Guild Wars 2

This is a request I have seen since day -1: The community keeps asking for a better UI.

But HoT didn’t improve the existing UI so it begs the question:

Will the New Expansion Bring a Decent UI???

Or are GW2 players condemned to continue using one of the ugliest, nastiest, most inflexible, most impractical User Interfaces in the gaming industry?

Inquiring minds want to know and all that….

Wow, that’s an over statement. GW2 UI has a unique style, its fairly clean compare to other mmos.
I get some people dislike it, but the worst in the genera? really?

Thats quite the overstatement lul. Even tho id like to see some costumisation option to ui calling it "the ugliest, the nastiest and impractical is plain wrong. Funnily qw2’s ui is so clean that theres an addon in wow to have your ui like this. And ppl use it.

That’s funny … I haven’t seen that request since day 1 … or maybe you mean to say you saw it ONE day out of the 5+ years this game has been released. Certainly not worth the effort to bother with.

The UI is adequate, especially given the rather simple controls and relatively small number of skills we have access to compared to other MMO’s. It’s in fact, a very clean and simple UI and it fits the game’s overall feel and approach. Unless you can point out something specific, I can’t see a reason to change it at all.

Customizeable is just a luxury, but to say it’s ugly and nasty, etc …. if you had something of value to say about it, you lost people in acting out and being sensational.

Its an ok ui but being able to costumise it more by moving stuff around would be nice.

To be fair the UI is pretty bad:

1) You can’t move most things around, or can only move them to one other spot.

2) There is usually too much going on for the right side of the screen, there is too much text and often it is cut off, overlapping, or individual UI elements over there such as the heart or event progress panes will collapse themselves.

3) Everything is overly large, even on “small” size – the game barely fits in a 1366×768 resolution which is used by many laptops even in 2017, and at this resolution it isn’t really that playable compared to higher resolutions.

4) Some of the feedback mechanics are considerably bad- for example the buff bar both in party and near your skills does not wrap, so if you have a few dozen buffs (boosters, banners, etc.) it just goes off the screen and you can’t see it, or in party it overlaps the combat for your allies making it hard for them to play.

5) Many important functionalities, like lock skillbar, are missing, making it easy to change these things by accident outside of combat, and there is no permanently visible combat log which makes reacting to combat more difficult than it has to be.

Some generic improvements that could be made:

- Detach the minimap, quest pane, etc. away from the fullscreen UI and allow us to move them around as windows, making the border disppear when we stop moving them (fusing with the screen) and locking in place.

- Try to scale some of the window borders and other large components down, they should not be excessively larger than the text they contain.

- Improve the feedback panel, in particular make it so that buffs from sources such as food and banners are on a separate row from combat buffs and those should also be on a separate row from conditions to easier manage cleanses.

- Split the chat panel into two panes top and bottom, with the top pane able to either be another chat pane or a permanently visible combat log. Make it so that you can drag a bar to hide the top pane if you don’t want it.

- Add a lock checkbox next to the skillbar which prevents all changes.

I am a UI designer…

An overstatement?

Selective blindness much?

LOL

Help yourself:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Simple-UI-mods-Tired-of-cluttered-UI

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/QoL-change-UI-adjustment

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-Is-The-UI-So-Bad

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-is-terrible

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Even-Smaller-UI-option-please-c

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-screen-clutter

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-can-t-we-move-around-the-UI-elements

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Interface-is-way-too-small/first#post6173416

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Update-the-UI

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Hiding-Certain-Parts-of-the-UI

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Healing-enemies-UI-colour-display-is-bad

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-options

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Where-is-UI-customization-in-Guild-Wars-2

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/unlock-the-UI-no-custom-ui-s-just-unlock-it

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/I-wish-we-had-a-minimal-UI-option

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Lets-make-UI-Changes-Bring-to-ANET

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Basic-Ui-Modifications-Are-they-Allowed

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-customization-and-Targeting-UI

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Suggestion-Side-wheel-for-the-UI

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-Clean-Up

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-Improvements-1

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Suggestion-UI-Redesign

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-gw2-doesnt-support-addons-for-UI

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-Update

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Can-we-get-UI-customization-please

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Sugg-Upgrade-UI-and-Clear-Clutter

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Another-UI-size-topic

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/UI-improvement-suggestion

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Suggestion-customizable-ui

The posts range between a few months ~ 4 years and change.

From people questioning the UI to people asking about the possibility of adding UI mods to a guy offering to sell his pancreas for the ability to move things around.

