First of all, I would just like to say, I think GW2 is a stellar game and it is the first game I’ve enjoyed playing from start to present! So hats off and congratulations A-Net! It’s a bloody brilliant game and I anticipate spending years to come enjoying it.
Suggestions:
User Interface:
- Tooltips – Please give the option to increase tooltip delay in hotbars, Hero, and Inventory.
- Tooltips – Please give the option to completely disable tooltips in hotbars. (There is no need for me to see the skill tooltip after using the skill literally millions of times; I know what it does, if I somehow forget, I can view it in my Hero panel or re-enable tooltips. In addition, some of these tooltips are so large that they cover over the important things actually happening on the screen.
- Interact with object pop-up – Please give the option to completely disable the “Press F” / Loot / Interact pop-up. Like the above tooltip mention, this is another UI element that the user does not need to see every single time. I know how to interact with objects after a few minutes of playing, I would rather not see a pop-up reminder every time I near an object, let alone during a crowded battle with many mobs needing to be looted. This frequently gets in the way of targeting other objects with the mouse.
- Looting – The “sparkle” is extremely hard to notice in many cases, depending on terrain. Even in contrasting terrain its miniscule size makes it very unnoticeable. This makes the act of looting seem like an after-thought, instead of the cornerstone mechanic it is. Please make the sparkle more obvious.
- Camera – I am not sure I am describing this the right way, but in EQ2 and other MMOs, I can set the option to use the left mouse key to free-look around my character in combat and leave screen in fixed position even when I move again etc. in GW2, I cannot seem to find this same option. The existing camera options only allow “snap” or what I think is an odd mix of avatar-relative movement which causes my character to rotate in and out of the scene when using A or D / Q and E keys, instead of turning like I want while simultaneously free-looking. For reasons of targeting, especially in crowded battles, as well as for my own preference (I find the existing “snap” effect very disorienting, to the point that after an hour of heavy combat, like in a dungeon, I almost feel sick) when exploring and moving, I would really appreciate a view-relative free look option.
- Camera – I would GREATLY appreciate a first-person view option. Even if this were only for out of combat. (In fact I prefer third person in combat as it gives better perspective.) There is so much amazing, beautiful art and scenery in GW2! I love exploring in this game simply for the sake of exploring, especially in the giant, detailed and incredible cities! However, the lack of first-person view prevents me from really looking all around me and seeing everything.
- Camera – allow further zooming-out in third person. Reason being that it would assist in targeting and perspective during crowded battles. See below …
- Targeting – I would like to be able to simply target another player and automatically assist their target. In other words, when they switch targets, I see what they are targeting. I know there is a “Press T” mechanic but I find this somewhat cumbersome. Please give an option to automatically assist targeted player.
- Targeting – A better graphical indicator of WHERE the target is — a larger arrow, a more obvious highlight. Please give the option to adjust highlight opacity on targets, or increase arrow size of overhead marker. It is usually impossible to see my target during crowded dynamic events and in dungeons, and I often find myself struggling to re-orient myself (due to camera issue above) and find my target / next target quickly. I often end up using tab and mashing my auto-attack skill to simply start attacking the nearest thing — this seems neither skillful nor particularly fun.
Dynamic Events:
- Adjust mob HP / number of mob spawns more appropriately (and dynamically, again, when more players show up) based on number of participating players in the immediate vicinity. I am sure you’ve already accounted for this on some level, but I am remembering Warhammer, where PQs were all but impossible for one or two players to complete — and I’ve already run into this several times in GW2, as well. So please make sure you’ve got this system fine-tuned for account for times when only a few players — or even just one — may be around to help in a dynamic event.
Well, that’s really about all I’ve got. In other regards I think this is a great game, like I said. Good job!
I hope you’ll consider some of these.
Thanks!
M.A.