Updated benchmark

[LuciaMirain]

I mean this as respectfully as I can given how angry I am, especially having seen your posts get torn apart on the Japanese side of the forums from you sharing a slew of SNS links of people happy with the changes without their permission in a feedback thread just because you're happy with the update, but you do not get to police any of us who are dissatisfied by saying something as bold as 'make a new character'.

Directly from Yoshida himself:


(There is no "IF" in there. Direct quoting is your friend.)

This is the very same man who has told us between two PLLs and a Fanfest:




And in an interview with Real Sound just in March of this year:


We are allowed to be upset. We are allowed to be angry. More importantly, we are allowed to keep sharing feedback as it is what the development team wants.

Rock, hard place, I know, but they honestly could've avoided this if they've been way more upfront and transparent about the work done when making such sweeping statements to a playerbase who have characters they've played upwards of 14 years if they came over from 1.0. It was insulting to hear in the PLL the special attention paid to things like rock textures and placement of rocks when they know that there is a large number of the playerbase upset with the character side of the updates.

All of this. My vieras face is so different that the uncanny valley (and the lack of hats) has me spending HOURS making a miqote to replace her. She is beautiful, but the lipshape being so different has changed the entire feel of her face. And I can't fantasia it "right".

[CidHeiral]

and I don't understand why they made it worse

That's the double edged sword of player feedback unfortunately. Some things I liked from the first benchmark were changed for the worse in my view as well. Addressing feedback from one group is always going to piss off some other group.

[Dazedu]

That's the double edged sword of player feedback unfortunately. Some things I liked from the first benchmark were changed for the worse in my view as well. Addressing feedback from one group is always going to piss off some other group.

In this case, I'm talking about eyes, comparing them to my miqo'te. They've gotten a lot worse. The quality and quantity of parts suffered. As for other controversial issues on a global scale, I liked what was in the 1st version of the benchmark. I've heard about his problems, and I don't deny them. They were worked on, but something else was broken. What for? It hurts me to look at it, I don't want to look at it.

[Kanehon]

I mean this as respectfully as I can given how angry I am, especially having seen your posts get torn apart on the Japanese side of the forums from you sharing a slew of SNS links of people happy with the changes without their permission in a feedback thread just because you're happy with the update, but you do not get to police any of us who are dissatisfied by saying something as bold as 'make a new character'.

Directly from Yoshida himself:


(There is no "IF" in there. Direct quoting is your friend.)

This is the very same man who has told us between two PLLs and a Fanfest:




And in an interview with Real Sound just in March of this year:


We are allowed to be upset. We are allowed to be angry. More importantly, we are allowed to keep sharing feedback as it is what the development team wants.

Rock, hard place, I know, but they honestly could've avoided this if they've been way more upfront and transparent about the work done when making such sweeping statements to a playerbase who have characters they've played upwards of 14 years if they came over from 1.0. It was insulting to hear in the PLL the special attention paid to things like rock textures and placement of rocks when they know that there is a large number of the playerbase upset with the character side of the updates.

I made a reference in another post drawing over the shapes, and it's clear they have changed the shape of it significantly in many cases. The Updated textures are great, but the shape changes makes the characters look like different people, as well as changing the expression.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6486425

[Odstarva]

Everyone is so excited about the upgrade characters we are getting across the board, just talking to anyone in-game. Everyone I know feels that way, but I visit the forums and it's like I am in a parallel universe!
I'd really hate if they went back on the Elezen changes, I genuinely hope the dev team won't go back on this.

I empathize with folks feeling betrayed with the character changes, I really do, but some of us have been waiting for something like this forever... Don't take it away from us!

[Cheapshot]

Everyone is so excited about the upgrade characters we are getting across the board, just talking to anyone in-game. Everyone I know feels that way, but I visit the forums and it's like I am in a parallel universe!
I'd really hate if they went back on the Elezen changes, I genuinely hope the dev team won't go back on this.

I empathize with folks feeling betrayed with the character changes, I really do, but some of us have been waiting for something like this forever... Don't take it away from us!

