New Ability Bar Cooldown effect

[Ikagawa]

wow..I think the new gcd cooldown stuff works wonders and goes with game more. and...really? splitting headaches? A little overexhaggeration much? gimme a break..

 

Are you in their heads? Do you know what kind of pain they're in? No?

 

I believe my point is made.

[profaneascension]

Whether we can "get used to it" or not is beside the point. There's obviously a very large segment of the player base who are having trouble looking at the bars, much less recognizing the cooldowns. I have NEVER seen cooldown display being brought up as an issue -- nay, a client irritant -- and somehow you guys managed to screw it up so badly that it's become an issue.

 

Does BioWare have something against making a UI that is clean, concise and unobtrusive? Not to mention the fact that the cooldown display was the very last thing that anyone wanted to change? Why are you guys wasting time on this (and failing spectacularly, as evident by the reaction on the forums) instead of working on something else?

 

Revert this change, and tell your UI guys to scrap any "improvements" they have in mind and get working on an add-on API instead. THAT is what they should be spending their time on, not making ridiculous changes to a system that wasn't even broken in the first place.

[jonobiwan]

People are getting sick from this ui change. Literally physically sick. The game's ui didn't make them sick yesterday. Agreeing with a troll makes you a troll or an insensitive jerk, nothing more

 

I'm neither I just don't have an issue with it but if true that people are getting sick because of it then they need to at least give us the option to roll back or keep it.

[Thesseract]

You are making yourself look silly, or new. New is ok. Don't be a nub. L2play.

 

Pro-Tip - I know because I see his cast bar!!! I'm not looking at my action keys... /facepalm

 

Unless I'm mistaken their is no option to display the name of the spell being cast by the enemy over their actual character.

 

Which means unless you are just interrupting every one of your opponents abilities without looking at what is actually being cast you still need to look and the bottom right to see the spell being cast.

 

But keep on trolling guy.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Thesseract

[gryhmr]

honestly if i play for about 30 minutes i feel something like 'car sick' with dizziness. its not something i want to opt into. i have played video games all my life and never had anything like this happen. i like this game, but i cannot play it right now.

[Nellise]

This is unplayable for me. I'm trying to push through it, but my bars are all constantly grayed/blacked out and there's moving things all over the place and there's flashes of light. It seems like the game is deciding to check if I have focus for an ability on my sentinel only after the gcd timer is up, but since I hit things nearly on the gcd, my bars are blacked out 90% of the time and I can't see anything. I'm straining my eyes trying to see underneath the gcd stuff and I'm now getting the headaches some others are mentioning.

[gurugeorge]

I actually positively like the new system in two ways, I like the "shading" effect at the top of the CD, and I like the "flashing". These two have solved the problem we had before where, if you had a long CD ability, you couldn't tell whether it was quite ready or not because a sliver of blue was indistinguishable from the bottom of the icon border.

 

What I don't like is that the GCD has exactly the same graphic as the individual abilities' CDs - i.e. a shaded electric blue line. I think this may be what's confusing people.

 

It seems to me that you need a DIFFERENT GRAPHIC to denote GCD from CD.

 

I can't speak to people being disturbed by the "flashing" graphic as it bothers me not one whit, indeed as I said I positively like it; but it would probably be wise to make this new graphics system and the previous two options. I think personally I'd settle with this one, but if it's giving people actual rl problems, then it has to be optional.

Edited February 8, 2012 by gurugeorge

[Keta]

honestly if i play for about 30 minutes i feel something like 'car sick' with dizziness. its not something i want to opt into. i have played video games all my life and never had anything like this happen. i like this game, but i cannot play it right now.

 

 

It's one of the reasons that personally I can't play FPS games as I get nausea rather quickly. That's why I choose to play mmo's and 3rd person games. This change isn't as bad but it would be if I kept playing. In an FPS I'll get a headache then nausea in about 10 -15 minutes. This takes just a bit longer, but it happens. It's also well documented in the video game business. I can't even play long enough to decide if the changes they made are worthwhile to me or not.

[Kaizez]

I have not had any real issues with game until i log in today after updating. pvp was a nightmare, could not figure what is ready to hit next. it feels like it is taking longer to even be able to click anything, makes it unplayable for me. i had to give up...

