(Suggestion) Removing the aggroe icon for monsters.

If there are going to be several icons I'd like to see them much much much smaller and have them below the monsters name (or next to the name in the targeting box).

I'd caution them cluttering up the main window too much, especially if, like they said, they are creating more tactical battles with several monsters. Your whole screen could get cluttered up with a bunch of icons.

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Originally Posted by UI lead, Hiroshi Minagawa

There are many aspects related to the upcoming battle fixes, but one example of how we are making adjustments that lead to more enjoyable gameplay is by showing information such as the strength of field monsters (their level), whether or not they are aggressive, and whether or not they will link. With this new information, players can make a decision whether they wish to fight these types of enemies and it also allows them to plan crowd control out ahead of time.

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... WHAT?! Not cool. Every step of the way I feel like the game is moving away from exciting fantasy world to metagaming with flashing lights. FFXI was hard for a number of reasons, but that's also part of what made the game so alluring to it's fans. I liked the danger of encountering a monster for the first time and having absolutely no idea if it wanted me for lunch or not.

I really don't want a facebook game here... Keep monster information like that to word of mouth, and leave us with the little difficulty color dots on the icon.

The best part is they will have an on/off for stuff. What stuff not sure but i would think eventually everything..lol

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Originally Posted by MysteryG

... WHAT?! Not cool. Every step of the way I feel like the game is moving away from exciting fantasy world to metagaming with flashing lights. FFXI was hard for a number of reasons, but that's also part of what made the game so alluring to it's fans. I liked the danger of encountering a monster for the first time and having absolutely no idea if it wanted me for lunch or not.

I really don't want a facebook game here... Keep monster information like that to word of mouth, and leave us with the little difficulty color dots on the icon.

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That's why they were talking about an option to turn these things on or off.

If you're bothered by this information being shown in the game, yet under any circumstance you ever looked up enemy levels or aggro/linking conditions on the FFXI wiki, then you're a hypocrite.

If you're bothered by other people being able to read the information without trial and error, then you've been in denial: people have been looking at this information for the longest time.

If you honestly were one of the few that did not look up this information, then good news: Nothing has to change. Toggle the feature off.

With the option to toggle this feature, I don't see how anyone can be complaining about lack of immersion after thinking about it rationally, unless you want to argue that accessing an out-game website is somehow more immersive than staying in the game. Nothing has really changed.

I'd rather have the aggro icon not be viewable at all, since part of the skill in playing is knowing the bestiary and if a mob aggros or not. I don't think many people look that info up - it's mostly supposed to be common knowledge. However, having the option be toggleable is a decent compromise.

On the other hand, looking up mobs' levels is very common, so I'm glad that this info will be viewable. Knowing monster levels is critical in figuring out which mobs are best to kill for SP, so having this information be more accessible is a good thing.

Personally I think a bestiary instead of icons could get all this information across in a far better way. Check out my suggestion here!

Blam!

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Originally Posted by solracht

If you're bothered by this information being shown in the game, yet under any circumstance you ever looked up enemy levels or aggro/linking conditions on the FFXI wiki, then you're a hypocrite.

If you're bothered by other people being able to read the information without trial and error, then you've been in denial: people have been looking at this information for the longest time.

If you honestly were one of the few that did not look up this information, then good news: Nothing has to change. Toggle the feature off.

With the option to toggle this feature, I don't see how anyone can be complaining about lack of immersion after thinking about it rationally, unless you want to argue that accessing an out-game website is somehow more immersive than staying in the game. Nothing has really changed.

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It blows my mind that for some people a toggle doesn't seem to be enough. No it HAS to be MY WAY for everyone that plays or i'm not happy >.>

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Originally Posted by Jynx

Personally I think a bestiary instead of icons could get all this information across in a far better way. Check out my suggestion here!
Blam!

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Whoa! I think you're on to something! It would be killer to have an in-game list of monsters you've slain and learned about, or even died from. There's plenty to learn with every mistake! :D It could even have a nifty checklist of a few NM's from each monster family to hunt down. Super cool idea. Who doesn't love a Poke'dex.

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Originally Posted by DNO

out of all the things wrong with this game we got the dev team working on a stupid icon!?? i do not hate SE to much anymore for making a bad game i hate all you people bitching all the time.

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I agree, so many people moan that the game needs radical change and then when something simple and useful like an aggro icon is added they moan that the devs have killed the game. Personally all I what to see are some areas with mobs that need to be tackled by parties and a few more missions (not quests). Last thing I want is a load of crappy quests that you need to complete like in WOW and Rift. That would be going too far but an agrro icon isn't really that big of a deal.

