Updated benchmark

[Khryseis_Astra]

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 wish there was a little more clarity on that… but I guess they can’t really write a detailed explanation on every bug report that gets moved. But glad that even things that got declared “Not A Bug” have been fixed!

[Plushy]

does nobody else find it actually insane and telling that major lighting changes were done within a month--not just for characters, but for the whole game? The gameplay trailer even uses the old lighting and it shows! It looks bad! This stuff clearly isn't fully baked!

Didn't realize you played Dawntrail early than everybody else to know that. Also guess you missed the media tour and didn't hear how everybody said its like 2months old and you can clearly see the updated lighting and textures...I suggest giving them a watch unless you don't want spoilers. Then in that case, don't speak on this unless you know what you're talking about.

I've generally tried to stop posting on the ENG side of this topic because I get much more curt and frustrated than on the JP thread.

Going to be blunt. Its because you want/ like the echo chamber going on there. Unlike americans/EU, the japanese are less likely to speak up and defend what they like when they see the majority being dissatisfied, there were a couple of comments saying they like the changes but they were quickly drowned out by just like NA, the same people posting. There are other factors too but basically just cultural differences in forum etiquette between JP and NA/EU. Over here we're not afraid to call you out more often like I'm doing now.
Overall. You just want a echo chamber its why you get annoyed.

I suggest anyone trying to share their concerns and desire for SE to live up to their promises to just stop bothering with those guys. Some okay with the benchmark are clearly hypocritically scared about losing something too, but in the end, for them it's just, "well I got mine so screw you," lol.
It astounds me people would be against adjustments, anyway? If you care so little about the changes in the first place, adjustments likely won't have an effect on you.

Actually It does affect me because a lot of requests are things I like. You sound like a hypocrite with the "well got mine so screw you" because that can go both ways no? Everything else you said is subjective. Male au ra iris were always hard to see even in the 6.58 because their iris are really small. Not sure what you mean by au ra scuffed textures...they scales? Iris sizes changes significantly? hyperbole won't help you btw... lips are way more defined actually rather than looking like plastic gloss like in 6.58.
The rest you pointed out are obvious bugs so not sure why you included it other than to attempt to make the graphics update sound bad and fluff your post.

Overall go post on the JP forums if you don't want to be challenged.(Though other than a couple of posts to spread your feedback. I think its cringe to -keep- posting in a foreign forums and chat when you don't even speak their language and the only way to talk to them is through a translator. Its why when I posted there I didn't try to talk with people.)
Btw....posting in the JP won't make your feedback get heard anymore than posting in your native language. The JP players said multiple times the grass isn't greener on the other side and more than one person said JP players actually think SE listens to us more just like how we think SE listens to JP more.
Basically....Just because you don't get what you want doesn't mean SE isn't listening and posting in the JP forums won't increase your chances of getting what you want. If anything I bet your feedback won't even get forwarded to the DEV's since I'm told its very obvious when people use a translator for japanese and it makes it hard to read for native speakers.

[azaleai]

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.

That's... insane. I've SEEN the current/new normal maps being passed around discords, there's literally nothing on the brows of the new one except pores while the current is perfectly detailed. "Graphical update" my arse, this is an obvious and definitive downgrade.

Let's hope it's like the lalafell teeth and they've already slated it for fixing... or it's a misfile on the JP side and they'll listen on EN... /copium

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.)

I don't think I can bring myself to fanta... I love my character as she is too much. I honestly think I'm more likely to quit playing than fanta, this whole thing has soured me too much that I don't think I have the energy to try to get attached to a new race, y'know?

On an unrelated note, anybody here know how people mod the game? asking for a friend, of course (/jk) P: I'm sure if SE won't fix it, someone will... Leaving in stuff like this and marking it "not a bug" sure feels like a great way to push people into modding, though.

[Len_]

I don't think I can bring myself to fanta... I love my character as she is too much. I honestly think I'm more likely to quit playing than fanta, this whole thing has soured me too much that I don't think I have the energy to try to get attached to a new race, y'know?

You're not alone. This all made me realize that it's actually my character I'm attached to, not the game itself. I think if I had to start over with a new character there's no way it would be able to hold my interest. I think its the reason why I could never get invested in WoW, I didn't connect with my character and eventually got bored even though I did like the game.

