchering our old faces.

I think devs are reworking and fixing races one by one, with Hyur and Miqote being complete or almost completed and the rest of races still need some more polishment... and not enough time to polish everything in a little time we left until 7.0

Agreed, and even in the pixelated Estinien picture posted earlier his face looked fine. It was only the environment and armor that needed fixing.

I don't believe they are reworking things as much as people think. The expansion is 2 months away. This is it, this is what we get. They are only going to fix the most offensive bugs that are clearly not intended. However, it's still important to show the devs all the changes we dislike so that they at least don't walk back on their remark that we'd get a free fantasia.