[dev1134] -Na spell colors!

[Kitheren]

I like the new spell icons but the colored -na spells always made it easier to me to select them in my magic list. They need their colors back.

Love the avatar ones though.

[Makai]

I *Hate* the spell icon changes, I can barely see color which I have relied on in game for 10 years on several BLM spells This might not matter if I was colorblind but as the icons are tiny the detail is being lost). And what's with the putting a second # on the icon for it's tier? Can we remove that option as the spell list itself already Numbers the spells by tier. Whm spells are actually worse! They all look grey! the only ones that look decent are the summoner icons!

If not can we make it a toggle option for those that can't/won't/don't read? Or allow an option so we might use the less graphics intensive icons perhaps? Thanks!

[Sarick]

I *Hate* the spell icon changes, I can barely see color which I have relied on in game for 10 years on several BLM spells This might not matter if I was colorblind but as the icons are tiny the detail is being lost). And what's with the putting a second # on the icon for it's tier? Can we remove that option as the spell list itself already Numbers the spells by tier. Whm spells are actually worse! They all look grey! the only ones that look decent are the summoner icons!

If not can we make it a toggle option for those that can't/won't/don't read? Or allow an option so we might use the less graphics intensive icons perhaps? Thanks!


I agree. The contrast level of these stink and need increased badly. Not everyone has perfect vision and high contrast helps people with poor vision. White is not grey.. Unless these icons are higher contrast (less colors) or bigger icons you can't really see whats in them if you don't have perfect vision.

It's like this why get a 55inch HDTV that has 1280p if you're only going to run content for 480p? Well, maybe you need to see a bigger screen! High resolution shouldn't assume you need that much detail when an icon is the size of a pencil eraser at 5 feet! :mad:

[Kitheren]

They're definitely pretty but it's hard to appreciate the detail on a small screen. Even on my husband's 55 inch you can't see them very well from where the couch is even compared to my 29 inch that I'm almost right in front of. It was a waste of time to do, albeit pretty to look at. Close up. With glasses.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

They're definitely pretty but it's hard to appreciate the detail on a small screen. Even on my husband's 55 inch you can't see them very well from where the couch is even compared to my 29 inch that I'm almost right in front of. It was a waste of time to do, albeit pretty to look at. Close up. With glasses.

Don't forget the full size images are intended for the new UI macro bar. I'll image the images will be much bigger when that comes out.

[Alistaire]

Please introduce the ability to ignore this horrible change and use the old icons.

[Okipuit]

Greetings,

Thank you for your feedback on the new magic icons. We have noted your concerns and we are looking into ways to make it easier to distinguish specific spells. Once we have determined the direction we would like to take, we'll be sure to provide you with an update.

In the mean time, we are more than glad to receive more feedback. :)

[Kalilla]

I know that many players wish there was an option to revert back to the old icons. You have to see their point of view, some have been playing with them for 8-10 years and like it that way.

Maybe give an option to toggle between new and old? Like you can with the chat log background. I know those are two completely different systems, and understand why it wouldn't be easy to do, but I think players would appreciate the effort if it was possible to do.

[Hawk]

Please let us toggle between the old icons and the new ones. I HATE the new ones and it's just one more thing pulling me away from this game. Don't change something that people are accustomed to for 8-10 years without a way to go back to what we're used to.

[Helel]

You're thinking of leaving because they changed how the status icons look? Wow, maybe you should just go now and save yourself the trouble.

Personally not sure what the big fuss is. The number of times I actually open the magic menu is . . . well . . . zero. I just type the spell out. Could care less what the icons look like because I never see them.

[Mirabelle]

The icons were dots before. Sure they had colors but how helpful was that really? If you used the menu at all for magic it largely required reading the spell name not relying on a dot.

Admittedly I liked the vibrancy of the dots on the old menu rather than the current muted colors, but that's an aesthetic issue rather than a practical one.

[Kalilla]

You're thinking of leaving because they changed how the status icons look? Wow, maybe you should just go now and save yourself the trouble.

Personally not sure what the big fuss is. The number of times I actually open the magic menu is . . . well . . . zero. I just type the spell out. Could care less what the icons look like because I never see them.
The game can be played different ways, some players use the menus and some don't.

[Trumpy]

as long as the buff and debuff icons at the top of my screen get HD'd and please for the love of god differenciated (like how all the bard songs look the exact same? or any defence buff or offensive buff looks the same... variation please and colors) at some point i dont care if they HD and change these icons (and i think if it did bother me i think i could get used to them really its not that bad). the old ones told u absolutley nothing other than element and if it was white or black magic with its magic type specific icon.

[FrankReynolds]

I didn't even notice them.

