Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain

[gllt]

Late night bump

[BunnyQueen]

Hello. After logging in today, I immediately noticed that the new, sharper graphics cause large amounts of eye strain for me. Talking to other people, it seems I'm at least not the only one with this issue (even if we're obviously a minority). No amount of fiddling with the graphics settings has helped alleviate the problem.

I know it's hopeless to request stuff like this, but please consider allowing players to use the old graphics (or allow us to downgrade the new ones in a way that prevents this eye strain problem) so that we can continue playing FFXIV. Currently, the eye strain caused by the game is really strong, to the point where playing the game for even 15 minutes was enough to force me to stop. FFXIV is really important to me, and I don't want that experience to end because of this.

If you've had similar experiences, please reply below and let the devs know that this is an issue worth addressing. Also, please consider reporting your experiences directly to the Square Enix support center, as well.

I agree 100% with this.

[Wind-Krysvein]

Bumplander 3: The Bumperer

[Wind-Krysvein]

Bumpy Potter 4: The Bumplet of Fire

[Erinellza]

The sad thing is that my crafters are still not maxed because I can't play for more than an hour without getting a headache and burning eyes. Back in EW I maxed them in a few days, lol. Now I'm lucky if I can do a couple of roulettes. I miss nolifing XIV.

[MagicPeanut]

Wow, I never connected that the new graphics could possibly be the reason for my eye strain! I like to play in the dark mind you, but still, I had never had these problems to this extent before. I actually saw an eye doctor about this too, I was so concerned. I even went out of my way to buy some lights you stick to the back of your TV so I could have subtle/ambient lighting in the dark. (I get more immersed when playing games in the dark.) Either way, it eventually got to the point I decided to just play with the lights on and only turn them off for big important moments.

I’m relieved to see I wasn’t the only one suffering with this. I can’t even play as long as I used to anymore. It’s a bummer and gives me FOMO for some of the content.

[gllt]

I've just been playing lots of old school RuneScape

[Klauth]

Snip

No ophthalmologist will save your eyes from the majority of changes/bugs they introduced.

I'm done trying to expose issues to the devs/moderators. This is not because i don't want a change or lack of detailed communication from my part, but because they don't seem to care and downplay them as intended features.

Since the launch of patch 7.0 (28th June) it has become clear to me, that the moderators of this forum don't even bother reading the entirety of the posts even when put under the bug section exposing issues that directly affect players ability/senses to play the game, and downplay them as features.

The convoluted part:
If you don't give alternatives in giving continuaton to a "bug fix" that you move to "working as intended" and its still affecting players, the only option by your own forum moderation logic (as you have shown so far) is to open a new thread AGAIN under the bug reports AGAIN, that you will allways mark as duplicated in an insanity loop. Even when the new bug thread is clearly giving more detailed information.

Example:
This bug report was posted in 28th june and later moved to "working as intended". Players raised the same concern under technical and general sections, then in two technical threads it was asked to be opened as a bug thread by a forum moderator, it was done and later moved as a "duplicate post", this latest attempt had the format asked with all the health concerns raised.

Good luck to all the people suffering from mount tilting, blurry effects, bloom, reflections, and the surprise change in the luminance gamma which is an underliying issue that makes the game base brightness higher as MagicPeanut complains in the quoted bit.

Just a tip for the devs the next time they decide to make across the board graphical changes/introductions.:
Give players on/off options, sliders and drop down menus, because if you take this path of graphical improvements you put yourself into the position to compete against most modern games that also do it but actually have the sanity to give ingame options for the mentioned settings.

A more personal observation to end my post count in these forums.:
Most of the game visuals were fine before 7.0, you didn't need to introduce such a drastic graphical update, now you're left with a huge mess to sort out between old areas of the game and the new expansion pack areas, even the old battle/skill effects clash with new 7.0 ones in clarity and brightness intensity forcing your players to adjust settings depending on the encounters (i've tried the raids and dungeons from ARR to DT, its a mess).
If people thought it was bad just during MSQ and some new content they're in for quite a ride. Peace out.

[Erinellza]

Just a tip for the devs the next time they decide to make across the board graphical changes/introductions.:
Give players on/off options, sliders and drop down menus, because if you take this path of graphical improvements you put yourself into the position to compete against most modern games that also do it but actually have the sanity to give ingame options for the mentioned settings.

Exactly. We got a so-called "graphics update" but now we have less graphics customization options/settings. I'm absolutely baffled by this horrible decision. :|

[Mecia]

Might as well mention it here as well. The sharpening filter introduced desaturates and gives the overall image a black and white chromatic aberration like effect. Not an eye strain per se but it makes the game ugly. Needs a toggle.