Why is hair so bad in ESO?

ImmortalCX · April 2

I recently purchased the "Carnival Side Part" hair style for my character, and it completely transformed her look. That hair style is realitic and attractive.

Most/all(?) of the stock hairstyles are ugly and don't seem to have any "depth" or body. And even to just change to them requires purchasing the crown pack and/or appearance change token.

I get it, they want to sell better hair styles. But what other options are there? The Carnival side-part looks like a "next gen" hairstyle compared to the originals, but are there any others at this level of realism? (it has some actual body and depth).

Will there be others? Will better hair cause the PVP servers to crash? (Kidding not kidding.)

As the game currently sits, there are very few good hair options.

Soarora · April 2

On the contrary, the base hairstyles I think are the only ones that actually move when you run and jump and roll around.

Wing · April 2

iirc you are correct; it has something to do with memory and performance (somehow) that we don't get more hair.

I don't understand it either.

ImmortalCX · April 2

Soarora wrote: »

On the contrary, the base hairstyles I think are the only ones that actually move when you run and jump and roll around.

Do they? When my character is running, the Carnival side part might have some side to side bounce from behind. It does not look unrealistic from behind when moving.

IOW, I would not choose a base game hairstyle because it is "more realistic".

Soraka · April 2

Probably because base game hair is >10 years old lol
Maybe they'll do a refresh pass on that like they are doing with other things

illutian · April 2

Hair??? HAIR???

My dude, my cloths look like they're body paint, painted to look like clothing.

((Base Hair does look like crud, though.))

SilverIce58 · April 2

I have the opposite problem where all the new hairstyles are just soooo not to my tastes. Why can't Argonians have hairstyles that are not these side-swept tresses all the time? Give us more horns and/or fins instead of the hair feathers. Ive got one, maaaaybe two Argonians (out of 10) rocking a hairstyle that is not from the base character creator.

AcadianPaladin · April 3

- I like the bouncy ponytail of 'Maximum Ponytail' but not the severely pulled back front that makes one's forehead look too high.
- I like the soft front bangs of 'Sideswept Bun' but not the matronly bun in the back.

What I would love is the soft front of Sideswept Bun with the nice animated ponytail of Maximum Ponytail.

NotaDaedraWorshipper · April 3

Meanwhile I think the quality of most news hair are bad. Badly done hairlines, clay-like shape and texture, adornments that are large and obtrusive but can't be removed etc.

Argonians versions are always terrible. Every time we get a new hairstyle I hope the argonian version will be nice and every time I'm disappointed.

Also, it's yet another feminine cosmetic amongst many.

SilverIce58 · April 3

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

Meanwhile I think the quality of most news hair are bad. Badly done hairlines, clay-like shape and texture, adornments that are large and obtrusive but can't be removed etc.

Argonians versions are always terrible. Every time we get a new hairstyle I hope the argonian version will be nice and every time I'm disappointed.

Also, it's yet another feminine cosmetic amongst many.

Admittedly the Cutting Edge hairstyle does look good as well as Tanlorin's, but the fins are so small, I wish they could be a bit bigger, or we could resize them, which tbh a barber shop in Tamriel would do wonders, and could be a great gold sink as well.

emilyhyoyeon · April 3

For me I'd say it's a mix of old and new hairstyles that are the best looking. But I definitely share in Notadaedraworshipper's sentiments that newer ones have a ''clay'' texture and that argonian versions are very lacking.

Hairstyles are my favorite kind of cosmetic along with personalities so I really wish the devs would focus more on hairstyles vs body markings and skins which are what seem like their focus.

Hairstyles also feel like something that one would want to cycle through frequently depending on the character, so the more the better.

Also, on the topic of hair, again, an altmer NPC is shown with black hair (in the Jubilee graphic) but players can't apply it

ImmortalCX · April 3

emilyhyoyeon wrote: »

For me I'd say it's a mix of old and new hairstyles that are the best looking. But I definitely share in Notadaedraworshipper's sentiments that newer ones have a ''clay'' texture and that argonian versions are very lacking.

Hairstyles are my favorite kind of cosmetic along with personalities so I really wish the devs would focus more on hairstyles vs body markings and skins which are what seem like their focus.

Hairstyles also feel like something that one would want to cycle through frequently depending on the character, so the more the better.

Also, on the topic of hair, again, an altmer NPC is shown with black hair (in the Jubilee graphic) but players can't apply it

I will have to do some more testing, but regarding the "clay" look, I have noticed that the Carnival hairstyle responds to lighting model (ultra setting) which gives it some depth. Regardless of wheter it is realistic or not, it takes a 3d space and looks better.

