Square Enix hosted its Fan Fest for Final Fantasy XIV today, spotlighting all the updates coming to its massive MMORPG. Among the announcements of an expansion and new platform being in the mix, one of the biggest rounds of applause came for something that seems a little less grandiose, at least to less XIV-familiar folks: two dyes per gear piece.
It sounds plain, but it’s a notable piece of what’s looking like a big update for the fashion fans of Final Fantasy XIV. Which, really, is everyone. The big non-secret of Final Fantasy XIV is that the endgame is not Ultimate raids, or hardcore Crystalline Conflict, or even necessarily maxing out all the jobs. Those are all things you do in service of the true Final Fantasy XIV endgame: fashion. And boy howdy, did the feral fashion aficionados get some good content today.
For the unfamiliar, Final Fantasy XIV has a transmog system—a tool that lets you put the appearance of one cosmetic item on another—called Glamour, or glam for short. Think of it like putting a pullover on top of a shirt. While your actual stats are determined by the “shirt” below, your outward appearance is the “pullover.” These glams can be used on armor pieces and set on specific presets, letting players have a closet full of fashion at their fingertips, and those glam pieces can also be dyed to change the color, and sometimes material look, of the cosmetic piece.
Eyes go wide for two dyes
Two dyes per gear piece means that instead of having a single point of color customization, would-be look-book creators can have two channels of color to dye. If you’ve visited the Eorzean Collection, you already know what a talented designer can do with the tools available. Adding another? I cannot wait.
That wasn’t the only update, though. Also included was the news that glasses are getting fully separated from headgear, so you can don a cap and glasses at the same time. All of this arrives through the graphics update that’s due alongside Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, the newly announced expansion.
But even the graphical update itself is a big win for fashion fans. Old clothes will get a natural spruce-up from the improved textures and graphics. Final Fantasy XIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida said today that the team is steadily going back through content for the update, stretching back to 2.0.
Come on, vogue
And for the GPose fans, who love to snap shots of their Warrior of Light using the in-game group pose (a.k.a. GPose) tool, get some great benefits from the graphics update too. More lush scenery and backgrounds for snapping pics is always a bonus.
It’s charming to outsiders, it seems, seeing Final Fantasy XIV fans get so excited over simply being able to use more dyes. But it really is part of the appeal. It’s that way for most RPGs, not just XIV; games like Elden Ring and Destiny 2 often see players pore over their fashion in the same way Final Fantasy XIV fans do.
Having more options, with so many different choices for color customization and glasses getting much more malleable? It’s fantastic for the players that love to design their characters and put cool clothes on them. So yes, new jobs, dungeons, raids, and more are always exciting. But two dyes? That’s a big win for the Final Fantasy XIV fashion fanatics.
