Updated benchmark

[Plushy]

Would there be any possibility at all of retaining the current graphics in some kind of legacy version of the game program that could be used instead of the updated version? Is it possible at a technical level, and would SE consider implementing it?

Is it possible? Yes. Would someone do it? Highly unlikely...mostly because why would you purposely want the ugly textures back in the game. I can understand your character model but textures like outfit? Someone would have to purposely create blurry, ugly and pixilated textures on purpose...for the newer outfits.
For your character though you can easily get that back to the 2.0 version but you would have to...do you know what to achieve that.

But.. I doubt SE would consider it since you're asking them to downscale textures which is quite honestly a waste of time to please a very, very small set of people and doing this you basically make it so those people never move on.

[Iscah]

Is it possible? Yes. Would someone do it? Highly unlikely...mostly because why would you purposely want the ugly textures back in the game.

Because right now my characters only exist in those "ugly textures", and they're nowhere near ugly enough for me to care. But I do very much care about my characters, who look beautiful right now in ways that the update is turning ugly.

Even if you could only play the parts of the game that exist right now, it would be preferable to losing it forever, and no different to if FFXIV was a series of individually released games.

[Plushy]

Because right now my characters only exist in those "ugly textures", and they're nowhere near ugly enough for me to care.

Even if you could only play the parts of the game that exist right now, it would be preferable to losing it forever, and no different to if FFXIV was a series of individually released games.

Well regardless how you feel. FFXIV is a MMO. It needs newer players to survive and if newer players see this game now. They won't try it because they think it looks outdated/bad graphics. (Heck people already say the game is ugly and grey and washed out looking). Yoshi-p himself said the main reason for graphics update was for younger/new players.

But either way...as I said..it's possible but nobody will do it. More so because SE changed a lot on the back end that I can't explain for obvious reasons but I will say if you ever manage to import the old armour textures, expect to see solid black and green color textures.
SE actually updated the graphics correctly, right down to how textures and color materials are handled and also removed things that old models used.
Basically what I'm saying is...it'll be a lot of work for basically no gain.

[Darkstride]

If they put it in “accepted bugs,” does that mean that they consider it an error on the list to be fixed? Or just that they’re investigating it? (I’ve never submitted a bug report…)

Good thing you mentioned it will affect Tartaru, that probably made someone notice it more!

It just means that they've accepted the report because it was actually filled out correctly. You can see a lot of bug reports rejected because the person filing it doesn't provide adequate information and doesn't utilize the template provided. Accepted doesn't mean they are acknowledging it as a bug, it's just the stage of reporting and investigation.

From the Bug Report Forum workflow:

"Once reports with sufficient information have been checked, they will be moved to the Accepted Bugs forum.
Bug reports moved to Accepted Bugs will be investigated and confirmed.
Depending on the issue, there may be cases where confirmation may take more time.

As a result of investigating and testing, reports determined to be bugs will be moved to the Confirmed/Planning to Address forum and those determined to be a normal feature of the game will be moved to the Working as Intended forum.

Once reports in the Confirmed/Planning to Address form have been fixed, they will be moved to the Fixed"

[Plushy]

I want this so badly.
Just give those who prefer the old looks an option to keep the old graphics version.

I'm not bothered at all by crappy textures. My character is a much higher priority to me.

I know this is a innocent ask but you don't really understand just what you're asking for.
It's not as simple as flipping a switch and it's back to having your old graphics.
The graphics fundamentally changed at a system level.
SE didn't just update texture, they actually changed how a lot of things are handled and also deleted many things the old graphics used.
This will also triple the game size to hold all the bad textures, they would have to recreate the old lighting source and shadows to replicate the old graphics.
Without doing that you will notice even more pixilation than usual since the old lighting and shadows did a good job in hiding it.
You say you don't care but will once you actually see it yourself.
You can see it in blender If you're so inclined to see it in real time.
When SE updated the graphics they ACTUALLY updated it and not a simple just upscale texture and lighting then called it a day.
Also forgot to point out this will double their work because they would have to add new light sources and old light sources in every new dungeon they make and they would have to add old textures and good textures to every new outfit and raid boss or npc they create... again...doubling their work.

Basically...it's not happening...

You guys just have to accept this is happening.
SE isn't going to waste resources to recreate something like this, sounds harsh but it's true.

That dev time is better spent on making the game actually fun to play and not having another endwalker with nothing to do.

[Loggos]

I know this is a innocent ask but you don't really understand just what you're asking for.
It's not as simple as flipping a switch and it's back to having your old graphics.
The graphics fundamentally changed at a system level.
SE didn't just update texture, they actually changed how a lot of things are handled and also deleted many things the old graphics used.
This will also triple the game size to hold all the bad textures, they would have to recreate the old lighting source and shadows to replicate the old graphics.
Without doing that you will notice even more pixilation than usual since the old lighting and shadows did a good job in hiding it.
You say you don't care but will once you actually see it yourself.
You can see it in blender If you're so inclined to see it in real time.
When SE updated the graphics they ACTUALLY updated it and not a simple just upscale texture and lighting then called it a day.
Also forgot to point out this will double their work because they would have to add new light sources and old light sources in every new dungeon they make and they would have to add old textures and good textures to every new outfit and raid boss or npc they create... again...doubling their work.