The old hair models afaict are flat to the character's head and are more like a texture, where the Carnival hairstyle has a 3d model.

whitecrow · April 3

I actually thought this hairstyle looked like a plastic mould in the preview so I didn't want it.

barney2525 · April 3

ImmortalCX wrote: »

I recently purchased the "Carnival Side Part" hair style for my character, and it completely transformed her look. That hair style is realitic and attractive.

Most/all(?) of the stock hairstyles are ugly and don't seem to have any "depth" or body. And even to just change to them requires purchasing the crown pack and/or appearance change token.

I get it, they want to sell better hair styles. But what other options are there? The Carnival side-part looks like a "next gen" hairstyle compared to the originals, but are there any others at this level of realism? (it has some actual body and depth).

Will there be others? Will better hair cause the PVP servers to crash? (Kidding not kidding.)

As the game currently sits, there are very few good hair options.

I got that hair as well. But the majority of Major Adornments do not look particularly good with it.

Best I could do was a flower on the side

Stx · April 3

I want more hairstyles for Dunmer like they had in Morrowind (TES3). I’m trying to make my Dunmer warden look cool and the hairstyles are just all so basic or real life modern…. The double pony tail is the only cut I can even think of that is Dunmer like.

ImmortalCX · April 3

barney2525 wrote: »

ImmortalCX wrote: »

I recently purchased the "Carnival Side Part" hair style for my character, and it completely transformed her look. That hair style is realitic and attractive.

Most/all(?) of the stock hairstyles are ugly and don't seem to have any "depth" or body. And even to just change to them requires purchasing the crown pack and/or appearance change token.

I get it, they want to sell better hair styles. But what other options are there? The Carnival side-part looks like a "next gen" hairstyle compared to the originals, but are there any others at this level of realism? (it has some actual body and depth).

Will there be others? Will better hair cause the PVP servers to crash? (Kidding not kidding.)

As the game currently sits, there are very few good hair options.

I got that hair as well. But the majority of Major Adornments do not look particularly good with it.

Best I could do was a flower on the side

I have the Jarl Crown, which is a simple bronze circlet that works well.

colossalvoids · April 3

Stx wrote: »

I want more hairstyles for Dunmer like they had in Morrowind (TES3). I’m trying to make my Dunmer warden look cool and the hairstyles are just all so basic or real life modern…. The double pony tail is the only cut I can even think of that is Dunmer like.

Overall I hope for way more stuff from Morrowind like markings and stuff, were really good.

Juomuuri · April 3

Tbh, the Carnaval hairstyle is very plasticy and stiff, I was wearing it on one of my characters and had to change back to the previous hairstyle since it looked so weird to me lol. It looks pretty by glance but it's just an unmoving mass clumped on your character's head. xD

NotaDaedraWorshipper · April 4

colossalvoids wrote: »

Stx wrote: »

I want more hairstyles for Dunmer like they had in Morrowind (TES3). I’m trying to make my Dunmer warden look cool and the hairstyles are just all so basic or real life modern…. The double pony tail is the only cut I can even think of that is Dunmer like.

Overall I hope for way more stuff from Morrowind like markings and stuff, were really good.

@colossalvoids This is something I've brought up before. We get all maner of bad photoshop markings, but we don't have ones from the older games such as Morrowind that would be great as markings. I for one would really like the hand marking.

Also more immersive markings based on lore. My Nibenese still can't have gaudy and/or magic runes tattoos that looks like actual tattoos.

colossalvoids · April 4

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Stx wrote: »

I want more hairstyles for Dunmer like they had in Morrowind (TES3). I’m trying to make my Dunmer warden look cool and the hairstyles are just all so basic or real life modern…. The double pony tail is the only cut I can even think of that is Dunmer like.

Overall I hope for way more stuff from Morrowind like markings and stuff, were really good.

@colossalvoids This is something I've brought up before. We get all maner of bad photoshop markings, but we don't have ones from the older games such as Morrowind that would be great as markings. I for one would really like the hand marking.

Also more immersive markings based on lore. My Nibenese still can't have gaudy and/or magic runes tattoos that looks like actual tattoos.

Especially considering those already are designed, just need to be translated into ESO system.

The reason all my imperials are colovians, gladly there's some nordic stuff to be found around. Nibenese wise last crates have some paint that is kinda fitting, one of the two Sanguine themed, more colourful one. Reminded me colour scheme from the River Watch set mod for Skyrim.