[OMEGA_HACK]

I'd like to see passive traits with the numerical tiers subtexted in icon like the abilities are now. That is all.

[Dohati]

I like the new spell icons but the colored -na spells always made it easier to me to select them in my magic list. They need their colors back.

Love the avatar ones though.

100% exactly how i feel. if i could like this again, i would.

[Dohati]

i actually love the new icons, but i hate that i cant tell what type of magic it is and what element it is at a glance like before. i wouldnt mind if they didn't change at all, but if they stay the way they are, the spell descriptions need to be altered to include this information. just the possibility that i may have to go to the ffxi wiki to find out what gear i'm gonna need for a spell really bums me out. that said, some icons aren't just difficult to tell what the element for that spell is; it's just plain wrong. paralyze's icon is GREEN, and i know for a fact it is ice-based, not wind-based.

[Sharnak]

I'm one who play this game for 8 years, I must say i'm nothing about new icon. It's just not much familar on first time see. but it's not really effect much on playing. Since moslty of time i just use macro. and read the name of magic or ja. I think to make it's look different for each is nice for notice in long term play. btw i'm not objection any for option to switch old and new type of icon.

[Vagrua]

I know that many players wish there was an option to revert back to the old icons. You have to see their point of view, some have been playing with them for 8-10 years and like it that way.

Maybe give an option to toggle between new and old? Like you can with the chat log background. I know those are two completely different systems, and understand why it wouldn't be easy to do, but I think players would appreciate the effort if it was possible to do.

This is another instance in which they could make use of the "FINAL FANTASY XI Config.exe" settings.

"Textures > (In-Game Icons)" could be added letting you choose between normal and old styles.

[Godofgods]

Honestly the new icons in themselves are quite nice. More individualized then just basic color. I do actually like them. HOWEVER, that is also the problem i have with them. I'm used to a very specific look and order. Those color help me remember specifically where a spell is without looking through the actual names. I don't have that advantage any more.

So it'll take time for me to get readjusted. And i think once ppl do, the issues will subside some.

[Merton9999]

The new icons look like an ugly mess to me. I realize they're meant to be larger for the new macro palette but I wish they had left them for that instead of putting them in the spell and abilities lists.

Before VW this wouldn't have posed a functional problem because I used macros for nearly every spell. For proc spells I didn't have macrod for VW, I got used to using the color group like a database index. So, it wasn't really necessary to read the whole spell name because I could get quickly to the right page by jumping to the color. Then if I wanted Thundaga II I just looked for the II with the widest text in the thunder color. Now on the way to the purple spells there is the annoying purple Warp, and the purple on the Thunder spells is not nearly as easy to distinguish as it used to be.

I changed to typing my proc spells now because the new icons are so annoying. I'm fine with typing spells if I have to, but the quick color search was faster for me. Generally I'd support purely visual changes, if they looked good and didn't pose any functional problems. To me the new icons don't fit either.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

The new icons look like an ugly mess to me. I realize they're meant to be larger for the new macro palette but I wish they had left them for that instead of putting them in the spell and abilities lists.

Before VW this wouldn't have posed a functional problem because I used macros for nearly every spell. For proc spells I didn't have macrod for VW, I got used to using the color group like a database index. So, it wasn't really necessary to read the whole spell name because I could get quickly to the right page by jumping to the color. Then if I wanted Thundaga II I just looked for the II with the widest text in the thunder color. Now on the way to the purple spells there is the annoying purple Warp, and the purple on the Thunder spells is not nearly as easy to distinguish as it used to be.

I changed to typing my proc spells now because the new icons are so annoying. I'm fine with typing spells if I have to, but the quick color search was faster for me. Generally I'd support purely visual changes, if they looked good and didn't pose any functional problems. To me the new icons don't fit either.

From the look of the new UI the icons wont be used in the magic list anyway.

[Trumpy]

actually the new icons do have a theme to them in the background but its hard to see that small, when they are in your macro bars it would be different i imagine. all white magic has a circle inthe background like it did previously, and black magic still has the eye. but like i said hard to see that small

Hmm wish i knew how to spoiler these... if we even are able to.
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/attachment.php?attachmentid=2434&d=1341570466&thumb=1
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/attachment.php?attachmentid=2435&d=1341570814

I agree with OMEGA_HACK tho about passive traits... i never understood why they didnt have a Tier number behind them. or why do they not have the tier number (or an entry for each tier) but TH does. the TH all have the same description dont they?

Just curious tho did anyone make these complaints while it was on the test server? or only since it went live? If not the test server this is a good example of why people should utilize it.

