Q:
UI Mods
Why is my target bar/portrait way at the top of the screen? it doesn’t even make sense to have it there….
Actually, from an ergonomics standpoint, the top of your monitor should be at eye level. Thus, it actually does make sense: the most important information is at the point where your eyes should default to.
and where’s the target of target?
We have the Call Target and the respective Take Target command.
Why can’t we at least move around what they gave us?
There are some elements in the UI that you can move. Well, you can move the minimap and the chat window.
But if you want my opinion, it’s because ANet has been pushing the eSports thing from the get-go. Due to that, customization has to be put to a minimum to achieve easy of access. And let’s be honest, nowadays videoguides and highlight reels on YouTube are pretty kitten common. For those purposes as well, having a consistent UI is important to understanding.
Also, just because something is common does not mean it’s a requirement. Different developers have different philosophies: some will strive to allow maximum customization whereas others want a consistent, easy-to-understand system. And ANet is obviously in the latter, considering that a lot of the things we’re “lacking” can be explained if you look at it from a newcomer’s perspective.
Why is my target bar/portrait way at the top of the screen? it doesn’t even make sense to have it there….
Actually, from an ergonomics standpoint, the top of your monitor should be at eye level. Thus, it actually does make sense: the most important information is at the point where your eyes should default to.
and where’s the target of target?
We have the Call Target and the respective Take Target command.
Why can’t we at least move around what they gave us?
There are some elements in the UI that you can move. Well, you can move the minimap and the chat window.
But if you want my opinion, it’s because ANet has been pushing the eSports thing from the get-go. Due to that, customization has to be put to a minimum to achieve easy of access. And let’s be honest, nowadays videoguides and highlight reels on YouTube are pretty kitten common. For those purposes as well, having a consistent UI is important to understanding.
Also, just because something is common does not mean it’s a requirement. Different developers have different philosophies: some will strive to allow maximum customization whereas others want a consistent, easy-to-understand system. And ANet is obviously in the latter, considering that a lot of the things we’re “lacking” can be explained if you look at it from a newcomer’s perspective.
Actually your eye defaults to your charachter….in the middle of your screen. I don’t know about you, but that’s where I’m looking when in combat.
What difference does it make if I want my target’s portrait lower? I’m not changing an element, I’m personalizing my play. Hell they could even make it something you have to do in game at a certain level. Have you ever as a child changed the way you played tag or hide and go seek? The game is the same, you are just making it better for you. That’s all I’m saying.
Why is my target bar/portrait way at the top of the screen? it doesn’t even make sense to have it there….
Actually, from an ergonomics standpoint, the top of your monitor should be at eye level. Thus, it actually does make sense: the most important information is at the point where your eyes should default to.
and where’s the target of target?
We have the Call Target and the respective Take Target command.
Why can’t we at least move around what they gave us?
There are some elements in the UI that you can move. Well, you can move the minimap and the chat window.
But if you want my opinion, it’s because ANet has been pushing the eSports thing from the get-go. Due to that, customization has to be put to a minimum to achieve easy of access. And let’s be honest, nowadays videoguides and highlight reels on YouTube are pretty kitten common. For those purposes as well, having a consistent UI is important to understanding.
Also, just because something is common does not mean it’s a requirement. Different developers have different philosophies: some will strive to allow maximum customization whereas others want a consistent, easy-to-understand system. And ANet is obviously in the latter, considering that a lot of the things we’re “lacking” can be explained if you look at it from a newcomer’s perspective.
Actually your eye defaults to your charachter….in the middle of your screen. I don’t know about you, but that’s where I’m looking when in combat.
What difference does it make if I want my target’s portrait lower? I’m not changing an element, I’m personalizing my play. Hell they could even make it something you have to do in game at a certain level. Have you ever as a child changed the way you played tag or hide and go seek? The game is the same, you are just making it better for you. That’s all I’m saying.
First off a bit of friendly advice.
Your original post came off somewhat
- Demanding
- Childish ( in the sense it sounded like you were whining
- Assumptive, and angry
3 things you defiantly do not want to do if you want Arena Net to take your suggestions seriously.
A customization of the UI is not expected, at least I will say most of the people I play and speak with do not expect it. So you should re-phrase your statement to, I have grown to expect it in MMORPG
I personally have no issues with it, also Olba is correct, your top part of your screen should be eye level. Regardless of where you look at the screen or focus. Ergonomics is funny that way, then again the people that get a masters in it might be wrong.
First off a bit of friendly advice.
Your original post came off somewhat
- Demanding
- Childish ( in the sense it sounded like you were whining
- Assumptive, and angry
3 things you defiantly do not want to do if you want Arena Net to take your suggestions seriously.
A customization of the UI is not expected, at least I will say most of the people I play and speak with do not expect it. So you should re-phrase your statement to, I have grown to expect it in MMORPG
I personally have no issues with it, also Olba is correct, your top part of your screen should be eye level. Regardless of where you look at the screen or focus. Ergonomics is funny that way, then again the people that get a masters in it might be wrong.
- Demanding? – I’m a paying customer.
- Childish? – I’m playing a game.
- Assumptive? – Yes, I already said as much.
- Expectation? – Yes, again, I said as much.
What is the population of people that play this game? Does Arena Net want more? Yes.
To attract more players, it would be benificial to have mods, well benificial to Arena Nets pockets anyways.
So, to sum up, MODs are Win win!
*p.s. The gaming community is childish is you haven’t noticed.
Mods do not mean win win, and the last time I checked the congruent player base ( the actual number of players that log on during peak hours) Guild Wars was up to 800k and Warcraft ( that allows mobs ) was down to 700k.
Mods do not mean win win, and the last time I checked the congruent player base ( the actual number of players that log on during peak hours) Guild Wars was up to 800k and Warcraft ( that allows mobs ) was down to 700k.
Show me proof. I deny 700K at peak hours in WoW.
IMO, UI elements should be one of the things that every game, not just MMOs, should allow a user to modify freely. It is, after all, an ‘interface’ and an interface, regardless of someone else’s notion of proper ergonomics, is something I use to interact with the game. I should be able to determine what provided elements I want where and how I want them to look (in terms of aesthetics).
ANet should consider supporting via API mods to, at the very least, the currently provided UI elements in those terms. This was, more or less, done in GW1 with the great flexibility of the in-game UI options coupled with the ability to modify the aesthetics via TexMod. I found that to be an excellent combo though it would have been better to provide a means of changing UI element skins through the game’s options rather than a third party program.
In any event, if someone wants their health indicator in the upper right corner, and displayed as a spiral, and wants all the borders of their inventory and hero windows to be done up in brushed steel, that in no way interferes with anyone else’s enjoyment of the game.
The e-sport concept is irrelevant to the vast majority of players, and it’s rather draconian to wall off something like UI flexibility for everyone on behalf of what would be an undoubtedly relatively small demographic such as competitive PvPers in GW2. Especially in light of the fact that being able to change where an element is and how it appears is no different than setting up keybindings and choosing a particular keyboard and mouse that suits you best while fragging your PvP (or PvE) foes.
Mods do not mean win win, and the last time I checked the congruent player base ( the actual number of players that log on during peak hours) Guild Wars was up to 800k and Warcraft ( that allows mobs ) was down to 700k.
Show me proof. I deny 700K at peak hours in WoW.
Google congruent players for world of warcraft, and at the launch of MoP they were at the high 800k range. Please do not mistaken Subscriptions for player base like 99.99% of the people do.