Characters looking different :/

Shanaeri Rynale

Shanaeri Rynale

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2005

DVDF(Forums)

Me/N

Gaile,

One more to add and hopefully it's an easy one. I still have my PvP dervish left over from the PVP beta weekend. She had a long tumbling pony tail which looked uttlerly fantastic. It's now been changed to a more orderly decorated one, which looks ok but is kinda too neat and tidy.

I'm hoping the original one will be an option as it did look fantastic.
I also think the face totally changed but i'll wait and see what choices there are come Friday

If they have been replaced, please put them back. for meeee, pleeessseee I'll save you a choclate chip charr cookie..

Thanks again

PS very happy with my makeover..

Zinger314

Zinger314

Debbie Downer

Join Date: May 2006

N/Me

BEFORE:


AFTER


My eyes are now huge and my lips are smaller. Cuter, but a little less badass.

EDIT: My cheeks are also much plumper. WTB Liposuction.

LifeInfusion

LifeInfusion

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

in the midline

E/Mo

Just in time for Halloween???

Ron vo

Ron vo

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

arizona

Insert Witty Guild Name

A/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightsaber Sith
My necro looks kinda wierd with the lighting on the new login screen
o_O weird? more like pure evil in a convient package

Lex

Lex

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by aspectacle
Mesmer before and after:

Heh - i see the same face model as my mesmer - AND the same problems - dark lines/shadows near eyes and lips (check my previous posts in this thread)

Athena99

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2006

NPR

A/

before:

after:


my assassin. her face probably changed but it doesnt really matter to me cause she always wears a mask anyway

and sorry about the crappy before pic, it was the only one i could find

and here is my ranger, but she doesnt really have the face problem cause masks are awesome

ElinoraNeSangre

ElinoraNeSangre

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2006

Near Seattle, WA

Talionis De Cineris [EXUR]

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shanaeri Rynale
She had a long tumbling pony tail which looked uttlerly fantastic. It's now been changed to a more orderly decorated one, which looks ok but is kinda too neat and tidy.
Yes yes please! That pony tail was my favorite hairstyle from the PvP weekend (and I noticed there was one for rangers, too... ).

I want to go home so I can check out the changes to my chars faces. Bah work be over...

Healing forces

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Feb 2006

15k Luxion armor missing earings. Ears a little dumboish too ive seen on some charcters.

Ulivious The Reaper

Ulivious The Reaper

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

The Shadowed Assassins

W/Mo

To be honest i like the new look they gave my monk ^.^ her face is more crisp and looks real, compared to the old ones, i'll get pics up here soon

Innuendo

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aera Lure
I have said for a long time that many faces offered in Prophecies, and even many in Factions, indeed look pretty poor, limiting available character creation options. Itd be nice to see some additional ones added. Itd also be nice to have a few great looking ones in addition to the several with truly odd facial expressions (to my own eye anyway).

This doesnt mean going in and re-designing the faces we have chosen carefully for characters we have spent hundreds, some thousands, of hours on. We chose them for a reason. Subjective yes, but we liked them, and grew to like them. Some may like one face or another better, but changing an original face to something else, even if you think those changes minor, changes the original character choice. Anet cant do that without giving us then the ability to make a new face choice.

Better yet, change them back. There is no way I am creating characters over from scratch and a couple of the faces I truly liked have changed into something I do not at all.

Anet has to reconsider this. Add more facial options for new character creation. Great. I might make a new one. Add the ability perhaps to make a one-time change of facial choice if you are intent on changing them however. Changing existing faces please no one and is more disastrous than the grumbling about the interface changes. We all chose faces we liked when we looked at them for the first time. Now the majority of mine I like less - granted a couple better - but that is not the point.

Truly perplexed at this "logical" business choice. What is not good for the existing players with existing chracters is not a good business choice.

If ANet is truly looking at this thread to assess what the player base thinks of the changes made, then they need to strongly consider the words above.

Restating the above

If you make changes to a currently existing characteristic of a toon, which is in use by many players, then you need to give them the option to choose something else if they are not satisfied. If you want to make them high rez then do just that. There isn't any need to change color or facial structure. Save those for completely new faces.

Katina

Katina

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2006

Center of Attention

Dangerous And Moving [DM]

E/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by ElinoraNeSangre
Yes yes please! That pony tail was my favorite hairstyle from the PvP weekend (and I noticed there was one for rangers, too... ).
I liked it as well. There should be more longer hairstyles, especially ones that aren't in pony tails. Something long!

