I understand you are frustrated, but are these hyperbolic statements really necessary? They will not help solve the problem and only make it harder for Bioware to gather feedback in this thread.

 

I get like this when I feel really wronged.

 

You do have a point, and it is taken.

Now you ask us?

 

THIS. THIS. THIS. THIS. This 100 freaking times. Jesus

My rendition to quickly fix the issue, based on previous games/mods.

 

http://imgur.com/fEgHk

I don't remember what the first version of the GCD looked like.

 

The second one changed that somehow. The results of the changes were that if all pre-conditions were met for an action to be used, except for the cooldown, it would light up. This caused issues with long-cooldown actions, such as Quick Travel, which would light up as if it were ready to use, yet be close enough to use that it was difficult to see the cooldown bar. This change was slightly confusing, but since the long cooldown actions were not used frequently (due to the long cooldown), it wasn't too terrible.

 

The most recent change inverted this. All actions are dark during the GCD. This means we can't know without close inspection of the hotkey indicator (for those abilities that show it) whether an ability is simply on GCD or if it is on a longer cooldown, or even if other criteria are not met. This particular revision is incredibly difficult to work with on a long term basis.

 

I believe the ideal situation is to do something like the following:

 

- If an action meets all criteria, light it up. Treat this as the default case.

- If an action meets all criteria, except for GCD, light it up but display the GCD bar.

- If an action meets all criteria, except for some other cooldown, make it dim, and display the action cooldown bar.

- If an action does not meet all criteria, make it dim with a slight shade of red.

 

All actions affected by GCD, whether they meet criteria or not, unless delayed by some other cooldown, should display the GCD bar when GCD is in effect. If the action cooldown ends in the middle of a GCD, the action should light up, but immediately display the GCD bar, indicating its readiness following the end of the GCD.

 

There would then be no question about the ability to use a particular action. It distinguishes between GCD and action cooldown, and also clearly indicates whether the criteria have been met to use the action, regardless of cooldown.

Terrible, and the version before it I disliked as well compared to how it was originally.

I understand you are frustrated, but are these hyperbolic statements really necessary? They will not help solve the problem and only make it harder for Bioware to gather feedback in this thread.

 

There is one solution to the problem - get rid of this crap.

 

We don't need 60 pages or a poll to tell them that. We've already had 2 100+ page topics bashing this awful UI change, what more needs to be said? It's joke cracking time. God knows Bioware deserves the ridicule.

Edited February 8, 2012 by EternalFinality

I understand you are frustrated, but are these hyperbolic statements really necessary? They will not help solve the problem and only make it harder for Bioware to gather feedback in this thread.

 

You guys are aware there's a public test server to test stuff like this on, right?

 

All joking aside, there's a public test server...

Edited February 8, 2012 by Auxili

I love the game so far and enjoy leveling...aka not hurrying to endgame till it's sorted out.... but how on earth can people like the way the cool-down tracking/lighting is right now... I have abilities that are usable yet they are black/darker.. I mean luckily i know my binds and when to use things...but if I was relying on the transparency or highlighting of a button I would be clueless they way it is now.

 

I really don't get why this is so hard or why they are trying to re-invent something not broken, not rocket science and does not need revolutionized.

I get like this when I feel really wronged.

 

You do have a point, and it is taken.

 

I do understand, and I'm sure I'd be rather upset that a game I enjoy playing suddenly physically effected me in a negative way. Just give a detailed explanation of what happened, a possible solution to the problem, and then let others do the same. That's really the most productive way of getting this handled as quickly as possible.

man. i really liked the new ui. i hope they don't cave and revert back to not bing able to tell when you 45s cd was ready to pop.

There is one solution to the problem - get rid of this crap.

 

We don't need 60 pages or a poll to tell them that. We've already had 2 100+ page topics bashing this awful UI change, what more needs to be said? It's joke cracking time. God knows Bioware deserves the ridicule.

 

The poll is to cement the feeling of the forum community. Stephen already acknowledged that the UI will be changed.

 

There is absolutely no justification for ridicule. Voice your displeasure in a mature, adult way, and provide a possible solution.

I did vote terrible but they were better than the last change. You've yet to accomplish anything better than what you had at launch. I'm not sure why it's so hard to leave the ability greyed out until it's ready for use, possibly adding a "flash" when it comes off cooldown. Another possibility is adding the actual CD # on the button itself like you already have when you mouse over the button.

