[dev1135] Easily spot merchant and repair NPCs by adding an icon in front of names

[Aldora]

I was talking about this with another player today...

When you are new in an area like La Noscea, it can be though to find certain NPC's like the Repair NPC or even merchants located outside of the cities. If you are unlucky, you need to talk to a lot of NPC's in town before you can find the Repair NPC.

However, the matter could solved if "key"-npc's where to have icons in front of their names indicating if they are a merchant npc, repair npc, Linkshell provider, Guildleve provider, Retainer provider, etc. Just like players can have icons in front of their names, indicating that they have something to sell in their bazaar, or seek repairs for one or more items. Just by walking around town, you should be able to easily identify "key"-npc's from the regular ones.

SE could even extend it by using an icon indicating if the NPC has the grant you access to the crafting facilities, can spend guildmarks for a certain class or even indicate that they have ingredients for the crafting leve's you are currently carrying.

What do you all think about this?

[Viridiana]

Or you could look at your minimap, where almost all of what you're asking for is already marked.

[Aldora]

Or you could look at your minimap, where almost all of what you're asking for is already marked.

Granted, you can see on the minimap where the Repair NPC and merchants are located. What you can't see, for instance, are the NPC you need to talk to in order to recieve ingredients for your crafting leve's. If you don't know your way around town, you could still open the journal in order to verify where the NPC is located. But, once you are in the vicinity, there is no indication that the NPC has the ingredients you need unless you talk to them.

If you compare it with the side quests which have been added recently, an NPC who has a quest for you will have a cloud with a question mark above their head. If that NPC gives you a quest where you need to talk to several people, the people you need to talk to will have an exclamation mark above their heads indication that they have something to say that's connected to an active quest in your journal. You can even see them on the Minimap and the map assigned to the quest in your journal. Why not do the same with the NPC who are holding ingredients for one of your crafting leve's?

On the same note, if they can show the locations of the merchants on the map and the minimap, why not add the same icon next or above their names? That way you can easily distinquish them in a crowd. That is basically what i was referring to in my previous post. True, the manner i wrote it in referred a build where there were no icons on the map indicating the locations of the NPC's. By the time they were added, i already knew where the key-npc's i was looking for where located. Still, i really think that key-npc's can be spotted more easily if an icon was added to their names indicating if they have something to sell, have the ability to repair your gear, have quest related items (ingredients) for you, have the ability to grant you access to linkshell pearls or retainers, etc.

Here are a few pictures which "describe" what i meant:

Local Guildleve NPC

Currently: No Icon
Suggestion: Active Leve and Finished Leve

Merchant NPC

Currently: No icon
Suggestion: Adding "Bazaar" icon in front of name

In my honest opinion, it would make the NPC's easier to find rather then going on the Minimap location alone. What do you all think?

[Viridiana]

I can see adding what you're talking about for the local leves. I still think adding the icon for merchants in front of their names would just be redundant, though.

[Lienn]

I don't like this idea at all...IMO the game is alreadt too poluted with random icons ^^:

BUT if we can turn them off then its all good. I wish i could turn minimap icons off too...its that thing...i don't care if they even add an icon to show whoever is wearing blue panties or whatever...as soon as we can turn it off. Having this overflow of random icons imposed to us isn't really nice...but as soon as its up to each player seeing them or not, only then i'd support your suggestion. ^^

[Aldora]

I don't like this idea at all...IMO the game is alreadt too poluted with random icons ^^:

BUT if we can turn them off then its all good. I wish i could turn minimap icons off too...its that thing...i don't care if they even add an icon to show whoever is wearing blue panties or whatever...as soon as we can turn it off. Having this overflow of random icons imposed to us isn't really nice...but as soon as its up to each player seeing them or not, only then i'd support your suggestion. ^^

Huh? Did i forget to add that part? Hmmm... Just a sec... I know i left it here somewhere... Ah! Got it! Here you go:

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Does the suggested feature have to be Optional or Imposed?

[_] Impose the feature to the players and cannot be changed in any way, shape or form.
[X] Optional. Give the players the opportinity to enable or disable the feature.
[_] I don't know. I'll let SE decide...

If optional was selected, how should the feature be enabled/disabled?

Add a setting in the configuration menu where the player can set the display method of the icons between the following settings: "Map", "NPC", "All" and "None"

* Corresponding text command:
/displayiconmode, /dimode
Cycle through icon display methods.
USAGE: /displayiconmode [subcommand]
　>>Subcommands
　map　Display icons on the (mini)map only
　npc　Display icons above the npc or next to its name (context-dependent)
　all　Display icons on both locations (see previous settings)
　none　Display no icons at all

　Cycles between display methods when no subcommand is specified.
　* The default setting is "map".

Thank you for filing your suggesting regarding the User Interface of Final Fantasy XIV. Have a nice day.
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