JebusHCripes Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 So I get that the game is a 'worldspace' with it's own iconography and such, but when there is a complete disconnect for the player to recognize/understand what something is supposed to indicate, you've stepped past the line of useful information to 'you may as well not even show this information'. Case in point, this showed up last night after the update in the top right corner of the screen in my Liset: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/528387938781820074/464FA7E6A27D078A083C384A5BC34F4871D37F1B/ I think it's supposed to signify some sort of social or network related thing, but hell if I know. In a vain hope that something so unclear would HAVE to have a pop-up to explain it, I hovered my mouse over the icon, which of course, did nothing. You may as well have made it a transparent icon of a blank square so I saw nothing, since I basically got no information from it aside from knowing you're trying to tell me something, but didn't care enough to be clear and just decided to troll me instead. If you're going to go completely outside the bounds of recognizable iconography, the absolute minimum is some form of reference or pop-up so we can at least figure out what you are trying to convey. Or better yet, enforce the golden rule: Function over form. It doesn't matter how pretty a snowflake something is if it completely defeats the purpose of said thing. Next time, try sending an icon image to someone not on your staff, ideally that doesn't even play Warframe, and ask them what they think the icon indicates. If they can't figure it out without you hinting at it's usage, you need to redesign it. Or better yet, USE TEXT. Most people that play Warframe can read. Maybe try using that basic communication method that you know works 100% of the time. Another example, Kubrows. How about rather than a useless graphic icon of which kubrow an imprint is, you try just using words. Trying to describe the icon to someone in trade chat (which btw also REQUIRES the other party to already know which indescribable icon lines up with which kubrow) is an exercise in frustration, not to mention a breeding ground for people to potentially rip others off (though more likely, they just made a simple honest mistake, but the other party is going to perceive it as malicious intent, perpetuating the inherent mistrust of your trading community). Stylized is fine, in fact, in general, I love the aesthetic of the game overall, but it's stupid stuff like the above that drives me crazy. Clear information must be the first and only imperative. Jebus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesyra Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 you have a friends request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(PSN)Hollow118 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Too much simplicity in this UI in an attempt to streamline information straight to the player. I'm starting to become less and less a fan of this. But that recent little addition is meh. At least have in the Codex a subsection listing out all icons and what they mean. That would make a world's difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-FV-Metheria Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 (edited) You do know that social icon is "Friend Requests". You act as though you can't do any research. Edited April 24, 2015 by -FV-Metheria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krjal Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I don't know about Kubrow icons but the pic you've got seems reasonably clear to me. Two people with a plus in a broken circle. So you've got or more people waiting (the broken circle evokes clocks and timers) to be added. I think I actually agree with you in most cases but your prime example isn't a great choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verryn Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Yeah... I took a look at this icon and was just last, wow, I haven't checked my friend request in months, look at all the people who wanted to add me at some point. I know it's not exactly a universal symbol and I'm not sure there is a universal symbol for friend request pending already, but we're all going to learn and get used to this at some point. There will be no doubts what it means in months time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiosGX Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 That icon is explained in the update notes. Reading is FUNdamental. o3o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Warpath- Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 So I get that the game is a 'worldspace' with it's own iconography and such, but when there is a complete disconnect for the player to recognize/understand what something is supposed to indicate, you've stepped past the line of useful information to 'you may as well not even show this information'. Case in point, this showed up last night after the update in the top right corner of the screen in my Liset: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/528387938781820074/464FA7E6A27D078A083C384A5BC34F4871D37F1B/ I think it's supposed to signify some sort of social or network related thing, but hell if I know. In a vain hope that something so unclear would HAVE to have a pop-up to explain it, I hovered my mouse over the icon, which of course, did nothing. You may as well have made it a transparent icon of a blank square so I saw nothing, since I basically got no information from it aside from knowing you're trying to tell me something, but didn't care enough to be clear and just decided to troll me instead. If you're going to go completely outside the bounds of recognizable iconography, the absolute minimum is some form of reference or pop-up so we can at least figure out what you are trying to convey. Or better yet, enforce the golden rule: Function over form. It doesn't matter how pretty a snowflake something is if it completely defeats the purpose of said thing. Next time, try sending an icon image to someone not on your staff, ideally that doesn't even play Warframe, and ask them what they think the icon indicates. If they can't figure it out without you hinting at it's usage, you need to redesign it. Or better yet, USE TEXT. Most people that play Warframe can read. Maybe try using that basic communication method that you know works 100% of the time. Another example, Kubrows. How about rather than a useless graphic icon of which kubrow an imprint is, you try just using words. Trying to describe the icon to someone in trade chat (which btw also REQUIRES the other party to