Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail had a fairly smooth start at launch as thousands of players jumped in to play it during an early access period before the floodgates opened and everyone else poured in to marvel at what the expansion has to offer. However, there’s one feature that keeps cropping up in a less-than-favorable way.
Of course, I’m talking about dye channels. The expansion brought two dye channels to the game, allowing players to create custom armors and set themselves apart from the crowd. Prior to Dawntrail, dye channels changed the entirety of a pre-defined part or material of a character’s clothing/armor. Now, it’s possible to use two dye channels to change all of it. The trouble is, sometimes, one of these dye channels is almost unnoticeable.
Sometimes, clothes might need more than two dye channels
The gripes players have been sharing on the Final Fantasy XIV subreddit obviously don’t apply to every item of clothing/armor in the game. However, some fans have sounded like they’re losing their marbles when trying to see what changes a dye channel makes.
User User-LiCo posted their experience with a shirt. They assumed the buttons would change color, but it turns out that the stitching for those buttons is what really changed. User Riot_Mustang66’s comment says it all. “lol, so not the actual buttons but the threads of the buttonsā¦ I’ve seen a similar one with a chest piece with a necklace, and a small part of the necklace was the 2nd dye.”
It’s user Suriko, whom I really feel for. They put together an intense SpongeBob SquarePants meme to recreate their experience from first hearing about multiple dye channels to seeing it in action now that they’re playing the expansion.
The Appointed Jacket is one item I’ve seen crop up a few times. It’s an item that includes a full set of attire for a character’s upper body, not just the jacket. However, the dye channels only allow you to alter the color of two parts of it, meaning everyone wearing it has the same colors underneath, which feels like it misses the point.
User ThatBritishPerson has highlighted the Appointed Jacket’s shortcomings in excruciating detail alongside the very simple changes you can make to the Isle Explorer’s Leather Halfgloves. Note that the same post also details the dye channels for the Eastern Lady Errant’s Gloves, which I think look pretty stunning.
These posts and the many others cropping up on the Final Fantasy XIV subreddit suggest that these dye channels are a good start, but they don’t go far enough. Games like Warframe allow you to go into incredible detail when customizing different parts of your gear, and while Destiny 2 uses pre-set shaders, it has a deep level of customization on offer, too.
Every game’s player base is different, and it seems as though for Final Fantasy XIV, more options are needed for certain items. For now, players just need to try not to lose their heads when they spend ages picking the right color combinations and see that one of them is only visible from the player menu.