[Ophannus]

Inefficient and hard to read:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2830/notok.png



Clear and instantly recognizable:
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/2039/84023455.jpg

Why didn't you guys just make spell icons like this in the first place? Not only are they better than the current icons, they're better than the old icons too! Instead of showing a colored box, they show the same icon which matches the icon of the status bar for complete clarity for any seasoned player. Just implement these, it'll be totally uniform and awesome. Notice the icons are commensurate in style with the status bar icons for ease and recognizability. I know you guys want to push using the new ones since the developers probably allocated time and resources into drawing them, but they're way less convenient than the alternatives I posted above.

[Dohati]

actually the new icons do have a theme to them in the background but its hard to see that small, when they are in your macro bars it would be different i imagine. all white magic has a circle inthe background like it did previously, and black magic still has the eye. but like i said hard to see that small

white magic had a star in the background before, not a circle. and even in the gigiantic versions of the icons you posted, i can't see the eye in the background of black magic spells nor can i see a star in the background of white magic. i tried really hard to see it too...

[Trumpy]

I dunno when ever i looked at whitemagic in the past it was a circle, i saw no star (doesnt mean it wasnt there). I see the eye plain as day in the big pic up there in at least 10 of the icons. But again its hard to see in the smaller icons still. It might be like those magic eye posters back in the 90s where u had to cross your eye to see a picture. i never could see them pretty much most the time.

I like Ophanus's pic there. Thoug im more concerned about the buff icons at the top or our screens more than menus and junk. I jsut want HD versions of those WITH VARIATION so we can tell what every single buff and debuff is at a glance.

[Kitheren]

Greetings,

Thank you for your feedback on the new magic icons. We have noted your concerns and we are looking into ways to make it easier to distinguish specific spells. Once we have determined the direction we would like to take, we'll be sure to provide you with an update.

In the mean time, we are more than glad to receive more feedback. :)
For me, I just don't have the space to macro in a bunch of spells so certain, less used ones are left out of macros (here's looking at you, Viruna!). But when I do actually need them I generally just scroll through the list and know the sequence of colored spheres and where the spell I'm looking for is.

So many of them are similar that I have to actually read the whole spell name out to find what I'm looking for and if I'm scrolling too fast I will miss it, causing problems for my party. After all these years of having the icons the same it's a little hard to get used to new ones that are so similar. They are pretty and a lot of detail was put into them but most people aren't going to be able to appreciate the details or are like me and are having a harder time adjusting.

The other day I was looking for haste because I didn't want to use my haste macro and kept flying over it because Haste used to be red and now it's..green? ^^;

[Kitheren]

Inefficient and hard to read:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2830/notok.png



Clear and instantly recognizable:
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/2039/84023455.jpg


Now these I like. While they still pose the same problem of adjusting to something new I do believe the adjustment will feel more like moving back to something familiar because the icons are the same as our status icons. Honestly, it never made much sense to me that they look one way in the spell list and another on my status bar.

[Komori]

I never remember Haste being red. And I'm not really keen on the new icons myself but after a week or so I'm kind of used to it. But I have any important spells macro'd.

[Okipuit]

Good morning!

We have been receiving a ton of feedback on the new icons and we will be taking them into consideration moving forward as we make our UI revamps. Speaking of which, we will be continuing to add new elements such as clickable portions of the new UI, addressing the status icons, and other things, so we will we will definitely be looking into how each of them look. With that said, we imagine that addressing all of these things will take quite a bit of time.

We understand that it might be somewhat strange to only change the icons on the list first and originally it was preferred to change everything at once; however, since the amount of things to do for the new UI revamp is extremely lengthy, we will be adding and addressing portions in phases.

Look forward to all the awesome UI revamps that are coming, as we feel you will really enjoy them. We can’t wait to hear your feedback. :)

[noirin]

Good morning!

We have been receiving a ton of feedback on the new icons and we will be taking them into consideration moving forward as we make our UI revamps. Speaking of which, we will be continuing to add new elements such as clickable portions of the new UI, addressing the status icons, and other things, so we will we will definitely be looking into how each of them look. With that said, we imagine that addressing all of these things will take quite a bit of time.

We understand that it might be somewhat strange to only change the icons on the list first and originally it was preferred to change everything at once; however, since the amount of things to do for the new UI revamp is extremely lengthy, we will be adding and addressing portions in phases.

Look forward to all the awesome UI revamps that are coming, as we feel you will really enjoy them. We can’t wait to hear your feedback. :)
A quick question about this. Being that xbox players were lucky enough to get the new UI icons, how much more of the UI update will they also be able to receive, if any other updates are coming their way?

