Menu for current Tome gear

One thing I wish they would do for a QoL change is the menu for current vendors for tome gear this expansion. I know they have Rowena's NPC standing in older areas for gear and their menu is amazing whereas current vendors is a long wall of text.

Wouldn't it be better to make their menu the same and have NPC's at the areas like in the older content that you can acquire gear?

I really, intensely dislike the updated "Rowena-style" menus. I find them very frustrating to navigate on the controller, the way they start the cursor pointing at the second layer of drop-down menu, having assumed which main category of items you intend to browse. More often than not, it is incorrect and I have to navigate up, change it and back down again. The drop-down menus themselves add even more layers of button presses.

For comparison:

If I want to navigate the old-style text menus to buy (let's say) a Cryptlurker's Robe:
1. Speak to NPC to open the shop menu
2. Move down to "Cryptlurker Gear (DoM)" category
3. Press X to view item list
4. Move down to correct item
5. Press X to buy the item

If on the other hand I am at the Wolves' Den to buy a Late Allagan coat:
1. Open the shop menu – it defaults to either DoW weapon or DoM weapon category and puts my cursor at the "choose series" drop-down menu
2. Move up to the "choose category" drop-down menu
3. Press X to open the drop-down menu
4. Move down to select DoM Gear
5. Press X to select and close menu
6. Move back down to "choose series" menu
7. X to open menu
8. Move down to select Late Allagan gear
9. X to select and close menu
10. Move down to item
11. Press X to buy item

So in short, no I do not like Rowena's menu, and I don't think they tested it on controller.

Also, the old-style menu needs updating to switch around the "filter by class" button and the "only show new items" tickbox, because the filter is far more useful but is less convenient to navigate to.

Can we please never ever ask for SE to perpetuate that crime against UX to more vendors? Scrips and those Splendor vendors are enough. It literally takes 4 clicks to get to the same place where normal "list of text" vendor requires 1. That menu is atrocious.

I like the idea they were going for but agree with the others that they need to tweak that UI first before rolling it out to more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I really, intensely dislike the updated "Rowena-style" menus. I find them very frustrating to navigate on the controller, the way they start the cursor pointing at the second layer of drop-down menu, having assumed which main category of items you intend to browse. More often than not, it is incorrect and I have to navigate up, change it and back down again. The drop-down menus themselves add even more layers of button presses.

For comparison:

If I want to navigate the old-style text menus to buy (let's say) a Cryptlurker's Robe:
1. Speak to NPC to open the shop menu
2. Move down to "Cryptlurker Gear (DoM)" category
3. Press X to view item list
4. Move down to correct item
5. Press X to buy the item

If on the other hand I am at the Wolves' Den to buy a Late Allagan coat:
1. Open the shop menu – it defaults to either DoW weapon or DoM weapon category and puts my cursor at the "choose series" drop-down menu
2. Move up to the "choose category" drop-down menu
3. Press X to open the drop-down menu
4. Move down to select DoM Gear
5. Press X to select and close menu
6. Move back down to "choose series" menu
7. X to open menu
8. Move down to select Late Allagan gear
9. X to select and close menu
10. Move down to item
11. Press X to buy item

So in short, no I do not like Rowena's menu, and I don't think they tested it on controller.

Also, the old-style menu needs updating to switch around the "filter by class" button and the "only show new items" tickbox, because the filter is far more useful but is less convenient to navigate to.

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I exclusively play on controller but never really was bothered by Rowena's Menu UI for it. It definitely could be better. My only complaint with the menu UI especially with Wolves's Den is what you've already listed where there's no cursor memory and just defaults back to DoM/DoW weapon category. They should at least have it where we can switch categories with L1/R1 or something.