Move combo fields off the ground

[nopoet.2960]

So here's a random idea.  You know how when you get leave water there is water droplets on the edge of your screen?  What if, instead of circles on the ground, combo fields use the same type of animation?  So if you are standing in a fire field little flames dance on the edge of your screen.  It could be smoke, electricity, lights whatever.  Then, you just need to solve the problem of: what if you are not standing in a field, how would you know it was there?  I propose replacing the circles with a simple floating icon to indicate the center of the field.  It would fade away based on how much time is left of the field so you know if it's worth trying to catch. 

[Cuks.8241]

Circles are just fine, there is a clear indication where the field is and I don't really see a better solution here.

For example in WvW you want your whole team to blast smoke field. Often you will do this on the move and some blast skills have delay due to animation, so it really needs to be clear where the border of the field is.   The last thing you want is some animation on the border of the screen to obscure your vision.

[Dawdler.8521]

Have you ever been in a boss fight or in WvW?

You would get a seizure from the border of the screen flipping combo fields every 0.1 second.

[nopoet.2960]

1 hour ago, Dawdler.8521 said:

Have you ever been in a boss fight or in WvW?

You would get a seizure from the border of the screen flipping combo fields every 0.1 second.

That's a good point.  There are several systems in the game that just don't scale well.  Honestly when you have that many fields going on at once you don't really care which one you trigger.  Anyway, there is a lot of information/noise on the ground.  I was trying to think of ways to organize better.  Like as a rule only make shapes on the ground for stuff that can hurt you (and ground targeting).  They already lift contested borders off the ground.  So if you didn't put cooperative moves on the ground where could they go that wouldn't create more noise?  Maybe they just modify your finisher buttons in some way by changing their colors?

[kharmin.7683]

Bjora Marches with the snow-storm effect multiplied by the many different combo field colors and what not?  No thanks.

[Bookah pls.9352]

A nice simple little graphic above the weapon swap icon could work nicely for visual ques on combo fields, if they ever just let us use multiple fields then you could have it wrapped around the left and top of the swap icon showing each element active.

Or just somewhere around where the cast bar generally sits

Edited October 9, 2021 by Healy.9537
cast bar

[Danikat.8537]

10 hours ago, Cuks.8241 said:

Circles are just fine, there is a clear indication where the field is and I don't really see a better solution here.

For example in WvW you want your whole team to blast smoke field. Often you will do this on the move and some blast skills have delay due to animation, so it really needs to be clear where the border of the field is.   The last thing you want is some animation on the border of the screen to obscure your vision.

I agree with this, and it's not just in WvW; there's a lot of times when it's important to know not just whether or not you're currently in a field but exactly where it is (and who or what else is inside it). Even if you're playing solo you need to know if the enemy you're fighting is also in the field, otherwise the majority of finishers are going to be useless (unless it's a water field and you're applying regeneration to yourself.)

A border around the screen can't show you that, so I don't think it would be as useful.

[CrystalGazer.3859]

Another issue with putting it on the sides of the screen are ranged finishers. If you have to be stood in the field to know it's there you'll only ever be popping them accidentally. 

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

The requested visual effect would be a bit much, but a small indicator somewhere around the skill bar would be nice. Something like the current CC tutorial function, skills that can cause combos get a colored aura on their icons, depending on the field you are standing in.

[nopoet.2960]

After reading the replies, I think I would be happy if they just raised the circles off the ground to the same height as the contested  border (red/blue thing) marker.  That may just be enough to separate cooperative visuals from everything else.  So nix the screen effects but getting indicators on the skill bar would be a plus.

[anjo.6143]

On 10/9/2021 at 9:05 AM, nopoet.2960 said:

So here's a random idea.  You know how when you get leave water there is water droplets on the edge of your screen?  What if, instead of circles on the ground, combo fields use the same type of animation?  So if you are standing in a fire field little flames dance on the edge of your screen.  It could be smoke, electricity, lights whatever.  Then, you just need to solve the problem of: what if you are not standing in a field, how would you know it was there?  I propose replacing the circles with a simple floating icon to indicate the center of the field.  It would fade away based on how much time is left of the field so you know if it's worth trying to catch. 

Nope. No change is required on fields, they are working fine. 

Edited October 10, 2021 by anjo.6143

[Xanadrine.4352]

1 hour ago, nopoet.2960 said:

After reading the replies, I think I would be happy if they just raised the circles off the ground to the same height as the contested  border (red/blue thing) marker.  That may just be enough to separate cooperative visuals from everything else.  So nix the screen effects but getting indicators on the skill bar would be a plus.

The problem isnt the combo fields, its all the visual clutter from players that override the effects of standing in bad. This has been complained about too many times on the forums to count. We need to be able to tone down or off visual effects that are not hitting us, but that will never happen. Examples would be you are in the dogpile at a bounty or world boss that does some serious damage if you get hit, you could have all player effects turned down but all incoming damage effects still at full.

In wvw it would work the same all enemy damage is very visual while your teams outgoing spells are muted in order to see the inc damage better. But I think it falls on deaf ears after years of complaints.

 

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

Hold on, I think you're on to something OP.

So let's keep the ground AoEs as they are, but when in a party or squad, (as an option you can disable or enable), your currently active combo field that you're standing in outlines your screen. This is the field that will take any of your combo finishers first.  Also make this effect have low priority so if another effect would outline the screen (low health, conditions, or mechanics) those appear above it.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Sir Alymer.3406

[Vilin.8056]

I also think an icon indicator is a good idea, that we can have a quicker reaction to blast an appropriate field in the midst of battle.