Basically...it's not happening...

You guys just have to accept this is happening.
SE isn't going to waste resources to recreate something like this, sounds harsh but it's true.

That dev time is better spent on making the game actually fun to play and not having another endwalker with nothing to do.

Ok.

Like seriously, your dedication is astounding. You are in no way threatened because as Schwarzwälder Torte said the graphical update will roll out and you'll get the things you'll like.
And good for you! But it would be awesome if you could extend just a little of that mindset to others because we know. We know the changes are going to come. We are - surprise surprise - not stupid. We are however affected because something that has accompanied us for *years*, something we paid lots of money for and that we have grown very attached to is irreversibly going to be patched out of the game.
Like yeah, some people will get sad about this. In the end this is a product and as paying customers we also have an interest to preserve the things we enjoy about it.

Hence we provide feedback.

The dev team then has to value the feedback of different customer groups with different interests and decide what they wanna do. If an optional roll out of the graphical update causes excessive costs for them then the update is safe because we know SE will prioritise what is economically viable.

So, if you think all of our talk is silly then you can just ignore this thread because you'll literally lose nothing.

But you come at this as if the discussion in here really vexes you on a deeply personal level.
I have no problem with you saying you think the update is fine. That is your feedback and you should give it. But you don't need to try to "convert" us at every turn. You won't change our mind (bc we know how much we love our chars), we won't change your mind. This has become clear at this point.
E.g., you say with conviction I *will* care about the textures once they are properly incorporated. I can tell you, I will not. I know myself better than you know me. Personally I do not care about the fidelity of textures the way I care about my character. That is my priority.
Other people's priorities are different and that is their own prerogative.

In the end we'd love to keep our old characters (without it coming at the cost of the new changes others might like) while providing feedback, you'll argue relentlessly that ~it's not possible~ and it'll go round and round and round like that.

But hey, keeps the thread relevant I guess.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

Plushy: The game is safe you don't need to defend it anymore, there is no need to prove to everyone else that you are right and that they are wrong. You can leave this thread behind without any worry on your mind.

Iscah: You won't find what you're looking for on the official forums (due to ToS etc), but there's bound to be someone somewhere who's archiving the previous version of the game (I think some people still have data of 1.0 lying around, so I wouldn't be surprised if they archived this too). For example on Twitter I got a post recommended to me of someone who's working on such an archival project as a hobby (although it's not exactly what you're after).

[Sylpharia]

Personally I think this benchmark is quite the improvement

[azaleai]

Honestly, I think if my issues with the normal maps on my face aren't magically fixed after the maintenance (and I'm not exactly hopeful), I'll be posting a bug report about it.

I feel like a good chunk of the discussion in here boils down to is; is there actually something you think is wrong with the new models/textures, wrong enough to make a properly formulated bug report for? Or is it simply an aesthetic choice you don't really agree with?

While I do really sympathise for people who feel as if the vibe of their face is just 'off', the unfortunate reality is that may well not have been the vibe the artist who sat down to remake the face felt it had - I like to believe the team did what they believed to be preserving the face's features as much as they could, but everyone's interpretation of the features is going to be different. I think I'll be keeping that in mind while I get used to things like tweaked eye and lip shapes.

If you do want to make a bug report, make sure you follow the format, keep it clear and concise and make sure it's actionable feedback. They can't fix it if they don't know what's wrong.

[faiarrow]

Honestly, I think if my issues with the normal maps on my face aren't magically fixed after the maintenance (and I'm not exactly hopeful), I'll be posting a bug report about it.

My three reports on JP side (including the normal map issues on face 2 femroe - the nose mark flat diffuse being too light in new engine - the issue with the black pupils on femroe while m!roe face 2 got to keep their coloured ones) all got filed to Not A Bug, despite the normal map issue clearly being... a problem given the baked in flat diffuse for the brow keeps the shadow made for that normal map, and the loss of racial specific traits.

Whether that means they're just now aware of it and might adjust it we don't know, given the Lalafell Dolphin Teeth got filed to Not A Bug as well and it was something they actually fixed, or if they have decided this is where the design is meant to be (given the countdown art of face 2 with black pupils and missing the brow lines despite the vertical brows only on that face type...) I don't know.

I've got my fantasia ready either way and will have to say goodbye to my character of 9+ years if they're not adjusted. I can live OK without the coloured pupils even if I hate them, but the racial traits being toned down or removed outright is inexcusable (to me - I stress it's inexcusable to me/in my eyes; if it's the direction they want to do going forward then that's just what it is, it just means I'll no longer play any of my femroes since they're all hellsguard.)