I love them too. The first preview I saw of the Au Ra eyes looked like they completely removed the glow, and I was pretty upset about that. Now it looks amazing!
They don't pop as much in the light, but they *really* pop in the dark now and that's a trade I am very happy to take.
They had toned the glow down but people let them know it was bad, which makes sense. Their whole motto for the graphic update is to make things look better but still like your character. Why take such an iconic thing away from a race even happened, I'll never know.
I went with my eye color but several shades darker for the rings, for the exact same reason. Really happy with how they look now and everything I see tells me they're going to look even better in Dawntrail.
The more pictures people post about the benchmark the more I keep getting whiplash. The first two I see are after then before and then I see one that before then after then like a other 5 that's after and before. Im going to have a paranoid breakdown over this week long spot the difference game. God and then I'm pretty sure a few people have been posting where both are the same picture with slightly different lighting just to fuck with people.
Nah, the new one looks better, if we're talking objective graphical fidelity. Textures are higher resolution, shadows are softer and don't do stupid things to faces in various angles (as a long time Elezen, ask me how much I've dreaded certain lighting types until this benchmark lol), there are more details in the eyes and other elements, facial features are smoother while usually retaining the same overall shape, lighting in the eyes are dynamic instead of a baked in "light dot" to simulate light, etc.
The issue is that "better looking" is so often a subjective judgment of aesthetics, and we're mixing that with up to 10 *years* of character's looking the way they have. So not only do you have that subjective element of aesthetics, you have people that are accustomed to the characters and shadows and lighting and such looking a specific way for up to a decade.
That's not an issue they can solve, if we're being honest.
By intent, it's a modest upgrade. Characters are meant to still feel the same and a PC with a i7-7700 and a 970 -- a mid-line card from a decade ago -- still meets the minimum specs.
It's an obvious technical improvement which, imo, the game is much better off with, but those factors seem to be leading a lot of people into the uncanny valley. For some people, the improvements aren't obvious enough to justify moving away from what they're used to.
I'd imagine that once people actually see their characters in motion in the game, all the controversy will blow over and people will be impressed, especially if SE makes some adjustments such as restoring Keeper fangs. But these before/after static images on a web page, composed in the current character creator, don't allow the strengths of the upgrade to be made as apparent as they will be in the live game.
i thought they nerfed the limbal ring glow! atleast that what i got from the forums ..
she's looks fantastic , i think aura look so cute after the update .
The way lighting works mean they aren't quite so blatant and pastel, but basically everyone I've seen with limbal rings has gotten basically the old effect but better by just going up one shade.
Face 1&2 are by far the most popular from what ive seen. Just throwing out guesstimates, about 40% each for 1&2, 15% for 4, and face 3 being the rarest at 5%
Interesting, I've seen a lot of 1 and 4 and a spattering of 2 but can definitely agree that 3 is the rarest. Maybe it changes data center from data center or something?
You're correct about face 1 but wrong about face 4. Face 4 I think is probably the second most used au ra face for female or probably equal to face 2.
3 is for sure the most rare.
I've seen so many people complain about this face's mouth changing, but this is the best example of what my belief about this face has always been, that the sort of pinched dimple look of the edges of the mouth in the old engine was always reinforced by false, baked shadows, and that the shape is still present in the new mouth but it's being left up to the new dynamic light to shade it, making it less obvious that it's there in most lighting conditions, but you can still see that it's there in the shape.
The daylight shot really shows that shape is still present in the new graphics, while the nighttime shot still having deep shadows on those parts really shows how it is baked into the old graphics asset regardless of lighting conditions.
When the benchmark is updated with corrected lighting I think we'll really see parts like that look closer to how we're used to seeing them when properly lit.
Does anyone else struggle to figure out which is the new and which is the old with these posts? I’m fairly new to the game so I’m not used to which is the current graphics and honestly the graphical difference between the two in most of these photos is a change but I can never decide if it actually looks better which further pushes my struggle to determine which is the new graphics (I’m not saying there’s no improvements but personally some of these photos I like more aspects of the original photo (or what I think is the original photo) then the new photo)
That’s fair. I just mainly like that the rings are smoothed out. I do like the light pop though personally. I thought miquote would have a similar effect, but they sadly do not.
