Poll: What do you think about the new changes made to global cooldown UI in 1.1.2?

[Skodar]

The state of any given button should fall within these four categories:

 

 

NOT ENOUGH RESOURCE / OUT OF RANGE

 

The icon is darkened.

 

 

READY TO USE AND WITHIN RANGE

 

The icon is at 100% brightness.

 

 

ABILITY IS ON COOLDOWN

 

A numerical counter is laid over the icon, indicating how many seconds are left until the ability is off CD.

 

 

GLOBAL COOLDOWN IS IN EFFECT

 

A vertical descending shadow effect is laid over the icon, except for abilities that ignore GCD.

 

I <3 this idea. Can we haz it, please?

[EternalFinality]

You do not understand what I was talking about.

 

I simply want them to ACKNOWLEDGE it. They refuse.

 

I'm sure the EA legal department has ordered them not to.

[StrikeOfLight]

Hello. Others (including myself) seem to get migraines from some of the new effects on the UI. Do you plan to address this as you go along? Thank you!

[TheWeaver]

I understand the need to have a more binary poll, but my response is more nuanced that love it/hate it.

 

 

Like -- I like the new effect used to depict that an individual power is on cooldown. This is much clearer than the previous incarnation. Note that I didn't have a major issue with what was there before, but I would occasionally find myself trying to use a power that was still on CD and now I don't.

 

Dislike -- I dislike the use of the same bright, flashy graphic to depict the effects of the *global* cooldown. Use of the effect here causes two issues for me. It obscures the activation of powers that become available (often due to procs or status changes) while the GCD is in effect. Further the flash at the end causes all 4 of my ability bars to flash, every 1.5 seconds. That's a lot of flashing. I would prefer the old graphic here.

 

If you could combine the new graphic for CD and the old for GCD then I think you'd have a winner. If the two must be the same however, I'd go with the old one. So in the end I voted thumbs down.

[Lukeia]

The new changes didn't bother me much...it took a little while to get used to what the new effects meant but after 20 or 30 minutes I was back to my normal playstyle. I am someone who does get migraines after lots of flashing like strobelights and such and...just my two cents...this is nothing worse then flashing in various handheld games, no headache problems or even tension on my case. My vote is really to please just pick one way and stick with it so I don't have to revamp my thinking every time I log in.

[ptwonline]

Personally I think it's completely backwards to have skills highlighted when you cannot use them, they should be highlighted when you CAN use them. I don't mind the new system, but the extra highlighting added around the skills should show up when the skill is ready to be used, and not when it's charging. I can live without the ready flashes as well.

 

The reason they have the ready flashes is because--as you pointed out--the highlighting of abilities is completely backwards. They highlight what you can't use, and then need the extra flash to show you what you CAN use.

 

The proper solution is to draw attention to the things you CAN use in the first place.

[Gaidax]

Honestly, I don't really understand why Bio refuses just to add some option for this - they already have 3 versions, fine - give us an option to chose whichever we like.

 

I mean, why not?

[GamewizX]

So now were conspiracy theorists for being annoyed we cant play and were getting no answers? I'll tell you what gets nothing done.. sitting in a corner quietly "Trusting" any sort of establishment. Your theory on them doing anything about it is just that. a guesstimate. They havent responded with anything other then an automated "were looking into it."

 

You can try to lump everyone into my post, or you can logical deduce that I wasn't generalizing the entire TOR population that doesn't like the change (myself included).

 

 

And no, my "theory" is not guessing, it's based upon what the CM just stated:

 

Changes are definitely going to be made to the UI in response to initial feedback we received after the patch was deployed.

 

To think he is lying is to generate a conspiracy theory. It is only logical to assume that if the CM of BioWare for TOR says that changes are coming, that they are doing what they are claiming they are doing.

[ptwonline]

Honestly, I don't really understand why Bio refuses just to add some option for this - they already have 3 versions, fine - give us an option to chose whichever we like.

 

I mean, why not?

 

They have enough trouble getting one UI to work without having to worry about two extra ones.

[chumppi]

Beta/Release CD's/UI was great and I have no idea why someone thought it was a good idea to touch the UI/GCD. KISS (Keep it simple stupid) if it isn't broken you don't fix it!

