Armorsmith Archive

Lol you should have read the testing forums during the skimpy period of time they called beta test.. however our hundreds of pages of very specific well thought out posts were deleted every day. I spent 7 hours one night refining the followingpost.. got nix'd the next morning.. fortunately a few people saved it and reposted it periodically... well, i saved it too.. so here it goes again:

POSTED ON APRIL 5th (note that the font in game has actually been changed so they at least fixed one thing i asked for)

New Icons: We did not ask for our beautiful realistic game to be turned into the "My Little Pony - Disco Edition". This is one of several show stoppers for me. Not only did you put these new icons in a game where they have no business being (they are 100% genre-inappropriate not to mention unclear and distracting).. but you force us to rely on staring at them to function. Why are you punishing us? I would have fired you if you were on my staff.

SOLUTION: Here's a thought.. put the old icons.. no wait.. the whole old interface back in so we can test COMBAT. that's what we're supposed to be testing, right? Isnt' this the Combat Upgrade? If you insist that we need these new animated icons.. please take the old icons and give them a color treated state instead of these new noisy ones. This could be simply accomplished by adding a sharp contrasting color to the outer rim of the icon while it is in state and a fade of a lighter color to indicate the timer... but the timers on the icons are a bad idea anyway... see the section on the combat que for more.

New Font: This bulky crowded font is ruining the immersion of the game and it is very hard to read around. With this new font, I can't read spatial bubbles or other items in the game that are necessary to be legible in order to play effectively. The old font was perfectly chosen by someone who understood UI Design and usability.

SOLUTION: Put the old font back.. no wait.. put the whole old interface back so we can test COMBAT.

New HAM system/look: I've died now several times because there is no contrast on the ham bar when i'm losing health. The old ham bar is much better as even peripheral vision the stark white indicating damage gives some sort of cue that something is amiss. The eye catching white bit allows me to focus on what's happening in the middle of my screen and only when the sharp contrast of the white showing catches my eye do I need to stop looking at the breathtaking action/scenery and look at the interface. (this is what a good UI designer strives for, btw: an interface that is unnoticed except when needed). Also, If I were even slightly visually impaired , I can imagine that I would likely find the lack of contrast to be unplayable. If you are color blind (1 in 5 men in the world are btw) and you can not see the color red.. you can not see 2 colors of red... you only see whatever color it appears as to you and that is generally seen as a single color unless there is some serious contrast. The contrast is really really important. That's why Stop Signs are Red and White.. if they were Red and Red half the population wouldnt be able to read them.

SOLUTION: Put the old one back.. are you sensing a pattern here? I am.

Lack of Combat Que: Ok so i'm not sure who said we didnt want a combat que anymore but here's my experience with the new game. This actually sums up my entire combat experience with the CU so far.

--Find a creature that has the same number as me. (btw: I feel like the numbered level system is something of a dumbing-down of the game)
--Push the button.
--Watch the button carefully until it changes
--Push the button again
--Watch the button carefully until it changes
--Repeat for several minutes until you or the creature is dead (usually i'm dead because I had no visual indication on my ham bar that there was a problem)

If I wanted to play a game where all I did was watch a button and push it, I would go to Yahoo and play the weekly web games.. it would save me $75/mo. (yes I am a fiend with several accounts) and I would feel like I was getting what I paid for... a button to watch and push.

This "new" lack of que steals the ability to socialize while in combat. If I choose to say something to another player, I either have to type very very fast while watching the button or stand there while the mob chews on me so that I can stop pushing the button long enough to type. Of course after that i'm dead anyway so I have lots of time to talk. But even more importantly I was so busy with the necessity of watching the button, that I was unable to see anyone talking to me because I am so oblivious to everything going on So, its either fight or talk.. not both which is going to make coordinating combat with other players really miserable unless you're on a voice server. I thought one of the goals here was to encourage grouping and enhance social interaction between players, but it seems that even with the new forced grouping, there is a great deal less room for social interaction as noone really has time to talk while fighting. Additionally, by penalizing us for grouping with people of disparate "levels" you create a system where I can't just hunt with my friends. When my co-worker who plays only once a week gets on we will not be able to group up because we will be different levels. When my husband who plays less hours per evening than I do gets on, we will not be able to group. This seems like a DOWNGRADE ... You are destroying some of the wonderful (and in my experience unique) features of the game.

The lack of a combat que divides the players into two categories. Those who can write macros and those that can't. The ones that can (which includes myself) will find a way to write their own combat que so that they can enjoy socializing with other players and enjoying the beautiful 3D game that's hidden under the ugly button pushing game. Those that can't will be the silent unheard people that talk while standing in the safety of town. Or they will be the people that quit the game because it is too hard to understand because no one will help them because everyone is too busy watching the button. I might add that if you're going to force us to play a watch and push a button game, you should at least make the button look like it might belong in a Star Wars game. .

SOLUTION: Care to take a guess? Wait... its coming to me... Put back the old interface and UI so we can test COMBAT

Is that mob in combat with me? I don't know because there are no visual indicators that any creature is in combat with anything unless you can see it biting something or someone when you're up close and personal with it. Every mob I have attacked while playing has never shown me any reason to think it is in combat with me or anything else. After it incaps me.. it wanders off but is now a red dot on the radar. Is it still in combat with me? or is it now forever red to me until I kill it? This is far too confusing for a noob.

SOLUTION: I'm getting tired of repeating this.... but yet again the old system was better.. all the mobs in combat with me have their ham bar visible over their heads. This is easy, straight forward, simple, clean and really really obvious that I should pay attention to that mob.. especially if it's something I dont want to be in combat with. The old system also didnt clutter the game with unnecessary UI elements unless it was to illustrate an important point. That allowed the player to be totally immersed in a beautifully designed 3D environment and only disturbed when there was something that should be paid attention to.

New Con/Level System:
If i wanted to play a match the color and push the button game, they've already made one.. it's called Simon. It's for ages 4-8.

SOLUTION: The old level system was great. It added adventure to the game. There are some mobs that I had no business trying to tangle with but it was great fun to see if i could find a strategy to actually kill them. If I really wanted to see mobX dead, i'd get a group together and we'd all try to kill it with strategy, smarts, some logic and probably a little luck. It added some spice... some edge... it made the game really fun and challenging at every skill level and on every planet.

1. Less uber armor. You've done that.. good work!
   
2. Less uber Doc buffs. You've done that.. good work!
   
3. Nerf DOT's. Limit the max uses on a DOT weapon to 50 or less.
   
4. Redistribute the Skill Tree. You've done this. Great work! Stackers can no longer stack. Job done.
   
5. More types of armor to choose from: You've done this.. The new armor changes and certs look like they will make a huge difference in how frequently armor is worn and how much it will affect gameplay. No need to adjust the HAM.. just the armor certs and stats as you have. Great job!
   
6. More cool weapons: You've done this.. and the new weapons are really aweome. especially the different cert levels that you get them at.. it makes sense! Great job!