My own follow up on the graphics changes. 1/7

[Shadowbinder]

I posted in the past about my worries and issues with the DT graphics update and changes of the player models around the time DT came out. Even though some are outdated I would like to follow up on it and add new points since there have been changes since and also because of the worry that there won't be any big changes to characters after 7.1.

I'll add a link to my previous post here and at the end of my posts for the old pictures and thoughts I had then, for example how my character looked before the graphics update and more details. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...e-4-Benchmarks

I'll apologise ahead of time for how long this post will be.

I sadly didn't take pictures right after DT, but my opinions of how the character looked then matched my worries of the 2nd Benchmark and I couldn't give myself any motivation to play.

This is from august. I saw others putting the pictures inside a hidden box and thought that was a good idea since I don't know how to control the size of the pictures.

Aether

Thanalan

Her markings got much less noticeable from the original face. The eyes had gotten very milky and her pupils were very dilated to an uncomfortable amount. In some lights her face looked thin (like the Aether picture) and in others she looked puffy (like in the Thanalan picture) like she had stuffed food in her mouth. Her hair had gotten much more obviously blue in game rather than the brown tone you got before. Her eyebrows got really thin and the shadows weren't completely correct like how in the Thanalan picture one of her ears should have more shadow but doesn't. I also really dislike how her eyes went from catlike to doll-like. And she always looked like she was pouting, like her mouth is strained or tense more than Face 4 usually gave you. She had the prickles on her face here but they are actually gone now which is a really nice plus.

[Shadowbinder]

These are taken in July and are very important because this is where I actually felt like I had my character back for a short while.

Aether dark

Aether with Light

Thanalan

Her face shape was closer to the original, the eyes were actually solid and not milky. She got back what I call the lalanose where she has a bit of darkness that unlike the other times in the graphics updates just looked like she had rubbed her face in dirt. Her hair colour had returned to being brown and not obviously purple/blue and her highlights had become more muted again. She didn't look like she had stuffed food in her cheeks anymore and her eyebrows were updated but still looked close to the original. Her hair also stopped being greasy which had been an issue since the 1st Benchmark. Her eyes became a bit more catlike again as well. I felt excited to play the game again as it felt like I would play the game as "me", not a "new" character.

I felt like this was the best the character has been since the graphics update and really wish they would return to this again as this felt like an update not an exchange.

[Shadowbinder]

This was taken now, November.

Aether dark

Aether Light

Thanalan

She has gotten back the milky eyes the worst they have ever been for me. They are so milky she looks like she's going blind. She has some weird white powder on her face, almost like make-up, that makes her head look like it's on a foreign body as you can see the differences from the face colour and body colour. Her hair has gotten super greasy again and gone back to being blue instead of the brown mixed tone. Her cheeks are extremely puffy making her look even more pouty than ever before and childlike. Her eyebrows are angled slightly more down making her look grumpier. The ends of her lips are more down and her nose is slightly more upturned. The white line used to highlight around the mouth, nose and eyes is so bright that it sticks out in a bad way. And some floof from her ears is see-through rather than feathered. And her make-up doesn't really show up anymore with the red tones I have chosen.

[Shadowbinder]

Here are some pictures in game to showcase what can't be seen in character creation. The first and second is to show her milky eyes and her blue hair with purple tint (not the highlights). The third and fourth is to show the hair, the milky eyes more and trying to show the difference of the face colour and body colour. They're both taken in the same light to eliminate that difference. No matter what hairstyle I choose for her she always looks like she's been in the rain, that's how greasy her hair looks. The fifth is a better showcase of the colour difference of the face and body. She is facing a wall with no light, yet her face is much lighter than her body despite being in the same light level. You can see a clear cut from her face to her neck.

First and second

Third and fourth

Fifth

And with the current state of things, just as I thought, I really struggle with the scions. I don't like how they look at all now compared to before. (They looked good to me in the July update)

It would be one thing if they were just updated, and looked more like how they look in cinematic cutscenes. Not the trailers but in-game cinematic cutscenes to be as clear as possible. Before the character models looked very different when it was a cinematic cutscene than just a normal cutscene with no voice acting. They looked better in the former than the latter. That would have been enough personally.

I put great import on seeing how the characters react, including my own. I enjoy and want to experience the story of this game. I want to see. But I can't now, because every time I see my character it just makes me so upset I hide my face with the Ash Mask like many other people do as well.

