I Feel Completely Overwhelmed By The Tedium Of Mod Management

[PocketSand]

tl;dr at the bottom

 

Do not take this as a complaint against the mod system itself, it's the UI I'm struggling with, not the card or fusion or slot system.  Most importantly, don't take it as law.  These are just my experiences and opinions and I want to bring attention to this subject, not mold my own game.

 

The mod menu is extremely cluttered.  That's the first issue.  Sorting options do not resolve the problem, though sorting by name is a huge help to find mods you intend to power up with its relative mods.  After consuming all identical mods in that manner, finding cousin mods with the same polarity is a chore.  A cleaner interface that highlights mods of interest, prevents important mods from being lost, and brings good fusion options to the player's attention would be a great fix.  For example, a high powered mod gets lit up in a special color so it can be selected for fusion, then a fusion menu for sorting potential fusion candidates comes up when the option to fuse is selected, with sorting methods, defaulting to the best candidates listed first.

 

 

 

Repeatedly unequipping, fusing, and re-equipping mods in use is very tedious and involves a lot of menu changing and searching.  The ability to fuse mods already equipped would save a lot of time and a lot of tedium.  The only caveat would be the allowance of mod space, but there are solutions to that.  For example, a warning could be displayed if the capacity is exceeded by a fusion and the mod automatically unequipped if the player decides to go through with it.

 

 

 

This next issue is one that matters very little on its own, but compounds on the two issues above. White tick marks next to mods are a very poor way of identifying any mods with fusion attention applied to them.  Sorting in any manner does little to alleviate this issue.

 

http://puu.sh/2zHEB

http://puu.sh/2zHG2

 

Try and spot the single level 2 mod on this page I've unloaded off of my warframe's equipment for leveling.  It probably took you more than a few seconds.  Now, that's not a huge issue and can be avoided by a fair amount even with a good number of unloaded, leveled mods by sorting by rating, but sorting by rating disorganizes identical mods and mods with the same polarity.

 

 

 

This with the last two issues gives a mod fusion process that starts with the unloading of the mod, applying the mod equipment change, going into the mod menu, sorting by name, finding the page your mod's located in alphabetically, picking out the mod you were using that you want to power up, instantly dumping all of its duplicates in, and spending some number of minutes picking out mods for fusion, ideally those with the same polarity that you aren't planning to fuse into other mods you're equipped with later, avoiding mods that are being saved that cannot currently be equipped at the equipment's current state, then applying fusion.

 

Then some people repeat the process multiple times because they didn't have enough credits and have to sell off a few blueprints first.

 

Then you have to do this with every single mod you intend to apply fusion on in a single session.

 

 

 

The underlined section brings me to my last big problem.  Mods you want are all shuffled in with the mods you're consuming.  That's just a pain to sift through when fusing.  A smart identification system that knows which duplicate mods you have equipped that keeps them separate or (even better) readies them for direct fusion into recipient mods would be massively appreciated.  That specific example's probably making it TOO easy on people and risks putting the entire fusion system on rails, but hopefully you understand what I mean.  When you've got something like 15 mods in an equipment setup and that's 15 different potential duplicates you need to remember not to fuse, it can get a bit frustrating.

 

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tl;dr

1. The mod menu's cluttered and messy.  This ruins everything

2. The process for fusing mods is incredibly tedious. That's bad for a system that is intended for use after practically every mission.

3. Finding the most important mods is less than intuitive. But this is not a major issue on its own.

4. It's too easy to make mistakes and consume mods that are better spent elsewhere. An optional filtering/suggestion system would be a huge improvement.

Edited April 14, 2013 by PocketSand

[IronSight]

Wow, I was going to post something very similar to this, with mostly the same complaints: Mod management is not nearly as intuitive as it could be.

Here are my suggestions on how to fix this in descending order of how much I think it would help:
1. Collapse all similar mods with the same name and the same upgrade level. Give us a count of the number of collapsed mods in each stack somewhere in the UI.

1.a In the fusion menu when we click a multi-stack, give us an overlay decrement button-number input box-increment button to get the count and update the visual display as we choose the count so we know how many to fuse. Ideally the dec/inc buttons would loop around from min-to-max and vise versa.
Alternate 1. If above is not possible, group mods by your system mod id so when viewing vitality, all of the Sentinel vitalities are grouped as are the Warframe vitalities.
2. Subsort modules of the same name by upgrade rank in descending order.
3. When fusing a mod and changing sort order, do not reset which mod is selected for fusing or the currently selected to-be-fused mods.
4. When fusing a mod, allow sort by most upgrade effect
5. When sorting by anything but Recent allow us to subsort by Name or change the primary subsort to name.
6. Allow text search/filter by name.
7. Allow dropdown filter by polarity.
8. Allow upgrading modules still attached to weapons, warframes and sentinels so we don't need to de-equip, upgrade re-equip.
8.a Perhaps reserve a special highlight color and stack separately from other mods to indicate "this is on a weapon"
8.b Perhaps list the weapon it is on in the UI, maybe in the mouseover frame.

