Could we please get an option to hide allied combat pets?

code65536

During the Horns patch, we got an option to hide allied ground effects. It was great for reducing the visual clutter in dungeons and trials and improved the visibility of mechanics.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_BrianWheeler Could we please get a similar option to hide allied combat pets?

• In towns, the pets of other players often interfere with the ability to interact with items. Want to turn in a writ while a Matriarch is hovering over it? Good luck.
• Due to the size of some pets (bears or the daedroth from the vBC2 helm) or the altitude of some pets (Matriarchs hovering above players' heads), pets obstruct the view more so than other players.
• Most importantly, in group PvE--dungeons and trials--pets can often obstruct and obscure the view of critical mechanics. Want to annoy your tank? Wear the vBC2 helm set!

Frankly, I don't care where another player's pet is or what it's doing. Just as I don't care where they placed their blockade or hail. It's just irrelevant visual noise. Please let us hide them from our view. Thanks.

LordTareq

But I want other people to see and admire my beautiful Matriarch "Fiona"

Scootter

Yes please! I have a bunch of crafters and every day doing writs it never fails that a Matriarch(probably named Fiona) is covering a turn in spot.

Tasear

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

What other examples of critical mechanics do they infer with? Because listed one is minor. They simply have change color of pet.

code65536

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

Players don't block interaction with objects in the world. Pets do.

Tasear wrote: »

What other examples of critical mechanics do they infer with? Because listed one is minor.

Um. What specifically is "minor"? I didn't list any examples of mechanics. I did list as an example of a pet that recently annoyed me--the Daedroth proc pet. One had popped up in front of something that I was trying to taunt. No, it didn't directly interfere, but it was distracting and since the Daedroth is larger than the target that I was trying to acquire, it managed to fully cover it. You know, it's nice to be able to see the animation of my Pierce connecting with the target and to get that visual confirmation.

As for mechanics, imagine trying to sidestep a Sinister Bead that you can't see coming because something is obscuring your view of it. Sure, there are already a lot of things that can obscure your view, and removing allied pets will not magically eliminate that problem entirely. But that's not a compelling excuse for not doing something to lessen the problem. Furthermore, most those other things are relatively more important. Some mechanics require you being able to see where other players are. You need to see where enemies are. You need to see where your own pets are. However, you don't need to see where someone else's pets are. They are irrelevant. (And potentially confusing: e.g., is that my pet or someone else's pet that's over there fighting the wrong target?)

The same reasoning applies to the hiding of allied ground effects. Does hiding a group member's elemental blockade remove all the unnecessary visual noise in a fight? No. But it helps. And it makes sense because it's visual information that is usually useless. Was the it a necessary change? No, since we just dealt with seeing allied ground effects for years before that option existed--it's not as if it was game-breaking. But it's undeniably a welcome quality of life improvement.

Tasear wrote: »

They simply have change color of pet.

Huh??

redspecter23

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

What other examples of critical mechanics do they infer with? Because listed one is minor. They simply have change color of pet.

Ever been tanking and had a storm atro placed on the boss? I can guarantee you that you will have a much harder time spotting tells with the boss nearly entirely obscured by a pet.

"Critical" can vary from person to person. No pet will crash the game and steal my credit card info. Anything described as "critical" is critical to the person that it interferes with. Something that is a critical issue to me may be a non issue for many others and the reverse is also true.

Tasear

code65536 wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

Players don't block interaction with objects in the world. Pets do.

Tasear wrote: »

What other examples of critical mechanics do they infer with? Because listed one is minor.

Um. What specifically is "minor"? I didn't list any examples of mechanics. I did list as an example of a pet that recently annoyed me--the Daedroth proc pet. One had popped up in front of something that I was trying to taunt. No, it didn't directly interfere, but it was distracting and since the Daedroth is larger than the target that I was trying to acquire, it managed to fully cover it. You know, it's nice to be able to see the animation of my Pierce connecting with the target and to get that visual confirmation.

As for mechanics, imagine trying to sidestep a Sinister Bead that you can't see coming because something is obscuring your view of it. Sure, there are already a lot of things that can obscure your view, and removing allied pets will not magically eliminate that problem entirely. But that's not a compelling excuse for not doing something to lessen the problem. Furthermore, most those other things are relatively more important. Some mechanics require you being able to see where other players are. You need to see where enemies are. You need to see where your own pets are. However, you don't need to see where someone else's pets are. They are irrelevant. (And potentially confusing: e.g., is that my pet or someone else's pet that's over there fighting the wrong target?)

The same reasoning applies to the hiding of allied ground effects. Does hiding a group member's elemental blockade remove all the unnecessary visual noise in a fight? No. But it helps. And it makes sense because it's visual information that is usually useless. Was the it a necessary change? No, since we just dealt with seeing allied ground effects for years before that option existed--it's not as if it was game-breaking. But it's undeniably a welcome quality of life improvement.

Tasear wrote: »

They simply have change color of pet.

