Before I delve into the deeper issues with JM (player models, walking styles, clothing, etc) in future posts, I would like to outline for you the basic reasons why we continue to fight for John to be fixed.
John Marston is the main protagonist of the RDR franchise, regardless of how attached we became to Arthur Morgan. If it wasn't for John's story and Rob's outstanding portrayal of him, the franchise would be nowhere near the success it is today.
So when in every update you see one of the most beloved video game characters undergo several rounds of facial reconstruction surgery and receive a hair transplant, the question you have to ask yourself is, why?
Rockstar have never actually addressed the issue with John directly apart from those at Rockstar Support who attempt to empathise with you and assure you that the issue is being looked into... again. As every support ticket piles up, John continues to be butchered and disfigured.
Back in the 1.00 patch, the main issue was the fact that at some point in between parting with Arthur in 1899 and arriving in Strawberry in 1907, John had received a hair transplant, specifically Arthur's... but in black?
John's signature hair is a greasy right parted style which is very dark brown in colour and obviously as this hair was made for him, it suits his facial structure and features perfectly. However when sporting Arthur's hair in a shade of washed out black, John begins to resemble a member of the Murfree Brood, if you're catching my drift... Regardless, he looks both worlds away from his 1899 look and his iconic look in 1911 which is the year that the first game takes place. Continuity, eh?
This picture below shows GuiCORLEONEx794 's John versus how he appears during the main story. From this, you can see quite clearly how JM's ears have spontaneously dropped to a lower point of his head to presumably accommodate for Arthur's locks as well as his cheek bones being a lot more prominent and his jaw significantly wider.
As patches are (rarely) released, Rockstar seem hellbent on ruining the player experience even more by continuing to downgrade John's appearance. The fact that modders are able to correct the hair issue with John and that the correct player model(s) have been found to still be within the game's fails further cements the fact that Rockstar are not only lazy but completely ignorant to customer feedback unless it involves shark cards and heists.
In one of the more recent updates, specifically the one which broke the game entirely for RDO players, story mode was greeted with a few new "community requested" features; a weapon locker, pyjamas for gang members and a table for Seamus' floating candle at Emerald Ranch. However, what was not present in the update was the actual community requested feature; the restoration of John.
Common arguments from fans are that it was too time consuming for the devs to develop a whole new hair-growth mechanic just for John so they were left with two options; remove the hair-growth mechanic entirely and keep his original hair or keep Arthur's hair-growth mechanic for John and tweak his facial structure to accommodate for it. In a game where even horse testicles react to changes in climate, you'd think they would have gotten a massive part of John's signature appearance down to the finest detail.
All devoted fans are truly asking for is for Rockstar to actually listen and swap the models over and implement John's original hair as an option in game.