Updated benchmark

[Astronis]

And on that note:

I've only realized this now, but it's going to be a lot more difficult to provide accurate feedback and bug reports after the release of 7.0.

I don't see why that would be the case. If there are outstanding bugs in 7.0, you won't need anything from 6.0 to reference them, they would stand on their own, would they not? If something clips or has a hole in it or is overly pixelated or the hair stands very far off the head model etc., you wouldn't need earlier reference photos to point it out.

Though certainly take screenshots if you want to preserve a memory.

[Plushy]

I don't see why that would be the case. If there are outstanding bugs in 7.0, you won't need anything from 6.0 to reference them, they would stand on their own, would they not? If something clips or has a hole in it or is overly pixelated or the hair stands very far off the head model etc., you wouldn't need earlier reference photos to point it out.

Though certainly take screenshots if you want to preserve a memory.

Its mostly because they won't be able to go back to point out what changed and use it as a reference.
Unless someone still has the endwalker or shadowbringers benchmarks, this will be the last time we'll see the 2.0-6.58 character models in-game.

[Arzalis]

Unfortunately, the reality is that nothing will change once 7.0 comes out. Barring an actual technical issue like holes in a model or whatever, that will be the final version of the characters.

There isn't any reason to make comparisons for the sake of requesting changes at that point.

Being entirely honest, at this point I would expect to see minimal changes from the updated benchmark.

[Astronis]

Its mostly because they won't be able to go back to point out what changed and use it as a reference.
Unless someone still has the endwalker or shadowbringers benchmarks, this will be the last time we'll see the 2.0-6.58 character models in-game.

As a remembrance, I understand. To continue giving feedback on small changes, for what reason, expecting the devs to fiddle with the models for months and years? If that brings people joy, I suppose, but it doesn't seem like it would. Bug reports won't need it though, those will stand on their own.

[Plushy]

Unfortunately, the reality is that nothing will change once 7.0 comes out. Barring an actual technical issue like holes in a model or whatever, that will be the final version of the characters.

There isn't any reason to make comparisons for the sake of requesting changes at that point.

Being entirely honest, at this point I would expect to see minimal changes from the updated benchmark.

Agreed. I think its time for people just take pics of their old models and just prepare for the new models.

As a remembrance, I understand. To continue giving feedback on small changes, for what reason, expecting the devs to fiddle with the models for months and years? If that brings people joy, I suppose, but it doesn't seem like it would. Bug reports won't need it though, those will stand on their own.

Yeah I think that's mostly it as well honestly. I think most people actually just want to see the old models so they can keep playing spot the difference personally but I was just giving a benefit of doubt...

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

From Lodestone:

As always, we will remain open to feedback even after the updated benchmark update and Dawntrail have been released, and will also continue to address any issues or necessary adjustments in future patches!

Obviously these ambiguous words are up for interpretation, and it is a lot more likely that by that they indeed mean "bugs only" rather than anything else.
On the other hand, though, both on the JP forums and the EN forums, people have been converting some of their feedback as bug reports, and while some have not been accepted, others have.
(this does not necessarily mean that something will be done about it, but at least it's being properly looked into)
So it is likely that some things will indeed change past 7.0. But to which extent remains to be seen.

(IF you plan to submit a bug report: follow the guidelines, check if what you want to report has already been submitted, only report objective facts and not personal feelings, be as specific as possible, if you have issues with eg eyes and mouth split it into 2 separate reports)

I'm still waiting for your pictures Plushy!
You would sound approximately 10 times more convincing with them instead of dodging the subject and arguing with everyone!
Just saying!

[Plushy]

I'm still waiting for your pictures Plushy!
You would sound approximately 10 times more convincing with them instead of dodging the subject and arguing with everyone!
Just saying!

Fine Fine, with only 8 days until early access might as well. This is my first time posting pictures on the fourms so forgive if its out of order.
Top - Dawntrail/Endwalker - Bottom
Top - Dawntrail/Endwalker - Bottom

So what I like about the dawntrail version is just how much more alive she looks and quite frankly just way cuter rather than looking like she just came from a 10 hour shift/sick of dealing with everybody problems.
The bigger pupils (Which is quite honestly my favorite part but I think I made that clear) adds cuteness, basically you know when a cats eyes get all round and big and they just look oh so adorable? yeah that's what happened to au ra.
Au ra's already having large iris, their older smaller pupils just didn't balance well imo. After seeing how au ra's look with a more evenly balance pupil to iris ratio it looks way better and seeing it makes me like my au ra more.
Then we have the limbal rings which blend in with the eyes more naturally, some people liked the ultra bright LED's but I personally like the more muted colors in the day time and love when they just glow during the night, to wrap it up...the eyes of the au ra is a HUGE improvement over the 6.58. It looks amazing.

