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

[andrealfus]

i hadn't read the patch notes until a few days ago so i found out about this even specifically after a black ffxiv player i know expressed their disappointment over how different the style was going to be in game. even if the limitations of cbu3's particular hair modeling style made this particular style more difficult, i can't help but feel like they could've done a better job at representing the artist's original vision

as for japanese players not caring for curly hairstyles, while that may be true to an extent, i don't think favoring the opinion of any particular demographic of players over others is a good way to go. we've gotten almost exclusively ruler straight hairstyles for the past ten years, and this particular contest winner was meant to add some much needed curly representation to the game. it's a shame, especially given the care the team has been taking in authentically representing the various cultures that they used as inspiration for tural this expansion.

[Chesskyth]

Hello.

Thank you for all your feedback on the hairstyle that will be implemented in Patch 7.1. We would like to apologize for the major confusion we have caused.

For this patch, we started work to implement "Natural Curls" from the winning entries of the Hairstyle Design Contest, based on the idea of adding not only straight hair but also a variety of other hairstyles.

However, as the development work progressed, the light, delicate, and voluminous curls required for Natural Curls could not be implemented perfectly, despite implementation of the recent graphical update in FFXIV, due to limitations such as the polygon count.

Therefore, the finished result is a hairstyle that has not been implemented as Natural Curls, but as a wavy bob hairstyle, which is called "Doing the Wave" in-game.

However, since we did use the winning entry as a reference in the development process, we included a statement to that effect in the patch notes. We are deeply sorry that this has resulted in a great deal of confusion and concern.

Although we were not able to make it happen this time, the development team will continue to strive to implement many more hairstyles in the future. As for Natural Curls, which was not implemented in Patch 7.1, we will persevere in our efforts to look for other ways to implement this hairstyle.

We appreciate your feedback and hope you continue to enjoy FFXIV!

[DynnDiablos]

I think folks believing they will change the hairstyle are delulu. They said "inspired by" for a reason. Despite the hair looking like a wet mop. I wouldn't hold out hope.

[Dirwen]

The outrage was enough to get a community rep response. Too bad from the looks of things hairstyles will be limited in design so don't expect curls or even long hair I guess.

[Doragan]

For this patch, we started work to implement "Natural Curls" from the winning entries of the Hairstyle Design Contest, based on the idea of adding not only straight hair but also a variety of other hairstyles.

However, as the development work progressed, the light, delicate, and voluminous curls required for Natural Curls could not be implemented perfectly, despite implementation of the recent graphical update in FFXIV, due to limitations such as the polygon count.

Then, this has to change. Other competitors like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars II have figured it out already, and these have plenty of curly hairstyles. Same for Elden Ring, but that isn't a MMO, and poly count wouldn't so much of a concern.

Please do better, and sooner than in two years. Stumbling time is over.

Thank you.

[AstrologyBF]

Hello.

Thank you for all your feedback on the hairstyle that will be implemented in Patch 7.1. We would like to apologize for the major confusion we have caused.

For this patch, we started work to implement "Natural Curls" from the winning entries of the Hairstyle Design Contest, based on the idea of adding not only straight hair but also a variety of other hairstyles.

However, as the development work progressed, the light, delicate, and voluminous curls required for Natural Curls could not be implemented perfectly, despite implementation of the recent graphical update in FFXIV, due to limitations such as the polygon count.

Therefore, the finished result is a hairstyle that has not been implemented as Natural Curls, but as a wavy bob hairstyle, which is called "Doing the Wave" in-game.

However, since we did use the winning entry as a reference in the development process, we included a statement to that effect in the patch notes. We are deeply sorry that this has resulted in a great deal of confusion and concern.

Although we were not able to make it happen this time, the development team will continue to strive to implement many more hairstyles in the future. As for Natural Curls, which was not implemented in Patch 7.1, we will persevere in our efforts to look for other ways to implement this hairstyle.

We appreciate your feedback and hope you continue to enjoy FFXIV!

Not going to touch the speciousness of the “technical limitations” argument in 2024 (lol, lmao even), but I will point out that it is very telling that at no point did anyone on the development team see fit to contact the original artist - they found out *after* it was already becoming general knowledge.

Y’all need to stop having such a cavalier attitude towards fellow creatives.

[duckslap]

Thank you for the response. I would just like to add: if Natural Curls is implemented at a later date, I think it should be included in the default character creator, rather than as an unlockable hairstyle that would possibly require a hefty sum of gil. It wouldn't be fair on new players who want their character to have curly hair, especially those who are on a free trial and thus can't use the marketboard. I hope this is also taken into consideration.

[Caro178]

Not going to touch the speciousness of the “technical limitations” argument in 2024 (lol, lmao even), but I will point out that it is very telling that at no point did anyone on the development team see fit to contact the original artist - they found out *after* it was already becoming general knowledge.

Y’all need to stop having such a cavalier attitude towards fellow creatives.

I'm really not defending them but it's in the fine print of all contests that once you submit a design it doesn't belong to you anymore therefore they're under no legal obligation to contact you if the item is implemented into the game or if changes are made to it. SE is a company and companies thrive by their fine print. They never credit their fan artists outside of the collective "these were designed by fans".

[AstrologyBF]

I'm really not defending them but it's in the fine print of all contests that once you submit a design it doesn't belong to you anymore therefore they're under no legal obligation to contact you if the item is implemented into the game or if changes are made to it. SE is a company and companies thrive by their fine print. They never credit their fan artists outside of the collective "these were designed by fans".

I’m not under a legal obligation to return the shopping cart, but one still does so as a matter of interhuman respect.

[Bonoki]

I’m not under a legal obligation to return the shopping cart, but one still does so as a matter of interhuman respect.

This apples to oranges analogy is so wildly off base that I don't even know how to respond to this in a constructive manner.