I have to vote 'Don't care.' I don't really have a problem with the new GCD/CD display on the UI, but it is still hard to see which abilities are not available (ie situationals like target needs to be incapacitated for use). And, particularly in PvP, sometimes the global flash when the GCD is done, freaks out and flashes several times before the GCD is actually finished. That might be more of an indication of the remaining ability delay problems though.

 

One suggestion I can think of is letting the situationals remain darkened (while off CD), and have no GCD animation over them, until they're usable, in which case they would brighten and the GCD would begin to display. I don't know how feasible that would be to program, however.

I like the fact that abilities on cooldown are now visibly darker than the rest. I don't care much for the flashing effects though.

You guys are aware there's a public test server to test stuff like this on, right?

 

All joking aside, there's a public test server...

 

Sure is.

 

Unfortunately they don't allow char transfers, and I can't be bothered to level without any players or community.

 

 

 

 

Bottom line: It truly is Bioware's fault. The reason: They need to allow us to play pre-set high level chars or have a copy of 1-3 of our characters be copied over to it.

 

The developer in this thread attempting to pass it off on the community like it is somehow OUR problem is a gigantic slap across the face. What makes it worse is people like Auxili believe him without knowing what is actually happening.

The poll options are a little black.

 

I wouldn't say it's terrible I'd say it's "meh".

 

In all honesty any of the three iterations already pushed to live would suite me just fine as long as you add a numerical display.

man. i really liked the new ui. i hope they don't cave and revert back to not bing able to tell when you 45s cd was ready to pop.

 

I'm not sure if you PvE or PvP more, but for me a 30 second or longer timer never gets used twice unless it's a story arc fight or I am soloing something meant for a group. So being able to tell at a glance that a long timer is not ready vs having my hotbars all lite constantly or flashing every few seconds isn't a comparison. The latter is much much harder to deal with.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Ruhx

I think it needs more tweaking but it does help me not have to stare at my bar as much.

 

I find just the opposite, I have to stare at the bar more now since I cannot see what abilities I have the resource for until the GCD ends. Therefore I am watching the bars waiting for it to end so I can quickly make my decision and hit that ability with as little downtime as possible between casts. Whereas before I only needed to glance down at some point during the GCD to see what my next attack would be and begin spamming it so it fired instantly as the GCD ended. If I wait for the "Flash" then look down I waste even more time between abilities. Spending more time watching bars equals less time watching the fight and that can be dangerous.

I like the new look, I think it gives it a tech feel to it, crisp and clean.

 

But my suggestion is to allow players to change the color of it, some will like it darker some will like it brighter. So a color wheel of options would work nicely.

 

plus, 1k people out of 1.7 mill subs isn't a lot of complaining.

I think its a joke I cant play the game and they need a poll to tell them this was a bad idea.. when PVP on Illum is being fixed right away. I'll post here like I posted on the other thread with over 1000 posts on it. Forward your complaints here.. Yell at their boss' boss' boss' boss and maybe they'll get the hint.

 

To Lawrence F. Probst III - Chairman of the Board

EA Corporate Secretary

Electronic Arts Inc.

209 Redwood Shores Parkway

Redwood City, CA 94065

 

 

To the better business bureau.

3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 600

Arlington, VA 22201

The changes aren't horrible, but neither are they good. Given that the GCD is approximately 1.5 seconds, the entire UI bar flashes every 1.5 seconds basically all of the time people are in game. I wish there was a way to disable the pretty obnoxious "ready" flash for those of us that don't really appreciate it.

I wouldn't say they were 'terrible', but they're certainly not 'good'. I didn't think it was possible to make the interface any uglier but this patch achieved it... and personally I had no problem with how they were before.

Didn't even notice the changes till the forum started drowning in QQ.

The poll is to cement the feeling of the forum community. Stephen already acknowledged that the UI will be changed.

 

There is absolutely no justification for ridicule. Voice your displeasure in a mature, adult way, and provide a possible solution.

 

So the poll is pointless. Got it. We already knew that though.

 

I don't see how cracking intelligent jokes isn't "adult" or "mature." Adults don't like to laugh?

A good start but for abilities that are to use for stunned or etc are shaded as well when they can be used at that moment. The only reason why I don't like that is because even though some things a re stunned and the ability is said to use again them when they are stunned, I still cannot. Other times I can so when the CD happens (shading the icons) I cannot tell. But a good start but not liking all of it. A little tweaking and you are good.