already know which indescribable icon lines up with which kubrow) is an exercise in frustration, not to mention a breeding ground for people to potentially rip others off (though more likely, they just made a simple honest mistake, but the other party is going to perceive it as malicious intent, perpetuating the inherent mistrust of your trading community). Stylized is fine, in fact, in general, I love the aesthetic of the game overall, but it's stupid stuff like the above that drives me crazy. Clear information must be the first and only imperative. Jebus DE is making an effort to streamline information right into the hud so players wont have to dig through several menus to find out what in this case is a friends request. Also I will go as far as to suggest reading patch notes before complaining, it only takes a few minutes and saves you some embarassment, patch notes are there for everyone who wants/cares to read: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/445957-update-164/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[DE]Drew Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 So I get that the game is a 'worldspace' with it's own iconography and such, but when there is a complete disconnect for the player to recognize/understand what something is supposed to indicate, you've stepped past the line of useful information to 'you may as well not even show this information'. Case in point, this showed up last night after the update in the top right corner of the screen in my Liset: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/528387938781820074/464FA7E6A27D078A083C384A5BC34F4871D37F1B/ Two people with a timer between them seems fairly appropriate. It is similar to facebook's pending friend request (two people and a number), if you want something to compare. A more interesting counterpoint is that we only think certain icons are clear because they're so established in our lives. For example, the icons for "share" and "mail" don't make any sense at first glance. Icons only make sense after we've established what they signify - which the pending friend request icon has now done. I'll leave the semiotics of Warframe at that for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letir Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 If you need to read something, "icon" alredy lost it main function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVanguardKing Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 If you need to read something, "icon" already lost it main function. Because having to have researched it's meaning completely undermines any value the symbol could possible have to you in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CY13ERPUNK Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 i just want an option to turn it off srsly, i dont need to be reminded of friend requests that i have no interest in... =/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVanguardKing Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 i just want an option to turn it off srsly, i dont need to be reminded of friend requests that i have no interest in... =/ It provoked me into clearing them out. A "decline all" would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llyssa Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Why not make it clickable? There's lots of icons that appear up there, if you'd just make them clickable, with that giving a popup of whatever the heck the icon means, it would be better for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboplus Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Why not make it clickable? There's lots of icons that appear up there, if you'd just make them clickable, with that giving a popup of whatever the heck the icon means, it would be better for everyone. Or just let us hover over it for a tool-tip. (#) items available in foundry. (#) pending friend requests. (#) until affinity booster expires. Don't ever leave a player scratching their head at a HUD notification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycomet Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I can't help but reply affirmatively to this post. The first icons that I've had problems with in the game is Warframe ability icons. But I accepted it because it's all about familiarity and there's just not enough space to really show what the ability does. But the kubrow icons were way too bad. I only so far know which one is Sunika because 9/10 kubrows I've hatched are sunikas. And yet it kinda feels like the sunika is sniffing something, until you see the Sahasa icon and THEN it makes sense. As for the top right icons, I've been playing since U7 and yet have problems understanding them. One day I could ALMOST remember what one icon meant but just couldn't get it out; but the game simply WONT tell me what it was. I tried hovering over it/clicking it... all to my frustration. So I can imagine new players struggling with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shreiko Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 That S#&$ needs to be bigger and cycle through at a slower pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inez Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 You do know that social icon is "Friend Requests". You act as though you can't do any research. That icon is explained in the update notes. Reading is FUNdamental. o3o You've made the OPs point for him. I agree with him too. If using a UI requires research and reading patch notes, there's a serious problem. Personally, I ignore all the little icons up in the right corner. If DE wanted Warframe to convey some information to me, then they should actually convey information. I understand that once you're in game, everything should be cool and sleek looking. But outside the game, we could really use a UI that functions as a user interface and not as a pretty screenshot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstrider Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 All you need is the ability to mouse over and reveal a tooltip "Pending Friend Requests" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasumi- Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 It provoked me into clearing them out. A "decline all" would be nice. Don't we have that already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVanguardKing Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Don't we have that already? No, or not an obvious one. Clicking on a request gives a list of; View Profile, Accept, Accept All, Decline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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