Updated benchmark

[DynnDiablos]

No, but he did say at the LV FF that the graphical update would be done "while preserving the overall look that you know and love"

And that, is not what happened. They redrew the lines of the models, and that, is an issue for many people, especially since it can't be fixed by a fantasia. Maybe the 'general' look has been preserved, but the feel is gone. And for some of us, that is a huge issue, especially after being told that we wouldn't be losing that.

Well, you're ultimately going to have to get over it. SE isn't in the business of catering to every single demand.

[lunartears]

While they will continue to make adjustments, I'd expect once 7.0 drops that is what the characters will look like. They can't make tons of aesthetic tweaks after that because then everyone who was happy with their character would need to continue to purchase fantasia over and over. It's time to just be happy with what you have and move on.

If the intention was to keep things as close as possible and if people who played the game with the old character faces "got used to the new one" then there is little to lose with returning features that they were also used to for several hours/months/years. I can only see it being a potential issue for a new player (who has only known 7.0 character graphics), that's why if something were to happen it ideally should not happen as late as 8.0. Also, If it were possible - I feel the new changes should be made as optional settings as others have stated in this thread. I believe the current way the features appear and are shaped in 6.5 should come first and foremost.

[Khryseis_Astra]

The thing is, all of that could have been addressed without altering the shape of the character models. Those things being addressed are not the things that people are complaining against.

Fixing the lighting does not call for lips and noses and eye shapes to be completely changed.

Agreed… this is the biggest problem, and one that I’m hoping is more of a bug that they will fix, and not someone just taking artistic license to change things. I don’t know enough about modeling or texture maps to say for certain, but surely they shouldn’t be changing actual shapes of the facial features!

Many races just look like they’re chewing their upper lips, especially. It becomes really apparent looking at the screenshots where people have drawn over the shapes. And this will affect how emotes look when used as well.

The updated benchmark was an improvement, and none of my characters are so bad that I would give up playing them, but if I put them into gpose and their emotes give a totally different facial expression, I’ll be sad.

Another thing that is really noticeable is the eye color/shading quality… it actually looked more vibrant in the original benchmark, and now the eyes look rather dull and hazy. Again, hoping that was something that was rushed through for the second benchmark and not something we have to endure on release…

Honestly I get how some people can say, for some of the screenshots posted, “oh there’s barely any difference there!” And on some lucky faces, that may be true. But I’ve seen a lot more where I could immediately see the issues, even without drawings over top. Maybe it’s my artist’s eye, idk.

In the end though, I get why people are upset, and I hope they’re able to get some satisfaction. Of all the games I play, this is the only one where I actually LIKE how my characters look! So for someone to lose that, it’s really upsetting.

[Evermomo]

Just a point-- we have no guarantee that graphical update tweaks and changes will stop at 7.0, even if it will cause disappointment in some users. It's right that SE has no obligation to please everyone, but the reality is that it goes both ways, so I would set expectations accordingly.

If people "get used" to their character's appearance in 7.0, that's just like people having "gotten used" to their characters from 6.58-- ultimately, if the developers decide something can and should be improved, tweaked, or changed, it will be. All you can do in that case is provide feedback.

[DynnDiablos]

Just a point-- we have no guarantee that graphical update tweaks and changes will stop at 7.0, even if it will cause disappointment in some users. It's right that SE has no obligation to please everyone, but the reality is that it goes both ways, so I would set expectations accordingly.

If people "get used" to their character's appearance in 7.0, that's just like people having "gotten used" to their characters from 6.58-- ultimately, if the developers decide something can and should be improved, tweaked, or changed, it will be. All you can do in that case is provide feedback.

This is not going to happen, otherwise people would have to fantasia after every little tweak.

[Evermomo]

This is not going to happen, otherwise people would have to fantasia after every little tweak.

I personally would hold onto my fantasia for a few patches if I was worried about it, or alternatively, try to be open minded. If they wanted, they could have said "We will not be making changes after 7.0." Instead, we got this;

"As always, we will remain open to feedback even after the updated benchmark update and Dawntrail have been released, and will also continue to address any issues or necessary adjustments in future patches."

To me the sticking point is, again, the interpretation of this sentence. I'm repeating myself, but I think we're in a transition period in regards to the graphical update, and we should be receptive to what other players have to say and to what the developers ultimately decide to do. They are at the mercy of time and other constraints, which might make certain things impossible, or only possible after 7.0. Being too confident one way or another could set yourself up for disappointment, so for your own sake, It's better to be flexible.

