One thing that really pisses me off about the FFXI community

[Trangnai]

Ok, its really going to be hard to catch up with this thread even after reading it. Some points I want to point out are simple.

- PS2 Limitations/360 Limitations: this isnt really a limitation as much as it is an assumption that people don't/won't or at least at some point in there gameplay don't have a Mouse/Keyboard for gameplay. The game is designed to be cross-platform without needing extra hardware for basic gameplay. The UI was built to reflect this.

-Manual talk etc: This point is a simple point. most players should read the manual. But keep in mind two things.
1) This game now is primarily distributed as a Downloadable now, there is no Manual packaged in, and if there is its probably in a format that people don't want to read, i personaly don't like reading PDF files or things like that.
2) The games manual will be outdated when enhancements to the UI and other things are made. The Manual will become outdated. this is much easier to change in game rather then re-writing an entire manual. Just add the changes to the in-game totarial, its alot easier to learn buy interacting then it is to learn buy reading or other things anyway. Especially for things with in-depth systems. like MMOs.

The current in-game tutorial: As i'm sure most people have noticed This game DOES have a tutorial to teach you how to play, the biggest issue is. It doesn't teach you how to play at least not in the sense of how to control the menus and other things. The biggest thing it teaches you i believe is how to get signet, and trade/use items. but doesn't necessarily teach you the controls to do such.

Websites: this in its own should be simple, websites should not be needed to play a game, web guides and such should allow ease of play to the user but should not be required to get the most out of a game.

Minor Changes: Anyone who knows ffxi's UI knows its flaws, most PC users use windower to bypass these flaws. I personally believe that some changes could be done to make the UI more user friendly, things such as timers for buffs could be easily implemented.

PC configuration: As I'm sure most PC users know. configuring curtain options for the game actualy requires you to not be playing the game and to use a program included for PC specific changes, such as changing the game between windowed-mode and full-screen as well configuring the joypad. It would be alot easier for users to change configurations for such things in-game throught the config menu as most players would assume. This could be implemented by adding a PC only configuration menu. in the UI.

[Atomic_Skull]

When you target a enemy it shows very little information. No current HP/MP%, doesn't show what debuffs are on the mob or what buffs it may have on itself.

why should you know that just by looking at a monster?

[HFX7686]

I like the UI for FF11. I've never had any problems using it. On the other hand, I find WoW-like UIs to be cumbersome and horrible. I hate using a mouse for one and they always seem to require you to use a mouse.

FF11's UI is very basic and simple. It is, however, ugly. An update of how it looks might be in order one day.

[Tamoa]

I like the UI for FF11. I've never had any problems using it. On the other hand, I find WoW-like UIs to be cumbersome and horrible. I hate using a mouse for one and they always seem to require you to use a mouse.

FF11's UI is very basic and simple. It is, however, ugly. An update of how it looks might be in order one day.

This, very much this.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Why is this? Why so defensive about the UI? FFXI's UI is not some holy grail. It is not some almighty pinical of perfection. In fact, it's horribly flawed in many, many ways. The fact that there are so many windower plugins and various third party programs that all try to fix FFXI's UI is irrefutable proof of this.

I have found that most people who complain about the UI use controlers. I suggest unpugging them and learning how to play the right way. lol

[Rambus]

Ok i want to clear something up, what do you define UI?

to me it means user interface, how I communicate with the game, that means menus, macros, text boxes and so on is part of the UI, not just basic controls.

so when I say the UI can use improvements I do mean menus and marco lines more than anything. Making a mouse useable should be a bonus not a complaint. a mouse in FFXI is a hindrance to the point I have to unplug my gaming mouse because the sensitivity makes the curser pop up. That makes it REALLY hard to deal with menus.

using a mouse should allow you to do 2 things at once easier < i want this. I can make mouse workable in FFXIV and in wow but nto ffxi.

It needs more customizing like the dumb chat filter names, then need to be clearer, not this you need 5 filters to block something. Text colors need more customization, my evade should not be the same as mob evade, and so on.

FFXI UI is not great but it is not horrid ether like FFXIV ( is it still though?)

[CrystalWeapon]

From Camate in the (New "Macro Strings", Macros Reborn) thread.

While we can see the plus sides of the suggestion, there are some pitfalls involved as well. Being able to string together multiple macros would put too much of an emphasis on automation and that is a direction that the development team does not want to move toward.

Though I can’t promise a specific date, the development team is looking into UI and macro revamps for the future.

They've also said on twitter that they are planning on revamping the UI to make it cleaner and more user friendly. Although, neither this thread nor twitter gave any kind of timeline on which to expect it.

[Rhianu]

IIRC, Rhianu is TaintedSeraphim from GameFAQs. He's been championing "proper design" on the FFXI board there for years, and leading to 500 post arguments over how everything should ideally work.

Read his threads there to see how this always goes. He's always against using an instruction manual out of the box, or even basic reading comprehension.

Yes, and it's the ignorance and narrow mindedness of the people on GameFAQs that pisses me off so much, and I see a lot of that same attitude on most other FFXI forums as well.

And I never said people shouldn't have basic reading comprehension. Thanks for twisting my words, though.

What I said is that you can't expect people to do any outside reading or research before starting a game. Most people just want to jump in and start playing right away, and a well designed game will be accommodating to that, while a poorly designed game won't be.

FFXI is user-friendly enough. I was able to figure out all the controls and menus I needed when the game was Japan-only and I couldn't read kanji yet.

But how long did it take you to figure everything out? How often were you completely lost and confused? How many times did you have to ask for help or turn to outside resources? Those are all very important factors that you're forgetting to take into account.

Just because you were able to figure it out eventually, that doesn't mean it's well designed. Even the worst UIs can eventually be learned. But a good UI will make that learning process easy and painless.



A few months ago, Naoki Yoshida (the new producer/director of FFXIV) said the following in an interview:

"I had the chance to work with Horii Yuji on a game in the Dragon Quest series. One of the first things he said to me was “Before you consider if it’s fun or not, it’s got to be easy to understand!” He taught me that games have to be easy to understand because if the players can’t figure out the rules of the game, it’s hard for them to really decide if it’s interesting or not.

In the case of MMORPGs, the learning curve is especially steep. There is a lot of content that you interact with right from the start and on top of that, there are so many words that players aren’t used to. FFXIV has its own terminology and unique economic system. In addition to the user interface, I also believe it’s critical that we move to make the game itself easier to understand and lower that learning curve."

~Naoki Yoshida, new director/producer of FFXIV

http://www.eorzeapedia.com/2010/12/3...oshida-part-1/

FFXI UI is not great but it is not horrid ether like FFXIV ( is it still though?)

Most of the complaints people initially had about FFXIV's UI have been ironed out. There's still a few kinks in the system, but it's coming along nicely. Already FFXIV's UI has surpassed FFXI's in almost every single area. Now the only things in FFXI's UI that are still better are the crafting menu, the LFG menu, Linkshell management, and a few shortcut commands. Everything else is better in FFXIV's UI.

[Greatguardian]

o ok.

So you're the Starcade of legitimate UI.

Makes sense now. Carry on.

[Atomic_Skull]

While the UI could use some tweaks a total revamp is unnecessary. It just needs a few refinements and additions.