Guild Wars 2

Since launch there has been a big, messy red elephant in the room that has been only briefly discussed in the past without any real worthwhile dev input regarding the matter, at least not that I’ve seen. Recently I’ve returned to GW2 from an 8 month hiatus and am a bit surprised to see that it has not been resolved to any degree. I am of course referring to the obnoxiously lengthy WvW nameplates that hover above the sometimes 100+ enemy players scattered about our screens, and that’s not even including the pets who themselves are privileged to such a sight.

The blob of red text obscures so much of the enemy/ally character models that it detracts from the ability to accurately gauge numbers and their actions. Even terrain is frequently hidden behind the unnecessary red behemoths. Sure, we could just turn enemy nameplates off all together but why should we handicap ourselves from pertinent information that helps distinguish enemy players by guild, faction etc. just to clean up our viewable real estate?

For starters, there are many versions of abbreviations that could easily be used without introducing confusion in order to lend aid toward this endeavor. For example, since launch each world server has been appropriately known and associated through easy-to-understand 2 or 3 letter abbrevs, such as JQ for Jade Quarry, SoS for Sea of Sorrows, and so on. So why can’t players be given the means to reduce 100+ “Tarnished Coast Bronze Champion”-like nameplates to simply “TC Bronze Champion” ones?

Something like these:
AR = Anvil Rock
BG or Bg = Blackgate
BP = Borlis Pass
DH or Dh = Darkhaven
DR = Devona’s Rest
DB or Db = Dragonbrand
FA =Fort Aspenwood
GM or GOM or GoM = Gate of Madness
HD or HOD or HoD = Henge of Denravi
MG or MAG or Mag = Maguuma
I think one could get the idea of how those might be determined.

And to be honest, it would be nice if the option or extent didn’t stop there. I’d personally be in favor of the entire nameplate being abbreviated, if I had such a choice.

Fort Aspenwood Silver Colonel
FA Silver Colonel
FA Silver Col
FA Slvr Col

Some may find the final and shortest of the 4 versions above to appear somewhat cut up, but I know many many players would choose it in a heartbeat over the other 3 as well.

Just spit-balling here but some suggested rank variations could be something such as follows:
Brnz Footman or Bronze Ftmn or Brnz Ftmn
Slvr Major or Silver Mjr or Slvr Mjr
Plat/Pltnm Rcrt
Mith/Mthrl Assltr
While they may appear odd now, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that people using such an abbreviation option would quickly adjust.

Thoughts?

I think they should just change server names to Red, Blue and Green for player names.

Shortened names on the fields.
Full name on character plate (the thingy on top of screen after you select a player).

Go go devs!

Long nameplates are useful for seeing that “Tarnished Coast Bronze Footman” trying to hide behind a tiny tree and thinking he’s doing a good job at being stealthy whilst his huge nameplate sticks out at either side. <3

They should remove the text altogether and replace it with colored icons. The background of the icon would be a circle, using the color of the server (red, blue, green), and the foreground of the icon would be a rank symbol (1 chevron, 2 chevrons, 1 star, 2 star, etc).

When you get groups of people 15 or more, it’s difficult to get accurate numbers, Nd eventually the text/names obscure the entire screen. It’s completely unecessary and could be condensed to a single graphical representation with all same information.

Tiffany.8576:

Long nameplates are useful for seeing that “Tarnished Coast Bronze Footman” trying to hide behind a tiny tree and thinking he’s doing a good job at being stealthy whilst his huge nameplate sticks out at either side. <3

I’ll admit that I do like it when this happens, especially when a large group is trying to hide, but that makes it difficult when we’re the ones trying to do the hiding. Realistically making the nameplates smaller wouldn’t completely remove that threat and there’d still be a great chance of being discovered early. I don’t think it’s worth the price of the over all mess it makes though. Especially considering that it’s already long enough to clip through walls to be seen clear on the opposite side.

Bear on the job.6273:

They should remove the text altogether and replace it with colored icons. The background of the icon would be a circle, using the color of the server (red, blue, green), and the foreground of the icon would be a rank symbol (1 chevron, 2 chevrons, 1 star, 2 star, etc).

When you get groups of people 15 or more, it’s difficult to get accurate numbers, Nd eventually the text/names obscure the entire screen. It’s completely unecessary and could be condensed to a single graphical representation with all same information.

I agree completely. In fact coming back to GW2 from ESO was a big ugly reminder of what I had left behind here when going from ESO’s simple, small colored icon over the heads of AvA players + name back to a 30+ lettered nameplate for each player/pet.

If/when WvW officially turns into an EotM-like 3-way alliance-based system then hopefully at that time we’ll go to 3 simple colors/icons or something of the sort. But the current EotM nameplates are just as bad as the rest of WvW.