Just hide currencies in the wallet until a new player reaches the map that uses them

[Silverpoopoo.1476]

I don't understand why devs haven't thought of this. New players are super confused by all the currencies in the wallet. But this is mostly a UI problem.

If you just hide the currencies until a player either 1) gets some of it or 2) reaches the map that uses it, this would make it so that new players only see the new currency when they have reached the point in the story or map where they will find it useful.

Instead of being hit with "here's dozens of currencies, fresh lv1 noob" it will be "you discover 1-2 new currencies each time you enter a new map" which is a much easier learning curve.

[Zebulous.2934]

Why do you want to baby-proof the wallet?  This is the wallet, it stores currency.  These colorful shapes that I have 0 of must be other currency that I have not earned yet.

I guess if the player is a refugee from a mobile game, they may panic.  I know mobile games love to tie progression to several currencies. 

They only have to stand in a capital city or Lion's Arch and ask about the unknown currency.  They will be told that they can safely ignore the currencies that they don't know.  

Are younger people so afraid to ask questions? Are experimentation and research so terrible?

 

 

[Linken.6345]

30 minutes ago, Zebulous.2934 said:

Why do you want to baby-proof the wallet?  This is the wallet, it stores currency.  These colorful shapes that I have 0 of must be other currency that I have not earned yet.

I guess if the player is a refugee from a mobile game, they may panic.  I know mobile games love to tie progression to several currencies. 

They only have to stand in a capital city or Lion's Arch and ask about the unknown currency.  They will be told that they can safely ignore the currencies that they don't know.  

Are younger people so afraid to ask questions? Are experimentation and research so terrible?

 

 

Yes

[Zebulous.2934]

It is quite frustrating.  When people muster the courage to ask questions, they brace themselves as if expecting physical or verbal abuse.  They also seem to lack initiative or imagination.  No moving to the next logical step on their own, someone must prompt them each time.

Damnit!  Why am I old? I'm not supposed to be old yet!  What is wrong with today's youth?

[Urud.4925]

OP is not the first person to complain about the amount of currency we have, but on the other hand there are also many players that don't see the problem. If you don't know what a currency is for, it probably means that you don't need it (yet). I don't like when GW2 hides achievements or mastery tracks for example, as it forces me to constantly check the wiki to know if I missed something. Like when my operating system hides settings in sub-sub-sub menu because it assumes that I'm too stupid and risk to delete something important.

[Cronospere.8143]

13 hours ago, Zebulous.2934 said:

It is quite frustrating.  When people muster the courage to ask questions, they brace themselves as if expecting physical or verbal abuse.  They also seem to lack initiative or imagination.  No moving to the next logical step on their own, someone must prompt them each time.

Damnit!  Why am I old? I'm not supposed to be old yet!  What is wrong with today's youth?

As a teacher to 13 to 17 year olds i see a fast decline in attitude in the last 10 years. The world is changing (and i dont think for the better). Kids are lazy, unmotivated and less curious about things that actually make them better. They feel like everything is given to them and the world shapes around them. (And it kind of does.. ). They have access to soo many information, but sadly dont know how to use it. They have a huge potential, they just have to take it. The kids that do take it, absolutely excel above the others. It's amazing to see. 

Edit: this is just an observation on my part and what i see. It doesnt mean that i as a teacher am not doing everything in my power to help them out. Because i am. 

Edited February 13 by Cronospere.8143

[Danikat.8537]

Interesting that this thread immediately went down the assumption that all new GW2 players are also teenagers, especially since this game has always been popular with older demographics. (Which isn't surprising since it's designed to be casual friendly and not demand a lot of time, which will be important for people with jobs, children to look after and other responsibilities.)

Also in my experience it's anyone who feels out of their depth or at a disadvantage who is unwilling to ask questions or be receptive to corrections, especially if they're not used to that. In my job the hardest people to give instructions to are older scientists and recently retired volunteers. I don't think anyone expects someone who has been studying marsh ecology for 30 years, or spent decades as a chartered accountant to also be an expert website editor, but they really don't like being told the page isn't working because they picked the wrong settings. I have to be very careful with my wording to avoid any suggestion that they made a mistake or didn't understand, otherwise they just stop talking to me.