 

This ^

[Gimpadora]

(Very little feedback was received on the PTS Forum before the patch was deployed to the live servers, otherwise changes may have been made before the patch's deployment.)

 

.

 

You can't be serious Mr. Reid!

 

Feedback, REALLY?

Where is the level 50 copy n paste feature?

Are you not paying people to test the game internally?

Do they have any gaming, aesthetic and functional comprehension/aptitude?

 

Your community has given you countless suggestions and game fixes, but for some reason an overwhelming majority have been ignored.

 

This comment was a LOW blow to the community. Your team continues to waste time on numerous game elements that are not critical.

 

Please learn to prioritize.

 

What a waste of man hours and resources.

 

Hopefully next patch I can emote while riding my speeder!!! /sarcasm

[gryhmr]

They are bringing down the server tonight to fix Ilum... Can I hope that a UI reversion is going to be there as well so I can play?

[Nepumuk]

I'm a bit worried when it looks like the vocal forum minority is going to design the UI or other aspects of the game.

[JacienOrdo]

You can try to lump everyone into my post, or you can logical deduce that I wasn't generalizing the entire TOR population that doesn't like the change (myself included).

 

 

And no, my "theory" is not guessing, it's based upon what the CM just stated:

 

 

 

To think he is lying is to generate a conspiracy theory. It is only logical to assume that if the CM of BioWare for TOR says that changes are coming, that they are doing what they are claiming they are doing.

 

They also said they were fixing the UI.. they broke it for a great many of us.. I trust what Is not what some one says will be. If it was the other way around in real life I could tell bioware "I will pay you at some point until then just leave my sub active and trust you'll get paid."

[chumppi]

The state of any given button should fall within these four categories:

 

 

NOT ENOUGH RESOURCE / OUT OF RANGE

 

The icon is darkened.

 

 

READY TO USE AND WITHIN RANGE

 

The icon is at 100% brightness.

 

 

ABILITY IS ON COOLDOWN

 

A numerical counter is laid over the icon, indicating how many seconds are left until the ability is off CD.

 

 

GLOBAL COOLDOWN IS IN EFFECT

 

A vertical descending shadow effect is laid over the icon, except for abilities that ignore GCD.

 

 

 

I really don't understand why the GCD effect is given such visual prominence, considering it's always in effect after a skill is executed, and it's always going to last 1.5 seconds. It's one thing to count the seconds left on a skill with a 9-second cooldown when you have other skills on similarly long cooldowns, but a 1.5 delay that is almost always applicable really shouldn't be that hard to count in your head, especially when most people have a .5 second buffer anyway.

 

This ^

[Thesseract]

That is incorrect. I said shut down the servers once a new patch is ready to be deployed. People in this thread and the other major thread before it have stated many times that Bioware should shut the servers down. That serves no purpose if a solution isn't available yet.

 

Just because the servers are still up doesn't mean they aren't trying to fix it.

 

The only time you should bring down servers prior to a solution being implemented is to stop game-exploits that could break the game in major ways.

 

Gonna stop after this post.

 

Only fools argue with .... you.

 

People have said to shut the servers down and return to a state where everyone could play. This does serve a purpose. Nobody is saying to just shut them down for no reason. Stop trying to manipulate words to suit your purpose.

 

Keeping the servers on, or shutting them down and doing a rollback hurts one group one way or another.

 

I was merely pointing out that your argument that majority should always rules is flawed and also ignores the amount of time the game in unplayable to each group.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Thesseract

[Jivefenix]

They could solve everything and not have to do any work by allowing UI customization addons. The addon guys would do all the work for them and everyone could have a UI they are happy with

[GamewizX]

They also said they were fixing the UI.. they broke it for a great many of us.. I trust what Is not what some one says will be. If it was the other way around in real life I could tell bioware "I will pay you at some point until then just leave my sub active and trust you'll get paid."

 

Giving constructive feedback is one thing, and I never said that was bad. I said avoid the conspiracy theories. Like the ones claiming Bioware is ignoring you, they are purposefully trying to harm their customers, they aren't trying to solve the problem, etc.