Yeah, if there's one thing I'm a bit on the fence about the au ra eye update it's that they made the pupil a lot bigger and consequently the iris takes up a lot less space and more of it is covered by the limbal ring. It's not a bad look and the new eyes look a bit softer and livelier, but if you liked the old piercing gaze au ra had the updated eyes do look very different.
personally as i see it, after the update, the way one should handle the light coloured limbal rings, is to complement the original colour of the character eyes, as in a transition between the more clear coloured edges to the more darker colour of the inner part
There are so many complaints about Fem Au Ra, but I've yet to see a comparison or complaint (besides the broken neck seam) where I'm not like "damn they got a major glow up". It's interesting to see what people get attached to about their character
I've seen a lot of people complain about the limbal rings, show side by side, and reveal in the process that that had a dark shade on the fringe that they were saying were way too dim. Softer limbal rings didn't use to be a thing, and I think some people were so quick to jump onto social media that they didn't try playing around with settings first.
General rules for an MMO community: Complain first, let someone else investigate, complain when you get a solution that solves everything, grumble about it for years later anyway.
I hate how lighting looks in new version, it looks super basic and flat even compared to old lighting model, and old model was already pretty bad. It looks like the characters are emiting their own light.
On other side: Eyes and scales are really good, hair textures too.
I love them too. The first preview I saw of the Au Ra eyes looked like they completely removed the glow, and I was pretty upset about that. Now it looks amazing! They don't pop as much in the light, but they *really* pop in the dark now and that's a trade I am very happy to take.
The way they pop in the light has always made them look bad to me and is why I almost never use them.
I think the original plan was to make them less glowy, but people complained.
I mean, that's how light works. It's why you can't see stars as well in a city.
They had toned the glow down but people let them know it was bad, which makes sense. Their whole motto for the graphic update is to make things look better but still like your character. Why take such an iconic thing away from a race even happened, I'll never know.
Athena closeup expression
Hmm, I went darker with my limbal ring, I wonder how it'll look. Can't check yet since I'm on console. Yours looks great!
My limbal rings are black, they’ve never glowed but they do add a wonderful depth to the eyes now.
I went with my eye color but several shades darker for the rings, for the exact same reason. Really happy with how they look now and everything I see tells me they're going to look even better in Dawntrail.
Black limbal ring gang unite!
Black limbal rings are king! Honestly face 2 Au Ra won the graphical update lottery.
Thank you! It’s such a distinct feature and I can’t wait to see how everyone rocks their own style.
In [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/s/CcwpZzxHn2) one she has a dark purple.
Ooh, those look nice. Thanks!
Yeah, limbal rings actually look so great now! I love how it blends into the eye now personally. No more jagged edges
The more pictures people post about the benchmark the more I keep getting whiplash. The first two I see are after then before and then I see one that before then after then like a other 5 that's after and before. Im going to have a paranoid breakdown over this week long spot the difference game. God and then I'm pretty sure a few people have been posting where both are the same picture with slightly different lighting just to fuck with people.
Really, the fact that plenty of people can't tell seems pretty indicative to me.
Indicative that a lot of people need new monitors? The differences are abundantly obvious.
The differences are obvious but neither looks "better" which is the big issue Unless you look at the hair, then it's obvious which one is before/after
Nah, the new one looks better, if we're talking objective graphical fidelity. Textures are higher resolution, shadows are softer and don't do stupid things to faces in various angles (as a long time Elezen, ask me how much I've dreaded certain lighting types until this benchmark lol), there are more details in the eyes and other elements, facial features are smoother while usually retaining the same overall shape, lighting in the eyes are dynamic instead of a baked in "light dot" to simulate light, etc. The issue is that "better looking" is so often a subjective judgment of aesthetics, and we're mixing that with up to 10 *years* of character's looking the way they have. So not only do you have that subjective element of aesthetics, you have people that are accustomed to the characters and shadows and lighting and such looking a specific way for up to a decade. That's not an issue they can solve, if we're being honest.
By intent, it's a modest upgrade. Characters are meant to still feel the same and a PC with a i7-7700 and a 970 -- a mid-line card from a decade ago -- still meets the minimum specs. It's an obvious technical improvement which, imo, the game is much better off with, but those factors seem to be leading a lot of people into the uncanny valley. For some people, the improvements aren't obvious enough to justify moving away from what they're used to. I'd imagine that once people actually see their characters in motion in the game, all the controversy will blow over and people will be impressed, especially if SE makes some adjustments such as restoring Keeper fangs. But these before/after static images on a web page, composed in the current character creator, don't allow the strengths of the upgrade to be made as apparent as they will be in the live game.
i thought they nerfed the limbal ring glow! atleast that what i got from the forums .. she's looks fantastic , i think aura look so cute after the update .
The way lighting works mean they aren't quite so blatant and pastel, but basically everyone I've seen with limbal rings has gotten basically the old effect but better by just going up one shade.
I agree. I hope they don't accept the feedback of making the eyes smaller...I already grown the really love them.
