GW2 is in dire need of UI help

[Curennos.9307]

Usually a pvp-sub-forum-goer, but putting this here because it applies to everything.

 

I don't raid much, but I've started to get more into it. This past Sunday I got to Xera and was assigned to do the lil button thingies in the first phase when hopping along the platforms before you start actually fighting the boss. Keeping track of the lil buff stack icon so I didn't die while standing on a button was absolutely horrendous. It was small, moved around, and seemed mixed in with other changing buffs which would make it sometimes change location. The icon was also remarkably similar to other buffs, making it hard to distinguish except by how the number went up.

 

I do, however, pvp quite a lot. Does my opponent have an important boon such as resistance, stability, protection? Maybe! I have to peer through a series of equally small icons, all colored much the same in a row of icons that may or may not be constantly changing and shifting. Did I just get condi bombed? Quite possibly - my buff bar at the bottom exploded into a very long series of icons, but I can't tell how much damage I'm going to be taking because all I see is a stack number on top of an icon, and lawdie help me if I want to try and figure out the duration.

 

It's far too difficult to find the basic information I want to see.

 

Condi damage could show as a different shade of red on my health orb, maybe, to show how much condi damage I have 'stored up' on me.

 

Being able to adjust, move around, highlight, and even delete showing condis and boons from their associated displays would be extremely helpful. I don't particularly care if an opponent has regen or swiftness - but being able to highlight the first boon to be ripped, to be able to highlight stability when it shows up, etc would be extremely helpful. A separate spot on the UI for boss-specific mechanics where you need to keep track of a buff would be lovely as well, instead of mixing it in with the other two dozen buffs I have at any given time.

 

Love this game overall but the lack of UI customization and options - and just finding the information I want while playing - is becoming a bigger and bigger negative as I play more, unfortunately. 

[DanAlcedo.3281]

If I could move the condi bar to the middle of the screen and make it slightly transparent, I would be sooooooooo happy. 

Edited May 19, 2022 by DanAlcedo.3281

[Veprovina.4876]

A very dramatic title, but i agree, why can't they make those icons static? You can't even hover over something you see for the first time cause your own buffs (if you have them) keep appearing and moving them away. Let alone if you're in combat. 

And important stuff that kills you is just as obscure as less important stuff like XP buffs, there's no hierarchy whatsoever.

 

I wouldn't call it "dire" but yes, the UI could use a touchup. 

[mythical.6315]

6 hours ago, Curennos.9307 said:

The icon was also remarkably similar to other buffs, making it hard to distinguish except by how the number went up.

No other buff has a purple/pink icon that I am aware of other than what you get when your food/utility expire. 

Edited May 18, 2022 by mythical.6315

[Ashen.2907]

At least assign each individual icon representing boons and conditions to a specific spot, or allow us to do so, so that we can assess their status at a glance.

[Sarius.9285]

12 hours ago, mythical.6315 said:

No other buff has a purple/pink icon

being tank at Sloth, recharging tp to friend 

[Cuks.8241]

Yes. Please. I have always seen no ui mod support as a good thing. But being able to customize player and target condies, boons and other class specific buffs icons would do wonders for competitive. 

[Curennos.9307]

19 hours ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

A very dramatic title, but i agree, why can't they make those icons static? You can't even hover over something you see for the first time cause your own buffs (if you have them) keep appearing and moving them away. Let alone if you're in combat. 

And important stuff that kills you is just as obscure as less important stuff like XP buffs, there's no hierarchy whatsoever.

 

I wouldn't call it "dire" but yes, the UI could use a touchup. 

Perhaps a tad dramatic, but after years of playing imo this is one the biggest issues in pvp - lack of information or difficult to find into. Thinking primarily of a new player, as basically none of how GW2 displays info is intuitive, and often can feel like fighting the UI in addition to fighting another player. It is less relevant in pve, but still applicable (at least among my friends, GW2 is known and mocked for having a terrible UI and terrible mechanical tells).

I also do want to stress the importance of UI design - you could have the best class design and amazing pvp balance or pve balance or boss battles, but all these things are filtered through how the player experiences it - the UI - so the UI *has* to be good. Otherwise everything the player experiences through the UI will suffer. I've complained about this on other games where the game is lovely, bosses are fun, pvp is solid otherwise, but class design is atrocious - and if the class I'm playing, the thing I use to experience basically everything else in the game, is lacking...That has a ripple effect.

UI stuff can sound small - and yes, overly dramatic title because why not xD But the UI is still extremely important.

Edited May 19, 2022 by Curennos.9307

[mythical.6315]

4 hours ago, Sarius.9285 said:

being tank at Sloth, recharging tp to friend 

I forgot about those. Fortunately neither of them should be an issue with the Xera fight. 

[DD39C89C-1C46-4F28-BDB7-49]

All your points are correct, have an upvote, and of course there are a lot of other bad things about UI mentioned in other threads, overall current UI is trash, I have no idea why anybody would break very good game with it. If UI would be good, I would ignore other minor bugs and could freely recommend the game. With annoying UI, I can't.