 

That isn't constructive feedback. That is pointless conspiracy.

[IJustWantAName]

To be fair, I voted "they're terrible" for one simple fact: after hitting any ability, due to the GCD fade, everything is on a cooldown and it's opaque enough that I can't tell what's available and what's not. Taking a metaphorical step back, the graphics are cool and are very Star-Wars-y. There needs to be a middle-ground though where it has a nice Star-Wars feel but at the same time doesn't cause me to panic and resort to a strategy of POUND ALL THE BUTTONS!!

 

I do appreciate the effort at making the game look even better though, and I think it's incredibly admirable for you as a company to take the time to get our feedback on the change!

[heybarn]

UI still needs work to make it a better to use/view BW. GL.

[Dillingor]

Now you ask us?

 

It was on the PTR. Try testing things out if you want to complain after the fact

 

 

Edit:

 

Keep in mind, Bioware, that the forums represent a part of the community that comes here almost specifically to voice their issues, and there's probably a larger portion of people in game who actually like it. Maybe try running a poll in game when people log out, on how they feel about it, instead of in the forums where people tend to come and express mostly negative criticism.

 

That being said, I like the changes.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Dillingor

[SillyTurtle]

I also don't like the option for the poll, because they are all untrue. Its not terrible at all, it was definitely a step in the right direction. I do just think it's a little flashy for my class (Marauder) personally. I also don't like that abilities are still grayed out but are available to use. It's very confusing knowing if its lying to me or what. I'm click abilities based on familiarity as of now, not even based on the highlights or whatever.

[KidRaid]

There are 2 different factors into making something castable, as I see it: CD and "everything else", which includes target type, range, and resource constraints. I don't think separating "everything else" would add much value.

 

The goal should be that you can immediately deduce the status of both of those factors (CD and "everything else") with a peripheral look at your ability bar.

 

The first version only distinguished between "castable" and "not castable" and didn't distinguish whether it was due to CD or due to anything else. This was sub-ideal because it wasn't clear when an ability came off cooldown if you would be able to cast it due to other constraints.

 

The second version made it clear on the "everything else" category -- lit if there were no "everything else" constraints, unlit otherwise. The issue with the second version was that it was hard to see the CD on abilities with long cooldowns. For abilities that only had a GCD, this wasn't a huge issue because if you couldn't tell you would likely be in the "queue" window, but for longer CD's (especially >1 m) the sliver of a bar left could still mean 3+ seconds left before you could cast the ability, and that sliver was really hard to see unless you were staring right at the ability.

 

The newest version once again makes it similar to the first iteration, where it is hard to tell if you have an "everything else" restriction on an ability if it is on CD, because the CD graphic also dims the icon (just not as much as the "everything else" restriction does). Additionally, the new graphic is a bit obnoxious with the flashing.

 

My suggestion on how to fix it would be the following:

 

1) If the ability is castable immediately, lit up, with a thin non-obnoxious white border around the icon (such that it doesn't appear to "flash").

2) If the ability is not castable due to range, target, or resource constraints, give it a clear red color shift.

3) If the ability is not castable due to cooldown, dim it 50% and do the normal CD overlay that "empties" over time.

4) If the ability is on CD *and* is restricted for any other reason, do both filters (red filter, dim, and the CD overlay).

 

For an added bonus, if the ability is otherwise castable except for the CD, and the time remaining on the CD is less than the "ability queue" setting, give it a yellow border, so we know if we click on it, it will cast when the ability is off CD.

 

Another option would be to do the CD graphic for GCDs but anything effected by only a GCD would not lose the white border.

 

Best option would be to give us the choice to customize the overlays for CD/"everything else" as I would imagine one size will not fit all here.

 

THIS! do this!

 

Great post . !

[Mikkeos]

Migraine inducing UI elements are fantastic.

 

As this is the second time you got flashing stuff running, that makes the decision quite easy not to spend another Eurocent on any EABioware products any time soon.

 

You can stuff your poll where the sun does not shine.

[bandraoi]

30% think these changes are good did this game launch in braile ? the 30% who thought these changes were good need eyesight and iq tests.