General UI/UX Enhancements

I skimmed through what I could. Couldn't find everything I wanted in other posts so posting them here :)

1>
In general I think the user experience (UX) could be improved with some slight UI changes.

Mouse Users:
Going to the menu for everything is really not necessary. If a !-bubble appears, we currently click it or go to menu then click it's notification to interact with it. If it shows in the system icon/notification area clicking it should interact with it directly. This would expedite simple tasks like aetheryte and DoL events. Since there is no way to interact with a target such as this (aetheryte, DoL points) we can't use command line inputs to <t> target them and interact.

Party invites should be handled in the same way. Really anything that has a one-click interaction should have just that.

Player character (PC) interaction with it's multiple options; such as, invite, bazaar, trade, tell, is a bit more complicated since it is not a once-click event. In these situations command line tools can be (or are already) implemented /check for bazaar and gear gawking, /pcmd add for invites /t PC NAME for tell is adequate. But for mouse users, this is left to be handled by macros and the main menu. Double clicking on a PC perhaps instead of lock-on should maybe populate the module dialog for check/bazaar/invite/trade/tell. For that situation the menu is adequate so far, but can still be improved on a UX standpoint.

If the Icons for Mouse Users area cannot be turned on/off, moving or adding the notification to this bar would be fine too (though redundant) but still it should not open the menu. It should interact directly with the event.

Non-Mouse Users:
The menu is adequate. To improve, adding a means to interact with aetheryte and DoL such events through <t> would be nice so they can just macro or map a button to it.

2>
Tutorials.

The game is entirely lacking in most tutorials, specifically with Disciples of Land (DoL). I love the mini games. Hot and cold is fine by me. However, the Depth Meter adds something great but not immediately understood. If this meter is to be utilized to get specific results, it should be explicitly shown. A tutorial levequests (leve) or an NPC in the respective guild that shows a chart would be awesome. I guess I'm hinting at something in the lines of how the Beastmaster class in FFXI was shown the hierarchy of beasts. A map showing certain fish/ore/etc are at certain depth would greatly improve the guess work on where to set your sights. Then the hot and cold game can play as usual (even though that too seems to offer varying item results). Leves are a great way to teach us new things. More in depth tutorials would be wonderful.

3>
Recipe book.

Currently the recipe book shows a max number of taught and previously used synths. A larger capacity book would be much better. One that listed or was sorted by craft would also be nice. At the moment, PC users will always have the advantage by playing in windowed mode and accessing a wiki.

4>
Targeting...

I know it's being worked on. It's still a pain to do. Even with a mouse it's troublesome. I've noticed when targeting is set to all (/targetmode a) you can tab key everything at any viewing angle. When in specific targets (/targetting mode b) you can only target those targets when your character is physically facing them. With the constant movement of people and monsters in combat, this becomes troublesome and useless.

There is currently targeting for PCs in a party. If you have a spell and wish to cast it on party member 3 you can select their name in the group during cast. Awesome. If such a grouping for engaged monsters could be implemented this could add to ease of use. Not only will parties know what is being engaged (showing yellow and red for engage status and HP for current health) they can now easily click the foe to target their next attack or change to target once a monster has been defeated. As for command line <t>, <t0-14>, <st>, <lastst> would be my suggestions.

5>
Battle confirmations.

Some confirmations seem to be unneeded. Confirming magic is area of effect (AOE) every spell is tedious. Moving this to a simple button that activates the /aoe on/off command line is adequate. Now it is either always on or always off and the player can easily choose whenever.


6>
Macros.

The execution of macros is slow. Perhaps a default wait time between lines is already in effect. As well, why is /wait being used viz old FFXI controls. Why not utilize the newer FFXI wait command <wait 1-60>? This would free up a line.

7>
Path.

This one is hard for me to explain. Multiple times I have initiate a leve and found that I did not take the designed route to the location specified and thus aborted the levee. Well that simply sucks. The yellow area on the map and the direction arrows are great hints. But if there is an out of bounds I need to know of, please display it or hint that I am getting there some how. I guess that's more a personal beef then an actual UI/UX issue :p


Sorry if all or some of this is already being addressed and I missed the post (I did search!). I hope these comments help :)

Hello Sir (Kashuan represent!)

But just to quickly reply to your query about craft and recipe books. With the last update the recipe book is separated. It still has a max of 8 previously used/attempted recipes but you can hold 8 for each craft. For instance if you're on weaver you'll have your last 8. If you then switch to Tanner you'll see the 8 you attempted for tanning. I was crafting like a mad man last night and this update was EXTREMELY helpful.

I agree with you with things being one click that should be. It was A LOT worse at launch when windows were 11 clicks instead of 4 lol. All in due time. Lets see what UI changes tomorrows update will come in with.

*like* :D

I'm not sure whether this would be UI :S But being able to move the damn map with your mouse.

Instead of the 'I', 'j', 'K', 'L' keys.

I had no idea until I watched a youtube video of people finding it out by keyboard+mouse mashing.

I couldn't agree more, if the icon shows up and I click on it I should go directly to the appropriate menu and not the main menu.

As for Tutorial, I completed agree again, in fact I think that SE should have a help section in the menu where players can browse the topic of interest copied over from the lodestone. (IN GAME) nobody wants to browse the internet looking for information whilst playing a game.

They could go one step further and have a pop up box display asking a new player if they wish to view the tutorial which would then transport them to an instance and the players character would play out the process freezing and explaining the actions with a windowed dialogue.

I would also like to mention that upon death a window should present itself asking the player if they wish to return or wait for a raise, if and when the raise is cast on the player another pop up box would take its place asking if they wish to accept the raise.

As a new player if you die it can be very confusing what to do next, especially if you aren't used to FF11.

Recipe book:-

Agree that we need a 3rd tab with an A-Z of the complete history of learnt/tried recipes for that class. (hopefully this is something they/you are getting around to)

Please make the UI client-side- eliminate the excessive server checks/delays ; ;


This is really all I need. Everything else that gets done is bonus to me...the delay on every single action/key/menu is what hurts my experience the most.

It's hard for me to explain, but it feels like trying to run/sprint through a lake/water. I hit enter on something, and instead of the menu just coming up, there's this latency while the server learns that I've hit enter, and returns the menu to my screen. It feels really muddled.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pangy

Please make the UI client-side- eliminate the excessive server checks/delays ; ;


This is really all I need. Everything else that gets done is bonus to me...the delay on every single action/key/menu is what hurts my experience the most.

It's hard for me to explain, but it feels like trying to run/sprint through a lake/water. I hit enter on something, and instead of the menu just coming up, there's this latency while the server learns that I've hit enter, and returns the menu to my screen. It feels really muddled.

---

Agree x3454453

It all ... stalls? :(

Agreed here, there is really no need to send all information to the server first.