I like the Mesmer face with the eyeliner and what appears to be tears? I don't know, something about it I like.

Arwen Shiningstar

Arwen Shiningstar

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

Arizona

Absence of Evidence [AoE]

Mo/

My necro is supposed to be scary not smiley faced. She looks like the joker from batman now And I dont even know what to say about my buck toothed rit

bucktooth tiamat.jpg

ugly mistress.jpg

Lynxius

Lynxius

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynxius Pardonus
Ok everyone.

I will present to you my lovelly asian faced, tyrian born monk ( one of my favorite characters )
Keep in mind that the before pictures were taken in dark places without much light.


Before:

_______________________________________________

After:


I think I noted some differences mainly on the eye shadow, and some parts near her lips, maybe her eyes too.
I took screenshots of her face from diferent angles, I tought it might help.

Just wanted to say that I like how she is like now.

Feedback from other users here is greatly apreciated, I wish to know what you think about my character, and if the changes were for better or for worse, you have my thanks in advance.

Would rather you kept her how she is at the moment.
Thank you A-Net.

-Lynxius

PS- Gaile Gray, I hope you may find my contribution usefull.
Bumping for my monk, and adding also my rangers facial change:
(zoomed in Lips next to original picture)


Before:




_____________________________________________

After:





Given the lip zooms, i noticed the teeth are possibly better detailed(which I apreciate) , and also the mouth slightly more open.

Once again, im open to Comments.

Sable Phoenix

Sable Phoenix

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aera Lure
I have said for a long time that many faces offered in Prophecies, and even many in Factions, indeed look pretty poor, limiting available character creation options. Itd be nice to see some additional ones added. Itd also be nice to have a few great looking ones in addition to the several with truly odd facial expressions (to my own eye anyway).

This doesnt mean going in and re-designing the faces we have chosen carefully for characters we have spent hundreds, some thousands, of hours on. We chose them for a reason. Subjective yes, but we liked them, and grew to like them. Some may like one face or another better, but changing an original face to something else, even if you think those changes minor, changes the original character choice. Anet cant do that without giving us then the ability to make a new face choice.

Better yet, change them back. There is no way I am creating characters over from scratch and a couple of the faces I truly liked have changed into something I do not at all.

Anet has to reconsider this. Add more facial options for new character creation. Great. I might make a new one. Add the ability perhaps to make a one-time change of facial choice if you are intent on changing them however. Changing existing faces please no one and is more disastrous than the grumbling about the interface changes. We all chose faces we liked when we looked at them for the first time. Now the majority of mine I like less - granted a couple better - but that is not the point.

Truly perplexed at this "logical" business choice. What is not good for the existing players with existing chracters is not a good business choice.
Absolutely, 100% correct, and ANet had best take these words to heart.

As an example, my wonderfully alluring Arabian Elementalist changed into a pouty-lipped baby-face:



My Elementalist's face has completely changed. The changes are very subtle, but they result in a totally different character. It's not the one I made or played with for almost 800 hours. And don't give me any of that crap about it being "superior art" or "crisper and cleaner textures" or any of that. Guess what? I don't care. What I do care about is that my character has been destroyed.

It would be so easy to fix this too. Move the center vertex of the top lip down to close her mouth, move the three center vertices of both eyelids downwards slightly, and scale about four or five vertices on each side of her jawline in towards the center. Boom, fixed, done, without damaging the rigging or UV mapping or anything.

The irony here is that the changes are so subtle that they would be ridiculously easy to fix, yet this very subtlety practically guarantees that they won't be. So I'll be stuck with a character whom I did not create and whom I don't find at all attractive, but I'll be told that I should like it better because it's "improved art" and "crisper textures".

Or, you know... you could just move 17 vertices and fix it...

Zinger314

Zinger314

Debbie Downer

Join Date: May 2006

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynxius Pardonus
Given the lip zooms, i noticed the teeth are possibly better detailed(which I apreciate) , and also the mouth slightly more open.

Once again, im open to Comments.
The Paris Hilton look is the new "it."

In the meantime, I need to adapt my avatar...

Lex

Lex

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinger314
In the meantime, I need to adapt my avatar...
Maybe wait a little for fixes... I hope to see any "soon"

MelechRic

MelechRic

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

RA

[ODIN]

N/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by ojo
Oh no! I thought I wasn't going to get hit with this. Poor poor Katrina! She's gonna look startled all the time!

