The evolution of the modern MMO UI/UX experience

geniuscat

While we know that the current UI is a placeholder and will eventually be replaced with something more standardized, I am wondering if the devs are considering improving the design and function of the UI/UX experience for today's gamer.

While the current UI structure of MMOs is decent and functions to serve the gamer's basic needs, I feel that it is due for not just Improvement, but a redesign in terms of its layout and the way gamers interact with it. Regardless of the MMO (whether it's a themepark, sandbox, eastern-influenced, western-influenced, etc.), I feel that the UI/UX is the one area that isn't given any serious consideration because the standard design simply, works. Sure the art, icons, and elements will change, but will it function any different than all the other MMOs out there? Will it improve the way we play and interact? Will it be built in an intuitive way based on how the game plays or just laid out in a general way because it's familiar?

There are countless ideas to list, but it would be nice to know if the design team is even considering such things, or should we just expect the same old UI/UX experience we have seen for a generation?

Sorf

Hey via the WIKI:

The Ashes of Creation user interface (UI) is built with customization in mind, rather than being one-size-fits-all.[2][4]

Resizing, moving, recoloring and different UI flavors will be offered to players.[2]
The UI will be very adaptable for many play styles.[5] – Steven Sharif

I think the last point may be more relevant to your question, also since add-ons wont be available they are focusing on making a solid UI for players to use.

More info here with sources:

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/User_interface

Noaani

geniuscat wrote: »

Will it be built in an intuitive way based on how the game plays or just laid out in a general way because it's familiar?

In my experience, this type of language is usually used in the first instance by people attempting to justify some aspect of their employment - whether it is that said employment continues, or budgetary aspects associated with it.

Familiarity is generally more desirable than one person's notion of intuitive. Since Ashes is mostly aimed at experienced MMO players, the game is even in the envious position of being able to design a UI that is actually familiar to the bulk of players on day 1.

I am curious though, what aspects of MMO UI in general do you think could be designed better if intuitive design was prioritized over familiar design?

Vyraka

You don't want the UI to be completely different or else it will turn off new players. It needs to be easy to figure out and unnoticeable for immersion's sake.

geniuscat

Noaani wrote: »

geniuscat wrote: »

Will it be built in an intuitive way based on how the game plays or just laid out in a general way because it's familiar?

In my experience, this type of language is usually used in the first instance by people attempting to justify some aspect of their employment - whether it is that said employment continues, or budgetary aspects associated with it.

Familiarity is generally more desirable than one person's notion of intuitive. Since Ashes is mostly aimed at experienced MMO players, the game is even in the envious position of being able to design a UI that is actually familiar to the bulk of players on day 1.

I am curious though, what aspects of MMO UI in general do you think could be designed better if intuitive design was prioritized over familiar design?

I don't understand the meaning in your first paragraph, but I agree with your point on familiarity. To be clear, I am not advocating intuitive design over familiar design, but rather incorporating new approaches to layout, function, and interactivity that complement it in a way that improves and modernizes the overall experience.

As for aspects of the UI that I think could be changed, that would be hard to say since I haven't seen or played the game in a way that would allow me to offer valid suggestions. I can comment on a couple of long-standing UI/UX issues in MMOs that could use some improvement.

• Navigating through chat channels - Many MMOs still do not have a way to quickly and easily toggle between chat channels without having to use the cursor. In games where both text-based and verbal chat is heavily used, this needs to be easier to manage.
• UI Overlays and Layout - This one IS the conversation itself and can be broken down into many sub-categories. I feel the standard way of displaying elements such as menus, lists, and on-screen info needs to be greatly improved. I think there are some great design ideas that one could pull from mobile apps in the intelligent way they handle compartmentalizing large amounts of visual information into "menu spaces." It would be a nice option for those players who favor seeing the game world they are playing in without having to navigate around countless UI elements. The use of taskbars to house widgets of information, collapsible menu areas, better opacity usage and other ideas would go along way to improving the gameplay experience.

I think I may have to expand upon this further with some screenshots from other games and annotate them to better communicate some of the improvements I think could help.

Songcaller

I hope we can modify the UI scale and also modify the UI components. Some what like BDO except more in-depth than BDO because some parts of BDOs UI can't be moved.

Vyraka

Neurath wrote: »

I hope we can modify the UI scale and also modify the UI components. Some what like BDO except more in-depth than BDO because some parts of BDOs UI can't be moved.

I hope so too. It has been suggested in the Live Chats that we can.

Noaani

geniuscat wrote: »

I think I may have to expand upon this further with some screenshots from other games and annotate them to better communicate some of the improvements I think could help.

I think this is a good idea, as some of what you are suggesting makes no sense. As an example, I can't think of a single aspect of mobile app UI design that should be transitioned over to a game with the screen real estate of a modern desktop computer.

As to your point on chat channels, every MMO I have ever played has had either very simple / shortcuts to change chat channels, or f# shortcuts to change it. I can't think of any simpler way to achieve this, those the f# shortcut would be more suited to a game with voice than the / shortcuts are.

Wandering Mist

When it comes to the UI, at a minimum I want to be able to change the position and size of the different elements. As for the chat box, I would like to see options to change the font type and colour of the chats, which is something a lot of mmorpgs neglect.

At the end of the day a game's UI has one main purpose, to give you relevant information that you can use in your gameplay. Often though the UI overloads you with information that you just don't need at all (looking at you BDO!), so a big thing for me would be to let me choose which pieces of information the UI displays. For example, if I have passive buff that increases my magic damage in combat, I don't need that on the UI, because it doesn't affect my gameplay in any way and therefore I don't need to see it.

Now, I don't expect the UI in Ashes to be that customisable, but it would be nice to see.

maouw

Is there any info about how chatting works?
I personally appreciate a small speech bubble over the head of someone who types - even if it only shows the first few words, it makes it really easy to track who's talking.