PTS Update 15 - Feedback Thread for Customizable Combat Cues

ZOS_GinaBruno

This is the official feedback thread for the customizable combat cues. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• If you changed your colors, how helpful were the changes in combat situations?
• Did you encounter any issues with telegraphs after having your colors changed?
• Are there any other areas of the game you feel would benefit from additional color customization?
• Do you have any other general feedback?

JarlUlfric

I know this really isn't the place for it, but given there is no thread for it I believe it is warranted because it affects combat animations

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

In an effort to reduce the visual effect noise in group combat situations, we’ve hidden most visual effects from persistent damaging area of effect abilities cast by your allies. Area of effect abilities that have a synergy, healing, or defensive component that can benefit you will still be visible, and area of effect abilities cast by enemies will also still be visible.

I believe this is a very bad idea especially for PvP. It is important for pvp teams to see what skills allies are putting out. How can I know that someone is doing something that I tell them to? If I tell my magsorcs to pop Eye of the Storm, I have no way of knowing if they did. If I ask my stam members to drop caltrops on the breach, I've no way of seeing that.

You're effectively removing 1/2 of the combat that is visible, which leaves pvpers with not a full story of what is going on, and will hinder the ability to command and read situations.

Crogster

I get trying things to reduce lag and improve the gaming experience but this is a terrible idea!. Fights are about seeing what your friends are doing just as much as your enemies. Please dont do this!!

Foxic

It would be very nice to have an option to disable friendly AOE's instead of getting rid of them outright. There are certain situations in groups i trust that i would be nice to have the extra fps. However i go on a lot of training raids where seeing what ground affects are happening, helps me teach newer pve players.

As well in pvp, in an organized group it is really nice to see what skills are going on. I really hope you consider adding an option to this change

karldavy149b16_ESO

now tell me thats not cool i suffer with multiple colour blindness as well as a red light deficiency ... which basically means for me playing any mmo with red damage indicators makes it practicaly impossible to see .... and im known as the guy that dies to stupid because i cant see it marked ... NOT ANY MORE THANK YOU

karldavy149b16_ESO

but as a tank not seeing my players aoe ... sucks we litereally cant see anything when i tested the new dungeons on vet my teammates kept yelling i was moving the boss out of ultimates how the hell was i supposed to know .... it would be a suggestion to make this a toggle ... i play in trials at about 50-60 fps with all the aoe going off around me i have never really been effected with any issues other than now ... now i cant see the stuff to hold stuff in ...

MAKE IT A TOGGLE IF THIS GETS TO LIVE WITHOUT IT BEING A TOGGLE PREPARE THE FORUMS FOR A MELTDOWN FROM TANKS

Contraptions

I agree that reducing the visual clutter on screen is a good idea but I think disabling all effects from ally attacks entirely is a bit too drastic. Tanks need to know where friendly AOEs are so they can keep the boss still in them for maximum damage. I suggest making 4 customizable categories for AOEs:

1. Friendly damage AOEs - currently no indicator
2. Friendly healing - currently no indicator
3. Enemy damage AOEs - currently red indicator
4. Enemy healing - currently no indicator

Let us pick colours for these various categories, and allow us to toggle whether we want to see them at all. If I pick blue for friendly damage, this means that when my ally casts ele rage for example I won't see the lightning VFX but instead I see a large blue circle on the ground. The tank would then know to keep the boss there.

Sordidfairytale

There seems to be no rhyme or reasoning to what is getting the indicator. Shards gets it, While Purifying Ritual does not.

Chairo_Kuma

I persoally think this a very bad idea. A lot of players use the visuals for combat awareness. How are you expecting us to undrestand whats going on in the middle of a big fight where you can't visually confirm the actions of your group.

Aerithone

JarlUlfric wrote: »

I know this really isn't the place for it, but given there is no thread for it I believe it is warranted because it affects combat animations

I believe this is a very bad idea especially for PvP. It is important for pvp teams to see what skills allies are putting out. How can I know that someone is doing something that I tell them to? If I tell my magsorcs to pop Eye of the Storm, I have no way of knowing if they did. If I ask my stam members to drop caltrops on the breach, I've no way of seeing that.

You're effectively removing 1/2 of the combat that is visible, which leaves pvpers with not a full story of what is going on, and will hinder the ability to command and read situations.

STOP. please, just STOP. This game is not ALL about pvp. Avarage pve players already struggle coz of u,pvp guys.
A lot of changes done already made this game harder, coz pvp players are crying around things, which wouldn`t be this disastrous, if u can use ur hands properly.

Strider_Roshin

Aerithone wrote: »

JarlUlfric wrote: »

I know this really isn't the place for it, but given there is no thread for it I believe it is warranted because it affects combat animations

I believe this is a very bad idea especially for PvP. It is important for pvp teams to see what skills allies are putting out. How can I know that someone is doing something that I tell them to? If I tell my magsorcs to pop Eye of the Storm, I have no way of knowing if they did. If I ask my stam members to drop caltrops on the breach, I've no way of seeing that.

You're effectively removing 1/2 of the combat that is visible, which leaves pvpers with not a full story of what is going on, and will hinder the ability to command and read situations.

STOP. please, just STOP. This game is not ALL about pvp. Avarage pve players already struggle coz of u,pvp guys.
A lot of changes done already made this game harder, coz pvp players are crying around things, which wouldn`t be this disastrous, if u can use ur hands properly.

Oh I just love how bratty PvEers are in this game.

ziaodix

Why, again, doesn't ZOS split PvE and PvP? I mean both seem to think the game revolves around the other, and they're the reason the game keeps changing.

