New 7.1 hairstyle looks nothing like the winning hairstyle from the 2023 contest

[SkeleVee]

this is just downright disrespectful to both the original artist and to a huge portion of ffxiv's playerbase. there are literally threads on these forums from 7+ years ago made by POC begging for a hairstyle like this, and y'all spat in their faces.
I sincerely hope this is either pulled until it's fixed, it's fixed before patch drop or at very least updated later with proper textures

you made changes in the character creator when enough people talked about the Keeper Miqo'te fangs, and entire faces and eyes and other hairstyles so it's not out of your wheelhouse

you did so much research when working on DT to make sure that you respected LatinAm and indigenous cultures

non-white people exist

textured hair exists

do better, SE

[Jeeqbit]

Is hair good in this game in general?

[Livvy]

Adding my support to this thread.

I love FFXIV and have been playing since 2.0 launch. I've tried to get several of my Black and Brown friends into the game for years, but one of the reasons they rarely play past the benchmark is that they are unable to make a character that they can truly identify with and relate to. Hairstyles are a major part of that, due to the lack of textured hair (a lack of diverse facial features across all races/genders, like wide noses, is another big factor).

FFXIV is a game with a global player base. In the year 2024, 11+ years after 2.0 launch, not reflecting a wide range of ethnicities and identities in the character creator is a conscious choice, and an exclusionary one at that. The current implementation of this hairstyle design is just one example and reflection of how Black and Brown players have been underserved by FFXIV for many years.

I hope the team will listen to the feedback in this thread, learn from it, and take much greater care to offer more inclusive hairstyles and other features going forward.

[eternalmagic]

I know a TON of people who have been very excited for this style, and for two others as well. And initially I was happy at least seeing it be one of the first ones to be released--but I have to agree that this looks more like waves and less like actual curls. It definitely doesn't have the same feel that the original does just from looks. I actually wish it had been given more time in the oven, so to speak.

And barring the quality of the image (since the image is teeny), this just. Really doesn't look like the same hairstyle...I admit I usually never change mine, but I was definitely interested in how this one would look once it was implemented for use on alts.

[LukaLukaNightFeva]

This bothers me so bad, I was so excited for this hairstyle! XIV's customisation options are so paltry compared to other MMOs on the market now, which is so bizarre. Especially considering they've amended some of the issues relating to how the lighting interacts with darker-skinned characters. It feels like one step forward and two steps back.

The use of language is also very important, because if you look at the hairstyle they introduced in 7.0, they don't say "inspired by". They say they've implemented a winner from the design contest -- and it's a non-textured hairstyle. I hope Square Enix sort this out in one way or another, and learn to actually model textured hair properly. Barret has the same issue in FF7R, so it's clearly an issue across teams and not just with XIV's devs.

Like, c'mon, it's 2024. And we have enough short hairstyles adjacent to this that are straight or wavy textured anyhow. An easy way to fix this would to be just adding volume to it, as well, because that seems to be the main issue. It just looks soggy as it is now.

[Kilieit]

+1 to many. To me the textures look flat, like the shaders aren't working properly. Which, considering it's a brand new asset coming out just after a major graphics engine upgrade, is unacceptable. The original artist went above and beyond in their submission to illustrate how the style would be shaped - how the final release strays so far is beyond me.

And no, we don't buy "but it clips!" or "but the tech isn't there!" - there are lots of hairstyles that clip or that don't move 100% realistically and yet still look good when static. If it mattered, a way would be found. So the fact one hasn't suggests it doesn't matter to the devs - which is why so many people are upset over this issue, and have been for years.

If one uses the type 1 to type 4 hair categorisation system, there are currently NO, 0, zero, none, nothing, by way of type 3 hairstyles available to the vast majority of race/gender combos. This would have been one - and it came out looking like bleach-damaged type 2.

Do better.

[sylphlands]

Oof this is very disappointing. There are already basically no good choices for black hair or curls so I was excited that this submission won...very saddening, I hope they improve it.

[AstrologyBF]

Going to echo what others have said: this is not only nowhere near what the artist originally visualized but also falls into a continued pattern of whitewashing and poor representation. It's not acceptable for there to be such a paucity of textured hair options in any video game in 2024, much less in one trying to position and promote itself as being inclusive.

The developers need to do significantly better by their players of color, simple as that.

[truegriffin]

Thank you for making this thread. It's a shame that the texture of the hair in the original art was not respected, especially in an expansion that spent so much time on the ethnic and cultural diversity of Tural.

I make 3D art as a hobby, so I want to focus my comment on the argument that model limitations prevent Square Enix from implementing this hairstyle as it was drawn. Those who think it's not possible should remember that there are all sorts of hair and fur textures in the game already! It's just that those textures are almost exclusively shown on monsters and bosses. (This is, of course, its own issue...) Off the top of my head, Vauthry has long and wavy hair, and Belias the Gigas has a mane of loose, fluffy waves and curls. The Thunder God has literal cloud horns coming out of his head. Even the alpaca mount has lovingly textured fluff. And Byregot has undeniably curly hair.

Sure, none of the ones I mentioned are ringlets like in the original art, but my point is that Square is capable of a variety of textures from both real life and fantasy. I am certain it is possible to render a curly/coily style for player characters.

[Mneme]

Adding to the general consensus here that the hairstyle is not reflective of the original design in the least. Even using the word "inspired" is a bit of a stretch. Beyond the issues of whether or not this hairstyle looks like its inspiration, it's just... not good-looking. It's way too crunchy, and looks as though it was rushed out at the last minute. There are many excellent upcoming features of patch 7.1, but this is not one of them.