Whispering Siren

Whispering Siren

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Maryland

I've noticed (in character creation) that a lot more of the female mouths are now open or open wider. Ones that were closed before, are open, etc. Personally, I don't like that at all. It seems to be the trend for Anet though... almost all of the Canthan mesmer faces have open mouths. Nevermind some of them now have rotting teeth!

It seems my characters escaped relatively unscathed. I don't know that I like the deeper shadows on the face, but I guess that's okay. (EXCEPTION: the harsh or misplaced shadows and the odd lines).

Many of us spend a lot of time choosing our characters' looks - even subtle changes in the face can be a whole personality change for the character. I definitely agree that our character art should not be changed without giving us a choice for something else.

Now would be the time to give us that hairdresser/face changer NPC.

ducktape

ducktape

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2005

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Innuendo
If ANet is truly looking at this thread to assess what the player base thinks of the changes made, then they need to strongly consider the words above.

Restating the above

If you make changes to a currently existing characteristic of a toon, which is in use by many players, then you need to give them the option to choose something else if they are not satisfied. If you want to make them high rez then do just that. There isn't any need to change color or facial structure. Save those for completely new faces.
/signed, agree as well. Don't mess with peoples' faces and/or hair in a way that makes the faces and/or hair look different. Especially do not mess with faces and/or hair and make them look different and then not give the option to change it, leaving players stuck with something they did not choose and cannot change.

aspectacle

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rafal
Heh - i see the same face model as my mesmer - AND the same problems - dark lines/shadows near eyes and lips (check my previous posts in this thread)
I saw that. I just thought that the before and after comparison was too good to pass up, because the lighting made her look just plain awful. On the log in screen she looks like she's been crying and her mascara has run. In complimentary lighting she looks fine.

I had a look at the tyrian faces on the PvE new character creation screen last night - the ones with the polygon/blending problems seem to stand out pretty well - but you can't pick out the ones which have changed so completely that they're an entirely new face!

Plushie Penguin

Plushie Penguin

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

That plushie penguin on a shelf in your bed room

Rt/E

I got two minor problems, my necro is a little too happy, and my warrior needs more sleep, or less pink eye shadow

but my ritualist has now traded her good skills for orange lip stick![which I kind of like better then what it was]

katscratched

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Nov 2005

Yada Yada [Yada]

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynxius Pardonus
Ok everyone.

I will present to you my lovelly asian faced, tyrian born monk ( one of my favorite characters )
Keep in mind that the before pictures were taken in dark places without much light.


Before:

_______________________________________________

After:


Just wanted to say that I like how she is like now.

Would rather you kept her how she is at the moment.
Thank you A-Net.

-Lynxius
My monk has the same face, and personally, I'm very displeased. I think my monk's face looks chubby, and awkward everytime its illuminated. I'm glad you like it, but it just looks weird.
As noted by someone else earlier, this face also has the grey triangles next to her lips. I think they're trying to allow for our characters to speak in cinemas, but I really hope that having visible weird grey marks isn't necessary

I know that if they don't fix this, I will just have to get used to it, but my monk is by far my favorite character. I noticed her face looked wrong immediately after the update.

So, I understand that while some facial changes may have been necessary for new features, I hope the artists and programmers can work together to find something a little more harmonious and closer to what we had. *sigh*

Gaile Gray

Gaile Gray

ArenaNet

Join Date: Feb 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by katscratched
So, I understand that while some facial changes may have been necessary for new features, I hope the artists and programmers can work together to find something a little more harmonious and closer to what we had.
Absolutely. Changes are being worked on even as I write.

Lynxius

Lynxius

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by katscratched
My monk has the same face, and personally, I'm very displeased. I think my monk's face looks chubby, and awkward everytime its illuminated. I'm glad you like it, but it just looks weird.
As noted by someone else earlier, this face also has the grey triangles next to her lips. I think they're trying to allow for our characters to speak in cinemas, but I really hope that having visible weird grey marks isn't necessary

I know that if they don't fix this, I will just have to get used to it, but my monk is by far my favorite character. I noticed her face looked wrong immediately after the update.

So, I understand that while some facial changes may have been necessary for new features, I hope the artists and programmers can work together to find something a little more harmonious and closer to what we had. *sigh*
Actually, I did notice those triangles on other characters with the same asian face as my monk, but curiously enough, not on my own monk .
And I did examine her toroughly.
Perhaps certain combinations of face and skin are more "bugged" than others, or simply contrast better with those triangles.(Particularly pale skins which i have noticed around this thread)

Rera

Rera

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by aspectacle
I actually like that look very much. I might have reconsidered deleting my elementalist earlier this year if she had looked like that. I suppose the bags under the eyes are a bit too blatant, but otherwise it's nice ^_^.

