1175 replies to this topic

[stabbitystyle]

I haven't really read this thread because it's pretty long, but I figure this is a small suggestion that might have some merit. So, in the mechlab there's a yellow checkout button for when you want to save your mech. I think there are a couple of problems with the button as it is now, which I will outline, and I'll offer some potential solutions.

1) The button says check-out even if you're just saving it without spending C-Bills or MC.
2) The button is yellow even if you're not spending MC.

These are both problems when it comes to navigating the UI intuitively. I've had multiple friends confused about how to save their mech because check-out didn't describe what they were trying to do. My proposed solutions are as follows:

1) If you're not spending C-Bills or MC, the button should say "Save" or something along those lines. If you are spending something, check-out is fine as a description.
2) If you're not spending MC (or don't have the option to spend MC, depending on how you want to present it), the button should be blue and not yellow. Yellow is pretty strictly associated with MC options throughout the UI and having the button be yellow even if MC is not involved creates a dichotomy.

As I said, this is pretty minor, but small things add up. Also, ideally the button for saving/checking-out would be a bit bigger. It gets kind of lost because it's so small, even though it should be a pretty major button.

Anyway, hope this is helpful and gets read.

[Molossian Dog]

Hiding it far away from where you actually modify things on the screen is also a ... well let´s stay polite and say unwise.

[DAEDALOS513]

On the page where you select which Mech you would like to config or play.. in each mech box there should be a banner or sash in the top right corner describing what level that mech is at: Basic (yellow), Elite (green) or Mastered (red).

[WTFlo]

Just tried it for the first time.... wtf?!

- font looks horrible, ingame as well as in the mech lab. Each one of the 3 R's in my name look different lol! The letters are blury and pixelated, like my monitor is trying to interpolate 640x480 or something. I actually checked the resolution settings and was surprised that it was set to my native res of 1920x1080...

- Can't find my modules and components.

- "Check out" to save?! Took me a while to fugure out...

- The engine... "list"... gave me a headache. Those huge icons and differently coloured fonts are confusing at best. It's too much "in your face!"

- Navigation is like it's meant for controllers or mobile OS.

- Let me drag stuff to my mech's bodyparts, just like in any MW game before...

- I liked the orange design. Why does everything have to be blue nowadays?!

- My wish to quickly exit the game was not granted. I have to click "log out" fist, wait for the log in screen, and then shut the game down.

- Why?


Pro's:

- I can now rename my mechs.

- I can spin my mech.

- I can now activate premium time and see how much time is left.

- I don't care for any of those!


I never thought I would say that but.... the old UI was MUCH better!
This sh*t really went through QA?! Are we back in some sort of beta now? How is this more user-friendly? All that hype for THIS???

Sorry for my deconstructive feedback, but I just don't know what to say...

Edited by SiLeNCeRRR, 13 February 2014 - 04:25 PM.

[DemonRaziel]

SiLeNCeRRR, on 13 February 2014 - 04:24 PM, said:

This sh*t really went through QA?! Are we back in some sort of beta now?

I will use this opportunity to point out that it's really doubtful we actually ever left BETA...

Removing the BETA tag from the logo was the only indicator I can think of, but by my standards, no actual ingame changes have occurred that were significant enough, to call the release a success.

And unsuccessful release is akin to no release at all...

Edited by DemonRaziel, 13 February 2014 - 05:01 PM.

[The Big Stick]

UI Feedback

Select Mech/Mechlab

• General

· If the grid/list buttons worked it would be nice
· Make the column under "Select Mech" the filter column

• Filter column has four main groups that are expandable/collapsible
  
• Group 1 - Weight (All, Light, Medium, Heavy, Assault)
  
• Group 2 - Type (All, Hero, Champion, Common)
  
• Group 3 - Ownership (All, Playable, Owned (trial mechs are not owned), Trial, Purchasable)
  
• Group 4 - Skill - (All, Mastered, Elited, Basiced, Unskilled)
  
• Label Mechs that are on sale with a sale tag
  
• If you try to purchase a mech and dont have a mech bay offer to purchase one at the time.
  
