eye strain and motion sickness in 7.5 alliance raid

[zodoXIV]

Dawntrail has really upped the vfx, and while it is a very beautiful game and I've always loved the visuals, it finally got to a point in the Windurst raid where I felt I could not continue playing to my best ability due to the screen effects and visuals. I first noticed motion sickness during the Sphene trial at the end of 7.0 where the floor tuns black with a green grid showing where the aoe will hit, but the alliance raid has taken it to a new level with the vfx throughout the raid and the clear floor + planet below during the second to last boss fight. I would also say the final boss was really tough on my eyes but they were already to the point of heavy strain that I didn't really know what was going on in the final fight. Safe to say I won't be playing this raid more than the one time to clear.

I've seen posts on socials warning about vfx and eye strain issues throughout Dawntrail, but this is the first time I felt affected by it to this degree. I already have limited and no battle effects for my party and others, but this does nothing for enemies.

If I've somehow missed a setting in game to lower enemy vfx I'd be happy to learn where it is. If it doesn't exist, a limited battle effects setting for enemies would be great to have added to the game.

[VictorSpoils]

Such is the life of a Plainsfolk. Their feeble eyes cannot filter out light as efficiently as those of a Dunesfolk.

[Avenheit]

the "floor" for the 2nd last boss really screws with my eyes

[zodoXIV]

Such is the life of a Plainsfolk. Their feeble eyes cannot filter out light as efficiently as those of a Dunesfolk.

who is a lalafell

[Valence]

I've never had real issues with this although I would lie if I said all the vfx clutter in dawntrail hasn't proven distracting or outright obfuscating in a lot of encounters.

However, what I can say for sure is that the last boss fight (the two phases) of this alliance raid literally managed to make me feel disoriented.

[Desna]

I don't know if you have them but as a person who suffers from dizzyness and a loss of balance etc because of an inoperable brain tumor, I've had to get pro-active in finding ways to counter my physical disabilities. Focus is an issue, if you're prone to vertigo/dizzyness one of your major issues is your eyes refusing to focus well. Blue light from an LED computer screen can make that worse. I got gaming glasses, because the blue light filter they put on my prescription glasses wasn't anywhere near up to the task and after some talks with my amazing optician, he helped me find gaming glasses that clip right onto my prescription glasses, they magnify a little bit, making it easier for my eyes to focus and they have a much more potent blue light filter than my prescription glasses have. The combination reduced the eye strain and made it easier for me to get and maintain clear focus during heavily active fights. I do agree, the new raid with the boss fight on the clear floor? WOW even with my set up I have to keep my eyes centered on specific things or vertigo happens during that fight. But, if you don't have them yet? Look into gaming glasses, the stronger the blue light filter the better, mine have almost orange lenses and I can FEEL my eyes relax when I put them on. It'll help a lot.

[RaionKansen]

Idk if this actually works, but Ive heard that putting a high contrast dot in the center of the screen can sometimes help with motion sickness in gaming.

[CCheshire]

Yes, I admit the VFX on the 1st boss is rough when my character config settings reset and I changed it again for the 2nd boss back to limited and none for others. I just had no idea what was going on in alot of the first time zones there.

Also, the entire Jeuno 1-3 series was rough on me when I already have it set limited to all VFX but most of the time I had no idea what the boss was doing in the confused mix of AoEs popping and spell effects just overwhelmed me often and way more of a problem than any other DT content. It's a shame since I want to farm the glams for the final one, but it's miserable to do them now that I'd done it once today.

Yes, I know there's millions of reasons someone will tell me here that it's impossible to reduce it, but I just hope that SE will think of doing less in the upcoming EC x Eva collab raids sigh.

[Alicat]

Very much agree. I am currently going through some awful headaches and having to keep track of them for my doctor. Last night I did the new raid and omg did I feel sick in that fight. The only part that was fine was the add phase. I would feel sick in the last nier raid with the building part. This brings it to a whole new level of unease. I strangely enough get motion sickness in the occult crescent and used to on my island sanctuary until I turned off look at x while speaking.

Hopefully with enough feedback they might change it a little so it’s less strenuous on the eyes. I honestly don’t want to have to do that raid again because that boss is so bad and it’s a shame as it’s so fun and well I wanna upgrade my gear and get the items from it.

[Gwenkatsu]

For me this started in the EW post MSQ patches. Half of Zeromus' AEs feel like someone is shooting a laser pointer in my eyes, while hitting my brain with a baseball bat. Never had this happen in any game before, nor do I have any problems with flashy lights in real life. So no idea what is so bad about modern FF14 screen effects, but it's really very effective in making me not want to interact with this content in any way.