Guild Wars 2

This is a feature that already would have some use, but with the new breakbar mechanic I think it would be super useful, and that is to have a bindable “Now!” button available that would cause your character to shout “Now!” along with a very large visual, like a giant spiky word balloon that players all around can see.

That’s just an example, of course, it could be something slightly different in terms of visual and audio expression, but I think it’d be a good idea to have a single keypress that a zerg commander could use to, without voice chat, instantly command the entire zerg to “do that thing,” whatever that thing might be in the specific encounter.

Yes, it might be possible to troll with this command, and it might be necessary to make it so that only commanders can use it, and maybe even that only squad members would see it, but overall I think it would be highly useful when compared to existing options.

That sounds pretty interesting. I think there is a lot of room for development on quick-action audio-visual cues from players, and such a system could include many other useful instructions / interactions.

What about give this option to commanders? Something simple like “focus” “defend” “stack” “spread” etc with video and audio clue? Would be awesome in every game mode.

That would be pretty cool.

Gaaroth.2567:

What about give this option to commanders? Something simple like “focus” “defend” “stack” “spread” etc with video and audio clue? Would be awesome in every game mode.

Or, to add to this, how about shout-outs? Games like Monster Hunter and GRAW do this very well. Press a button and a shout-out is placed in chat automatically, sometimes (in the case of Monster Hunter) custom shout-outs. It’d probably also help if they were hotkey based so they can be used in a pinch.

A lot of MOBAs have macros with audio effects like this. Examples I could see in GW2, without being specific to one game mode of course:

- Defend!
- Retreat!
- Enemy incoming!
- Hold still!
- Fire!
- Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge! (this one is just for the fun)

Or, to add to this, how about shout-outs? Games like Monster Hunter and GRAW do this very well. Press a button and a shout-out is placed in chat automatically, sometimes (in the case of Monster Hunter) custom shout-outs. It’d probably also help if they were hotkey based so they can be used in a pinch.

I tend to think that chat spamming would have more potential for abuse than it would be useful, although there is some use to it. I’m seeing this as more of an “action” thing, a clear visual that you’re bound to notice even if you are just watching the combat take place.

Also, having multiple ones might be nice and useful, but could also tend to clutter your control scheme. I think it’s more important to have at least one of these asap, because in most cases a boss will only have one “ok, everyone needs to do this together now” type mechanic. The commanders can explain before the fight starts what exactly players are expected to do when they shout “Now!,” and over time players will just learn these responses, but it’s important to have the “signal flare” that commanders can use when they need it.

Yes, because that wouldn’t be misused ridiculously

Good god, this PLEASE
All of this!

I came into this thread expecting it to be a request for a button which gives players the expansion NOW!

But anyway, I don’t really see the need for this. If you want to have quick access to a message in /say chat, just pre-type the dialogue you want to say, then click outside the chat box. The next time you push Enter the old text will still be there, so you can just double-click Enter to quickly say what you wanted to.

If you want to say it multiple times, pressing up while in chat mode will automatically call up the last thing you said so you can say it again.

All for it. And stopping abuse on it is dirt-simple – put it on a five or ten-second cooldown. It’s supposed to be a tool for improved coordination and timing, right? Either you get your time right and you’re good, or you get it wrong and you’re not. Either way, outside of maybe helping folks with the dodge cadence for Alpha, I don’t see any reason you’d need it more often than five or ten seconds at a shot.

I’ll +1 this, as long as Wololo is also included. It may not be entirely necessary, but I think giving players more tools to deal with situations instead of “just what’s needed” is a good practice. Heck even the famously-always-silent Dark Souls games have this kind of thing. I also agree with DevilLordLaser on how to stop such a feature from being spammed in addition to the following:

• The feature includes its own separate audio channel (with slider) and perhaps a checkbox to enable/disable the visuals as well.
• Players on enemy teams (PvP/WvW) do not see the visuals (which I assume is a given).

DevilLordLaser.8619:

All for it. And stopping abuse on it is dirt-simple – put it on a five or ten-second cooldown. It’s supposed to be a tool for improved coordination and timing, right? Either you get your time right and you’re good, or you get it wrong and you’re not. Either way, outside of maybe helping folks with the dodge cadence for Alpha, I don’t see any reason you’d need it more often than five or ten seconds at a shot.

That would stop one player from abusing it. It would do nothing to stop a group of players from incessantly spamming it on after the other.

Electro.4173:

That would stop one player from abusing it. It would do nothing to stop a group of players from incessantly spamming it on after the other.

A group of organized players determined to troll is going to troll. Providing them a “NOW!” button to troll with wouldn’t enable trolling that would not otherwise happen, and denying them said button wouldn’t stop them from trolling anyways.

I think it’s a grand idea for better coordinating these breakbar spikes ArenaNet is pushing for, and if we’re really worried about it, establish a global choke on “NOW!” activations within local chat range or something. Seriously. It’s a good idea, and I refuse to let trolls ruin a good idea.

But anyway, I don’t really see the need for this. If you want to have quick access to a message in /say chat, just pre-type the dialogue you want to say, then click outside the chat box. The next time you push Enter the old text will still be there, so you can just double-click Enter to quickly say what you wanted to.

Yes, but if you read the posts in the thread, the point is not to have a say/chat macro, the point is to have something highly visible in the game screen. It shouldn’t just be standard text, it should be a giant chat box with spikes that you can see above a flowing zerg. It wouldn’t even need to be a chat box, really, it could just be a big green flash or something, the point is that it needs to be visually distinct from all incidental combat effects, and take culling priority over those effects, so that any time it’s used, it is plainly obvious just looking at the middle of the screen that the commander is calling “NOW,” regardless of anything else that is happening.

If you want to say it multiple times, pressing up while in chat mode will automatically call up the last thing you said so you can say it again.

True, although then there is the other problem that if a commander says in chat “Now!” three times in a row over the course of a boss fight, and then goes to say it a forth time. . .

All for it. And stopping abuse on it is dirt-simple – put it on a five or ten-second cooldown. It’s supposed to be a tool for improved coordination and timing, right?

A cooldown might be good, and as was suggested upthread it might be limited to commanders only (which would at least limit it to people who’d invested a few hundred gold into their character and would want to avoid ANet attention), or even just to commanders who’s squad you’re in, which means that only one person could use it on you, and if they abused it somehow, you could just leave their squad.

Personally though, I think that like the ability to creatively say curse words in the chat box, it’s something that people could abuse, but aren’t likely to go nuts with, especially once it becomes clear that abusing it is Not a Good Idea. /reported

Seriously. It’s a good idea, and I refuse to let trolls ruin a good idea.

Thank, that’s my philosophy, generally. This is something that could be “abused,” but abusing it would not be super powerful, it’s not like a “kill button” or whatever. At worst you could annoy players with overuse, or you could troll-time effects to go off at the wrong time, but you couldn’t directly hurt anyone with it, and if people do abuse it, it could be actionable. Also, thinking through the discussion, it might be a good idea to have a chat log entry to it like most emotes, “Ohoni yelled ‘Now!’” so that there would be a clear record of anyone who used it, and if you chat blacklist that person, then the 3D visual wouldn’t appear to you anymore, so players who abused it could quickly be ignored.

Electro.4173:

It would do nothing to stop a group of players from incessantly spamming it on after the other.

That one is already in the game. It’s called Replica Job-o-tron backpack. OP’s proposal on the other hand would actually be useful.