• Where the filter dropdown is now change that to sort (by name, by Type, by weight, by skill)
  
• The window that pops up when you mouse over the mech needs to include modules in the loadout section it would also be nice to see the load out in the stats below the selected mechs ragdoll

2. Configure
· Get rid of the back button to move between config sections. When you click loadout it should collapse or expand similar to the way the body sections do now.
· The grid of components with the little thumbnails looks good but serves no purpose. There is no need to see 35 identical thumbnails of standard engines. Shrink this and make it list based and not thumbnail. Use the extra space to show the slots/hardpoints/armor like you do now only for all the locations simultaneously
· Allow for import/export between game and smurfy’s or include the options save the current config or 1 alternate config
· If I don’t have any pending changes allow me to hit the Play Now / Ready Button to ready up… Don’t make me have to exit the mechlab and go to the social screen
2.1 Modules…
· Fix the bugs (used consumables don’t disappear on use, removal of said phantom modules can result in an error when saving mech, consumables purchasable with MC show as equipable when viewed with all modules but invalid when just consumables are viewed)
2.2 Camo Spec
· Everything about the old UI was better than what you have currently
· The alternate colors are no longer saved. Prior to UI switch I could easily swap between two favorite color schemes plus if my hero mech came with a custom color scheme I could leave those colors as alternate colors so I could switch back to the default scheme if I wanted. Now those colors are lost to me. I feel like you have lessened the value of something I paid $ for.
· Colors and patterns should have a tooltip with the name of what is pointed to. I should not have to select it to find out which “red” it is.
2.3 Cockpit
· An All, Owned, Purchasable filter would be nice
2.4 Weapons Groups
· The ability to set chain fire would be nice
· A display of each groups damage and heat (Including ghost heat) would be nice
Inventory

• In general I believe the inventory is redundant. Its functionality should be available from the mech lab but I will address the issues with it as it currently stands as a separate function.
  
• The sort functions are nice but should include Name, Model, weight, price, type, skill.
  
• Clicking on a battlemech shows the mech’s current layout in a nice clean format. Sell should not be the only option. Please add “Equip” and “Configure” options where “Equip” selects the mech as the currently active mech and “Configure” selects the mech and loads it in the mech lab.
  
• Weapon Systems, Equipment, and Modules. The quantity listed should show the number available and the number equipped. Clicking on the “Equiped” number should list all mechs with that item on them. Clicking on a mech in that list presents the same “Equip” “Configure” “Sell” options discussed before.

Statistics

• It would be nice if this displayed in a window in game.

Testing grounds

• It would be nice if groups could drop in testing grounds

Tutorial

• I was unable to exit the match or the game from within the tutorial.

Skills

• The skill trees should be viewable for all mechs. Changes should be limited to “Owned” mechs but if I sell a mech I should still be able to see where I was at in leveling it at the time it was sold.

Social

• The social “windows” should be ever present and should not take up more real estate than the right 15% of the screen.

[Molossian Dog]

DemonRaziel, on 13 February 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

I will use this opportunity to point out that it's really doubtful we actually ever left BETA...

Removing the BETA tag from the logo was the only indicator I can think of, but by my standards, no actual ingame changes have occurred that were significant enough, to call the release a success.

And unsuccessful release is akin to no release at all...

The fun part is that we are paying for the privilege of being beta testers.
And are expected to pay 240 bucks more. Or even 500 for the troll-pack.

Edited by Molossian Dog, 14 February 2014 - 02:15 AM.

[Rebel Ace Fryslan]

I made a long list of critics.

But that i've been playing longer with this ui2.

I REALLY dislike everything about the working under the mechlab it's frustratingly useless.


And the bad social part in UI1 is massivle more dumb in UI2.
Prais to you who get's the simple READY button/display back.


PS:
:blink:most of all it's my disbelieve that this had rlly been beta tested.
:blink:How did you even think it was ready with hopefully some critics there.

What do not see as a quality mark, is the constant return of bugs and old quirks.


Ps: An idea, take 1 random person out of the userbase (not only N-am) and talk to them.

[Davinelulinvega]

Problem: not able to configure the key bindings.

go to settings -> controller -> no double click or anything possible to change key bindings.

[natasha wolf]

Can we please get the good old paperdoll in the mechbay back.
One screen were you see all parts of your mech.
We are all used to it since Mechwarrior 1 or the tabletop.

[Freqout]

Please, for the love of all that's giant and metal, hire someone who actually knows something about User Experience and efficient workflows.

