If a wiki is needed to know what most items are for, you have failed at UI/UX

[Yttris.2945]

On 9/12/2022 at 12:52 PM, Gadzooks.4687 said:

 

I posted this because I JUST did this very thing with my Son. Took about an hour. I full expect to have to do it again in the near future as well.

Not making an effort to learn about the game you're playing doesn't set a good example for others. Educate yourself and pass that knowledge down. Not only the information but how to get it as well.

Edited September 14, 2022 by Yttris.2945

[Mungrul.9358]

I keep mentioning it as before coming back to GW2, it was the most recent comparable game I'd played (and I've played a LOT of MMOs / GaaS), but I rarely, if ever felt the need to use a wiki when playing Destiny 2 (although I stopped playing after Shadowkeep, so my info might be out of date.)

 

That had quite a few currencies too (although nowhere near as many as GW2), but they were all very well explained, and simply hovering over them would offer descriptions of their use.

All weapons had good descriptions and flavour texts, often contributing to lore, and the last thing I remember doing that required a wiki was content from Warmind (which has since been retired).

 

And its inventory management system was one of the best I've ever used, with you being able to manage it during loadscreens, as well as being able to use phone apps outside the game to shift gear between characters.

 

And the really ridiculous thing in GW2 is that the TP runs on an in-game browser, but using the /wiki command opens a browser outside of the game.

C'mon ANet, that's low-hanging fruit right there. Provide an option to open the wiki using the in-game browser.

 

Still doesn't address the core fact that your item descriptions and tooltips are frequently useless, but it would be a good start.

[Pheex.8932]

I'm 100% convinced they do this on purpose to fill our bags and bank slots asap to sell bag and bank slot expansions.

[Ashen.2907]

I think that the game could do a better job of explaining many of the elements raised by the OP. What is not confusing to me for whom many items were introduced slowly over many years may be overwhelming for a newer player suddenly confronted with ten years of added systems and items.

That said, I think that wiki integration is a reasonable approach to handling the matter. Not perfect, but reasonable. But, I frequently have to explain wiki integration to new guildies, some of whom are not new to the game. I dont even remember how I was introduced to this function. Could it be presented in a more impactful manner to new players?

[casualkenny.9817]

8 hours ago, civokenes.3284 said:

I would say that if someone is waiting for a boss or event to start, he is definitely not a new player. If a new player is waiting for a boss/event to start, someone has told him to wait and he didn't need a tooltip. 

 

That's a weird way to define new-ness. You can roll a SB/shaman/worm/reactor daily within 3 days of playing and have to wait, and that makes u a non-new player

 

I have my own guess on why gw2 community tends to have a higher than avg percent of helpful players,

Spoiler

which is that the game design of gw2 (specifically the lack of vertical progression and competition, casual pace and low cost of helping) causes gw2 to not retain certain types of players, while simultaneously retaining players who are naturally helpful (and who synergistically prefer gw2 culture) effectively becomes higher. At a hocus-pocus level of guess of percentage of helpful players, 2% in typical MMOs and 15% in gw2. 

 

But that is not part of the post topic anyway.

 

---

 

I do think the tooltips in-game are terribly lacking btw. I was quite annoyed when I started playing, and I still get "what the __ is this thing for and do I need to keep this as well" items. Or how about skill and trait tooltips, why aren't the base percentages stated like in any other normal game.

 

I do absolutely like the idea of viewing the wiki in an in-game browser. That would be a nice thing to have.

 

As for why the tooltips are such a hodge podge of different levels of non-information, I'm guessing it's probably due to staffing mix, a lack of certain types of people who would want to standardise a set of essential information in each tool tip across the various development teams. They're probably more on the creativity bend (esp in the first few years), so other elements will be in shortfall.

 

I can live with it though. Give and take is unavoidable, and they sound short on staff. Still, an in-game wiki browser window I would like.

[Dib.4612]

(Only read title).

Yes, that's this game's main weak point. They almost seem to intentionally have created a maze of vendors, items and crafting.

You can really tell the game becomes very annoying once the wiki stops working. I think if gw2efficiency and gw2bltc would also be down people would get really sick of the game fast.

[Scathius.2350]

On 9/14/2022 at 8:06 AM, Yttris.2945 said:

Not making an effort to learn about the game you're playing doesn't set a good example for others. Educate yourself and pass that knowledge down. Not only the information but how to get it as well.

What a weird response to that comment. Maybe don't issue imperatives to people you don't know on a game forum?

[Solvar.7953]

The frustrating thing is that there is already a mechanism to handle a lot of this in game - some items do have useful tooltips that tell you what they are for.

But for a lot, the only way is to go to the wiki - every once in a while I go through the stuff I've collected in the bank and see if it is for some collection/item I've already completed or not.  It is mostly a matter of looking the item up on the wiki to see what its use is.

 

[Yttris.2945]

On 9/29/2022 at 2:36 AM, Scathius.2350 said:

What a weird response to that comment. Maybe don't issue imperatives to people you don't know on a game forum?

PKB.

[Linken.6345]

16 minutes ago, Yttris.2945 said:

PKB.

Putrid Killer Bees?