[Xerius]

For the most part I love the new icons the only major problem, which I'm sure has been said, is that for a lot of the enfeebling spells it's difficult to tell what element it is if you didn't already know. For people that have been playing the mage jobs for a while it's not that bad but if you were just starting a mage job you might have to ask and asking for help in any MMO is taboo.

[FrankReynolds]

I know you guys probably know this, but I'm gonna say it anyways. You can change the order of the spells in your list so that you know where everything is regardless of color. I still think they should make the spells easier to spot in a rush, but I think a few people might be forgetting this.

[Komori]

I know you guys probably know this, but I'm gonna say it anyways. You can change the order of the spells in your list so that you know where everything is regardless of color. I still think they should make the spells easier to spot in a rush, but I think a few people might be forgetting this.

I'm not having particular issues with it anymore. But I actually did this for BLU mage spells; except it wasn't by element. I arranged them all by the length of name. The longer the name, I put it towards the bottom.

That was just how I worked until I got used to it (and kept learning new spells and got tired of restarting it)

[FrankReynolds]

I'm not having particular issues with it anymore. But I actually did this for BLU mage spells; except it wasn't by element. I arranged them all by the length of name. The longer the name, I put it towards the bottom.

That was just how I worked until I got used to it (and kept learning new spells and got tired of restarting it)

I use it for proc spells. Stuff that I would ordinarily never cast unless it was a proc, so I don't care about swapping full gear etc for it.

[Ophannus]

I never remember Haste being red.

It isnt. Look at the ones I posted, they arent the new ones nor are they the old ones. The old ones had icons relative to the element of the spell i.e Cures-white, haste-green, slow-yellow. The ones I posted in the second picture have icons which are exactly those of the ones on your status bar. So the icon of Slow matches the icon you see on the top of your screen when you're hit with Slow. Makes perfect sense doesn't it? It's psychologically easier to match a picture to a concept like slow or haste than is to match a color+text to a concept like slow or haste because searching for a picture is an easier search task for the brain than searching for two things i.e color+text. With the suggestion I'm making, you could scroll through your spell list extremely fast and when you catch a fast glimpse of the red circle with the orange clock in it you instantly think HASTE!, rather than sifting through a ton of spells that all share the same Green Box i.e sneak/invisible/deodorize/blink/silence etc..

[Komori]

The other day I was looking for haste because I didn't want to use my haste macro and kept flying over it because Haste used to be red and now it's..green? ^^;

Yes, I do agree with you but I was replying to this post mostly and it would be easier to recongnize (but I also like having a little diversity too). But the way the quoted post seems like the normal old haste icon was red when it was green.

[kingfury]

Good morning!

We have been receiving a ton of feedback on the new icons and we will be taking them into consideration moving forward as we make our UI revamps. Speaking of which, we will be continuing to add new elements such as clickable portions of the new UI, addressing the status icons, and other things, so we will we will definitely be looking into how each of them look. With that said, we imagine that addressing all of these things will take quite a bit of time.

We understand that it might be somewhat strange to only change the icons on the list first and originally it was preferred to change everything at once; however, since the amount of things to do for the new UI revamp is extremely lengthy, we will be adding and addressing portions in phases.

Look forward to all the awesome UI revamps that are coming, as we feel you will really enjoy them. We can’t wait to hear your feedback. :)
----------------------
Most of the frustration surrounding the new UI Icons is the fact that they're SOOOO small which I'm sure will be adjusted as time goes on, but I would still like to purpose a solution at least for the current icons:


*Toggle an option that displays an Enlarged info window as we scroll through abilities and spells:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b167/soulchld4/NewIcons-Ideas-WEB.jpg
I worked inside the current window size we have now but when they incorporate the window sizing functionality, they could still technically take advantage of this magnified Icon/Information display for the folks that want the ability/spell list to be ultra small while still being able to access all the necessary info.

[Rambus]

I was joking with my linkshell over the new icions and basically I had someone else that was very out spoken about it too.

Are points where:
The new icons are cute the change is neat in a way.
Some of the icons are stupid as they are used to distinguish element
^ the second was used to joke about what elements spells are. Addle was purple so I asked "What element is addle now? Is it water and fire because it is purple? ( blue and red make purple)
I guess drain and aspir is wind and dark.

Having something different for Nas would be nice though, always would like a distinguish of them.

I cam back from a year quit and was actually ticked in seeing this change because in some ways it is harmful to old players while that time it took to do that change could been used for better things. For example it is hard to code changes for relic sword and enlight but they find the time to change icons? >>>.> stop making ffxi, ffxiv please, it was never a good game. FFIV should be more like FFXI not the other way around... well old ffxi anyway, not this idea of lets clone wow.