PTS Update 36 - Feedback Thread for Target Marking System

ZOS_GinaBruno

This is the official feedback thread for the Target Marking system. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• Are the markers distinct enough to use effectively?
• Which activities were you doing where you used the markers?
• Do the markers interact with the in-game compass in a way that makes sense?
• Did you use a mouse/keyboard or gamepad?
• Do you have any other general feedback?

voidavoid

Being a console pleb and unable to test this for myself, I'm wondering if the new target markers are removed from the target on its death.

If not, have we considered the implications for griefing in PVP?

YandereGirlfriend

The icons seem to persist after exiting/entering draw-distance. They also disappear on-death (at least on Overland PvE mobs).

voidavoid

Thanks for the info @YandereGirlfriend , much appreciated.

I'm going to guess that the implementation is currently consistent across PVE and PVP until I hear otherwise. As is, I feel like this will not be too prone to abuse.

Billium813

YandereGirlfriend wrote: »

They also disappear on-death (at least on Overland PvE mobs).

voidavoid wrote: »

Thanks for the info @YandereGirlfriend , much appreciated.
I'm going to guess that the implementation is currently consistent across PVE and PVP until I hear otherwise. As is, I feel like this will not be too prone to abuse.

This needs to be tested on PvP. Unfortunately, PvE targets don't respawn the same way and may have completely different behavior. Also, needs to be tested on invisible players / creatures. I recommend taking this system into City of Ash 2 and testing on the first bosses. There are three and they have an ability where they disappear, then reappear in new locations. Bosses that teleport or mobs that go invisible could have strange behaviors.

Also, I was wondering how this system works with groups. Do other members of your group see the same icons you place? Can only the group leader apply icons? Does joining a group correctly update the new member to see the icons? Does leaving a group correctly remove the icons from the players vision? Does switching leaders grant/remove the correct authority for icons?

And are the icons only simply a visual feature or are they functional as well? If I target the boss with an icon and the boss becomes surrounded by mobs, can this new target marking system set player targeting focus priority? I think it would be INCREDIBLY useful to be able to target a specific mob, then if the mob is obstructed with multiple targets, still be able to focus them with single target abilities.

VaranisArano

For PVE group events, such as for guilds, do markers persist after wayshrining?

Example: guilds might do a dolmen/group boss/skyshard event in a zone where they have more than 12 people, so it's beneficial for the second group to be able to mark the activity leader even when they travel around.

YandereGirlfriend

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for the Target Marking system. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• Are the markers distinct enough to use effectively?
• Which activities were you doing where you used the markers?
• Do the markers interact with the in-game compass in a way that makes sense?
• Did you use a mouse/keyboard or gamepad?
• Do you have any other general feedback?

Overall, I quite like this feature. Definitely an example of a feature that I was surprised to see in the Patch Notes - and surprised in a good way!

After noodling around Galen for a bit with these turned on (using keyboard and mouse):

1. The markers themselves have nice UI images but they could stand to be a little bit larger (or, better yet, of user-configurable size/scaling!). I put all of the various markers on things/players near the wayshrine but they didn't really "pop" to the eye, I sort of had to already be looking for them before I noticed them again. Up-scaling the target images to 3-5x their current size would make them unmistakable and impossible to miss.

2. I found the interaction with the in-game compass to be seamless and well-done. It was clear where a target was while moving through space and I was always able to orient myself back to them just by taking note of the icon's placement on the my compass.

3. I'll probably experiment with mapping certain of the target icons to various of my mouse buttons, so that I can better assign them during combat (such as in PvP), where navigating through two menus is not feasible. Fortunately, I know that is possible to do since the option to map keybinds to individual target icons already exists within the Controls menu.

VaranisArano wrote: »

For PVE group events, such as for guilds, do markers persist after wayshrining?

Example: guilds might do a dolmen/group boss/skyshard event in a zone where they have more than 12 people, so it's beneficial for the second group to be able to mark the activity leader even when they travel around.

This isn't a direct answer to your question but, at least for the individual, the icons persist after wayshrining. I tested wayshrining both within Galen and out and back to various expansion lands.

VaranisArano

YandereGirlfriend wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for the Target Marking system. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• Are the markers distinct enough to use effectively?
• Which activities were you doing where you used the markers?
• Do the markers interact with the in-game compass in a way that makes sense?
• Did you use a mouse/keyboard or gamepad?
• Do you have any other general feedback?

Overall, I quite like this feature. Definitely an example of a feature that I was surprised to see in the Patch Notes - and surprised in a good way!

After noodling around Galen for a bit with these turned on (using keyboard and mouse):

1. The markers themselves have nice UI images but they could stand to be a little bit larger (or, better yet, of user-configurable size/scaling!). I put all of the various markers on things/players near the wayshrine but they didn't really "pop" to the eye, I sort of had to already be looking for them before I noticed them again. Up-scaling the target images to 3-5x their current size would make them unmistakable and impossible to miss.

2. I found the interaction with the in-game compass to be seamless and well-done. It was clear where a target was while moving through space and I was always able to orient myself back to them just by taking note of the icon's placement on the my compass.

3. I'll probably experiment with mapping certain of the target icons to various of my mouse buttons, so that I can better assign them during combat (such as in PvP), where navigating through two menus is not feasible. Fortunately, I know that is possible to do since the option to map keybinds to individual target icons already exists within the Controls menu.

VaranisArano wrote: »

For PVE group events, such as for guilds, do markers persist after wayshrining?

Example: guilds might do a dolmen/group boss/skyshard event in a zone where they have more than 12 people, so it's beneficial for the second group to be able to mark the activity leader even when they travel around.