[Naroga]

This is unplayable for me. I'm trying to push through it, but my bars are all constantly grayed/blacked out and there's moving things all over the place and there's flashes of light. It seems like the game is deciding to check if I have focus for an ability on my sentinel only after the gcd timer is up, but since I hit things nearly on the gcd, my bars are blacked out 90% of the time and I can't see anything. I'm straining my eyes trying to see underneath the gcd stuff and I'm now getting the headaches some others are mentioning.

 

100% the truth. My sentinel is almost unplayable with this new UI.

[Exito]

While I appreciate the attempt to make it more obvious which spells were on cooldown, I feel the new effects are just making it harder to see which abilities are available. The flashing and washout effects obscure the visibility of the abilities, and the flashing occurs after it has come off cooldown (making it difficult to react quickly as you cannot quite tell if it is available or just part of the GCD flashing).

 

All that was needed was to add a dark blue or reddish tinge to the abilities which were on cooldown, as the old GCD effect was sufficient and didn't obscure vision.

 

Is anyone else not liking the new effect?

 

I just finished a warzone and I was so angry about this sudden change without an option of toggle off/on, honestly who come up with this (pardon my language) crappy designs?

 

If they were to add a better animation for the cooldown I think most people would really prefer a timer on the skill itself with an option of toggle on/off, but now with the new " cooldown effect I don't know when I'm ready to use my abilities just like the thread maker said , this need to change asap.

 

I gave this game a 1 month payed subscription chance to see if they make it right but so far they haven't fixed things that are really game breaking for me and this little change just added one more thing to the list.

[Irishbrewed]

Whether we can "get used to it" or not is beside the point. There's obviously a very large segment of the player base who are having trouble looking at the bars, much less recognizing the cooldowns. I have NEVER seen cooldown display being brought up as an issue -- nay, a client irritant -- and somehow you guys managed to screw it up so badly that it's become an issue.

 

Does BioWare have something against making a UI that is clean, concise and unobtrusive? Not to mention the fact that the cooldown display was the very last thing that anyone wanted to change? Why are you guys wasting time on this (and failing spectacularly, as evident by the reaction on the forums) instead of working on something else?

 

Revert this change, and tell your UI guys to scrap any "improvements" they have in mind and get working on an add-on API instead. THAT is what they should be spending their time on, not making ridiculous changes to a system that wasn't even broken in the first place.

 

I swear I never seen another game get tore to shreds on how their ui handles CDs. I think it's usually an after thought for MMO gamers, never really an issue. Yet somehow these guys DEVS somehow shine redicoulus amount of negative light on it. Im beginning to think that UI design is rocket sceience.

 

Pro Tip BW log on to one of your wow accounts I know you guys have and just take a look at how they do it... Come on now. We don't need fancy, we need function.

[Nijle]

What I don't like is that the GCD has exactly the same graphic as the individual abilities' CDs - i.e. a shaded electric blue line. I think this may be what's confusing people.

 

It seems to me that you need a DIFFERENT GRAPHIC to denote GCD from CD.

 

 

Most logical thing i've read all night. Leave the flashy on the long cooldown abilities (hell even wow has this now) and put the regular cooldown back on the regular abilities.

 

Problem solved.

[borednumb]

Funny thought... I don't remember any posts on release about the cd animations being bad yet they've changed it twice with this last time being so goofy that I logged out after 10 minutes...and I love the game...

 

I feel like I'm watching a guy on his first date fumbling with the girls bra...she's mostly likely going to stop you if you can't even get past her bra, just like I'm going to loose interest in a game that is tweaked into oblivion because the tweaks are inept and annoying.

 

revert back to release and leave it alone until you've had some practice and can make it past first base

[ptwonline]

I swear I never seen another game get tore to shreds on how their ui handles CDs. I think it's usually an after thought for MMO gamers, never really an issue. Yet somehow these guys DEVS somehow shine redicoulus amount of negative light on it. Im beginning to think that UI design is rocket sceience.

 

Pro Tip BW log on to one of your wow accounts I know you guys have and just take a look at how they do it... Come on now. We don't need fancy, we need function.

 

Better yet: grab a bag of money from EA, hire the UI team from Rift, and win.