[Feelynn]

Just wanted to chime in and say that I am more than happy with the changes, now that the elezen mouth rigging is fixed and low texture parts of certain hairs are upscaled, My main character looks 100x more alive in the newest version. I have no more complaints that are not already apparent in the 6.58 build of the game (certain hair styles not connecting to certain heads, mainly looking at you, male elezen).
I actually noticed one of the hair styles getting fixed in the 1.1 benchmark compared to the 1.0 benchmark and the live game, so I've got high hopes for the future

Hope the image embedding worked, that entire process is still really confusing to me

[Plushy]

.snap

You're only interpreting that way because you personally want change. When that's not what they're saying.
When they say necessary change they mean things like if there is a issue with the character model, they will change the character model to fix the issue.
For example, when they adjusted the moon miqo'te fangs, they had to adjust one of the miqo'te mouth to fix the clipping of the new fangs.
That is what they mean by necessary adjustments.
Not "we're going to change the characters because people are complaining about a barely noticable extended eyelash or slightly bigger lips"
And to extend off dynn post, changing characters leads to more bugs and texture issues this on top of more and more complaining arising because I don't know if you notice but everybody wants different adjustments.
There are people that like certain parts of the update and there are people that don't like anything and there are people that like everything.

SE can't please everyone. It's extremely unrealistic to expect them to keep adjusting characters onward in 7.x.
1.1 is what we're getting. They already have a ton of bugs to address, they're not going to add more by changing the characters.
Again, they're not going to do huge changes to characters for the live game where people can actually play the game.
This sets a precedent that SE can mess with our characters anytime they feel like.
This sets a huge unease that our characters are never safe.
They would also have to show us what they changed everytime and also give everybody a free fantasia and SE is a business, they're not going to do that.
My friend told me wow players went through the same thing they got over it in time, you all will too.
Instead asking thing to be reverted, ask for more character customization in the future.

That's the better option than upsetting players over and over by messing with people's characters.
The only time it's acceptable to adjust characters is when they do graphics updated just like what they did for 1.0 to 2.0.
With a game as big as FFXIV theyre not going to just causally change people's characters after the game is now live.
We have 10 days until early access, best you can do is make peace now and either make a new character or try to get use to your new look.

[LlymlaenGreene]

This is not going to happen, otherwise people would have to fantasia after every little tweak.

I just want to refresh your wonderful words about what you said earlier and after your words are sure that we will not get any changes, we get a new benchmark with a lot of fixes. You're stepping on the same rake again, saying the same thing now. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ics-update-now.

We have 10 days until early access, best you can do is make peace now and either make a new character or try to get use to your new look.

haha and this person tells us that we are being selfish, I find it quite funny.
Create a new character. How sweet. I won't speak for everyone, but here's my game time. a lot of afk but still.

I haven't even changed my hairstyle since 300 hours.
Or do you think these are the same lips?

The company is asking for feedback. I give them information that in my opinion, what they have done does not suit me. And they have to figure out if it's a bug, they didn't notice it, or they decided to really change the aesthetics. I want to believe that before the release they will at least fix the lips of all the characters, because, for example, I saw how they changed the neutral line of mikote's lips to a smile, which completely changes the impression of the character. A person sees and reports. But you don't like it so much that you're running around Twitter collecting people's evidence.
You are the most biased person on this forum that I have seen. They tell you A, you tell B. I believe that you really don't care about other people's opinions. As can be seen from all your messages. You use these messages with a list of likes as a shield, protecting your own opinion. And you don't really care that they like the changes. You just need to confirm your words. I remember very well your first topic, where you clearly asked not to change anything, because you like the changes, and you don't care that we spent thousands of hours on our characters. I just looked at it, and you naturally edited your message. I'm not surprised.

It's selfish for you because you're biased. But the company itself said in its own words who they are focusing on first. These are the ones who have been playing the same characters for many years.And not you, who have not even seen a single casting scene with your new character, but we, who have gone through the whole story from A to Z. How the company keeps its words and rumors is a separate issue, I think it's a mistake of the management that they changed some parts so globally, allowing players to love it, and indeed, if they start changing it, they won't like it either.
Your opinion is just as important, but I believe that the opinion of those who ask for a return current characters look similiar is a bit more important

[Evermomo]

Snip.

Thank you for the advice, but despite my preferences, I'm okay with any outcome. To be specific, these are the sorts of things I suspect may see updates in the future;

- Restoring the racial trait of a darkened eye area for woodwilder vs duskwight elezen clans
- Restoring the jeweled pupil to femroe, since it's present in one of the male faces but missing from the female faces (2 and 4.)
- Restoring lalafell bellybutton
- Fixing low-res textures on male au ra face scales, as well as the cut-off/hollow tail.

I don't know if these, or other changes will be made, but I wouldn't be shocked either way. Like you, I also believe SE can't please everyone. I also agree that an expanded set of options would be beneficial. But even if the examples above fit your idea of an issue, or mine, somebody else may disagree and wind up disappointed, or the updates may come too late and people will wish they had saved their fantasia to switch back to their old character. We seem to agree on this point as well, (that everyone wants different adjustments,) so I hope you can see my reasoning. I would recommend everybody proceed with a little caution, because none of us are 100% entitled to anything. The reality where "SE can change our characters any time they like" is the reality we live in, even if we can expect them to do their best to make conscientious decisions.

There are some issues I think are borderline, like the female Au Ra pupil size and face 4's mouth, as well as small adjustments to lip and eye corners/textures. Genuinely, I think the outcome for that sort of thing is unpredictable. They are easy to change, but just as easy to ignore. I'm looking forward to the future either way.