Updated benchmark

[LlymlaenGreene]

Going to be honest, those lips look so incredibly similar that it's not really worth changing imo...
Also I put lots of hours in this game too.
And just like the people using Yoshi words as a shield to try to enforce change and you using your barely noticeable changes for your midlander as a shield and feedback. I use the links I provided as feedback.
And unlike a majority of you, I asked for more options instead of asking for changing things.
My idea makes everybody happy, yours only makes you happy.
I don't want any changes but I'm also suggesting more options, you and mostly everybody else isn't.
That's the difference so yes, yours is a selfish request.
Also...they didn't "ask" for feedback. Yoshi said you're free to keep giving feedback, "not please give feedback".

Similar? Smile and not smile, and i even do not say anything about a new form.
You suggest that those who play and love the current characters wait for 8.0 or even further so that we can again play those characters that were taken from us. I saw this message.

What? I have been advocating from the very beginning that they add new parts as an additional
option. Bring back the old one and add the new one as a new option.

Your words about creating a new character or getting used to it, or as you said a few messages ago * I think you will get used to it in a week*, sound very implausible and ignorant. And you speak so confidently for everyone, which is simply amazing.

Your changes make everyone happy, you say? Very loud words. You suggest that we, who have seen thousands of custscenes, wait, and not you, who have not even played a minute on a new character. That's what the wrong priority means. First they have to satisfy the old player base and then only add new options to YOU, no other way.

Even if you turn to your posts, what do these 3 thousand likes mean if the active player base is more than a million. It's just so unconvincing. And people will be more willing to like pleasant posts than someone's complaints. As you said that this forum is an echo chamber, I can also say this about Twitter and especially reddit. Try to create something with criticism in the reddit community, in a matter of minutes your post will receive a lot of * approvals*

We turn to his words to show you what their original intention was. It was then that they started wagging and interpreting their words any way they wanted. He says their main task is not to change the feeling. *at the same time, he just removes the smile from my character's face* As a player, I have my own opinion and now it's not my character, the feeling has changed. And don't tell me it's the same character.* I repeat, I don't even change my hairstyle, but my lips were forcibly changed without my consent. I'm sending a report that I don't like.

But in fact, this is a Square Enix blunder and because of this, we, the magnificent players of this beautiful game, are quarreling. They should have released this benchmark last summer and immediately said that we will try to make as similar characters as possible, so do not fall in love in advance. But they did what they did.
Therefore, I wish everyone a positive, I'm tired of being angy because of the actions of the company, I'll just see what they show us in the end. And there is also a lot of hope for the creators of mods, yes. I'll prefer the mods to this new character * the same for you, hehe, I'd even say she looks beautiful, but it's not the same character* :3

[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.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

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.

I can't believe it, we're finally agreeing on something.
Yeah, this has already happened, actually, and it's still happening. You see why people are on edge now?

How about for a change instead of trying to drown out other peoples voices [...] you give us concrete changes as to what you prefer in the new one which others dislike. Like one concrete example giving a before and after as many people have done here where you point out what you like more in the new one compared to the old.

If you're extremely particular about something you like in the new benchmark that you do not want to change at all, it's definitely worth talking about it in detail. Pointing out the good in something is always helpful, because this way people know what is worth keeping, and what still needs to be adjusted.

Also as I've stated before, if people have positive feedback to share on this thread, I think no one minds at all.
Just post your own picture and explain why you prefer your own character now (or NPCs, if you've recreated them).

Whenever you want Plushy!

[CantDecide]

My friend told me wow players went through the same thing they got over it in time, you all will too.

Actually, we didn't. Me and plenty others still remember how badly Blizzard botched some of the races in that update, and how much better and more faithful to the original fan-made renders at the time looked. It's because of Blizzard's mishandling of that update that I am so concerned to see SE going down the same route. Sure, the people who are upset will still play and begrudgingly tolerate the changes, and yes some might come to like them, but a significant degree of trust between consumer and developer will be lost.

[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.

[Arcian]

Figured I'd add my comparison here in case the devs read this. I'm not completely happy with the eyes, eyebrows and overall shape of my character's face in the benchmark.

Female Highlander
Face 1
Jaw 1
Eye shape 3
Eyebrows 1
Facial features 1, 2, 3
6.58 vs updated benchmark

Side:


Front:


The view from the front is mostly the same, but from the side I notice a few differences. I don't like that the outer corners of the eyes are rounded down, and that the eyebrows are now smaller. The shape of the jaw and cheeks also seems different, but that might be an illusion caused by the lighting.

It's not just you; I also have a face 1 Highlander and I've noticed the same things. The shape of the cheeks and jawline is noticeably softer and less angular, and the eyebrows have been considerably reduced. Also the forehead (at least on my character) was higher (like, fivehead higher), and I sure didn't go into the character creator planning on that.

Mine also ended up with an entirely different eye shape in the latest version of the benchmark (started with eyes 4, and oddly eyes 6 now appear to be closer to what is currently live in EW).

It's like they filed every edge off, and if they won't change that, can I at least have eyebrows that exist?

[GrizzlyTank]

Still don't quite get why they opted to redesign certain facial features. Up the polygon count and replace the shaders, rework the textures to higher resolution.

Instead they opted to change the art-style a little, going for more realistic eyes rather than the high contrast stylized ones we have had for 6 expansions now.

[Irishfae]

For PC players you can still download the 6.0 benchmark (I used Internet Archive to find the link), but for console players there will be no way to make accurate comparisons (unless you recorded cutscenes before maintenance).

I highly recommend doing this (if you can).

Go to an Inn and use the Unending Journey in there.
Pick your favourite cutscenes and record your character in the hair/outfit you like to get a feel of how the new model will look/feel like in them. (Maybe it won't be as bad as it seems like it is now)
You can also grab some scenes with lots of textures, lighting and characters to get a feel for all the new models.

For some ideas, so far I have: (Expansion/Quest Name/Cutscene number)
SB/Stormblood/4
EW/The Matyr/2
ARR/WP Hard/3
EW/In From the Cold/4 (some fun faces that our character wouldn't normally make)
ShB/Shadowbringers/4
ShB/Shadowbringers/1
EW/Endwalker/5
EW/Endwalker/4 (because I love the smirk)

As a side:
In addition to the Burn (which I love), some other good places are - Sea of Clouds on a clear day, The Dreamkeep in Il Mheg (If you haven't finished and the sky is still blue)

[Kanehon]

Still don't quite get why they opted to redesign certain facial features. Up the polygon count and replace the shaders, rework the textures to higher resolution.

Instead they opted to change the art-style a little, going for more realistic eyes rather than the high contrast stylized ones we have had for 6 expansions now.

We were promised an update of graphics quality, but instead many, many features were changed entirely. In a lot of cases we lost unique details that gave personality to a face in exchange for generic "Soft, rounded, cutesy" features. Almost every female lip is just "Heart shape" and even quite a few males too. Likewise for a lot of other features too.

And then you have issues like the Male Viera face 1 dark nose going from black to brown and looking Lighter than the darker skin tones.

[Oizen]

I think it looks pretty good honestly.