I also struggle with knowing that there is a risk that my post becomes outdated before anyone can review it as changes are still actively being made but not as frequently as when the character models could change from hour to hour.

There have been times where I have logged in one hour and my character looks one way, to be completely different just the next hour, being in the same environment and same lighting conditions. How am I supposed to give feedback and pointers when it's never stable?

[Shadowbinder]

And sure, giving a fantasia was a nice idea, but when the face can changes from day to day they don't really mean much, do they? Some people used their fantasias because it was said that our character updates were done, so what about them? Just bad timing? That doesn't really feel fair and I have heard from many others how upset they have become over this.

I am fully aware that this has, in one way, become fully self-imposed, but in a way I have become effectively soft locked in the game now.

I can't progress in the story because I don't want to miss a cutscene by it being blocked by my mask nor get jump-scared by my ever changing face being forced to be shown like it is in some cutscenes. I can't do side quests for the same reason, I don't know which have cutscenes or not so I don't dare do them. Looking up what they do and which does what defeats the purpose for me, that's simply playing a game not engaging it in my personal case. I don't enjoy that and therefore don't want to do so.

I can level my classes that I already have unlocked, but I can't do any class quests. I can do beast tribes I have already unlocked until I reach a Rank Up quest, where the cutscene comes and blocks me there. I can't raid, I can't unlock new dungeons, I can't try out the harder content that now apparently is needed to enjoy the game as it was before and have a proper challenge as well as experience your class in full.

I'm just trapped at this time.

I still do the seasonals, but instead of making me excited like they did before they make me sad, strained and they feel like a great chore rather than a relaxing add on to this, in my opinion, too fast updating game. Updates are always good, but not when it feels like you're leaving a lot of your player base behind. I know some won't agree with me, but a lot of the people who would have left the game, either a while ago or now with Dawntrail.

I am also fully aware that this sounds harsh, but I have to be clear and honest with my feedback, otherwise what's the point?

I love this game, otherwise I wouldn't be here.

And there is a lot that looks so nice with the graphics update. I love the update to the skies depending on the time of day, the sunset and sunrise in particular are beautiful.

I like that clothes are 3D now and don't look painted on like some did before. I am so happy that we finally have proper eyeballs so you don't see a weird blocky edge when your character looks at something far away to their side. I like the updated hair strands, the dangling of earrings and hair ornaments. I like that Ul'dah got updated and looks better again and not like a very nice PS2 city. I like the fluffy grass in The Black Shroud and La Noscea, the updated natural light. The textures of the stones looking more bumpy than painted on is also wonderful.

[Shadowbinder]

In the environment there is so little to speak about. The ones I can think of is that metal looks extremely strange and fake, like plastic buffered with metallic paint. The light in the Shaded Bower stands in Gridania is still awful like a few expansions before and although the grass moving when you run through it is adding a bit more presence to your character and the effect that you have on the world around you, it breaks when the bigger bushes stand perfectly still breaking the immersion quickly.

Another immersion and frankly unplayable part of the new update for me is the mounts. Some mounts look ill when they run as if they are going to topple over which gives me great discomfort to use them. But the biggest issue is that I get nauseous being on them whether they are on the ground or in the sky and I just have to sprint around at the moment which just makes me miss the old 30 second cool down sprint, which I don't understand, now that TP is long gone, why it didn't revert back to that old cooldown.

This isn't me simply being uncomfortable and choosing this away like how I choose to hide my face, this is an unplayable feature for me and I don't get why it was implemented. It doesn't look realistic, it broke a feature which I personally had no issue with and it just looks terrible and is completely unusable for me.

You have asked for understanding and patience and I see the attempts to fix the characters clearly, so I will give you that.

But that doesn't mean I can't critique what's wrong or get upset when my character looks horrible.

I have played this game for over 10 years now, and it sucks to feel almost kicked out of or at least heavily restricted from a game I have loved for so long.

I want to play it. I want to build a house and decorate it. I love making glamours and trying out new things. I like doing hard content and I do like interacting with the other players. I have actually had days where I've wanted to play FFXIV, then I think of my character and all the wind goes out of my sails and I move on to something else.

I wouldn't write this post if I didn't care or wanted to help, and I'm sorry that it is so emotional but this game means a lot to me but I don't want to go further into it than that. But it is also hard to not get emotional when my face I've had for 10 years is gone.