Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain

[Ceridwenae]

Oi, thread. Back to the front page with you. Your graphics still need more accessibility options, you slackers.

[Vesplume]

Lucy Pyre mentioned this thread in a video and I'm very thankful for that, because there is only one other content creator that has and his take was "Well, I don't know what they want the devs to do, they're not going to undo the graphics update." even though he'd taken the time to read a bunch of other threads, he didn't take the time to look at any of the suggestions people have left here in the thread, and it was really heartbreaking.

Don't really care much for the opinions of "content creators" but it is sort of cathartic to see someone talk about this, even if it's just to point out the double standard of people saying that FFXIV is dumbed down for accessibility, when clearly the devs do not care about people having accessibility issues when we have been ignored completely for nine months now.

I know which other content creator you're talking about and I was disappointed by that too. I mentioned it in his comments in a prior video hoping that someone with a bigger platform might shed a bit more light on this. At the same time, most of the recent posts in the thread have just been bumps so there wasn't much to go on. There was more productive discussion right after 7.0 released and plenty of examples have been brought up from many different people using different platforms. That doesn't happen that much these days.

The reason is simple: People affected by these graphical issues have quit the game. They've outright said it. Why pay for something they can't even play?

I unsubbed from the game for my first time ever but came back after seeing comments that some of the issues had been fixed. I've been able to play for longer and even managed to get through the rest of Arcadion normal. The arena was so bright and the bloom so bad when I did the first fight that it made me sick, but I had less problems when I returned. What changed? The devs won't say because they won't even acknowledge there's a problem at all.

It's been pointed out by several people that options for graphical adjustments were removed in 7.0 and have yet to return. Not all of us are asking for a full rollback of the graphics update - simply the tools (on every supported platform) to mitigate or stop elements causing issues so we can play the game normally like we used to. Like everyone else does.

I didn't hate Dawntrail. I was actually pretty excited for some of the 7.1 content up until I rolled into Jeuno and it gave me a migraine so bad I started hoping my team would just leave my character dead. Even with the alleged adjustments, I haven't dared try it again. The Chaotic raids sounded like such a neat concept and I really wanted to try it, but why go to all that trouble of finding 23 other people to do it with only to realize I can't even look at the fight to prog?

[Vesplume]

I feel like almost all my comments on the forums are in this one thread and for the first time I hit the character limit LOL

Ironically the trouble here is visibility - we've been told the devs are aware of this but there's no telling if this is even a priority to deal with. It's not as big a problem as people complaining about Wuk Lamat for the nth time because more people are talking about that. It feels like it's better to keep it buried under all the other DT issues.

I've thought a lot about this issue and I'd be happy to compile a solid list of concerns and suggestions from this thread if I had any faith they were being listened to. Many players have attempted to bring light to this problem in different ways. Support tickets have been sent. Someone was given a direct email for accessibility issues but never got a response. It even apparently came up on the JP forums at one point. This thread has been going on for months and I would bet real dollars that it won't even warrant a mention in the next live letter. If content creators want to spread the word, I'm happy to help.

I still enjoy this game for a lot of reasons but SE sure makes that hard to do.

[zipkin]

Bumping the thread back to the front page. Still not so much as an acknowledgement of the accessibility issues created by the 'graphics update' last June. As Ainariel shared back on page 30, we've been advised to contact the Accessibility team at contact-accessibility@eu.square-enix.com in regards to this issue, as well as communicate via the forums, which this thread is for.

If you've got a spare moment, consider leaving a like on the thread in support. If you're experiencing similar issues, and have the energy for it, consider contacting the Accessibility team as well. We just want to play the game we've played for years, without pain, without eyestrain, without headaches, without nausea and motion sickness.

Quoting my own prior post mainly because I haven't got much more to add that hasn't been said before, but at least it's got more info than just... back to the front page :x

[Vesplume]

Quoting my own prior post mainly because I haven't got much more to add that hasn't been said before, but at least it's got more info than just... back to the front page :x

Thanks for quoting this! I don't remember seeing it in the thread, but did anyone ever get a response?