The game has been, effectively, unplayable since this patch. I keep feeling the desire to play but within 20 seconds of opening the Mechlab I quit the game in frustration. I've been playing MWO since PAX 2012 but I can't see myself touching it again until the huge UX issues in UI 2,0 are fixed or we're given the option (until then) of using the old UI. The fact that this somehow got approved for release is downright mind-blowing since it's several steps back on very nearly every front. Sure, the old UI was a bit ugly and lacked a few features but it was entirely functional. It was fairly easy to browse through your stable of mechs and survey their loadouts, to configure a new mech all from one screen and to ge tthat mech out into the field quickly and easily. All of these things are now nearly impossible unless you have an encyclopedic knowledge of ll of your mechs and a photographic memory of their configs, or use Smurfy to do all of your Mechlab work and then copy the configs over, element by element.

I really want this to be playable again. I cannot imagine how any aspect of the mechlab, other than the inventory and large rotatable image, seemed like it would be an improvement. Have the people who designed and approved the interface ever actually tried to configure a mech with it? I do a lot of work building interactive tools and if I ever tried to release one with the sort of overly-complex, massively click-heavy, information-crippled "workflow" like this, my client would probably sue me to get their fees back.

Edited by Freqout, 14 February 2014 - 07:41 AM.

[Ensaine]

Molossian Dog, on 14 February 2014 - 02:14 AM, said:

The fun part is that we are paying for the privilege of being beta testers.
And are expected to pay 240 bucks more. Or even 500 for the troll-pack.

Dude, stop it with the small fonts already. Like being ignored? Took me seeing like 25 of your posts before it ticked me off .....

[Rylix]

UI rolled back yet? For the love of all that is holy....PLEASE ROLL IT BACK! rest of patch is fine...modules etc...
I'd rant and roll....but pretty much everything I'd have to say has already been said.

[Duymon]

UI 2.0 was a step forward, but also a step back at the same time. UI's are meant to be easy to use and easy to pick up. New Beta Testers let alone Veteran Founder Beta Testers are having trouble with even the most basic tasks in this UI.

Points to consider

• Mech organization needs to be changed to Chassis. Do not filter the mechs by hero, champion, etc. Instead filter them by weight and then by chassis / name for those chassis of the same weight.
  
• There's too many graphics on the screen. People are being overwhelmed when they fire up their mechlab and try to pick an engine, only to get a wall of engine icons.
  
  • Also, the text on those graphics is way too small. it's hard to read, even with my 32" screen. Combine that with the huge icons all over the place and people get lost
    
  • Also, the HUGE icons do not show Pertinent information, such as Engine Tonnage.
• While users can drag and drop the items or press the tiny equip button, the ability to double click on the icon should be implemented as well.
  
• The Mechlab needs to be reworked. It was a large step back from the Original Mech Lab. The paperdoll needs to be brought back. Also, it'd be nice to be able to click the 3d model to select parts again as well, considering the 3d model now takes up 1/3 of the screen.
  
• Revamp the camo spec section and instead of giving players a really hard to use color selector, give us a pallet, like in MS paint even, that shows us our unlocked colors. We don't need the fancy enlarged color blocks that we can only see like 5-6 of at once.... it's really hard to navigate it.
  
• Give players in groups their big ready button back, and allow them to Ready up even if they are not in their home screen (and not actively modding a mech)
  
• Honestly, it feels like too much space is wasted on the icons in the middle. I would go for a more text based menu with smaller icons, save the space, and use part of the screen for a PERMANENT social section for your group and chat. THIS IS AN MMOFPS AFTER ALL

[Pyrrho]

Duymon, on 14 February 2014 - 06:44 PM, said:

• Honestly, it feels like too much space is wasted on the icons in the middle. I would go for a more text based menu with smaller icons, save the space, and use part of the screen for a PERMANENT social section for your group and chat. THIS IS AN MMOFPS AFTER ALL

The bit above about how the social interface should be implemented probably should be taken into consideration immediately. Permanent Social Section vs. Little Picture of Guys Implying Social Something Which You Click to Activate but Then Get Locked Out of Everything Else in the Game Unless You Click an X Located in Another Area of the Screen. The former really seems so much better.

Edited by Pyrrho, 14 February 2014 - 06:55 PM.

