[Suggestion] Can we get a “Hide All Players” option?

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

I feel like it wouldnt be that hard to implement, given we already have the setting for how many NPCs/players are on screen in the settings screen, even thought theres no "no players" option. Id also like a setting to prioritize NPCs loading in over player characters. I know some amount of pop in kinda unavoidable in MMOs, however id like to be able to keep my player character settings low while allowing NPCs to be loaded in at longer distances so I dont notice them popping in as much. But currently both seem to be tied to the same setting.

The game’s /gpose feature has all the functions.
Hide NPC, other PCs, minions, pets, companion, etc.

[Treesus]

The game’s /gpose feature has all the functions.
Hide NPC, other PCs, minions, pets, companion, etc.

True, which would make me think that it shouldnt be impossible to give players that option outside of gpose, but then again im not knowledgeable about it to say a definitive yea or nay. Plus even with that ability, I dont know how it would work with render distance. Id like a feature to not hide ALL players, but moreso change priority of render. Given the settings of low/normal/high seem to effect how far off other models render, id like a setting to make all NPCs have say, a maxed out render so they do alot less pop in, while having players set to normal/low so they can kinda pop in and out as needed. In all honesty, its not like its a huge issue. Just a little thing id enjoy personally.

[NekoMataMata]

Can't believe this is still even a discussion.

There are literally no downsides to this while there are plenty of actually valid reasons for wanting it and people are still throwing around entitled comments like "You need to see my character, my character is sooooooooooo important that you shouldn't be able to hide it." Or better yet, the "Go play a single player game," cause hiding other characters in the overworld obviously turns this into a single player game, doesn't it?

[TheMightyMollusk]

I'd at least like it to prioritize NPCs over players, especially quest givers. Would probably help alleviate some congestion at quest spots if people weren't waiting to actually be able to find the NPCs to continue the quest.

[Sebazy]

There are literally no downsides to this

Actually there are. Showing off your newest glamour to an unwitting and often unwilling audience is a core driver of mogstation sales. Having a blanket option to hide all other players goes directly against that.

Social interactions both good and bad are a core concept of the MMO, offering players an easy way to strip that out is going to be a net loss in player retention as many players will miss out on the social links and binds that end up in longer play times and slowing the rate at which they chew through expensive to develop content.

[NekoMataMata]

Actually there are. Showing off your newest glamour to an unwitting and often unwilling audience is a core driver of mogstation sales. Having a blanket option to hide all other players goes directly against that.

Social interactions both good and bad are a core concept of the MMO, offering players an easy way to strip that out is going to be a net loss in player retention as many players will miss out on the social links and binds that end up in longer play times and slowing the rate at which they chew through expensive to develop content.

You've got to be kidding me right? It's a toggle. Not everyone is even going to use it, and very few people are going to use it 100% of the time.

There are going to be plenty of people that want to see your latest glam or see other people's glams in the open world. Even if they don't, they're still contributing to the overworld themselves because it's not like they can make themselves go invisible. This would also likely operate like how blacklists work in that you wouldn't be able to hide people in dungeons/trials, so those people would always see it too.

And it's not going to kill social interactions in MMOs any more than you know certain other things we allow(you know like how for instance you can do duty roulettes with a full party of friends and completely ignore its purpose while reaping the rewards and not having to deal with any "outsiders"). People who want to be social will be social. People who don't want to be or don't feel like it at any given moment in time will not be. It will change absolutely nothing. Having this option is not going to magically kill any social interactions happening in-game.

I don't normally like to absolutely throw people's ideas or theories out like this, but when are all so pointless. It's nothing but fear mongering. "OMG you're going to kill the MMO. You're turning my game into a single player game!" Quit throwing a hissy fit.

[Sebazy]

I don't normally like to absolutely throw people's ideas or theories out like this, but when are all so pointless. It's nothing but fear mongering. "OMG you're going to kill the MMO. You're turning my game into a single player game!" Quit throwing a hissy fit.

Where am I throwing a hissy fit or proclaiming that this would kill the MMO? I suspect you might be misunderstanding what I'm saying.

I'm a raid logger these days, I couldn't care less about my own glamour, let alone anyone else so I don't have a horse of my own in this race. I'm simply putting forward how coorporate at SE will view this. It's an addition that just isn't in their interests to add.

Edit:

Perhaps a better way of looking at this from SE's perspective would be this:

Look at dead hubs areas in older MMO: They are a bad look and make even successful MMOs feel dead and lifeless. SoE accidentally stumbled upon the solution by keeping PoK and the Nexus relevant across a sequence of expansions. SE clearly care about keeping obsolete content relevant to avoid the same dead look in old areas and you can see it across multiple systems. Everything from various Relic steps to the firmament is designed to ensure that old hubs and regions still have players actively running around them.

This button goes against all of that.

It's not fear mongering, it's simple logic.

[NekoMataMata]

Where am I throwing a hissy fit or proclaiming that this would kill the MMO? I suspect you might be misunderstanding what I'm saying.

I'm a raid logger these days, I couldn't care less about my own glamour, let alone anyone else so I don't have a horse of my own in this race. I'm simply putting forward how coorporate at SE will view this. It's an addition that just isn't in their interests to add.

And yet corporate SE have allowed the Trust system to grow beyond its original stint in ShB to encompass EW along with most of ARR and have plans on increasing it further to allow for newer players to essentially solo the MSQ. Now that's a bit odd in comparison to what you're suggesting here. There are numerous features in-game that conflict with your idea of what think corporate SE is pushing towards.

Also if you really wanted to point out how you felt SE would feel about the situation, shouldn't you have done so in a much more neutral way, rather than presenting it as your own thoughts and feelings? I've posted on threads where I really didn't really have a side before and I'm usually pretty clear about it when I do.

[Sebazy]

And yet corporate SE have allowed the Trust system to grow beyond its original stint in ShB to encompass EW along with most of ARR and have plans on increasing it further to allow for newer players to essentially solo the MSQ. Now that's a bit odd in comparison to what you're suggesting here.

Also if you really wanted to point out how you felt SE would feel about the situation, shouldn't you have done so in a much more neutral way, rather than presenting it as your own thoughts and feelings? I've posted on threads where I really didn't really have a side before and I'm usually pretty clear about it when I do.

I'm not really sure how I could have posted my response in a more neutral way? You proclaimed that there were 'literally no downsides'. I begged to differ. I'm sorry if you find my disagreement offensive /shrug

And sure, the trust system is a fair point towards making more content soloable. I'd argue that it's as much a system to allow players to get over group content and role anxiety as it is allowing players to simply avoid ever interacting with anyone else. The comparatively slow pace that Trusts clear at (and Squadron's were nerfed to with Barrage spam getting fixed) is there to make it preferable to run content with other players vs entirely relying on trusts.

However I'd counter that point by highlighting just how many systems SE have put in place pushing the opposite with plenty of carrots in place to encourage players to use older content and interact with other players in the process. The Firmament was an absolute master class in keeping a dead hub alive whilst also pushing it as a social experience.

[Ilisidi]

The average user isn't going to find the hide other players button. The people who are bothered by it are.

There are many QoL things in the game people don't know about. You already have several new people each patch who find out about target nearest npc to and other tricks to help combat the crowds, but there are very few people who stumble across those features without need.

The newbie is very unlikely to accidentally hide you from their view.