Personally I think it's useful, every other game uses like red monster text to show that a monster is aggressive, why not instead of the big invasive icon they use red text?

on ZAM seems a dev posted a preview of the new icon in the japanese section of this forum. since there's nothing on english one, i'll post it myself, waiting for a official post
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/a...3&d=1302071823

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Originally Posted by yukikaze_yanagi

on ZAM seems a dev posted a preview of the new icon in the japanese section of this forum. since there's nothing on english one, i'll post it myself, waiting for a official post
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/a...3&d=1302071823

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Personally I think that looks really good, the only complaint I ever had about the original was the sizing of it (doesn't look very appealing either but when its smaller like that its fine). I wonder if the toggle takes away the level number as well.

Hey everyone! ^_^
Thanks for all of your feedback regarding the aggressive icon thus far! We received a nice image of the various new icons from the development team and would like to share them with you. (Sorry it’s in Japanese at the moment, but those are just the enemy names anyway!)

As you can see in the image, we’re currently planning to have 3 different types of icons, and the ability to easily discern aggressive/non-aggressive monsters as well as their level.

Attachment 51
(Click to enlarge the image)
(If you’re unable to view the image due to a permission error, please click here.)

We’re looking forward to any additional feedback you may have!

t y p o

lol.

/feedback'd

..Alright, let's take it all the way. If currently we have two options:

A) Show icons on the names

B) Hide the icons completely

I'd like there to be a third option implemented:

C) Show icons only when targeting the monster.

I think this would be nice to have.

Further, it would be nice if you could choose to hide only the aggressive/non-aggressive icon, and leave the rank indicator intact. I can live without this, but it would be nice nonetheless.

I don't like image 1 and 2.
Please do all monsters like image 3 (aggo/non-aggro icon and level only if the player click on the monster)

I also agree that the icon and the rank indicator are nice, but I'd really appreciate having a "display for target only" option, as I feel that the icon could get annoying if I have about 5 or 6 monsters in my face... >.>

I like how all of those look. they aren't ginormous, but you can see their difficulty and rank. however like Felis said, only display them when you click on the monster.

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Originally Posted by Felis

I don't like image 1 and 2.
Please do all monsters like image 3 (aggo/non-aggro icon and level only if the player click on the monster)

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I agree. Image #3 should be the default. Then if a player wants to, they can toggle on the rank & aggressive icons above the monster (like in images #1 & #2).

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Originally Posted by Betelgeuzah

..Alright, let's take it all the way. If currently we have two options:

A) Show icons on the names

B) Hide the icons completely

I'd like there to be a third option implemented:

C) Show icons only when targeting the monster.

I think this would be nice to have.

Further, it would be nice if you could choose to hide only the aggressive/non-aggressive icon, and leave the rank indicator intact. I can live without this, but it would be nice nonetheless.

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I agree with this. I would like to see the level and agro indicators, but only when I target the monster.

The more options the better... that way everyone will be satisfied.

I think what people want is what we are getting judging by the NM icon picture even though the picture is just to show off the ?? level for the NM (which looks more like 77).

So yeah looking at the pics we are getting the icon displayed when targeting the mob and the toggle on/off applies to the name above the mobs. That's the way it seems to me anyway.

I don't really understand why it has to be set up this way. It's going to be really annoying to see an indicator and a bunch of numbers bobbing along next to a mobs name. It's not that hard to just put the mobs level on the window that comes up when you target it. You don't even need the icon to display that it aggros either, just make the name of the mob red. What the hell is up with the green icon next to the non-aggresive mobs name? Is that really even necessary? I think we can figure out that a mob that doesn't have red next to it's name doesn't aggro. It's like you guys are programming this for 5 year olds.

All of the information about the mob does not need to be displayed next to it's name. There's a reason why every other MMO does it the way they do.

i like this. if peole want to target mobs to figure out the level make that an OPTION not a default or the only option. i don't want to stop and target 5 different mobs THEN numbers pop up. That less real then just seeing numbers.

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Originally Posted by Malakhim

I also agree that the icon and the rank indicator are nice, but I'd really appreciate having a "display for target only" option, as I feel that the icon could get annoying if I have about 5 or 6 monsters in my face... >.>

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Absolutely support this idea! I think the icons would be best implemented so that you saw them when you targeted the creature only. It simply avoids screen clutter and is far more streamlined. Other than this concern, I think this could shape up nicely.

I believe that the shown icons are concise and contain enough information without cluttering the screen. I would even try and shrink the fonts a little more to allow them to be less intrusive for those that think they are so.

I play on a larger monitor so that may be the difference between opinions though.

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Originally Posted by Kazimir

It's like you guys are programming this for 5 year olds.