[BLOOD WOLF]

- you can filter them by weight-light,med,hvy, assult or hero and champion
-i dont see how this is overwhelming, i can see engines and their numbers clearly and scroll up and down as i see fit. STD for standard and XL for extra light. To the left there are different categories such as head,ct,lt,rt,lleg and rleg, Rarm and Larm. you can click on any one then select the loadouts. For the record as i am saying i am also doing.
-3rd point i agree, text is too small and they need to tell you the tonnage.
-if you can drag and click why would you need to double click?+the equip button is a reasonable size.
-Its pretty stream lined, i can strip an assault and load it back in less than 30 seconds. I dont understand how hard it is to load your mech. I questions a players ability of comprehension if they are having so much trouble with something so simple.
-The cameo is simple and easy, you can filter it to show only owned colors, i dont see how anybody missed this. under all the colors you dont have are locked. there is no need to navigate when you can easily filter through and select, basic, red,greens, blues, specials, ECT not difficult at all
-as for the ready button in groups, agreed.
-i dunno about that last part, sounds more like preference to me and it might not be for everyone.

Just to let everyone know, during each step i was going through the mechlab so i could get a users-perspective.

Edited by BLOOD WOLF, 14 February 2014 - 07:20 PM.

[DAEDALOS513]

BLOOD WOLF, on 14 February 2014 - 07:18 PM, said:

- you can filter them by weight-light,med,hvy, assult or hero and champion
-i dont see how this is overwhelming, i can see engines and their numbers clearly and scroll up and down as i see fit. STD for standard and XL for extra light. To the left there are different categories such as head,ct,lt,rt,lleg and rleg, Rarm and Larm. you can click on any one then select the loadouts. For the record as i am saying i am also doing.
-3rd point i agree, text is too small and they need to tell you the tonnage.
-if you can drag and click why would you need to double click?+the equip button is a reasonable size.
-Its pretty stream lined, i can strip an assault and load it back in less than 30 seconds. I dont understand how hard it is to load your mech. I questions a players ability of comprehension if they are having so much trouble with something so simple.
-The cameo is simple and easy, you can filter it to show only owned colors, i dont see how anybody missed this. under all the colors you dont have are locked. there is no need to navigate when you can easily filter through and select, basic, red,greens, blues, specials, ECT not difficult at all
-as for the ready button in groups, agreed.
-i dunno about that last part, sounds more like preference to me and it might not be for everyone.

Just to let everyone know, during each step i was going through the mechlab so i could get a users-perspective.

By the time I work on the head, then left arm, right arm, torso, left leg, right leg, I've forgotten what's in the head and left arm. Not intuitive, not smart, not fun. Need a box that shows complete loadout all at once. Why wouldn't you want this?!?

Also, as a side note, it would be nice to be able to outfit mech regardless of c-bills in the bank. Perhaps a checkbox that says: "Ignore Available C-Bills." This would allow us to see what a mech would look like when built with the fastest xl or std engine for example. Then, only if you try to check out should it give you an error message of not enough funds available.

[dannn]

well that is possibly the worst "advancement" I have ever seen. PLEASE leave us the option to revert to the old style of front end. I mean it is just overwhelming......... Really take a lot of the enjoyment out of the game.

[Cylian]

Weapon locations in the mech lab are shuffling around for no apparent reason.

It's an old bug, but there used to be a workaround: Sell all the weapons of the type and buy a new one into the slot you want them.

This doesn't help anymore.

For example the Griffin 1N with an LRM15 followed by 2x SRM4.
While the LRM should be in the shoulderpod (20 tubes), it always moves to the middle missile slots (10 tubes), while one SRM moves to the shoulderpod, and one actually stays where it should be.


Old threads:
http://mwomercs.com/...ong-hardpoints/
http://mwomercs.com/...s-location-bug/

[BLOOD WOLF]

DAEDALOS513, on 14 February 2014 - 08:47 PM, said:

By the time I work on the head, then left arm, right arm, torso, left leg, right leg, I've forgotten what's in the head and left arm. Not intuitive, not smart, not fun. Need a box that shows complete loadout all at once. Why wouldn't you want this?!?

Also, as a side note, it would be nice to be able to outfit mech regardless of c-bills in the bank. Perhaps a checkbox that says: "Ignore Available C-Bills." This would allow us to see what a mech would look like when built with the fastest xl or std engine for example. Then, only if you try to check out should it give you an error message of not enough funds available.

you forget whats in the arm and head?