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hi all, its been over 6 months since the new player models released. functionally, they're an upgrade! they have great potential. but poor art choices, bugs, & a lack of options bring them down a lot. its clear the models still need more work.

sorry in advance for this long post. i'm very passionate about art & this game, and i've been thinking about this topic for months. i'm being as detailed as i can to hopefully help KI polish & improve the player models more so they're up to the quality they should be.

VISUALS
the most common critiques from players were about the art style, the "look," of the models. these were comments that the models look "uncanny," "doll-like," "too cartoony," "too realistic," and more. this isn't just differing opinions, it indicates some real problems with the art style. i'm an artist, so i know i'm more sensitive to this stuff, but you don't have to be an artist to notice unsuccessful art. simply put, the new style is not very visually appealing.

the core issue is that the new style conflicts with itself and lacks identity. the eyes are very flat & 2D-looking, ironically even more than before, while the face itself is awkwardly 3D-rendered. these 2 different styles mix poorly, so the eyes look oddly cartoony while the face looks like botched pseudo-realism. this is why player feedback was often split between "too cartoony" or "too realistic" -- we honestly cant tell what the new style is meant to convey.

to fix this, readjust parts of the style to harmonize both sides: the original graphic 2D with the new higher-definition 3D. either that, or the entire style needs to fully commit to one side instead of being split.

to readjust 3D elements:
remove excess detail in the face's lighting/sculpt.

• girls: remove shadows on the sides of the nose bridge & remove sharp lines around the nose wings to soften the nose, making it less contoured + squished. make nostril openings a bit larger (they're too thin which = squished nose). remove smile lines completely. reduce the spread of the lighting on the cheeks to make them less chubby-looking (clashes with the nose).

• guys: smooth out lighting/texture in upper lip & chin. make nose bridge's width more even.

remove excess detail in the neck & hands

• too-deep shadow of the V-shaped muscles in the neck, wrinkles in the palms, harshness of the knuckles & fingers (which are still crudely geometric)

overall reduce the use of deep lighting + shadows and make the shading cover less area as intensely so the face isn't over-shaded.

to readjust 2D elements:
make the eyes a more 3D-painted style

• outline eyes with varied line width and/or intensity for volume (thinner & softer inner eye + bottom lid, thicker & darker outer eye + upper lid, subtlety can vary by gender or eye shape)

• render irises in a more natural, painted style, the way eyes are done for many arc 3 NPCS like istar, the house genies, the pengouins, mellori, many arcanum scholars, and more.

finally, though harder to change, fixing some proportions would help a lot, notably the neck & face shape. make the neck's width even & its length a bit shorter to fit our shortened, rounded faces and our still-skinny bodies. girls especially look more bobble-headed now with the longer neck. alternatively, make our faces longer with a stronger jawline (or make it an option PLEASE!). this could help eyes not look so large too (since i assume that cant be fixed anymore).

LIGHTING & COLOR ISSUES
in test realm, the original intensity of the lighting was definitely too much. but just reducing it didn't completely fix the style issues (uncannyness), it just made our skintones look flat & desaturated (especially darker tones) and made our skin texture look like plastic or dough (hence the common doll critique).

after readjusting lighting & 3D detail, increasing the intensity of the shading a bit more could help return some color & texture.

however, the skintone palette is still really limited, and many colors changed post-summer update, like a tan that became sickly yellow. many players commented that their skin seemed to have gotten darker and/or greyer.

so even with lighting fixes, the skintone palette needs to be updated. we need more variants of each tone & a more even range of colors from light to dark. there are many gaps in the current palette, forcing players like me to pick tones either too light or too dark.

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS & BUGS
most of our animations are missing, causing faces to freeze constantly out of idle. but then while idle, our face moves WAY, WAY too much, especially the mouth. players called it a constant "chewing" motion, and frankly, its REALLY disturbing. our face should stay calm, our mouths still, & our blink could be snappier for better movement. PLEASE fix this, it would look so much better!

the lack of animations combined with the over-animated idle also cause choppy animations transitions, which altogether makes the models feel legitimately rushed & unfinished.

another major bug is with how we hold many weapons. our arms stick out awkwardly & our hands hold weapons with an open, clawed pose. again, it looks unnatural & also worsens the animation transitions. wand types affected that i know of are one-handed wands, staffs, spears, & bows. there may be more that i missed.

NEW IDEAS & ADDITIONS
all the things i just mentioned are the most important things that need fixing. but after all that, here's some new features & customization options that would add a lot of quality to our models.

new option: expressions
instead of the current over-animated idle that constantly changes out of players' control, this would be an option letting players pick a default expression for themselves!

expressions would change the set of our mouth, as well as our eyelids & eyebrows if possible.

options would be something like:

• neutral (default, calm)
• friendly (closed-mouth smile)
• cool (closed-mouth frown, lowered eyelids)
• happy (open-mouth smile, opened eyelids, higher brows)
• angry/intense (open-mouth frown, lowered brows)

expanded options:
updated & new hair styles + hair colors

• more varied textures (eg. curly) & lengths

• a few more natural colors (browns, blondes) & abstract colors (eg. pastels, multi-colored dyes like ombres)

more eye colors:

• natural colors like dark brown, grey, hazel, etc.

• pastel colors like lavender, pale blue, etc.

added option for wrinkles & makeup, listed as face paint

• so you can choose to add smile lines, contour, eyeliner, etc.

a few more nose options with real diversity

• a wide nose, a flatter nose, a rounder nose, etc.

better lip color function

• there's currently no natural lip color for every skintone. so maybe add an option that adjusts to your skintone? the option would be a slightly darker, natural variant of whatever skintone you have, like a color layer over the lips that changes with your skin instead of being a set color. maybe this could be a "default" option?

a 2nd face shape PLEASE!

• give boys their longer, more mature face & jawline again

• give girls a more mature, oval-shaped face with a stronger jaw & chin

more options in general

always nice, eventually. any additions can only be good.

• eg. girls lack natural-looking thick-lip mouths (current ones are painted more like lipstick compared to thin mouths)

• eg. another freckles option, beauty mark option(s), etc.

would also love for eyes and eyebrows to be separate someday, the same way hair color & eyebrow color is separate.

that's about everything! if you read this all, thank you so much. if you have your own feedback or comments, feel free to share it too. and KI, i really hope you see this, that it has some value to you, and that it helps you further update our models to the best they can be.

take care