I would be right there with you if they were adding options to the character creator, but they aren’t. They’re replacing options. People being happy to get new features shouldn’t come at the expense of those who have spent years growing attached to what’s already there. I’d like to see them more faithfully replicate the original looks for now, and then start working on expanding the CC so that we can both be happy.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

I empathize with folks feeling betrayed with the character changes, I really do, but some of us have been waiting for something like this forever... Don't take it away from us!

(I don't know how to not make this accidentally sound hostile... Please read this in the most literal way possible)

Out of genuine curiosity, when you mean "something like this" what exactly are you refering to?
What was it that bothered you in the character creator before that you've been waiting forever for the devs to improve?
When you first heard of the graphical update, what were your expectations?
How were those expectations fulfilled in the benchmark?

It would be great and really helpful if more people could explain in detail why they are satisfied with the changes. "I like it", "I'm excited", "It's so much better" is not really telling us and/or the devs what it is that went in the right direction with this graphical update.
Especially if you're afraid of some things being reverted, it's important to communicate what you would like to keep, I think.

Otherwise it's really just creating a "they love it vs they hate it" situation where we might not even be talking about the same details.

[Odstarva]

(I don't know how to not make this accidentally sound hostile... Please read this in the most literal way possible)

Out of genuine curiosity, when you mean "something like this" what exactly are you refering to?
What was it that bothered you in the character creator before that you've been waiting forever for the devs to improve?
When you first heard of the graphical update, what were your expectations?
How were those expectations fulfilled in the benchmark?

It would be great and really helpful if more people could explain in detail why they are satisfied with the changes. "I like it", "I'm excited", "It's so much better" is not really telling us and/or the devs what it is that went in the right direction with this graphical update.
Especially if you're afraid of some things being reverted, it's important to communicate what you would like to keep, I think.

Otherwise it's really just creating a "they love it vs they hate it" situation where we might not even be talking about the same details.

Well, I don't have an art degree. As a practical example, if you gave me two different dishes of food and I said I prefer one over the other, do I need to be able to tell in what exact way I liked it better for it to be true? I might not understand what seasoning you used or how you cooked it - some things you just like innately, and I could try to go out of my way to explain it and do a poor job of it.


But since you asked, and I am assuming these are good faith questions, I'll try to regardless:

1 - By something like this, I mean a graphical update, new shading, textures, models, etc.
2 - Nothing bothered me, but by the same token I was unsatisfied. Especially when it comes to the way the shadows affect the face and how it looks, how the light reflected poorly in certain cases, on how darker-skinned characters didn't have a skin that looked as natural in certain lighting environments (especially in darker areas).
3 - I didn't first hear of it until they actually showcased it, so I guess I didn't have any expectations. I was positively surprised when I saw it!
4 - See 3. But yes, very satisfied, it looked better in-game (creator and benchmark) than I expected (I especially love how the light shines through the ears and their new textures, and how they softened a lot of the more "jagged" facial features (which really just screamed low poly)).


Again, I'm no 3d artist.
I like the changes across the board. Every character looks a bit different, but then so do people's faces in the real world as they grow and age and so for me that really isn't a huge deal. I empathize with people who do, I just happen to disagree with them on what's important.

I'll take slight changes to my character over time if it means an improved experience, over it staying the same for the sake of comfort.


Lastly, I wouldn't mind at all if they added the new models as just separate choices and allowed people to stick to the old ones if they prefer. That would satisfy both camps, and I'd support that far and above the idea of them going back altogether.

[Iscah]

2 - Nothing bothered me, but by the same token I was unsatisfied. Especially when it comes to the way the shadows affect the face and how it looks, how the light reflected poorly in certain cases, on how darker-skinned characters didn't have a skin that looked as natural in certain lighting environments (especially in darker areas).

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.

[PaulusHamsteru]

Reposting. Please fix my midlander's face. He looks like a different character now :

His eye color is different
His lips are different
His nose is different
His eyebrows are thinner and the color is also different
His face and jaw are rounder