That's going to happen to a lot of people starting a new MMO. Especially the ones who think because it's not their first MMO they'll know how everything works, then start GW2 which is different in a lot of ways, some of which aren't obvious. How often have we had people on this forum asking a question then rejecting the answers because they think it's too basic? Like insisting they were on the leaderboard in some other game, so they don't need to be told how gear works, they just need to know which dungeon boss drops the weapon they need to get their DPS up for raids, and how to upgrade it to legendary.

Having said that I think hiding currencies in the wallet until they enter the area where they're earned would just cause a different problem, because now if they're told to use a specific currency for something they can't even check if they've got it or see any information about it in the game. Yes the obvious assumption there is if it's hidden they can't get it yet, but if they're confused by the current functionality where unearned currencies are greyed out I think they'd be even more confused by it being gone completely.

IMO a better fix would be for the game to tell them about it. If I remember correctly (I can't log in now) hovering over a currency in the wallet briefly tells you where each currency comes from and where it's spent, so maybe a pop-up when you first open the wallet (and only the first time) to say all currencies except gems and gold are earned from specific activities and spent at dedicated vendors and to hover the cursor over each one for more information.

To be honest I rarely look at the wallet at all, the currencies relevant to where you are show at the bottom of the inventory so that's the view I use most often. If someone told me they were confused by all the different ones I'd just tell them they don't need to worry about it unless they start farming for specific items, and then they only need to think about the relevant one/s for that item.

I do also think the wallet has too many currencies and Anet could consolidate more of them, like they did with dungeon tokens. Merging the 3 WvW Proof/Testimony of Heroics for a start, you can convert them 1:1 at vendors and the items you can buy with them are already locked unless you own the right expansion so I don't see the point of having 3 versions.

[Kiki.9450]

I disagree with the premise of the thread. Mousing over the currencies tells you what they're for, and if you have zero, you have zero. Not too hard for the average player who may want to look further into these currencies to do a /wiki <currency> and read further, or ask in map chat or on the forums/Reddit/etc.

To the large portion of this thread's respondants so far: young people learn from old people. If the youths around you are "stupid" or "lazy" then maybe figure out why and help them instead of thinking there's nothing possibly wrong with your generation. It's especially disgusting to see that a teacher of all things is claiming their students are "unmotivated." Your job is to motivate your students.

Teach youth, and show them how to find answers to questions you yourself don't have answers to. Teach them to ask questions you don't even know you have yourself, that you don't even know you can ask.

[QueenKeriti.5176]

11 hours ago, Cronospere.8143 said:

As a teacher to 13 to 17 year olds i see a fast decline in attitude in the last 10 years. The world is changing (and i dont think for the better). Kids are lazy, unmotivated and less curious about things that actually make them better. They feel like everything is given to them and the world shapes around them. (And it kind of does.. ). They have access to soo many information, but sadly dont know how to use it. They have a huge potential, they just have to take it. The kids that do take it, absolutely excel above the others. It's amazing to see. 

Ah, yes, I remember being told all of that as a Millennial; still am told that, even, and I'm in my 30s. The more things change, the more they stay the same, indeed. Have you seen the state of the world they're fed 24/7 from the little black mirror in their pocket? How they're watching potential catastrophe careen towards them but are hopeless to stop it because they're children? They have no hope and are depressed. Your ones that manage to grab their huge potential? How many burnout before they're 22-25? Been through the "gifted kid" pipeline; only one person* in my group "reached their potential" without burning out. 

Anyway, depending on what games people are coming from, they just might have been functionally slapped for asking any questions that are "obvious," so they avoid asking questions for fear they'll get the same result. And you can mouse over things in the wallet, and it'll tell you where they're from. We need more currency consolidation (someone mentioned the WvW currency, which has like 4 different versions of the same item, which badly needs consolidation to a singular currency), but hiding the wallet currency isn't the way to go about it.

Edited February 13 by QueenKeriti.5176
left out a key word

[Sobx.1758]

Weird idea that protects the player from... what exactly? Curiosity? Knowing there's more content to play? Interacting with playerbase (by asking questions)?

I don't see the positives in what you're proposing here.

Edited February 13 by Sobx.1758

[Cronospere.8143]

5 hours ago, Kiki.9450 said:

I disagree with the premise of the thread. Mousing over the currencies tells you what they're for, and if you have zero, you have zero. Not too hard for the average player who may want to look further into these currencies to do a /wiki <currency> and read further, or ask in map chat or on the forums/Reddit/etc.