[Ikagawa]

Ok fine but I don't agree that they would intentionally harm their players.

 

You can bury your head in the sand all you want. Actions speak louder than words.

[Lock_at_heart]

This is unplayable for me. I'm trying to push through it, but my bars are all constantly grayed/blacked out and there's moving things all over the place and there's flashes of light. It seems like the game is deciding to check if I have focus for an ability on my sentinel only after the gcd timer is up, but since I hit things nearly on the gcd, my bars are blacked out 90% of the time and I can't see anything. I'm straining my eyes trying to see underneath the gcd stuff and I'm now getting the headaches some others are mentioning.

 

Indeed.

For those of us who use abilities on CD to maximize DPS/HPS/TPS uptime, this new graphic effect is incredibly bothersome.

 

Some of us like to be able to plan ahead, BioWare, and not being able to see my abilities does not help.

 

I'm one of those people that makes decisions about what to do in the next few seconds based on what I *could* do, and right now I can't see a darn thing. I have a lot of trouble knowing what my options are with this new graphic b/c it basically greys everything out all the time.

 

I don't want to sit and wait between ability uses for the bar to light up enough to read it while my character just stands there...

 

Also, I originally was not getting the headaches, but now I am, and aspirin did not help.

 

BioWare, please do not fix what is not broken.

Also BioWare, please give us the ability to make our own UIs.

[EvilGoodOne]

I am not kidding nor trolling - if flashy thing stays i leave. 5 mins and i am ready to puke. This is first time ever when game puts me in danger irl, id like it to be the last time too.

[BCBull]

Better yet: grab a bag of money from EA, hire the UI team from Rift, and win.

 

Hire the whole RIFT dev team and win for the forseable future.

[jonobiwan]

You can bury your head in the sand all you want. Actions speak louder than words.

 

If it affects people like they claim they will fix it. I do no see them as the monsters you seem to think they are.

[BCBull]

Unless I'm mistaken their is no option to display the name of the spell being cast by the enemy over their actual character.

 

Which means unless you are just interrupting every one of your opponents abilities without looking at what is actually being cast you still need to look and the bottom right to see the spell being cast.

 

But keep on trolling guy.

 

Again man. If you are looking away from the action you are losing. Looking to see what he MAY cast (fake cast anyone?) is to slow and unreliable. I anticipate. I know my class and I'm learning others. I don't rely only reaction.

 

I'm sorry man I have to say it again. If you are staring at your bars you are doing it wrong. Don't be a nub. Get better.

Edited February 8, 2012 by BCBull

[Knewt]

If it affects people like they claim they will fix it. I do no see them as the monsters you seem to think they are.

No, they are coming off as incompetent bufoons. Their testing procedures need to grow up fast. You can't run MMO testing like a single player game. The need a better PTS system with level 50 characters for people to perform some testing.

[ptwonline]

You can bury your head in the sand all you want. Actions speak louder than words.

 

Meh, no need to theorize needless and senseless malice when incompetence explains it better.

[JohnAntilles]

Ok so I have a question...

 

You people who are getting seriously angry over this change... what is the size of your screens, and the resolution you are playing on?

 

Because, I'm sitting here on my couch, and from across the small room on my 32 inch Sony that I play this on, (which I know is not the norm) at 1360x768, I only even noticed the effect at all until AFTER I read a thread complaining about it, and actually started directly at my action bars.

 

If I was looking at my character and the enemy I'm fighting, the flashes barely registered. In other words, they didn't bother me at all. Plus, as I am playing a Rage jugg, a class that has to use its smash combo on Force Choke cd, it was pretty easy to keep track of it with the little blue line slowly sliding down.

 

I would be very interested to hear if the people who it seriously bothers either:

 

1. Endemically stares at there hotkey bars.

2. Has a small screen.

3. Has a low resolution

[JacienOrdo]

I doubt BW would hurt anyone on purpose. Though I dont think they put much forethought into the effects the flashing would have on people. I dont blame the whole dev team either. I blame whomever made the call to implement such a bad change with out fully testing and taking the feed back needed to have it go live. Aka I blame the head cook not the waiters. Someone up top needs to take his licks and get this fixed sooner then later.