Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain

[Ishamaru]

I've been struggling with this severely throughout Dawntrail's MSQ too. Everything is just very flashy and there's a lot of eyestrain and photosensitivity related issues this time around. I deal with migraines and seizures, and I've had to permanently leave the Battle Effect settings on "Show Limited" because of this. Viper and Pictomancer are way too intense. Several of the areas are just way too flashy and full of eye straining effects, especially the Dawntrail zones.

Many of the dungeons, especially if they have moving effects or strong bloom or visual effects, cause so much eye strain that I've had to look away or just... stop playing. I've had to run a few Dawntrail dungeons with Duty Support so that I could go at my own pace too because I have no idea when a boss battle is going to leave me unable to continue.

Has anyone had issues with the final trial to Dawntrail specifically, however? It's so bad it delayed me finishing the MSQ for a week. I couldn't complete it the first time because it left me with a severe migraine, and had to abandon the group I was in because I was afraid of it getting worse. I was eventually able to complete it thanks to some suggestions to minimalize the visual impact (playing in a window with all the brightness settings at the lowest, and using the Windows Night Light feature), and the aid of a full group giving me a danger dorito so I could avoid looking at certain screen effects. But it still left me with a pretty bad headache.

If there isn't a way to reduce the battle effects and deal with the eyestrain, I'm probably going to have to significantly reduce how much I play FFXIV or stop altogether. Which sucks, but I don't really know what else to do at this point. :\

[Wind-Krysvein]

If there isn't a way to reduce the battle effects and deal with the eyestrain, I'm probably going to have to significantly reduce how much I play FFXIV or stop altogether. Which sucks, but I don't really know what else to do at this point. :\

I'd say cancel your subscription, bookmark this topic, and then go enjoy other games for a while. We'll share the news here as soon as something happens.

[Ishamaru]

I'd say cancel your subscription, bookmark this topic, and then go enjoy other games for a while. We'll share the news here as soon as something happens.

I mean, I'll know if something happens - my girlfriend also plays the game too. It just sucks that this is severely impacting our ability to play the game together. At least I got to see the ending to the MSQ thanks to the help of a premade group.

[gllt]

Late night bump.

I'm sorry so many people are struggling to enjoy DT over this

[Natsuki]

oh wow, a 35 page thread ! i'm not alone ! yeah the eye strain really is a thing for me also since DT i couldnt play for more like 15 mins, it has gotten better now to the point i can play for like an hour but then i really need to give my eyes a break !

i also tweaked some settings in the monitor and ingame but it doest work unfortunately, so more longer sessions of ffxiv for me unfortunately

[SongOfTheWind]

I have several friends already reporting how they can’t play due to migraines.

[Zakuyia]

Might help to get a blue shield monitor to reduece eyestrain

[Natsuki]

Might help to get a blue shield monitor to reduece eyestrain

Blue shield ? you mean that you filter out the blue light ? i think my monitor can do that ! or maybe possible with GPU software also ? thnx for the tip i'll have a look into it

[Wind-Krysvein]

With so many new people joining us here, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to please report their issues to the Square Enix support center, as well. The more people we have doing that, the better.

Furthermore, please link them to this topic too.

Might help to get a blue shield monitor to reduece eyestrain

This has already been discussed at length on this topic. The issue seems to go far deeper than anything that can be fixed with the usual "get gaming glasses" solution. Blue light reduction does nothing.

[Ainariel]

With so many new people joining us here, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to please report their issues to the Square Enix support center, as well. The more people we have doing that, the better.

Furthermore, please link them to this topic too.

When I contacted SE support regarding these eye strain issues a few weeks ago, they also provided this email address (their Accessibility team): contact-accessibility@eu.square-enix.com