These facial changes bother me a great deal, although not because of any particular change to my characters. I'm one of those people that spent a lot of time at character creation agonizing over face and hair selections, to the point where my friends would frequently joke, "you're going to look like a slut no matter what, so hurry up already!" I was careful about appearance working under the assumption that I was unlikely to have an opportunity to change my characters' appearances in the future. Of course, never did it occur to me that *my initial choices might actually be rendered irrelevant because the devs decided to change my face for me*. It is this principle that irritates me.

I understand that a 'fix' is currently in the works, and that we shouldn't jump to conclusions before the fix is implemented. However, in the event that some of these changes are simply written off as an unfortunate side-effect of upgrading the graphics engine, I'd like for players to have the ability to change their characters' appearances to something more to their liking. It just wouldn't be fair otherwise, as their original choices are no longer what they thought they were.

Blackhawk

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2006

N/

Looks like all mine cancelled their appointments with the plastic surgeon from hell just in time

My Ranger didnt end up as "Vincent" thank god

It's bad enough A-net hitting our characters skills with the nerf bat, let alone smashing some of them here in the face with it as well....

lyra_song

lyra_song

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Oct 2005

R/Mo

i really dont see how you can "fix" anything.

lighting glitches etc are fixable.

But individual looks cant be made to appeal to one person because someone else might like the change.

deathnite

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

E/Mo

my ele's face looks like a monkey with a pound of black eyeliner on it, i seriously hope this is fixed she is my #1 char, and some of the other ele's look like they got a busted lip........makes me just want to delete my ele that i've had for 14months

Shadowfox1125

Shadowfox1125

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2005

PST

W/

You guys know that you might not like the changes to your character, but others might?
None of my characters had any significant alterations, except my ranger. And I like the look after the update over the look before the update.

deathnite

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

E/Mo

how can u say someone might like the change?.... i've had my ele for 14months and u think me and most other people would like an update that messed up THE MOST important feature on a character?

ValaOfTheFens

ValaOfTheFens

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2006

Warrior Nation[WN]

Vala looks exactly the same except her lips are more pouty. I wish her grey skin was a bit more ashen though.

ElinoraNeSangre

ElinoraNeSangre

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2006

Near Seattle, WA

Talionis De Cineris [EXUR]

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by deathnite
how can u say someone might like the change?.... i've had my ele for 14months and u think me and most other people would like an update that messed up THE MOST important feature on a character?
Because it's true - some people might like the change. I think the point that was being made was that "you can't make everyone happy" which is absolutely... well, true.

Personally, I'm reserving judgment until ANet is done fiddling, as Gaile pointed out they're already working on it. I'd suggest maybe posting a picture of the old face vs the new one and point out the things you feel are wrong with it. It's the best way for ANet to see where the flaws from the update are.

Nevin

Nevin

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2005

That "Ranger Werewolf" woman is due to the lighting, trust me. Open up character creation for Rangers, its the bottom face (Tyrian). It looks fine.

Lynxius

Lynxius

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by deathnite
how can u say someone might like the change?.... i've had my ele for 14months and u think me and most other people would like an update that messed up THE MOST important feature on a character?
As far as Im aware, Guildwars isnt a beauty contest.

Therefore "THE MOST" important feature on a character will be its primary profession and nothing else.

Seeing as in Guildwars you think, plan, fight then things such as Height hair face skin wont affect fulfilling your objectives where you have to think, plan, fight. Which is the only thing you do in gw.

Offcourse I understand you might not be happy about the changes (neither would be if my characters turned ugly), but for fullfiling the games true objectives you dont need a supermodel, the "crazy wrinkled tired looking character with too fat lips will do".

Dont take any offense I DO want things to get reverted but for example on my ranger im quite happy with her new retextured teeth. (which you can see on post number: 134)

Blackhawk

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2006

N/

Who cares what other people think, when you created your character you gave it the look YOU was happy with and not anyone else, and although I guess A-net made the changes to make the characters supposedly look more realistic, there's no excuse for completely altering the features as seen here on those characters unfortunate enough to have been hit in the face by a brick, or who had their teeth done by Ken Dodd's School of Dentistry.

Ken Dodd btw for those here who dont know what he looks like...

