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

[accidias]

The hair previewed in the patch notes looks cheap and gross, like a bad perm... rather than rushing out a bad style, I wish they had taken their time to properly implement the tight curls and texture :\ This was one of the most anticipated hairstyles too, so seeing it completely butchered makes me worry that all of the hairstyle contest winners will look bad.

[Anarnee]

I doesn't say that it's from a winning entry and they have been known to sometimes use entries that didn't win, so I wonder if it's one of the hairs that didn't win? They didn't do it with hair yet, but they do it with furniture all the time. They usually put "A winning entry from the FFXIV Hairstyle Design Contest is now available." and this it the only time I remember seeing it not say WINNING, it only says entry.

I hope it's not the one it's based on, but also worried that because people are not being particularly constructive about this that they won't try more curly hair in the future now. I personally was really excited to see them actually try to do something not straight, feels like the last time we got a curly hair was the afro and as someone with curly hair, I would really like to see many more curly hairstyles.

[Phyi]

Coming in to say that I also agree with everyone that looks awful and it is disrespectful to the artist of the entry.

[turali_mouse]

Posting in the forums for the first time, if that's supposed to be that contest winner it's truly abysmal. I hope, at least, that they take a better shot at it in the future if they can't do anything about it.

[slingbees]

I doesn't say that it's from a winning entry and they have been known to sometimes use entries that didn't win, so I wonder if it's one of the hairs that didn't win? They didn't do it with hair yet, but they do it with furniture all the time. They usually put "A winning entry from the FFXIV Hairstyle Design Contest is now available." and this it the only time I remember seeing it not say WINNING, it only says entry.

I was wondering this myself at first, but the sections of the hair are nearly identically placed, down to a couple of loose hairs at the roe's temple, I know they sometimes implement items (far more frequently than hair) that were not winning submissions, but this is too close, if this isn't the same hair I would hope they come out and address that in response to this thread, because with what we see on the public facing side, it's pretty unlikely it's anything else. It's far too similar not to be.

[firesreply]

I was really excited when I first saw the art, but the in game result is super disappointing

Very much hoping they will reconsider how this is implemented and make it look more like the art. There is so few options for textured hair in the game as is, it would be a shame to loose out on something that looks like the original art.

[rinzukodas]

Also in agreement with all those unhappy with this. I understand how busy the dev team must be, but I know they are capable of doing better than insulting an artist who took the time out of their schedule to try to draw something heartfelt for people who are already sorely underrepresented in this game's visuals. That they did not even try to implement the curly look is extremely disappointing.

[Astronis]

Yeeah this hair is terrible. I don't know if they could have made it properly curly (no one would want what Byregot has on his head as a player model), but what they did just looks goofy.

Though I'd like to note for the people hollering white white white white whiiiiiite for this...the devs are Japanese, and white people are far more likely to have hair as curly as the fan entry than Japanese people are.

[armoroad]

Not to bring up the taboo of third-party tools, but it is exceptionally disheartening when I see work posted on social media by players - mods - that use existing mesh parts and existing textures already in the game and still manage to create more impressive curls than this. People who receive no compensation for their work are creating better curly hair than this, and yet Square Enix's paid artists are falling this short?

The more this happens, the more I understand why some players feel cosmetics-related third-party tools are a necessity to see themselves inside the game. What is preventing Square from simply hiring these artists, or reaching out to collaborate if they are unsure of how to achieve these styles? Players create these styles for themselves, for no reason except love of the game, with no monetary compensation, on social media often; why can Square not achieve the same? If Square wanted to discourage third-party tool usage, these forms of representation should be available within the game itself.

[Alloragamer]

Also voicing my support and frustration. When I originally saw this in the patch notes I didn't even recognise which winner it was. I had to look through all the entries to even figure out which one it was.
The hair looks like waves, not curls, and it doesn't have the overall volume/fluffiness that the concept has.
Even if proper 5c curls aren't doable with the current setup, it would be nice to have actual curls of some sort and not waves.
This frustrates me as a player who just wanted to see more diversity in the hairstyles we have, even as someone who didn't plan on using the hair myself.
We have many hairs that are chin length or shorter and straight/lightly wavy, so the excitement for this hair was that it was fluffy and a texture completely unlike anything else we have.
I honestly just feel bad for the contest winner as this does not fit the spirit of thier design at all. And I'm not sure how you could even call this "natural curls" like the entry's name when there are no curls to speak of.