Updated benchmark

[CidHeiral]

The bottom lip issue was fixed which is great but as I thought would happen the monkey paw curled and something I liked was changed for the worse. The makeup around the eye looked perfect and very badass in the first benchmark, but now the inner part has largely been removed in this new version and turned into a thin little smudge. I can live with it but that really sucks, I loved how it looked before.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

you get to choose between looking like 20 or 50 years lol

I'm crying lmao ;;

I mean... I guess that is exactly the reason behind their design choice. After all, when 6.0 came out conceiving face 7 middie, talks revolving around "why they just won't give face 5 the stubble option" wasn't uncommon. Which is... reasonable imho, considering today's face 7 is just "face 5 but stubble turned on"-face.

But I really really, REALLY wish if this is the choice they're sticking with, at the very least, make that stubble from face 7 an option on one of face 5 facial feature. Lo behold, you get to have stubble as a 20-30 y.o AND 50 y.o.

[HawkeScream]

Significantly better than first benchmark XD He still doesn't feel "right" to me but it's much better. Mixed feelings right now, cuz I'm sad about the things that are still off (they aren't things I can adjust in Character Creator), but I'm also very happy about the improvements.

I think they need to adjust the lighting a bit on black hair so it looks a little richer (maybe tone down highlights?), and to either thicken or darken eyebrows a good bit.
Edit: I saw a couple comments talking about adjusting the gamma down, and that made a huge difference for fixing the black hair looking washed out. Fixable issue. Eyebrows however, please make them thicker!

Something about the eye shape is still off, they look a little wider/more open than previous, and the tattoo liner isn't as dark/thick. Hopefully someone else who notices the same thing on eyes 3 can articulate it better.

Skintone looked a bit too tan in character creator but in the benchmark looked good, so I think that might just a difference in how the lighting is hitting the face. It kind of varies from being about right to too tan (he's shade 1,1 so I don't have an option to keep his undertones and go lighter) in Character Creator. In the cutscenes it looked pretty good though and didn't make me go "oh that's super off" like it did last time.

Lip shape and nose is close but still off. Lips aren't as pouty due to the more natural skintone fade out and need the lip color to spread out just a smidge more to match the old shape better. Nose is a lot more human-shaped in the nostril area with the way the light currently shines on it and the thickness of the septum. I like my bunny nose and would like to see adjustments there.

If anyone else is a fan of the peachy lip color (Light; 2nd column, 6 down. RGB 207, 134, 127) and find the new one too dark, moving to 1,6 RGB 224, 178, 174 did the trick. "None" also looks a bit closer as another option.

[paca]

My glubby nooo

While I love the improvements in general, I feel some faces have changed drastically in feel. I can't speak of many other races, but I really miss the wider lips on face 2 Au Ra as they were part of what defined my character.

[aiqa]

The lighting and eye shader was improved, which is great. But the overall shape of midlander #1 is still a big downgrade in my opinion. Nose looks worse, lips look worse, lots of other small differences that end up with an overall worse face.

[ashekandi]

I don't really want to be someone who complains, but I feel like the updated benchmark was actually a downgrade for my Keeper miqo'te. I was looking forward to it, but now I'm disappointed and more than a little confused. I wouldn't normally make a post about it, but I feel like the change was pretty drastic

Current In-Game/First Benchmark/Second Benchmark


With the change to his lips, it feels like his resting expression has completely changed, and instead of a neutral/resting grumpy face, he's now constantly smiling? I tried looking at the other lip options, but it seems like they've also gained upturned edges.

Additionally, it feels like with every benchmark that Face 4 Miqo'tes become softer and rounder, and I wish I understood why. Face 4 was the only real sharp/angular face option for miqos, which is the entire reason I chose it, and I feel like it's losing its identity with every subsequent update. It was the perfect fit for a stoic, no-nonsense character, and now it just feels... well, a bit out of character. Overall, it seems like a pretty noticeable change between the first and second benchmarks, especially when I didn't think male miqos in particular were getting a lot of complaints when compared with Viera or Elezen.

As an added bonus, he's also gained a neck seam now!

+1 to this... that was exactly my reaction. the change to the default expression and the mouth itself (also it seems like the eye shape 3 is smaller as well?) really is messing up the whole vibe of face 4. my character looks completely different to me now

[CuteBucket]

So from a quick glance before I need to sleep, they've improved the "dead eye" look and added some gloss to the lips of my characters back, but that's about it. None of the other issues I had were fixed at all.
Male Miqo'te face 4 now has a resting smile and softer eyes, when I purposely chose it for a more harsh, no-nonsense look. The vacant stoned look the first benchmark gave him is still there.
Female au ra face 3 still lost all of her lip shape and her smile, and something is off about the shape of her eyes too.
It's a step in the right direction in regards to the lighting, but everyone who previously said "it's just the lighting!" uh, no, clearly it is not.

[Kathryn]

Hmmm I've been a Xaela Au ra for years (since they were released) but I'm aactually thinking of changing race come 7.0 because she just does not look like my character anymore.. something really feels off.

[RhaesDaenys]

Most of you all saying 'something feels off' are saying that because thats the biggest difference the lighting makes. The current games lighting is /very/ bad. Now we have proper lighting. Shadows are more accurate and look a lot better. Shadows make things look different.

Its the age old shine a flashlight under your chin to look scary thing.

I also don't get the 'duck lips' complaint on the Au Ra pictures from that one person. Duck lips stick out. Au Ra lips are practically flat against their face in all four options on Face 1.

Some of yall will literally never be happy unless they give up on the graphics update and leave us with old models forever.

[Turethir]

I am really appreciative of all the hard work the devs put into the benchmark, and the lighting changes look fantastic! I'm really happy to see that a lot of people are pleased with the changes too, and it's definitely such a big step forward from what we had last time.

From my point of view on my WoL, I don't think they made any changes to Face 2 Au Ra from the last benchmark that I can see. The lighting is definitely better throughout, but otherwise she seems unchanged.

I'm just so upset about the lips. Face 2 Au Ra has such a lovely wide mouth with dimples and this mouth is not the same. I'll do my best to get used to it, and I've already found an eye shape that seems to match my current one better.