Also to the folks who have kept bumping this despite the lack of acknowledgment, I appreciate you for keeping the thread around. I didn't want to diminish that. It's just that this situation and how the devs have handled it made me too salty.

[CuteBucket]

Can you develop on what specifically makes them motionsick in the fight ?
Usually specific elements are to be targeted, and maybe there are accessibility tools that could be developed around those.

For the Zoraal Ja EX fight, I can't remember exactly what my friend said (I didn't really inquire further myself and respected their wish not to run that fight, but I think they said it was something about how you have to spin your camera around a lot to track the fire lines in that one middle part? I've only cleared the fight once, so I'm kind of rusty on what exactly it was. Something about having to track lines while moving the camera around though, I think.

For Sphene EX, once again, didn't inquire exactly what the problem was on a detailed level, only that it had something to do with the lights or effects going off causing eyestrain and headaches after more than a one or two pulls.

I've mostly been unaffected by the changes beyond thinking all the bloom effects are ugly and disliking the new "improved" character models, so I can't speak to my friends' experiences. But I felt I should chime in to say that even a person like me who hasn't been getting headaches or motion sickness is still being negatively affected by these graphical changes because the people I play with regularly are dealing with adverse effects that keep us from running content together, because I'm not going to force my buddies to run fights if it's causing them so much physical distress.

[RedDeathXR]

You can fix the horrible eye straining blur effects by forcing DLSS4 through Nvidia, but this causes other issues like weird artifacting with fog or some foliage in the far distance looking rather warped until you get up close. Whatever is going on with this game, it's SE's horrible implementation of upscaling with FSR and DLSS. This awful blur has been a strain on my eyes since this expansion has released. I'm honestly in shock that despite how long this thread has been going, we have gotten no word or any kind of update.

[zipkin]

Thanks for quoting this! I don't remember seeing it in the thread, but did anyone ever get a response?

Also to the folks who have kept bumping this despite the lack of acknowledgment, I appreciate you for keeping the thread around. I didn't want to diminish that. It's just that this situation and how the devs have handled it made me too salty.

Page 30, near the top, Ainariel received the instruction from the Support Centre to contact the accessibility email, to my knowledge they did not receive further replies.

Sent a ticket to the general support center regarding the new mount tilt & these new visuals which cause eye strain last week. Received this reply today:

Thank you for contacting the Square Enix Support Centre.

We are very sorry to hear that you are facing photosensitivity issues while playing FFXIV. Be advised that game feedback should be shared on the official FFXIV forums. Find forums link below:

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...086.1708014874

Alternatively, you can reach contact-accessibility@eu.square-enix.com to get in touch with the Accessibility team.
..
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,

The Square Enix Support Centre team

Basically, they're asking us to post feedback on these official forums (as we've already done), and we could also get in touch with the Accessibility team via that email address they mentioned. Already sent said team a message with detailed feedback.

On page 49 Wind-Krysvein made a post that is too long to quote, but they shared that they sent a more emotional message to the Support Center and got a reply that looked like it might actually have been from a person. The Support Center replied that acknowledgement of the graphics issues is not at the discretion of their team, but they would let the relevant team know that several players were upset. You can read Wind-Krysvein's quote of the messages they sent and received in their original post, towards the bottom of page 49.

I also spotted your post translating a Twitter post with a more general update, back at the bottom of page 51.

Otherwise... no, I don't see any updates from folks who sent messages/tickets/emails except that they HAD sent them and received no reply. Honestly, it seems to me like they're just waiting for us to give up so they don't have to acknowledge the issues. Feeling salty seems kinda reasonable after all these months of giving feedback as directed and still being ignored.

[TransgressorPterodactyl]

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[Anarnee]

Up watching the live letter, might as well bring this back to the top while I wait to be disappointed again.