Health bars and name plates are too large

nathan_bri

I posted feedback within the game, but I want to post my concerns about the way-too-large size of health bars and name plates in the PTS.

Here is an example of health bars as they are in the live game at the moment. I tend to play this way because I can see enemies lurking even in dark places. It also helps to easily identify mobs which can be pickpocket as well as guards, which have no bar above their heads.


Here is what those same health bars look like on the PTS. Notice the absurd dimensions of the health bars now. They are far more obtrusive, screaming, “LOOK AT THESE HEALTH BARS!” all over my screen. Does not feel very Elder Scrolls-ish to me. Just look how the health bars do not shrink in proportion to the smaller mobs which are farther away.


Obviously, the enlarged and more garish health bars are there to support the name plates, which are still much larger than they need to be. In fact, you could keep the health bars the way they currently are in live and set the text above smaller and in a lighter weight.


Here is an imgur.com link for these same three pictures, in case the above embed links do not work properly.

nathan_bri

I would love for the health bars to remain exactly as they are in live, but them to be fixed so that they decrease in size with distance proportional to character size changes. I would also love for the name plates to use a lighter font weight and be much smaller than they are shown here. It would also be lovely if we could assign key binds for showing and hiding of both name plates and health bars.

Ghost-Shot

I agree about the health bars but the nameplates should be are fine, any smaller and you couldn't read them.

nathan_bri

Ghost-Shot wrote: »

I agree about the health bars but the nameplates should be are fine, any smaller and you couldn't read them.

I think the problem there is that they are using a condensed bold font with very little letterspacing. This makes the text hard to read. If they were to use a lighter font weight and shrink the size just a little bit with a touch more letterspacing, you will probably find it even easier to read than it is now.

(I used to be a typographer and have designed typefaces, so I am sensitive to these types of things.)

Reorx_Holybeard

Yes...the health bars are a little too obtrusive now. Would be nice if there was a "size" or "opacity" setting you could to adjust them to your liking.

nathan_bri

Reorx_Holybeard wrote: »

Yes...the health bars are a little too obtrusive now. Would be nice if there was a "size" or "opacity" setting you could to adjust them to your liking.

I think the option of setting a size for both bars and name plates would be a good solution. Also, on live the bars do not have a frame around them. It seems they have added a frame around the bar on PTS, similar to what you would see in WoW, but it's not really necessary. There's never been a time when I was unable to tell that a mob or player was losing health by the ratio of width to height of its health bar.

I do like your opacity suggestion as well. That way you could still see them but they could be even less obtrusive than they are on live.

Etaniel

The new health bars look great imo

Vidahr

Etaniel wrote: »

The new health bars look great imo

I second this. However, an option to change their size couldn't hurt and then everyone can play how they want.

k9mouse

I just want the health bars the same way I have them on the Live server. I do not like the ones at all.

Jimmy562

I really like the new health bars. An option for size would be best.

SRIBES

Alliance indicators are really big as well.

tinythinker

Not sure why we have to have the little health bars right over someone's head and the big one at the top the screen. I mean I know we have the little one already on live, but it would be nice it the little floating health bars toggled on and off with nameplates now that those are going in.

nathan_bri

One thing I love about Elder Scrolls Online is that it is so different from other MMOs.

The default setup puts almost nothing on your screen. It's just a window into a beautiful, uncluttered world. At least that's how it started out when it went live after Zeni removed the built-in minimap and such. I love it uncluttered. I will often hide nearly everything, including the chat box, just so I can be immersed while exploring and questing, even two years later.

The small health bars are the only place I draw the line and I went back and forth about them for a few weeks. I tried playing with them on and disliked how they broke immersion. Then I tried playing with them off and realized I was not seeing enemies until they were right on top of me because I like to play with my game set much darker than the default because it looks far more realistic. I conceded the point and left them on after that and I am now used to them. I have come to depend upon them for picking pockets especially and avoiding guards if I have a bounty.

I do like the idea of letting the user choose their preferred size, which would scale both the bar and the nameplate. Being able to control opacity would be nice. These controls would allow me to size them small and fade them out to the point where they provided meaningful information but did not break my immersion too much. I definitely do not like name plates, so I am glad that is already a separate option.

Elder_III

I also prefer the older style Health Bars. The ones on PTS are too big, too bright, and hurt my eyeballs (literally).

The nameplates are ok since I likely won't use them.

nathan_bri

Elder_III wrote: »

I also prefer the older style Health Bars. The ones on PTS are too big, too bright, and hurt my eyeballs (literally).

The nameplates are ok since I likely won't use them.

I agree that they are too bright as well. The old ones were more muted. Perhaps the proposed opacity setting could solve that one. Or perhaps, taking a second look at the pictures, it's just that them being larger makes their opacity and color more evident and harsh.

Elder_III

Also, something that's really strange and annoying is that on PTS the Health Bars are Bigger the farther way you are from the NPC/Mob. At max range it's a huge, glaring, ugly 8'+ wide bar above their head... it's frankly ridiculous looking. When you approach the NPC/MOB it slowly shrinks to approximately a 4' wide bar above their head when you're within 10' or less.

It needs to change.