So the "always lit" skills wasn't a bug after all.

[izayoinotsuki]

The title says it all...

 

It was intentional. I just love it when for instance "Unleash" has 10-15 seconds left on it's 2 minute cooldown, then showing as I can actually use it... and then when I absolutely need it, I press the button... and nothing happens, I press again... nothing. Oh, it's on cooldown... Ok, that was that... Game Over.

 

I'm just curious. Who's great idea was this change?

Edited January 19, 2012 by izayoinotsuki

[Goretzu]

It's one of the most curious changes I've ever seen.

 

 

 

Basially it seems entirely negative to gameplay - all I can assume is there was some backend issue the thought they were fixing with this (lag?).

 

But all they done is made an already bad UI much, much worse.

 

It's now near impossible to be 100% sure of your CDs, even if you spend all you time watching them and nothing else (which isn't great for gameplay).

[Scorus]

Nope, it's a feature.

 

Scorus

[HalusW]

It's not good but at least I can see my Rail Shot proc now. It's a step forward but the whole ability icon needs to be grayed out, not just the cool down timer.

[Qoojo]

Bah amateurs, anyone can play a game where the UI provides accurate feedback to skill availability. Go hardcore and remove the UI entirely.

[Csero]

This has been messing with my head as well, but it's really a minor annoyance than a game breaking problem for me.

[VanorDM]

but it's really a minor annoyance than a game breaking problem for me.

 

I feel the same way, but I don't see why they did this in the first place. It doesn't improve anything as far as I can see. The only thing it does is make it harder to tell if your powers are off CD or not.

[GnatB]

To be honest, I had less trouble telling if things were on cooldown or not than I thought I would hearing from everybodies complaints, but then again I didn't do any tanking that needed my defensive buffs last night, and it's mostly them that have the long cooldowns. (though SOME of my other stuff does as well, and had no trouble with them)

 

However I *loved* being able to tell that I had enough focus available to use blade storm or force sweep during GCD.

 

So while this wasn't a perfect fix, I did find it to be somewhat of an improvement in my everyday situation.

 

Now they just need to fix it so individual cooldowns still cause the icon to fadeout, just not GCD, and IMO it'll be near perfect.

 

(entirely perfect if stuff that's individual cooldown will finish during the GCD shows up as bright during the GCD as well)

[Daeada]

Personally, I like the change *overall*, I just think that any skill with a CD of 1 minute or greater should be greyed out while on CD.

 

If it has a CD that long, it likely doesn't have any rage/force/whatever requirements, so it's not helpful to confuse you with it being lit up.

[SamuraBob_Fl]

I agree that this really needs to be changed back. Unusable abilities should go back to being grayed out. Making the UI provide less information doesn't do me any good.

[Calimwulf]

I think that the new feature looks and acts cleaner than the old. I do agree though that for skills with long CDs that it either needs to scale better or else be slightly more visible.

[enigmacypher]

ok before i read this i thought it was just me too <i have completely avoided the forums as the trolls kept getting me down after launch as all it was was negative so i became negative>

 

i will say i hope it does change back not sure if i could count the number of times i have clicked something that looks like it is reset

 

better yet would be the times in numbers as suggested but the way it is is painful.

[InnateOne]

Odd, I dig this change, though perhaps I was bugged out before the patch. My abilities always seemed to be greyed out and unusable, now at least I can tell whats on or off cool down.

[OroMatoko]

My vote is for reverting it too, I've found the new CD method very inaccurate and detracts from actual gameplay, I find myself focusing on cooldowns of CC's etc rather than other vital parts of the screen, and as a medic monitoring allies on left group UI cluster and juggling ammo and heals and CC's and trying to stay alive the last thing I need is a UI that looks like an action has cooled down when it really hasn't, I've also noticed bad ability "lag" since the change. Now all of a sudden I have to wait a second between clicking actions, whereas before I could quickly press actions in succession (obviously not including actions with cast times) but now my instant actions aren't so instant.

[Galbatorrix]

I wish they'd implement WOW's system of making the button flash when something procs and also give a visual indication near your character for those that keybind.

 

As far as the CD thing goes, I didn't notice while playing last night. What exactly changed?

Edited January 19, 2012 by Galbatorrix

[Slaughtered]

I think they need a third method of indication, say a clock icon or something over the ability if its on cooldown, long cool down abilities are very hard to tell if useable near the end of said time.

[imtrick]

I feel the same way, but I don't see why they did this in the first place. It doesn't improve anything as far as I can see. The only thing it does is make it harder to tell if your powers are off CD or not.

 

Well, it's not completely worthless. A least now you can tell when you're in range or have the resources that you *could* use the ability if it was off cooldown, so you actually have more information now than before the patch -- it's just not presented as well as it could be.

 

So, no, definitely not a bug. The patch notes were clear this was intended. It just could have been done better.

[Galbatorrix]

Well, it's not completely worthless. A least now you can tell when you're in range or have the resources that you *could* use the ability if it was off cooldown, so you actually have more information now than before the patch -- it's just not presented as well as it could be.

 

So, no, definitely not a bug. The patch notes were clear this was intended. It just could have been done better.

 

 

 

So, now, even on a cool down, the button looks usable? Yeah, that's not too cool.... they have to give us some sort of visual indicator on cool downs. Especially since some abilities seem like they take 2-3 clicks to activate even when you're not on cool down. I can only imagine how many people are clicking an ability on cool down over and over after the patch thinking it's just not responding.

[HarvardAce]

The change is this:

 

If an ability would otherwise be castable except for a cooldown (either the specific cooldown of the ability or the GCD), the icon is shown in full color. If the ability is not castable because of a resource, range, or trigger effect (e.g. you don't have enough rage, you're not in melee range, or an ability that requires an incapacitated target is not incapacitated), the icon will show as greyed out.

 

If the ability is on cooldown, you will also have the "cooldown" effect that slowly drops to the bottom when the cooldown is done.

 

Previously, if an ability was not castable for any reason (cooldown or any of the other reasons), it was greyed out. Therefore there was no "simple" way to tell whether you'd be able to cast the ability after the CD was over because you may also be out of range or not have resources, etc.

 

This makes it very tough for melee users during PVP, however. I'm focused mostly on the middle of my screen, trying to keep my target(s) in front of me and within melee range. I got used to seeing the abilities on my peripheral vision, and it was easy to tell whether an ability was greyed out or not. Now, a peripheral glance at the quickslot bars makes these abilities look like they should be able to be cast, but they are actually currently on cooldown (and during the last few seconds of a longer CD ability it can be hard to see that it's on CD even if you're staring right at it).

 

It'd be nice if this were a feature you could toggle on and off. I can see why some people would benefit from it, but I know I (and many others posting in this thread) prefer the old way.

[Felioats]

I haven't gotten to try it out yet, but I already know this is going to suck as a Sage. The bubble and HOT, which are used all the freakin' time, have short cooldowns, and you need to know exactly when they are ready.

 

In solo play, the Mind Crush dot is a key ability that also has a cooldown of about 20 seconds, I think. Right in that range where you can't really mentally keep track.