If there's one thing I think would improve the new-player experience, it would be UI

[Packetdancer]

At least the players have the ability to swap it out for something better. Square's hard line stance against mods really works against them here.

As much as I am obviously someone fond of mods -- as my entire existence in WildStar testifies-- I actually do understand Square's position here. They're demonstrably reluctant to officially support something on only one platform (e.g., only allowing mods on PC and not on Playstation), which is fair. And at this point, trying to add in an official modding API this late in the game would mean sort of grafting it onto the side with thumbtacks and gorilla glue; it would almost certainly be either really limited and disappointing, or potentially exploitable. Neither option is great.

But yeah, I too miss the ability to customize the game's UI. Because, again, I have a lot of things I'd change. (I have very strong opinions on UI, and usability in general.)

Square desperately needs to hire a UX and accessibility team that has executive power over UI decisions and schedules.

Square needs an accessibility team, period, full stop. Because there's not a shred of evidence they currently have one.

In fairness, I actually get a lot of the UI/UX decisions they've made, because they're trying to support a fairly heterogeneous ecosystem. High-end gaming PCs with 4k monitors, laptops with 1080p screens, PS5 on 70 inch 4k HDTVs, etc. It's extremely difficult to design for usability in a fashion that suits all those scenarios; designing for the lowest common denominator is sometimes the most viable approach. I may not like that conclusion -- and I like the actual result even less -- but putting on my developer hat for a moment, I can at least understand it.

But there are other UI/UX decisions they've made you can't justify with that logic, and which just plain freakin' mystify me as to what anyone was thinking. Why is there no 'Greed All' / 'Pass All' option in loot windows? Why is there no way to see a shield on yourself if you aren't in a party with other players to see it in the party list? Etc.

Oh they changed it all right, in true Square fashion they made it even more irritating. There's no longer an opt out on the pop-up, you need to dive into the config options to turn it off. Instead of being seen as helpful they've made it into a pain point.

...what. What. No. Why?!

I just... I can't...

*shakes head, walking away in silence*