All in all, the point is that the current UI can be improved greatly, that players have asked for these improvements from the beginning, and that ANet has neglected said changes with lame excuses like “we want people playing the game, not the UI”.

So I’d like to ask again… will the new xPac bring any UI improvements at all?

I think GW2’s UI is super fine, most other MMO’s UI is a mess, too many things on screen

Justfor.6018:

This is a request I have seen since day -1: The community keeps asking for a better UI.

But HoT didn’t improve the existing UI so it begs the question:

Will the New Expansion Bring a Decent UI???

Or are GW2 players condemned to continue using one of the ugliest, nastiest, most inflexible, most impractical User Interfaces in the gaming industry?

Inquiring minds want to know and all that….

I would guess the bolded, italicized, part is what was being referred to as an overstatement/exaggeration.

the ui would be fine if it had any costumization options, the look itself is great tho already

The UI is great, don’t touch it……. NEXT!

I have a lot of gripes with GW2, but the UI is not one of them, while I usually like the flexibility of UI that other MMOS offer, GW2 has done an amazing job at designing the ‘base’ UI.

warbignime.4610:

Wow, that’s an over statement. GW2 UI has a unique style, its fairly clean compare to other mmos.
I get some people dislike it, but the worst in the genera? really?

It’s certainly not the worst, but for how many problems it has, its baffling that they didn’t at least put the time in to add a clean modding API, let us fix it ourselves.

To make things more productive, a small list of ideas for simple~medium additions or changes with the UI:

• Free resizing of all components.
• Free movement of all components.
• Ability to spawn a second or more chat windows to have multiple tabs open at the same time.
• Also, full chat window lock, absolutely no interaction possible, unlocked through the options menu (to have a see-through / click-through combat log).
• Customization for background and fade-out for the chat window(s).
• Smaller background “overhang” on the squad UI, or just making it click-through.
• Resorting of boon/condition UI into multiple rows, which are only displayed as required. Boons, Conditions, Banners, CDs, Others.
• A small customizable bar with 1-5 inventory slots shown on the main UI for quick access.

Now onto the bigger things:

• Modding API. I know, pipe dream, but it had to be mentioned first, it could solve all other issues instantly because we could just do it ourselves.
• Ability to re-layout certain screens, like having a dual-window hero panel if we want that, always two tabs open at once.
• Click-casting for GTAE skills on the squad/party frames. Example: I’m in Celestial Avatar form, Alt+Leftclick on a squadmate’s little window casts Cosmic Ray at their position, Alt+Rightclick is Seed of Life. Ofc customizable via the options, set up which skills are casted via which combinations.
• Optional HP bar directly next to me character.
• Optional skill cooldown bar directly next to me character. This is a little bar with a logarithmic scale which will have skill icons / trait icons float over it as they cool down, leaving the bar to one side as they come off cooldown. This plus the previous change makes sure I can look at the action instead of constantly glancing at my bottom bar.

But I like the UI as it is :/

Ameepa.6793:

But I like the UI as it is :/

Notice everything I listed is optional. The big problem with the current UI is lack of customizability/modularity/options.

For those who like the current design, any new features should ofc be optional. Small things here or there, some they might enjoy (do you for example use the colored borders around items in your inventory? ), others they could leave be.

Yet other players like me who think the UI is both too busy and keeps too many information away from the player would be able to move important things close to the center while hiding other things entirely.

Some convenience stuff everyone would like and has been asked tons of times since the beginning:

- optional side bars for food, utilities, gizmos etc. No one likes to open the item panel to find the right food all the time. It’s just a lot of convenience. Nearly every MMO I played had this. Why not GW2?

ProtoGunner.4953:

Some convenience stuff everyone would like and has been asked tons of times since the beginning:

- optional side bars for food, utilities, gizmos etc. No one likes to open the item panel to find the right food all the time. It’s just a lot of convenience. Nearly every MMO I played had this. Why not GW2?

Well, the pessimistic answer is obviously bag slot sales, and tying UI slots to the equivalent slots in a bag seems beyond their capacity, anything complex like that they seem to avoid at all costs (game engine limitations I guess).

What’s wrong with the UI? I actually like it but I’d like to hide some elements like the exp bar and mission/daily tracker. Other than that, it’s fine.

TL;DR

The UI is fine as far as I’m concerned

the game needs to have a custom ui so we can move things.