Elsonso · April 4

I dunno. I did not get it, but it looks plastic and stiff. It is why I tend to stay away from long hair styles here.

Vrelanier · April 5

I like long hairstyles, but they clip through the hoods and things on the upper back, it's not good. But that's kinda hard to do realistically anyway, irl long hair goes here and there if it's loose and you have a hood/scarf/a Daedric shield on your back, so I guess there's not many realistic ways to handle it in game. Would be cool though.

Arunei · April 5

A lot of the longer Hairstyles clip into tops, which is annoying.

A lot of Hairstyles (especially for female characters) have accessories that can't be removed, which is annoying.

90% of Hairstyles sit WAY too far up on the head and give characters fiveheads, which is especially annoying.

Most Hairstyles will vanish when a Hat or hat-like Helmet/head Style is on, which is annoying.

Moral of the story is Hairstyles in ESO tend to be annoying. I say it's time to just shave all of Tamriel.

magnusthorek · April 5

illutian wrote: »

Hair??? HAIR???

My dude, my cloths look like they're body paint, painted to look like clothing.

((Base Hair does look like crud, though.))

Y'know, I'm still kinda mad with the looks of Shrike of Nocturnal's Frock Costume, whose fabric looks like plastic. When I bought it for my Necromancer, I thought she would look… interesting, like Skyrim's Nocturnal, but had to change her looks to some sort of female Van Helsing instead because of the awful quality of the assets employed.

TaSheen · April 5

It's really too bad Apachii didn't get to do hair for ESO....

AlexanderDeLarge · April 5

This is the sort of thing I hope they can revisit now that they're not pumping out content on a extremely rigid schedule. Certain environmental and character assets warrant a revisit and people were complaining about the quality of the default hairs back in 2014.

colossalvoids · April 5

TaSheen wrote: »

It's really too bad Apachii didn't get to do hair for ESO....

That new piece looks a bit like their work, kind of why some of us don't like it, it's definitely something that's not "vanilla" enough.

Arunei · April 5

Oh, another thing:

There are numerous Hairstyles that can be used by only male or only female characters, which is annoying.

Seriously @ZOS_Kevin is this a thread we can ask the devs to keep an eye on or take into consideration? Fix certain issues with Hairstyles that exist, since the new content model is meant to give more time towards working on stuff than just pumping out big amounts of content? I know jack squat about coding but like...surely it can't be too hard to re-mesh the current models so they aren't so high up on the forehead, or to allow male-only and female-only Hairstyles to be unisex? Or to add just a bit more texture so they don't look so stiff sometimes?

The one Hairstyle from the last Crate season (idr the name of it but it was the one with blue streaks in it that was I think an Altmer-culture style?) looked so...idk man, like the person wearing it emptied a whole can of hairspray onto it.

Oh, that's another thing actually:

A lot of newer Hairstyles have had weird color streaks in them instead of being a solid color, which is annoying. Some of them would be really nice if they weren't rainbow-hued or whatever, and it really limits what you can do with them. If you want to make it so people can have Hairstyles with multiple colors, maybe it could be possible to give Hair dye channels like gear and Costumes have? If it's possible, it would let people have solid color for hair, or if they want multi-colored, they can at least pick what colors they'd want as highlights.

magnusthorek · April 6

TaSheen wrote: »

It's really too bad Apachii didn't get to do hair for ESO....

I must be one of the (few) players who never liked Apachii's that much.

TaSheen · April 6

magnusthorek wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

It's really too bad Apachii didn't get to do hair for ESO....

I must be one of the (few) players who never liked Apachii's that much.

I didn't like all of them, the same way I don't like all of Ks hairstyles. There are good and bad in both hair mods - but the good ones are INFINITELY better than anything in ESO.

[That's not to say that the good ones don't clip or anything mind you - because they do in many cases!]

kind_hero · April 7

Juomuuri wrote: »

Tbh, the Carnaval hairstyle is very plasticy and stiff, I was wearing it on one of my characters and had to change back to the previous hairstyle since it looked so weird to me lol. It looks pretty by glance but it's just an unmoving mass clumped on your character's head. xD

I was quite excited about it in the beginning, too. After playing a while, it felt like my char had a clay wig. So, back to her original long hair that has some animation while moving. I am not sure why the devs can't get the textures right. Besides hair textures, there is the odd handling of hair with certain hat pieces, that make your char bald. Hair in this game is still in the beta version. We can't even change the color...