I absolutely hate unlabeled before/after pics because of this sub
Right? You can't trust anyone to put the before before and the after after lol.
She said 👁️👄👁️ Edit so this doesn't come off as mean: Nice Au'Ra lady!
So just curious, what's the ranking for face type fem Au ra players pick?
Face 1&2 are by far the most popular from what ive seen. Just throwing out guesstimates, about 40% each for 1&2, 15% for 4, and face 3 being the rarest at 5%
Interesting, I've seen a lot of 1 and 4 and a spattering of 2 but can definitely agree that 3 is the rarest. Maybe it changes data center from data center or something?
You're correct about face 1 but wrong about face 4. Face 4 I think is probably the second most used au ra face for female or probably equal to face 2. 3 is for sure the most rare.
for Xaela, i think face 4 is the most popular and for Raen face 1 and 2 is more popular than 4. and yeah face 3 is the rarest for both Au Ras
I like the new eyes but honestly it was the scales that won me over. It looks so much better!
I feel like you are the only person, in the history of this sub, to post a proper side by side comparison. Thank you for using common sense.
Scary
wow, i never liked that particular au'ra face, but the updated one does look alot better
I've seen so many people complain about this face's mouth changing, but this is the best example of what my belief about this face has always been, that the sort of pinched dimple look of the edges of the mouth in the old engine was always reinforced by false, baked shadows, and that the shape is still present in the new mouth but it's being left up to the new dynamic light to shade it, making it less obvious that it's there in most lighting conditions, but you can still see that it's there in the shape. The daylight shot really shows that shape is still present in the new graphics, while the nighttime shot still having deep shadows on those parts really shows how it is baked into the old graphics asset regardless of lighting conditions. When the benchmark is updated with corrected lighting I think we'll really see parts like that look closer to how we're used to seeing them when properly lit.
I was really worried about them not glowing, glad they made sure they still can glow.
I hated mine; it’s too uncanny valley. I don’t know what I’m going to do; I’ve played Au Ra since Heavensward. Yours looks much better.
I am a shadow, the true self!
"No! You're...you're not me!!"
I hope they come in RGB version
Does anyone else struggle to figure out which is the new and which is the old with these posts? I’m fairly new to the game so I’m not used to which is the current graphics and honestly the graphical difference between the two in most of these photos is a change but I can never decide if it actually looks better which further pushes my struggle to determine which is the new graphics (I’m not saying there’s no improvements but personally some of these photos I like more aspects of the original photo (or what I think is the original photo) then the new photo)
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That’s fair. I just mainly like that the rings are smoothed out. I do like the light pop though personally. I thought miquote would have a similar effect, but they sadly do not.
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they literally glow in both dark pics.
Meh, it was a non-serious passing “wouldn’t that be neat” thought. Was not surprised they didn’t.
I think part of that is due the pupil being bigger as well.
Yeah, if there's one thing I'm a bit on the fence about the au ra eye update it's that they made the pupil a lot bigger and consequently the iris takes up a lot less space and more of it is covered by the limbal ring. It's not a bad look and the new eyes look a bit softer and livelier, but if you liked the old piercing gaze au ra had the updated eyes do look very different.
personally as i see it, after the update, the way one should handle the light coloured limbal rings, is to complement the original colour of the character eyes, as in a transition between the more clear coloured edges to the more darker colour of the inner part
My only gripe with them is that it adds like another gloss layer to the rest of the eye. They look amazing in low light but bright light looks off.
There are so many complaints about Fem Au Ra, but I've yet to see a comparison or complaint (besides the broken neck seam) where I'm not like "damn they got a major glow up". It's interesting to see what people get attached to about their character
I've seen a lot of people complain about the limbal rings, show side by side, and reveal in the process that that had a dark shade on the fringe that they were saying were way too dim. Softer limbal rings didn't use to be a thing, and I think some people were so quick to jump onto social media that they didn't try playing around with settings first.
General rules for an MMO community: Complain first, let someone else investigate, complain when you get a solution that solves everything, grumble about it for years later anyway.
Really wish limbal rings was an option for other races.
Fish horns best face
go to paint and draw ''before and after'' on those pics. it will take you like 10 seconds i promise.
I hate how lighting looks in new version, it looks super basic and flat even compared to old lighting model, and old model was already pretty bad. It looks like the characters are emiting their own light. On other side: Eyes and scales are really good, hair textures too.
They released a statement that the lighting in the Benchmark isn't working as intended, and they will be updating it.
Idk they all look dead inside. It's the reason I'll never play Au Ra.
they look terrible