(Suggestion) Removing the aggroe icon for monsters.

[Ceons]

It's just kinda really huge right now. I wouldn't mind if it were somewhat like WoW in that any aggroing mob would have a similar icon whenever you'd target it.

Yea that's what bothers me as well. I think it's good to have more information in game. It's just so big, red and in your face. It also does not fit into the UI at all, and is even more confusing than informative at times...

[Rentahamster]

for patch 1.17 we are working on . . . displaying the enemy’s level.

YES.

I've written multiple times why we need this and why it's much a much better system than the confusing and glitchy con system we have now.

Thank you!

[Rowyne]

Fantastic! I'm so glad they're not taking the icon away as I like having an aggro indicator. And the toggle should make everyone happy.

And what a bonus to hear they're working on displaying the enemy's level!

Thumbs up!

[Bayohne]

Hello everyone! We have more details that further flesh out the design ideas behind the current UI change and tidbits on what the future will bring. Without further ado, here is a new comment from UI lead, Hiroshi Minagawa.

Hey everyone! Thanks for the huge amount of feedback!

I would like to explain two things.
The first is about the design choice regarding having an aggressive icon at all and the second is in regards to our plans to integrate an ON/OFF toggle for displayed UI elements.

First, as to the reason why we added the aggressive monster icon, for the upcoming battle fixes, we decided to display addition information necessary for battle strategy.

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.

Due to the fact that a quick fix for this is quite difficult, we have been making adjustments in stages. We have discussions with Yoshida and the battle team about what kind of info should be shown and what should be masked and once we make a decision we have been implementing them.

The current aggressive icon and the upcoming enemy level display are only one part of the current stage of edits.
　
Next on the agenda is the ON/OFF display toggle.

The aggressive icon that was recently implemented was a bit of information we wanted players to be able to check easily that fits hand-in-hand with the future battle plans, and thus we released it as a full-time display feature. Originally we thought that the icon wasn’t something that needed to be easily turned on/off, but after seeing the current reactions and hearing all of your feedback, after long consideration we have decided to make it possible to toggle the display. We will also continue to make adjustments to display toggling and display methods for the information displays we have planned for the future.

I apologize for not going into more detail earlier, but hopefully now you can better see our reasoning for the implementation.

[Taokii]

Hello everyone! We have more details that further flesh out the design ideas behind the current UI change and tidbits on what the future will bring. Without further ado, here is a new comment from UI lead, Hiroshi Minagawa.

I understand the direction that these changes are heading but my personal thoughts on the matter are that getting to know if enemies aggro or not is a part of the game you are meant to figure out. Veterans in areas know where every enemy spawns and if it aggros while new comers have to figure it out. To me that was all part of the fun. At least that's my opinion..

[Tahlia]

While most players may not feel the need to be told what aggro's it still helps with more inexperienced players who get frustated easily and especially in party situations.

From past experiences in FFXI you'll sometimes run across a player or two that holds up the party because they got aggro from something they had no knowledge about. They die, homepoint, and have to run back or you have to send out a raise for them. Even in Abyssea parties this type of stuff happens where some people have no clue and either die, ask about the potential aggro, or you have to go guide them safely to camp.

Oh yeah and on the subject of a "link" icon. Who remembers good old low level parties and your recently invited puller linking everything cause he/she didn't know they did? Then the party disbands after the 2nd wipe... (Talking about the poor ones. Not having a go at the good pullers out there who know what they are doing).

The issue then splits 2 ways:

With newer players who get aggro and die, they can possibly become annoyed and log. This can result in the end of a party if there's noone available to rep. The player may even possibly quit the game which while veteran players may scoff at and say they are better off playing WoW: it's still a lost subscription to SE = bad.

And with the more experienced players, they too can cause the end of a party as a good number won't put up with some newbie getting themselves and/or the party killed. They'll just find it a waste of their time and leave.

Anyway if you feel you don't need the aggro icon and you can learn what aggro's by yourself thats fine. If that's the case then the aggro icon was clearly not meant for you and the planned toggle feature will be handy. As for other players than just yourself: it's up to them if they feel they need it or not.

Toggle option does sound fine though it'd still be nice to also have the info display only when a mob is targetted. Another option I like which I have seen is having the info display only when you get close enough to a mob.

Two other things I'd like to see is having agressive mobs show as another colour on the minimap like the classic red dot. And secondly it would be nice to have a better visual method of showing that you have aggro'd a mob. Usually the first sign you get is suddenly falling to the ground with "mob hits you for xxxx damage" in the chatlog.

Having a better warning that a mob has been aggro'd would help reaction time to either run away or prepare to fight. Rather than there stand clueless and get pummeled. It may ruin the immersion for some players though so maybe have it built into the toggleable aggro icon so it has an idle and active state. Like have the aggro icon yellow as "caution" and turn red if you aggro.

[Reika]

Hello everyone! We have more details that further flesh out the design ideas behind the current UI change and tidbits on what the future will bring. Without further ado, here is a new comment from UI lead, Hiroshi Minagawa.

Its too bad there are too many people that are too blind to notice the giant "I wanna kill you" icon anyways... Various people I have partied with just run into a horde of hostile monsters during behests or levequests anyways, then the thaum aoe'd them all, and the archer still single target the enemy that wasn't claimed.... etc etc.

[MysteryG]

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.

... 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.

[Kimahri]

... 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.

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

[InuraBera]

The current aggressive icon and the upcoming enemy level display are only one part of the current stage of edits.

To me this is the most important thing to keep in mind, no matter where they go with the system in the coming months. Until they declare "This is it, we are finished with serious changes" then everything we get will be part of Something Bigger. I don't mind the aggro icon at all, but I do look forward to being able to see the level, even if just so I know what can be easier avoided as a Botanist (Is it many levels above me, or only a couple for example) as well as the challenge of individual mobs in a group (Green coloured group, but individual beasts can kill people in single hits at times currently!)