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People act like 5 year olds at times too :)

I don't know why they just don't use different color names like almost every other MMO. Red name means it aggros, yellow or white name means it doesn't. Just put a little NM icon like a skull next to NM names. No more annoying icons and people can still tell what doesn't or does aggro.

And on the topic of names it would be nice to be able to toggle my own name off but leave all others up.

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Originally Posted by Betelgeuzah

C) Show icons only when targeting the monster.

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This would get my vote every time, it still allows everyone to benefit from the mob's info, but it also takes away the glare
of seeing the icons without wanting to!

What happens when the con blue and they are agressive?

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Originally Posted by Jovy

What happens when the con blue and they are agressive?

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I was under the assumption that the color-coded ranking system was being done away with. We will determine a monster's difficulty by it's level.. which is what the color-coded system was based off anyway.

The first image shows a level 1 monster, with an agro icon. There will be no blue.

Well, now the agggressive icon make a whole more sense regarding size and style. When the dev commented this i thought the nrank would stay inside it. Its looking good this way, but still will not be usefull unless we have large amounts of mobs...because often in an area if the player is there to kill a certain monster he will kill regardless of rank variation unless he can actually chose monsters, which is not the case...in FFXIV you need to kill everyting and still walk alot/wait due too long respawn rates.

But still, now its looking good. I just hope the good look isn't an excuse for not adding the hide/show feature anymore.

Numbers ok. But i like difficulty colors too.
Please, make both.

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Originally Posted by Sorel

I agree. Image #3 should be the default. Then if a player wants to, they can toggle on the rank & aggressive icons above the monster (like in images #1 & #2).

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Ditto.
I, too, would prefer the icons to be displayed only when targeted. :)

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Originally Posted by Yazoo

Numbers ok. But i like difficulty colors too.
Please, make both.

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This would be good for those who are color blind and can not discern specific colors, they can at least read the numbers.

I was fine the original icons and welcomed their introduction. However, I think all three images above are very nice improvements over what is in place and I would be fine with any of them. They do not pop out nearly as much as the original and all are aesthetically more pleasing to look at. Much more seamless.

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A) Show icons on the names

B) Hide the icons completely

I'd like there to be a third option implemented:

C) Show icons only when targeting the monster.

I think this would be nice to have.

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YES!!! I would sooo love to have it do this!!!!!!! PLEASE!

(first time quoting something, but i must not have done it right as it didnt display the poster)

I like the dev teams idea. Way to go dev team!

We better off with

Target Mob A: Window open with Mob name,Level, Red name= aggressive "On the window display only" Which mean to know anything about the mob you first have to click on it. This is much better system then having it display 24.7

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Originally Posted by Rukkirii

Hey everyone! ^_^
Thanks for all of your feedback regarding the aggressive icon thus far! We received a nice image of the various new icons from the development team and would like to share them with you. (Sorry it’s in Japanese at the moment, but those are just the enemy names anyway!)

As you can see in the image, we’re currently planning to have 3 different types of icons, and the ability to easily discern aggressive/non-aggressive monsters as well as their level.

We’re looking forward to any additional feedback you may have!

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I'll admit, they look nicer than I thought they would. I still think, however, that it takes away from the spirit / immersion of exploring a fantasy world. I'm always going to vote against this one.

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Originally Posted by Sorel

I agree. Image #3 should be the default. Then if a player wants to, they can toggle on the rank & aggressive icons above the monster (like in images #1 & #2).

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I believe it should be the opposite. Have all the information ON by default and any players who do not want them, an option to toggle off. Why? because we are just thinking of the current player base, When new players come on board, regardless of the tutorials in place, you also want a tutorial letting them know that there is a "toggle to see all this info but is off, turn it ON if you want"? ... That seems counter productive.

My main point is not the wasted tutorial. But essential info any new player might want to see, and if annoyed by it, you can turn it off.

Keep in mind the point of all these changes is not to make this game easier, but to accommodate the changes the new battle system will bring. Whose to say this will be easy even if we know the rank of the fiends? All of you are making assumptions that this change is only for visual purposes, do not forget the previous developer post where the person in charge of the UI (forgot his name, I am sorry) indicated this change was being made specifically for that reason.

Furthermore, I hope all of you have photographic memory if what you ask is to have to target the fiend each time to be able to see the rank. What are you going to do when were participating in Behest and the new tactical needs of the battle system requires that we fight specific mobs first and others later by going from info such as if they aggro and what rank are they? Are you going to cycle through all the mobs just to confirm which ones are the right ones to fight first?. And that is just talking about one semi large scale battle. Have you forgotten the soon to be announced grand companies?. That spells large scale battles all over the place, in my opinion of course, seeing that they are public.