MY MAIN CONCERN is the target bar in the top middle of the screen blocking the most important part of the games field of view.

by moving the target bar to the bottom of the screen will make it so much better to fight bosses and other things with high aoe and telegraphs / animations to watch out for.

its time this happend. im fed up with a rigid ui that is highly ineffective and wastes valuable screen space for the sake of “art”

Justfor.6018:

All in all, the point is that the current UI can be improved greatly, that players have asked for these improvements from the beginning, and that ANet has neglected said changes with lame excuses like “we want people playing the game, not the UI”.

So I’d like to ask again… will the new xPac bring any UI improvements at all?

Those excuses aren’t lame … UI changes have a very low return on invested development time, especially if they aren’t all that necessary. If there is changes to the UI, it’s because it will need them, not because it’s currently ’ugly and terrible"

I would settle for non-transparant inventory/bank (as option)
and a deposit button in inventory (or a keybind or even auto deposit)

The minimap is really small. Wish it can be free resizing.

I wish we could do ~anything with the UI.

Even if they don’t want UI mods adding functionality, there is really very little reason to not allow us to re-implement their current UI parts to, well, improve them.

The UI is not bad at all.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, and it is absolutely true some elements of it are badly implemented to a point it requires serious reworking, first of all the map and minimap in multilevel zones. And don’t we forget, the ever present curse of the DISSAPEARING CURSOR…

don’t kittening fix what isn’t broken! leave the current UI alone!!

If someone says the GW2 UI is ugly and clunky clearly hasn’t tried Eve Online’s UI. Talk about complicated with a steep learning curve.

The cursor is the main offense here. There’s a reason due 90+% of top PvP players are using Yolomouse.

instead of selling weapon skins and armor outfits the Black Lion should sell for gems different kinds of cursors with different shapes, sizes and colors. I’ll bought without regrets.

The UI should also have options to scale up the size: some icons are barely visible on a 27" 2560 × 1440 display… And some of us are thinking about changing to 4k…

The ability to choose where UI elements are on screen was available in GW from the moment I started playing it. Still can’t do it en masse in GW2 after almost 5 years. While I do not hate the UI, I would like to be able to move stuff around.

Also, Carighan and Hannelore made some good suggestions.

Obtena.7952:

UI changes have a very low return on invested development time, especially if they aren’t all that necessary.

A lot of changes ANet has made to the game were resource intensive and payoff poor. Take the NPE. It required a lot of changes and failed hard at its stated purpose.

Justfor.6018:

So I’d like to ask again… will the new xPac bring any UI improvements at all?

Improvements is subjective. So I will answer the question: “Will the new xPac bring any UI changes/customization/options at all?”

Most likely answer: No.

Best answer: Not that have been seen/noticed from leaked screenshots.

I would REALLY like a skill activation bar of my target.
Also I would like the enemy AOE warning indicators to do what Secret World Legends does.
Here’s an example of the AOE indicator I’m talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdFBF65-zfI&t=2m4s

It makes combat so much more fun, as I play clutch disruption builds.

IndigoSundown.5419:

The ability to choose where UI elements are on screen was available in GW from the moment I started playing it. Still can’t do it en masse in GW2 after almost 5 years. While I do not hate the UI, I would like to be able to move stuff around.

Also, Carighan and Hannelore made some good suggestions.

Obtena.7952:

UI changes have a very low return on invested development time, especially if they aren’t all that necessary.

A lot of changes ANet has made to the game were resource intensive and payoff poor. Take the NPE. It required a lot of changes and failed hard at its stated purpose.

… and those are the ones Anet decided to make. There are lots of reasons to change something. UI changes are necessary? Funny … if they are necessary, how do we play the game?

It might not be the best UI, but it’s certainly not so bad that Anet needs to waste time changing it. Any UI improvement is a ‘luxury’ rank change; hardly needed.

Excelsior.

The HUD itself is nice, the menus and the objects are in splatter art; each window, each part is a little piece of art.

But what I really dislike is the ugly health orb. It’s just a bland circle with a number in it. I can draw that in MS paint in 20 seconds. No drop shadow or some basic eye candy.
I’d like to have just a bar / two bars for health and initiative – and not centered as if this is 1993 (DooM) again. Health as red bar in the corner, skills on CD are fully visible, skills are shown with 30% visibility, so you can see what button 8 does but not right in your face like right now.

What I also would like is some sort of hidden UI that shows only skills on CD for example and my health is represented by the red tinted screen border. I usually turn off the HUD in almost every game. (Playing Dishonored without crosshair is tough, but it works :-))

In Warhammer Online I had color-coded vertical hp bars with a class icons on top so I could keep an overview even if my entire group stacked on a hostile target.

