Quote Originally Posted by Alhanelem View Post
Why in the world would you be dreading improvements to functionality?? This is easily the best thing to happen to the game in a long time.

FFXI's UI is without a doubt one of the slowest, clunkiest UIs in the known MMO universe. Nothing is in plain sight- Fine if you're a minimalist, I guess, but for the player who needs information, having it all buried 1-3 levels deep in menus makes information a pain to acess, and drastically increases the number of button presses required to do anything. (I'd have fewer qualms with the current UI if I wasn't blocked from using 90% of text commands just because I have a window open- being able to do this would at least give me the freedom to use certain commands without having to leave the interface I'm on.

You can make such UIs look and feel exactly how you want them to. I don't understand how you could possibly have an objection to this. If you don't like clutter, just shove what you don't want to see out of the way. The problems with FFXIV's ui are in the huge delays in response to input. Once those issues are fully resolved, the UI will be just fine. There's a reason why most MMOs have been gravitating to that type of UI- and it's certainly not because they want to aggravate some of their users.

Long story short: You're just used to the current system and have adapted to its crap factor, just like the rest of us. You just happen to be more resistant to change than the average person. A few months after these updates, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. I've played FFXI for years like many of you and I can do anything quickly in it, but that's because i'm used to it after playing for so long- not because it's well designed.

It's not much different from the gamepad vs keyboard debate. For the most part, which one someone perfers is purely a matter of which one they're most used to (Often the first one they picked up), and it has very little to do with any true advantages or disadvantages of one or the other.

Finally, I think you're heaivly jumping to conclusions here. I don't think they're going to drastically alter the overall appearance of the UI itself (short of the addition of distinct icons for every ability instead of those generic "Ab" icons). I think they're just extending its functionality to lift some of the limitations and restrictions on it- e.g. improving it's useability, not its flashiness.

Making this part big because it's important.

More options and freedoms is a good thing, no matter what kind of UI you like.
If stuff becomes moveable on screen and you don't like that, then don't move stuff on the screen. If you don't like having icons to visually identify abilities, then don't use them.

Then don't make them transparent. You already have that choice.

then don't use them. None of the games i know of that have this feature force you to have multiple chat windows if you don't want them.
Then don't open a bunch of windows. You are in complete control of your own user experience. That being said, I highly doubt any of the UI windows themselves are being changed- they're just making it so you're not forced to close one window to open another if you don't want to.
I get the feeling the change will be quite minor in reality. (if that makes sense)

Don't get me wrong it'll take them a long time, I just mean they'll just make the framework, most the customization will come from users as opposed to SE.

The update could allow you to be even more minimalistic if that's what anyone wants.