 

The equipment mod attachment menu could also benefit from #1 & #2 above.

 

Thank you for your consideration. This would save me a lot of time.

 

edit: It occurs to me that this kind of relational logic doesn't exactly play nice with nosql like mongodb, but perhaps the client could handle collation? (Honestly, I don't know how Warframe works, so I'm just throwing out ideas that I think might help in the hope that something sticks and improvements happen)

Edited April 15, 2013 by IronSight

[ZAPTONE]

Well you guys nailed it.  I was just coming here to post something similar.  I basically don't even fuse my mods anymore because it is such a hassle.

[Dunkelheit]

Perfect +1

[Xtorma]

Could definatly use some inprovements to the ui.

[BadlandsHyena]

*nods*

Very true.

 

-1 +2

[aza-industries]

Legendary Post.
This is the one thing that has really bothered me so far in 20 hours of gameplay.

[pfirsichpopo]

1. Collapse all similar mods with the same name and the same upgrade level. Give us a count of the number of collapsed mods in each stack somewhere in the UI.

1.a In the fusion menu when we click a multi-stack, give us an overlay decrement button-number input box-increment button to get the count and update the visual display as we choose the count so we know how many to fuse. Ideally the dec/inc buttons would loop around from min-to-max and vise versa.

Alternate 1. If above is not possible, group mods by your system mod id so when viewing vitality, all of the Sentinel vitalities are grouped as are the Warframe vitalities.

sounds perfect, i thought of a stacking system myself. I'd like to see the stacks unfold on mouse-over, but that's almost too much to ask for...

 

also, i don't really benefit from the default filter being "recent", maybe the devs could implement a bar somewhere where only the acquired mods are shown which you haven't seen yet.

[JamFilled]

I think these two things would be incredibly helpful. 

 

1. A search bar in the mod menu (giving you the ability to search for the mod you're looking for.)

 

2. Being able to mod mod's without having to take every. single. mod. out of your gear.

[Ka-Oz]

i cant even sort the mods, feel  my  pain  :D

[charleon]

Dear everybody,

 

I do agree that the mod system should have an overhaul.

But until then use the name sorting which seems to be the closest you have to an overview because you know which letter you should look under. So you will be able to find what your looking for easier.

 

Sincerely,

 

charleon

[Rezagrats]

I'd actually like to see a modset so that when I go fight Infested, I could switch to a higher fire-ice set instead of the general set I work with since sorting through 10+ pages of mods is time consuming. Not only that, but unlocking the option for a modset for rank 30 weapons so that I can't try and stuff 60 mod power into a rank 10 gun.

[Vilesavant]

Somewhere on the mod itself a little checkbox that locks the mod and does not allow it to be used in a fuse (ie- not used as "fuel", but still able to be fused if you're upgrading it). Or even a "favorites page" where you select mods that will not be allowed to be fused away.

[Klutzy]

Great ideas!

   I realize that the mod card system is still pretty new in Warframe.   What we see in game may very well be just a rough first pass, and the devs may still have some ideas of their own to implement.  That said, feedback is invaluable!

 

   I agree that the desaturation is a bit much.  I think the idea was making the cards black and white would allow your current selection to stand out more, but I believe the red border that happens is more than enough.  If the effect must remain, it probably shouldnt drop hue comepletely, just be a partial desaturation.

   I actually like the pips on the edge indicating fused strength, but they could use something to make them have a little more "pop".  They blend in way too much, being black and white bands on a silver uncommon mod, or black and white on black and white everything else.  I'm not advocating they be hot pink, or day-glo orange..  but maybe add a moderate pulse effect on the glow.

 

   I dont have too many complaints about sorting, but I would like to be able to reverse order.  Sorting from A-Z or Z-A as an option.  Clicking "Name" repeatedly would swap order, for example.  No need for a new object on the screen.  I'd also prefer if the game preserved preferences.  If I last sorted by Type, it should be the same next time I enter the mod screen.  The last gripe I have is trying to find the already-fused mods in a grouping.  When I look at a line of Rush mods, I should find the ones already upgraded at one end, and the rank 0 cards at the other end.  Which end is which could be another option to be set somewhere, either on the mod screen itself or game options.