Of course the scales and horns look better, for raen even more since their scales are actually white instead of that cream, bone yellow color they had.(Talking about females).
Basically everything about the new au ra is better than the older version. To me....just looking at my au ra...I just don't see how someone could say the 6.58 looks better (imo).
The face also looks less flat and the lip gloss doesn't look like plastic.

Just a little proof I'm actually an au ra and I didn't just create it for the sake of defending a race I don't even play because I like it now. I've always been an au ra and I look forward to playing it in dawntrail.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

Cool, thanks!

Yeah I'd say in your case the eyes do look like an improvement overall, I see what you were going for with them.
(this does not automatically invalidate everyone else's feedback though, just to be clear!)

However, since we're using the same face, I'm noticing the same change in expression. If you pay attention to the corner of the lips, the shadow in your Endwalker screenshots is going slightly upwards, whereas in Dawntrail it goes slightly downwards.
It is a small change, but to me, especially with Face 1 who looks relatively stoic compared to the other faces, this makes her go from "slightly happy, just chilling" to "slightly worried, something bad is about to happen", and even if that reflects my current mood very well, I'd rather not have her look like that in cutscenes where she has no specific facial animation.
(ironically, to me the change does make her look like "she just came from a 10 hour shift/sick of dealing with everybody problems")
I don't know if this is something you've noticed as well, or something you care about at all, but I still want to point it out just in case.

I also don't know which eyebrows you're using, but if you ever plan to change hairstyles (even if right now you think "no, never" there is still a chance they'll add more hairstyles) it might be worth comparing the eyebrows as well.
For me the change in Eyebrows 1 (the part the closest to the forehead scale is slightly raised) added to that worried expression, and this didn't show with some hairstyles, but since I'll be using the one I have on my lodestone profile right now, it's a problem for me.

Anyway, overall, besides the pupil size which you really care about (which really should be an option because opinions are very divided on that!), I don't think any of the grievances people have brought up would go against anything you like about the changes?

So I'm not really sure I understand why you've been so dismissive and antagonistic with everyone's feedback? (especially for someone who first replied to me saying "I also don't like arguing in general"......)

You like your new limbal rings, cool, the color and overall impression doesn't seem to have changed that much in your case. They changed a lot in mine though, that's my problem!

[plasmacutter]

I noticed a change in the skin textures.

For hyur it was an improvement.
My lalafell imported into it feels like it lost the feminine features in her face, and the skin looks waxy.

Minor gripes to be sure, but I'm registering them here.

I'm noticing the same change in expression. If you pay attention to the corner of the lips, the shadow in your Endwalker screenshots is going slightly upwards, whereas in Dawntrail it goes slightly downwards.
It is a small change, but to me, especially with Face 1 who looks relatively stoic compared to the other faces, this makes her go from "slightly happy, just chilling" to "slightly worried, something bad is about to happen"

Agreed on this.
Seeing it on my Lala too, like a bit of warmth has been sucked from the face.

(updated: I've filed in the bug report regarding this for lalafell)




Here's where the lips are casting shadows. The downward frown on the lips is even more pronounced:

[Turnintino]

For some reason in the benchmarks the clan marking are super blurry for no good reason and they also appear quite a few shades lighter which I don’t really like. You can also notice in this close up the eye shape has changed giving it a less angular appearance which makes him look softer which I’m also not a fan of

2 & 3) the lips and the face shape

I agree with the other points you made, but the reason the face markings look blurrier to you in comparison to your character's current face is because you're comparing it to a high-resolution upscale/repaint. I assume you forgot to turn that mod off before you took your screenshots.

In screenshots I took for the Japanese feedback thread, you can see the vanilla texture is actually noticeably lower resolution than what we see in the new benchmark. Although I agree that it could still stand to be upscaled further (especially in comparison to the female face markings, which look great, imo).



(My feedback, if it isn't obvious, was about the change in shape to nose option 1 and the loss of fullness in mouth option 2.)