That being said, this change is a very welcomed one, albeit a little lacking. I wish you could have the option to toggle on/off which cues you see or don't see. From a person who suffers from colorblindness though, after having done some testing on the PTS, the ability to alter the color helped a lot.

I hope this isn't the end of this. I hope they keep the customisations coming. I do, however, like the way it's headed.

Eiagra

I agree that this should be a toggle option, not enforced. That way, we can enable or disable as the situation requires it. For those who need the extra feedback, and are willing to take a hit to FPS, we can turn it on. For those whose systems struggle a bit and are okay losing some combat awareness, we can turn it off.

It's not a bad idea, it just needs to be implemented as an option instead of force-fed.

Doctordarkspawn

More proof ZOS has no idea how players typically play this game. Half the AOE's are invisible. Here's an idea; Make the AOE's visible and the moves with a team componant invisible since those will typically be casted near the tank or players -anyway-?

Even better, how about you just destroy the holy trinity's involvement in this game for good considering it feels like you hate tanks so much?

WHEN WILL YOU LEARN.

WHEN WILL YOU LEARN.

THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!?

Edit: I'd like to also state I'm not throwing this at anyone but who was behind this change. The problem, however, is that I fully expect this problem to be ignored given how the company tends to do things. I fully expect this feature to release, effectively making team communication -worse-, due to the deadline being near holytext, so features -must- release reguardless of whether or not they are ready.

ziaodix

To be fair, your point isn't a very valid one. Claiming all tanks want to see every effect is incorrect. I know a lot of tanks who would prefer to have them turned off for certain situations (Like the 2nd boss in vHoF). This furthers my belief this should be a toggle option, not an always on option. This would allow for every player to match their effects to their game play (not just based on their hardware, which this is likely to alleviate for those who play on older tech).

@ZOS_GinaBruno Any thoughts on this being a toggle option?

AuT6GHad

They are great, especially for console players!

Thraben

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for the customizable combat cues. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

[1] If you changed your colors, how helpful were the changes in combat situations? [2] Did you encounter any issues with telegraphs after having your colors changed? [3] Are there any other areas of the game you feel would benefit from additional color customization? [4] Do you have any other general feedback?

1) Very helpful to get a more immersive gaming environment.
2) No
3) Negates should shine in the color of the alliance (and yes, you HAVE to see them even if you can´t see any other friendly effect!)
4) This shield symbol while blocking should be optional. One year has passed, and people still don´t like it

HiImRex

Please undo the change where you can't see friendly aoe effects, or make it a toggle, please. It is so utterly against good design principles that I honestly have no idea how this was sold to your team as removal of visual clutter and not a blow to basic playability.

Seriously did not one person on the team at least try and defend the communication of key information to the player as something much too fundamental to the gameplay experience to remove?

Exactly the same as you react to enemy aoe effects, you react to friendly aoe effects and make decisions accordingly. What kind of nonsensical game removes exactly half of this equation and claps itself in the back for reducing visual clutter. I hope sincerely, not this game.

anathemort

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

• If you changed your colors, how helpful were the changes in combat situations?
• Did you encounter any issues with telegraphs after having your colors changed?
• Are there any other areas of the game you feel would benefit from additional color customization?
• Do you have any other general feedback?

1) I changed them temporarily for play-testing and it was good. Very beneficial for folks with impaired vision, I'm sure. I might keep the default colors but make them a little brighter for permanent use.

2) No issues with telegraphs

3) Not at this time

4) I second what a lot of other folks here have said about friendly effects being disabled. Please make it an option or on always; not only are the effects beneficial for general combat use, but they really make it more enjoyable for me to see so much happening.

Own

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for the customizable combat cues. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• If you changed your colors, how helpful were the changes in combat situations?
• Did you encounter any issues with telegraphs after having your colors changed?
• Are there any other areas of the game you feel would benefit from additional color customization?
• Do you have any other general feedback?

I really need Color Customization for enemy Shields. I used to be able to see them easily, but I can't see sorc shields/healing ward anymore. I just look for the clapping hands on sorcs, and start counting down. If I could make the blue/orange of the shields more prevalent and brighter, that would be cool.

Caligamy_ESO

Is this thread even intended to be about the removal of the skill visual effects? Seems to be about the telegraph and visual cue changes..

I LOVE the telegraph color customization, it is so much easier to see... although it can be a little misleading on some skills. For example the mages around Spellscar cast a ground aoe that is a circle with a safe spot in the middle. The customized telegraphs don't take that into account and just highlight the entire area. I imagine it would do the same on the pirate world boss in Hew's Bane as well.

RIGHTEOUS_REPORT

Does this update allow users to disable the stupid friendly block icon?

I cant see shi% in dungeons when massive stupid block icons are everywhere.

WhiteNoiseMaker

As a player who suffers from color blindness I have to say I GREATLY appreciate the opportunity to adjust the combat cues. If I were to add anything to make it perfect, I'd ask that the 'shining sparkling rays' for interrupting bashes and power blocks could be adjusted in color as well? It can get a a bit hard for me to distinguish the different light hues sometimes depending on the ambient lighting.

I'm in favor of the decision to 'clean up' friendly FX, but I do think people should have the ability to perhaps toggle on/off, or perhaps select between Full, Partial (outline), and Off options?

Thank you to the Devs for finally address some of the difficulties of being a color-blind gamer, I really appreciate it.

RavenSworn

Good idea on the customizable combat cues, bad idea on the reduction of allies aoe combat animations. Good intent, bad implementation. All you need is a toggle. That's the best medium you can get.

mrpaxman

My combat cues do not show up in PvE ever. Always works fine in PvP. I played months of PvE with the setting turned on. The first time i ever saw it was the moment i went to Cyrodiil. And still is the only place for me to see them.

PC NA