[azaleai]

You're not alone. This all made me realize that it's actually my character I'm attached to, not the game itself. I think if I had to start over with a new character there's no way it would be able to hold my interest. I think its the reason why I could never get invested in WoW, I didn't connect with my character and eventually got bored even though I did like the game.

I had an alt at one point, who was... cute! fun little character design! perfectly interesting ideas for backstory! ...but I couldn't get them through Stormblood. I just had 0 drive or interest to play them (not to mention the fact the camera seemed to move so much faster on a lala than a roe so I got a mild bit of motion sickness from playing them lol). It wasn't until I fantasia'd and name change'd them into a direct clone of my main on another server that I actually wanted to play them and got them caught up.

Full disclosure, I do sorta have commitment issues when it comes to playing new games/movies/books - I would much rather replay/rewatch/reread something I know I like already than try something new that I might not, so I'm already predisposed to disliking this kind of situation. I'm passionate about the things I know I like, so I will absolutely be doing everything in my power to fix or come to terms with the issues I have - I've put waaay too much time into this game already to just throw it away at the drop of a hat.

[KitiaraIornsight]

Aside from actual messed up texture gaps, I am astounded by some of the complaints. The devs were clear the character models were being completely redone and there would be minor variations. As a WHOLE all of the characters look better, more real and less anime cartoony as a whole. But nitpicking the way the corners of a mouth slightly turn up or down or "oooh i found a slightly different zig instead of a zag on one scale" is just massively ridiculous. The characters look great, they still look like themselves with more details and to effectively play the game everyone is zoomed out to the max, so why are we getting this upset? I don't understand.

[Len_]

The devs were clear the character models were being completely redone

This is actually the opposite of what was told during live letters. Unless there was some translation error, it was expressed that the changes we were seeing were not based on "totally redone" geometry and that was not what they were planning to do. It was showing the difference with texture and lighting updates. Not like I took those words at face value or believed they wouldn't mess this up somehow but, that is the fact of what they actually said. Unless there was some other LL I missed.

so why are we getting this upset? I don't understand.

Who is "we"? Clearly not you. Why do you care?

[howltia]

I definitely think the 2nd benchmark had some great improvements, and I do really appreciate all the work the devs have put in, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on the new one as a miqo'te face 4 enjoyer





Its improved in some ways, but is it just me that thinks they've dramatically reduced the differences for the miqo'te faces? she looked shiny and strange in the 1st benchmark but in the 2nd one she looks very similar to face 3? tbh they all seem more identical in shapes now, and her nose and lips are still so flat they've definitely reduced the larger flat nose i have here, which is a huge shame, but they did definitely improve the lip shape from the 1st benchmark, i'm just going to miss her open mouth im just sad about all the character changes to be honest, i spend a great deal of time looking at her face etc so its gonna be a difficult transition lol.

I know people think its silly to complain but when you have 2000 + hours with a character you love and then your favourite features of theirs are going to be removed or changed completely..it can be hard!

[Iscah]

This is actually the opposite of what was told during live letters. Unless there was some translation error, it was expressed that the changes we were seeing were not based on "totally redone" geometry and that was not what they were planning to do. It was showing the difference with texture and lighting updates.

Indeed. They even attributed some of the issues to "it was always there, you just couldn't see it in the lighting", implying that they can't have started from scratch, and yet so many things have been clearly altered if they really did start with the same models.

[KitiaraIornsight]

This is actually the opposite of what was told during live letters. Unless there was some translation error, it was expressed that the changes we were seeing were not based on "totally redone" geometry and that was not what they were planning to do. It was showing the difference with texture and lighting updates. Not like I took those words at face value or believed they wouldn't mess this up somehow but, that is the fact of what they actually said. Unless there was some other LL I missed.

Who is "we"? Clearly not you. Why do you care?

When the graphics update was first showcased and announced at the fan fest they explained every race had its own unique character model. With the graphics update, ALL character models were replaced with a single model that was "morphed" into each of the races as this reduces the number of assets required in the game, this accounts for the minor variations showcased in the shapes of faces, eyes, lips etc. They literally demonstrated their process at a fan fest when they very first showcased the graphics updated preview character models.

Why do I care, because there are litterally people threatening to quit over minute details. I care because I hopped in a post expecting to see all sorts of nice shots of characters from the updated benchmark and instead greeted with overwhelmingly 65 pages of nitpicking over MINOR MINUTE details that you have to HYPER ZOOM the camera in to even notice.