Ephemeris
07-05-2011, 01:45 AM
My apologies if any of these have been suggested previously, but I've got three more suggestions to throw into the pot. I welcome any and all feedback, so please feel free to critique. :D
First, I'd like to propose two changes to the virtual joystick -- that is, one of two methods for in-game movement available to all players. Up until a couple of weeks ago (when I got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1), I had been playing on a phone with a screen that wasn't conducive to leveraging the virtual joystick with much success (as a mage, my joystick-governing finger would often cover the portrait of an in-party player; thus, I had a difficult time telling when heals were required for certain players). The "tap, change camera angle, tap" method has worked fine for me; however, I dislike getting "hung" (i.e., momentarily stuck in one spot) while casting spells in the middle of a large group of enemies -- a drawback to utilizing this method for movement (hopefully other "tap movers" out there understand what I'm talking about -- I don't feel that the virtual joystick, while being used, has the same issue). Now that I have a nice, big screen to play on, though, the virtual joystick has such a large, dedicated spot on my screen that I literally have to move my finger 2" in order to change direction. I find having this much "wiggle room" to be frustrating since, often times, it means that your character doesn't move as you expect it to since such a long finger stroke is required. Likewise, I realize that my issue is probably due largely to the fact that I'm running a PL client intended to be used on a mobile phone with a smaller screen, but -- nonetheless -- it's what I've got. My suggested fix would be to allow players to change the scale of their virtual joysticks so to satisfy their individual needs. If the default size has worked for you to date, leave it as is; if not, however, change it to a smaller (or bigger) radius as necessary. My second suggestion (still virtual joystick related) would be to improve the response time of the initial movement toggle (if that makes sense). In my experience -- if stationary -- my character will remain still for a perceivable amount of time after I have already pushed my virtual joystick to the edge of the virtual joystick's radius. Maybe it's lag or something that I'm doing wrong, but it certainly seems like the in-game feel for the virtual joystick could be improved. If I begin to push the virtual joystick up -- even if I'm not at the edge of the virtual joystick's radius -- I would like to see my character move with this action, too.
Second (or third, really), I'd like to propose that players have "reserved slots" (or something equivalent) so to be able to quickly sort loot from load out gear and/or otherwise special items. As a very basic example, I'm using Plasma Pyramid +8 gear for dual-spec boosters today. If I happen to run Plasma Pyramid (for quick cash or to help someone out), I often find it annoying to try and sift through my load out gear as compared to "everything else" that I looted -- quick liquidation is suddenly met with checks and double-checks. If I could put my load out gear (and/or items of significance) in a special/separate area in my inventory, this problem would go away. Again, maybe I've missed the boat on a quick way to resolve this one; if so, please let me know. :)
Kind Regards,
-E
First, I'd like to propose two changes to the virtual joystick -- that is, one of two methods for in-game movement available to all players. Up until a couple of weeks ago (when I got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1), I had been playing on a phone with a screen that wasn't conducive to leveraging the virtual joystick with much success (as a mage, my joystick-governing finger would often cover the portrait of an in-party player; thus, I had a difficult time telling when heals were required for certain players). The "tap, change camera angle, tap" method has worked fine for me; however, I dislike getting "hung" (i.e., momentarily stuck in one spot) while casting spells in the middle of a large group of enemies -- a drawback to utilizing this method for movement (hopefully other "tap movers" out there understand what I'm talking about -- I don't feel that the virtual joystick, while being used, has the same issue). Now that I have a nice, big screen to play on, though, the virtual joystick has such a large, dedicated spot on my screen that I literally have to move my finger 2" in order to change direction. I find having this much "wiggle room" to be frustrating since, often times, it means that your character doesn't move as you expect it to since such a long finger stroke is required. Likewise, I realize that my issue is probably due largely to the fact that I'm running a PL client intended to be used on a mobile phone with a smaller screen, but -- nonetheless -- it's what I've got. My suggested fix would be to allow players to change the scale of their virtual joysticks so to satisfy their individual needs. If the default size has worked for you to date, leave it as is; if not, however, change it to a smaller (or bigger) radius as necessary. My second suggestion (still virtual joystick related) would be to improve the response time of the initial movement toggle (if that makes sense). In my experience -- if stationary -- my character will remain still for a perceivable amount of time after I have already pushed my virtual joystick to the edge of the virtual joystick's radius. Maybe it's lag or something that I'm doing wrong, but it certainly seems like the in-game feel for the virtual joystick could be improved. If I begin to push the virtual joystick up -- even if I'm not at the edge of the virtual joystick's radius -- I would like to see my character move with this action, too.
Second (or third, really), I'd like to propose that players have "reserved slots" (or something equivalent) so to be able to quickly sort loot from load out gear and/or otherwise special items. As a very basic example, I'm using Plasma Pyramid +8 gear for dual-spec boosters today. If I happen to run Plasma Pyramid (for quick cash or to help someone out), I often find it annoying to try and sift through my load out gear as compared to "everything else" that I looted -- quick liquidation is suddenly met with checks and double-checks. If I could put my load out gear (and/or items of significance) in a special/separate area in my inventory, this problem would go away. Again, maybe I've missed the boat on a quick way to resolve this one; if so, please let me know. :)
Kind Regards,
-E