   Additionally, filtering options would be appreciated.  Some checkboxes or dropdown selections to allow only showing specific mods, like only pistol mods, or only "V" polarity mods.  Something along the lines of the way Riot Games has filters for champions or runes.  Filtering may create some problems when fusing (such as filtering to see only pistol mods, but wanting to fuse in an unwanted shotgun mod that matches polarity), so perhaps once that fusion button is pressed, all filters are cleared.  Of course, the options should still be there during fusion, but I think it'd be best to clear them initially.  Once fusion is complete or cancelled, the previous filtering should be restored.

   IronSight's idea concerning Sentinel mods with the same name as Frame mods is on the right track.  These cards should be separated somehow.  I'd much prefer the sentinel versions be renamed, or given a prefix to indicate that its for a Sentinel.  "Sentinel Vitality" for example, and of course this goes for Redirection, Steel Fiber and Fast Deflection as well.  I dont like looking at the mission wrap-up screen and seeing "Vitality" and still not knowing exactly what it was for.  Maybe that just stems from not being able to find a Redirection card for myself, but getting tons of Redirection for sentinel for such a long time.

 

   In regard to making mistakes, I have two ideas to go about helping to fix this.

   The first would be the ability to mark favorites.  Marking a favorite would prevent it from being used in fusion or from being sold.  Perhaps completely, with some buzz sound effect indicating an error accompanied by a flashing of the favorite icon.  Or perhaps not completely, but with a confirmation pop-up to allow the fusion/sale anyway.

   And secondly, the option to mark mods as trash.  Marking a mod as trash would allow the player to go through page by page, marking mods they dont need to keep around anymore, so they can use them in fusion without worry.  Adding a "Sell All Trash" button could be handy too.  I know you can currently hold shift to select multiple mods and sell them all at once, but if I mark trash I can still have these cards around for the fusion process on other cards, and sell them later without having to go through the whole list again.

   Favorite and Trash filters (as described previously) would be nice to have alongside this.

 

   I prefer to sort by Name, but I'd still like to know which mods are new.  Try adding a lens flare or sparkle somewhere on the border (shiny newness!).  Sometimes I like to do a few missions before coming back to do some fusion and organization, so I define "new" as any mod I've obtained since I last looked at the mod screen, not just the ones from last mission.  I'd suggest the sparkle remain until I exit the mod interface.  Removing it as soon as I see the mod doesn't allow me to know its new once I change sort method or turn a page.  Removing the indicator by selecting the mod specifically would become tedious, and again, if I decide to fuse something else I lose that indicator on the new card.

 

   On the topic of sorting methods, I have to say the clickability of the words is a little off.  I've learned to watch and make sure the word I want is highlighted before clicking, but mouse accuracy down there seems wonky.  The listing of page numbers/previous/first/next/last are also pretty screwy, and I didnt want to list it here as that seems more like a bug report, not a suggestion.  But I think I'd also prefer if, instead of page numbers, we could select by letter of the alphabet.  When looking at my sentinel, "R" happens to start on page 4 of 11 because the majority of sentinel mods start with R or later in the alphabet.  So when I look for my sentinel's redirection mod to install, I'd click near page 8 thinking R is near the end, then page back a lot before I actially find it.  When looking at all mods concurrently, "F" spans 4 to 6 pages because of the number of Fusion Cores.  "M" happens to be in the middle of the alphabet, so if I want to find "Molten Impact" in 15 pages of mods, I'd intuitively look somewhere around page 7.  But "F" is so bloated, "M" winds up down on page 10 or 11.  Filters may make this unnecessary, but I thought I'd bounce the idea out there for someone to play off of anyway.

 

 

So..  this ran long, I apologize.

 

tl;dr~

dropping color completely isnt the best, and the pips indicating mod rank should stand out more

sorting needs some more options, and filtering would make a great addition

the ability to mark favorites and trash would go a long way for ease of use

newly obtained mods could use some flair

maybe some different paging methods should be made available?

 

[Fyzz]

 The ability to fuse mods already equipped would save a lot of time and a lot of tedium.  The only caveat would be the allowance of mod space, but there are solutions to that.  For example, a warning could be displayed if the capacity is exceeded by a fusion and the mod automatically unequipped if the player decides to go through with it.

 

just unequip any fused mod, would probably be easier on their side as well (the mod you fused isn't the same you equipped).

 

I agree in general, what would help filter mods by type as well. no need to see pistol mods when I want to fuse rifle etc (unless I want to, but then I can still select it)

[Vulpix0r]

One thing I never understood. If I click on an equipment, and hit the mod button, shouldn't I have a filter which shows only mods applicable to that weapon to make fusions easy?