White bars for group members, green for friendly and red for hostile targets. I happened to play supporter for a dwarven melee gang.

Take a look and tell me that’s not beautifully clear. If only I could have that in GW2…

Could the UI be improved? Absolutely. For the most part I love the UI. It’s so unique, it looks nice, clean, polished, and most importantly, it’s simple. I think customization is great but the thing recent MMO’s have a trouble with is making a good UI. And for me, a UI is a big thing for MMO’s, like, really big.

If the UI is to be changed all I ask is to keep it simple and with the same art style (seriously, I love it). My only gripe (and it’s so minor) is the health orb. The health orb feels so plain, I wish it had more art to it such as Diablo orbs.

Also, the UI Plok posted would instantly turn me away from GW2. Dear god.

The basic layout is excellent.
They’ve done a really good work with the placement of the various elements,and it takes very little eye work to keep track of everything during combat.
I use it as a basis for building the UI in other games that allow add ons etc.
But it lacks customization options.

Obtena.7952:

IndigoSundown.5419:

The ability to choose where UI elements are on screen was available in GW from the moment I started playing it. Still can’t do it en masse in GW2 after almost 5 years. While I do not hate the UI, I would like to be able to move stuff around.

Also, Carighan and Hannelore made some good suggestions.

Obtena.7952:

UI changes have a very low return on invested development time, especially if they aren’t all that necessary.

A lot of changes ANet has made to the game were resource intensive and payoff poor. Take the NPE. It required a lot of changes and failed hard at its stated purpose.

… and those are the ones Anet decided to make. There are lots of reasons to change something. UI changes are necessary? Funny … if they are necessary, how do we play the game?

It might not be the best UI, but it’s certainly not so bad that Anet needs to waste time changing it. Any UI improvement is a ‘luxury’ rank change; hardly needed.

1. Ah, the “ANet decided” sacred cow again. Maybe one day you’ll realize that as defenses go, that one is kitten poor?
2. Where did I say UI changes were necessary?
3. Many thousands of players have asked for changes to the game since launch. Many of those requests have been honored. With few or no exceptions, such requests are always met with status quo defenders dismissing the request because of the status quo. Status quo defense means zilch. All you have to do is look at the history of changes to the game.

Exclamatory.8351:

Also, the UI Plok posted would instantly turn me away from GW2. Dear god.

Forget about the strange aesthetic for a moment, please. The functionality of vertical HP bars sticked to group members and targets is the point.
That (plus possible a HUD) provides the overview I’m missing painfully in GW2.

Plok.5873:

In Warhammer Online I had color-coded vertical hp bars with a class icons on top so I could keep an overview even if my entire group stacked on a hostile target.

White bars for group members, green for friendly and red for hostile targets. I happened to play supporter for a dwarven melee gang.

Take a look and tell me that’s not beautifully clear. If only I could have that in GW2…

makes me want to rip out my eyes honestly.

Plok.5873:

In Warhammer Online I had color-coded vertical hp bars with a class icons on top so I could keep an overview even if my entire group stacked on a hostile target.

White bars for group members, green for friendly and red for hostile targets. I happened to play supporter for a dwarven melee gang.

Take a look and tell me that’s not beautifully clear. If only I could have that in GW2…

I’m so sorry, but this is by far the worst UI I’ve ever come across..

As for GW2 UI, I don’t mind it. Being able to actually move my windows around with the aid of addons(looking at you WoW) is fine with me.

Technically, that’s not even one UI but an incohesive pile of addon windows. And ofc I’m not suggesting that for GW2;

My entire point is: floaty hp bars good, floaty color-coded vertical hp bars on group + targets better. ^^

I just want them to scale the UI up for 4k monitors. The chat text is tiny and unreadable; and I can’t even hide the chat box since I won’t be able to read it anyway.

If I could just move weapon skill slots around like we can with utilitys I would be very happy, not being able to do so feels like pre 2005.

Plok.5873:

In Warhammer Online I had color-coded vertical hp bars with a class icons on top so I could keep an overview even if my entire group stacked on a hostile target.

White bars for group members, green for friendly and red for hostile targets. I happened to play supporter for a dwarven melee gang.

Take a look and tell me that’s not beautifully clear. If only I could have that in GW2…

Have to say that this is one of the most horrifying UI layouts I have ever seen