Gaile Gray

Gaile Gray

ArenaNet

Join Date: Feb 2005

Here is a more detailed explanation of our current situation, so that you fully understand where we are just now: As you know, when we rolled out a game update early this morning, it contained a large number of new files, and amongst them were files that involved changes to the faces of some characters. Now, changes are necessary in order to implement a much-requested feature: Lip synching for the in-game cinematics. This feature requires a redo of the faces, a "rewiring" if you will, that allows the lips to move, and indeed the whole face to be animated during speech.

However, with these desired changes came a few inadvertent alterations, and about those, players have expressed some concerns.

Here is some information for you. There are several key elements involved in what was modified and I thought you'd find this interesting:
  • The artists configured the faces for animation. In some instances this changed the geometry of the images, so that there may have been a small alteration in the shape or the perceived shape of the face itself.
  • They added polys to the faces, so sometimes light reflects differently from the surface of the face. (Notice how some of the example shots are different, based on lighting.) This change may have contributed to the "eyeliner" looking a bit more defined or to some of the noticed changes in shading or hue, like that fashionable lipstick. (Again, purely personal opinion, here, I like that look! )
  • The addition of the polys, in particular, may also give eyes greater clarity or make faces look more polished. For instance, a minor glitch involving lighting from below around the eyes was removed and that will make them more attractive.
  • Vertices added to the faces resulted in some of the shadows that you see, particularly around the mouth.
A large number of artists are working through the night to amend the errors, and to set the faces to looking, as closely as possible, how they looked at character creation. For example, the vertices issue is being fixed; Aaron gave me a demo of the fix not five minutes ago and it's great! (Nobody needs Botox in this world – they just need their vertices adjusted! )

Please keep in mind that with the move to animated faces, in some instances it will not be possible for them to be pixel-to-pixel identical to the original face. Most third-party observers would say that the art is better, and the appearance more pleasing, but we appreciate that that opinion may not be shared by all. The artists will work hard to return the looks that you've selected as much as is humanly and programmatically possible.

In any regard, the whole team is working diligently to correct this situation. We ask for your support as we work to make the appropriate and feasible amendments as quickly as possible.

Knightsaber Sith

Knightsaber Sith

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Aug 2006

Few Fallen Heroes [FFH]

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
The artists configured the faces for animation. In some instances this changed the geometry of the images, so that there may have been a small alteration in the shape or the perceived shape of the face itself.
So, I guess that's because it said somewhere that lips would actually move in the cutscenes in Nightfall. I think wolfgaming or someone that went to the GWFC said that they would move.....

Lynxius

Lynxius

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
The artists will work hard to return the looks that you've selected as much as is earthly possible.

In any regard, the whole team is working diligently to correct this situation. We ask for your support as we work to make the appropriate and feasible amendments as quickly as possible.
Like many must be, I am pleased to know this.

ElinoraNeSangre

ElinoraNeSangre

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2006

Near Seattle, WA

Talionis De Cineris [EXUR]

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackhawk
Who cares what other people think, when you created your character you gave it the look YOU was happy with and not anyone else, and although I guess A-net made the changes to make the characters supposedly look more realistic, there's no excuse for completely altering the features as seen here on those characters unfortunate enough to have been hit in the face by a brick, or had their teeth done by Ken Dodd.
How long would it take ANet to comb over *every single face* with the detail people here are? It's not some five minute thing and POOF! Done looking over all those faces. And the old faces couldn't stay - the textures were way outdated, and that would only become more obvious with Nightfall. This wasn't intentional - no one at ANet went through every face and thought about how they could make it piss people off. It's a matter of applying updated textures - in some cases, that had less than desirable results.

In a nutshell, why would ANet waste time on an endeavor that would *still* result in complaints (combing over every face in detail), when there's so many players who can point out each and every flaw to them much faster?

It's 7pm in Bellevue, WA, ANet appears to *still* be working while normal people are having dinner, and if I wasn't stuck at work, too, I'd consider bring them some cookies. :P Except they'd probably think I'm a stalker then...

See what they cook up before freaking out too much. In some cases, it might not be what you want. *It's not the end of the world, oh noes!"

silv3rr

silv3rr

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2006

1,2 & 3) This only seems to happen when wearing the Female Elementalist 15k Luxon top. The ummm back/shoulder area seems to.... dent in

4) It's not really that bad except it looks like my ranger's legs have some horrible skin disease

5) discolouration (or has it always been like that??)


Oops I forgot to link the picture lol...