Huh??

It's very minor interaction issue that happens with body. I would complain about getting it fixed instead. As this also is main reason for combat issues associated with them.

code65536

Tasear wrote: »

It's very minor interaction issue that happens with body. I would complain about getting it fixed instead. As this also is main reason for combat issues associated with them.

Physical obstruction of interaction is one issue.

Visual obstruction is a second, separate issue. Even if the first is addressed, the second remains.

Dojohoda

Trying to talk to the banker or drop off a writ with a Matriarch in front is like trying to jump into the skip rope.



Easy way to put away your Matriarch
-Open Character sheet
-Scroll to your Matriarch
-Right-click it (or left click, have forgotten which)

(This can be used to close any non-permanent item in your character sheet)

Bears are almost as bad. They can completely block a low intractable.

Kryser

Code is right.

Sorc pigeon blocks interaction with NPCs and writ boxes.

This has been annoying me for years.

Browiseth

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

why not just fix this issue ZOS
come on tasear, i think you're pretty cool. don't do the thing everyone on this forum does and respond to threads with non-sequiturs

zyk

I would be happy if we could also hide vanity pets. It could actually significantly reduce client stutter in busy areas.

Tasear

Browiseth wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

why not just fix this issue ZOS
come on tasear, i think you're pretty cool. don't do the thing everyone on this forum does and respond to threads with non-sequiturs

I simply mean, I personally don't like approach in this case. I am sorry I am biased in this matter.

HatchetHaro

Tasear wrote: »

Browiseth wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

why not just fix this issue ZOS
come on tasear, i think you're pretty cool. don't do the thing everyone on this forum does and respond to threads with non-sequiturs

I simply mean, I personally don't like approach in this case. I am sorry I am biased in this matter.

Then you just don't know anything about the issue.

The issue is that big pets like Maw of the Infernal is fully capable of interfering with a tank's ability to taunt, maintain taunt, and can also fully obstruct important visual cues from certain boss's mechanics to literally everyone in the group. I really don't have to list out certain "critical" mechanics that the pets can obscure; in the context of a raid setting, they're all important.

It is not a "minor" interaction issue as you claim it to be; it is a major issue that endangers any raid group and hinders progress.

Sanguinor2

Would welcome such an Option for sure.
For anyone on the fence I can tell you a nice Story as to why this would be a good idea.
While quite some time ago it should still hold relevance. It happened when I started getting into Veteran Trials, we were 12 People that decided we wanted to do vmol Progression because None of us had the Skin and we all wanted it. Because all of us werent that good pveers compared to now we had 4 or 5 dps run a 4 pets petsorc because the Rotation was very easy. Not so much for our poor tanks tho. Wanna know the first Thing they did after every raid? It was complain About not being able to see *** because there was Always Minimum one daedroth in their face.
So really think About it, what does an Option hurt? I know a lot of People that would welcome it.

idk

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

What other examples of critical mechanics do they infer with? Because listed one is minor. They simply have change color of pet.

OP is also talking about while in combat. Especially with the daedroth monster helm they mention specifically and often places the daedroth between the target and tank.

That is not minor when the tank needs to see what the boss is doing to know when to get an interrupt (vet Rakkhat) or dodge roll (many fights). Far from minor.

Edit: twilights can also get in the way of vision for the tank. Also, skill players do not wait for the tank or raid lead to make callouts. They watch the boss for tells to starting doing what they need to do for survival and twilights can block that vision, especially if they are already moving for another reason.

code65536

Tasear wrote: »

Browiseth wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

Why not pick a different less crowded location when needing to go in towns? What next hid other players?

why not just fix this issue ZOS
come on tasear, i think you're pretty cool. don't do the thing everyone on this forum does and respond to threads with non-sequiturs

I simply mean, I personally don't like approach in this case. I am sorry I am biased in this matter.

But why? Why does it matter to you whether or not someone else can see your matriarch or scamp or whatever? People go into a dungeon or trial to clear the content, not to admire each other's identically-looking matriarchs. So what's the downside?

Juomuuri

I have also noticed the problem with pets obstructing the view while trying to craft etc. - and yes, the fact that they prevent interactions with NPCs in high quantities is correct. An option to turn them "off" would be nice, since as a PvE dungeon tank, I don't like a clutter of pets infront of me while I'm trying to do my tank duty (no offence to pet build Sorcs). I already suffer from sight issues (mainly color blindness to red), so the more there are unnecessary models blocking my view, the harder it gets. (And before anyone asks, I have changed enemy AoE color to one that I can actually see. Learned it the hard way with the default red.)

The biggest problem is that pets can glitch to have hitboxes instead of being walk through, which even happens with my own pets (stamWarden bear and stamSorc clannfear). This becomes very troublesome while trying to move away from boss' AoE and such.

iCaliban

Increasing numbers of pet sorcs will be a problem in trials. I main one, and more than 2 clutters fights to a dangerous degree