This isn't a direct answer to your question but, at least for the individual, the icons persist after wayshrining. I tested wayshrining both within Galen and out and back to various expansion lands.

Nice, thanks.

Horny_Poney

What I hope as a console player, is to be able to mark tanks and heals during trials with this feature (with biiiiig icons), to be able to locate them quickly. As a heal I must place myself according to the position of the other heal and keep an eye on the tanks, and it’s damn hard in a 12 persons group.

YandereGirlfriend

Horny_Poney wrote: »

What I hope as a console player, is to be able to mark tanks and heals during trials with this feature (with biiiiig icons), to be able to locate them quickly. As a heal I must place myself according to the position of the other heal and keep an eye on the tanks, and it’s damn hard in a 12 persons group.

Well, the good news is that you can do this with the existing system.

The bad news is that the icons are rather small - but hopefully they will increase them as the PTS evolves.

Zand3rs

My biggest concern with this is it’s permanent or removed on death. Excuse as a marked healer in pvp everyone will target me to no end making my job 10000 times harder.

So yeah I don’t like it at all during pvp.

Soarora

(Group PVE, PC)
I was surprised that marking one enemy type doesn’t seem to mark other enemies of the same type, which is what I was hoping to use this for. By type I mean like “Dreadsail Keelcutter” while in Dreadsail Reef. It’d make focusing enemies in a certain order easier since otherwise I just have to read the name very quickly. Even then, I can’t always find the one I’m looking for.
Regardless, I could see a use in it for marking healers, tanks, and whoever else is important for a mechanic for people who don’t have addons.

jhaan.kreiib16_ESO

I like the idea of the markers but would like to see them larger (or scaled in options).

As a colourblind user I’d like them to be highlighted better. Eg a light border and secondary dark border so they are easier to distinguish from the noisy (visually) backgrounds that eso has

robpr

Billium813 wrote: »

Also, I was wondering how this system works with groups. Do other members of your group see the same icons you place? Can only the group leader apply icons? Does joining a group correctly update the new member to see the icons? Does leaving a group correctly remove the icons from the players vision? Does switching leaders grant/remove the correct authority for icons?

I just used it briefly with friend in a house, and you can see what marker group leader puts and leader can override your marker. I did not ask if leader sees my marker.

Mendo

I feel like the icons are too dark and too small. It's hard to see them in combat with all the effects going on.

Took my a while to find the keybinding since it's marked as a Gamepad option when I use keyboard and mouse.

Horny_Poney

jhaan.kreiib16_ESO wrote: »

I like the idea of the markers but would like to see them larger (or scaled in options).

As a colourblind user I’d like them to be highlighted better. Eg a light border and secondary dark border so they are easier to distinguish from the noisy (visually) backgrounds that eso has

It would indeed help people like me with bad sight.

Zand3rs wrote: »

My biggest concern with this is it’s permanent or removed on death. Excuse as a marked healer in pvp everyone will target me to no end making my job 10000 times harder.

So yeah I don’t like it at all during pvp.

Maybe the solution is to keep the markers on friends upon death/wayshrine, but not on ennemies.

Varana

Joining the feedback of making the markers much bigger and brighter.*

They need to stand out immediately above the cluttered light show of a 12-man trial group in combat.

* Enabling that via addons would mean that again, console players get an inferior version of this, which is not ideal.

codestripper

I love the idea of this but would really like to see a few additions to the API. For instance:

1. A function for assigning a target marker to a target based on the target's unitId
Example:

AssignTargetMarkerToTarget(*[TargetMarkerType|#TargetMarkerType]* _targetMarkerType_, *integer* _unitId_)

Possible Use Case - Applying a target marker on a target when the target is affected by something (such as a taunt) and removing it after a period of time (say as the ability expires) without having to target the entity again for the icon to update. Another use would be marking players automatically that are affected by a buff that needs to be kept track of for uptime purposes.

2. Visibility options for the target marker
TargetMarkerVisibilityType:
TARGET_MARKER_VISIBLE_GROUP - (Visible by all grouped members)
TARGET_MARKER_VISIBLE_PLAYER - (Visible only to the player who applied the marker)
Example:

AssignTargetMarkerToTarget(*[TargetMarkerType|#TargetMarkerType]* _targetMarkerType_, *integer* _unitId_, *[TargetMarkerVisibilityType|#TargetMarkerVisibilityType]* _targetMarkerVisibilityType_)

Possible Use Case - Individual player targeting to keep track of mobs that the rest of your group would not necessarily care about. This option combined with the previously mentioned use case could allow healers to mark players with certain effects/buffs active while also allowing the tank to keep track of taunted targets and neither would see unnecessary markers with a TARGET_MARKER_VISIBLE_PLAYER visibility

A setting can also be added to "Prefer Group" or "Prefer Player" markers which can be adjusted based on the player's need.

3. Being able to turn off markers entirely would also be a good setting to add for those who do not wish to see them.

4. Custom icons. I think this speaks for itself. Would be cool to be able to use your own icons via the API like a shield to show taunt or color variations of a skull to show health levels for healers on players so it is easier to target your healing.

Billium813

codestripper wrote: »

I love the idea of this but would really like to see a few additions to the API.[/code]

I just recently started looking into making my own addon and love these ideas so much! Addon's currently seem to have a design limitation where we can't read the location of enemies (https://www.esoui.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9865). This is most likely for performance reasons. For that reason, most Combat addons are hamstrung into complex UI elements that, IMO, feel disjointed from gameplay. This new marker feature may just be the key that many Combat addon designers have been waiting for! The ability to effect the design space above an enemies model injects tons of possibilities!

johnicus

Be nice to be able to turn it off also unless Im missing it...