To the large portion of this thread's respondants so far: young people learn from old people. If the youths around you are "stupid" or "lazy" then maybe figure out why and help them instead of thinking there's nothing possibly wrong with your generation. It's especially disgusting to see that a teacher of all things is claiming their students are "unmotivated." Your job is to motivate your students.

Teach youth, and show them how to find answers to questions you yourself don't have answers to. Teach them to ask questions you don't even know you have yourself, that you don't even know you can ask.

Wow.. dude. It actually pains me that you call me disgusting.. 

Soo to give more information. I am a great teacher. I am able to motivate them, yes. I find that 'button' that they are searching for. It is a main topic in our country, especially since Covid, the overall motivation issues, knowledge and skills the kids have these days. They are not at all at the same level of skill when they start in my class as the same students 10 years ago. There are a lot of reasons for it. So the government lowered the standard of what is expected from them to help them out. (therefor my comment that they feel like the world is shaped around them). Still, i feel its harder than ever before to find that 'button'. Were i had to help out 6 in a class of 30 before when the year started. I now need to help 20 of them at the start of the year. So now my job is harder than before. I see that. I feel that. That is what i meant. And i will do everything within my power to help those 20. Even at the cost of my own health. Does that make me disgusting?

Edit, OT: i agree with Kiki that its not hard to find the solution by asking or searching on the wiki if you dont know what the currency is for. 

Edited February 13 by Cronospere.8143

[Tinker.6924]

A search box would be a nice addition to that screen but hiding currencies just sounds like asking for more  trouble than it's worth

[Kiki.9450]

17 minutes ago, Cronospere.8143 said:

Wow.. dude. It actually pains me that you call me disgusting.. 

Soo to give more information. I am a great teacher. I am able to motivate them, yes. I find that 'button' that they are searching for. It is a main topic in our country, especially since Covid, the overall motivation issues, knowledge and skills the kids have these days. They are not at all at the same level of skill when they start in my class as the same students 10 years ago. There are a lot of reasons for it. So the government lowered the standard of what is expected from them to help them out. (therefor my comment that they feel like the world is shaped around them). Still, i feel its harder than ever before to find that 'button'. Were i had to help out 6 in a class of 30 before when the year started. I now need to help 20 of them at the start of the year. So now my job is harder than before. I see that. I feel that. That is what i meant. And i will do everything within my power to help those 20. Even at the cost of my own health. Does that make me disgusting?

Edit, OT: i agree with Kiki that its not hard to find the solution by asking or searching on the wiki if you dont know what the currency is for. 

Your choice of wording is what's disgusting, "dude." Imagine being that child, who actually is trying their best, only for teacher(s), parent(s), and other important-to-them adults to go behind their back and describe their efforts as "lazy." That is painful and unmotivating. Do your best for them but always consider that they may not be as uninterested in schooling as you may think. Always remember that people express themselves differently. And yes, I understand that it's not easy to be a teacher, especially in a place that thinks "lowering the standards" is ideal, rather than trying to, perhaps, reallocate resources to education. Meaning, I bet the budget is smaller, relatively, for you than it was for previous years for "reasons" which obviously impacts your motivation and that of your peers.

Now, I'm done with the off-topic jazz.

[Teknomancer.4895]

30 minutes ago, Kiki.9450 said:

Your choice of wording is what's disgusting, "dude."

(snip)

Always remember that people express themselves differently.

You might want to dial that back a bit, considering this tidbit you may have overlooked:

1 hour ago, Cronospere.8143 said:

I find that 'button' that they are searching for. It is a main topic in our country

I'd say that ESL (which may be the case here) qualifies as a different mode of expression.

[Tinker.6924]

I think this idea has more downside than upside.  

First, players talk to each other and a veteran  explaining to a newbie that "you should see XYZ on this screen" when a newbie can't is asking for confusion, support tickets and dissatisfaction. 

Second, not every newbie will want  currencies hidden, especially if it's a new alt account for a veteran player. 

Third, not everyone's definition of "I've unlocked this currency and should see it now" will be the same. For example, "unlocked currency" could be defined as "I bought the X-Pac" or "I got  this currency from using gathering tools I bought" or "I went to the zone" or "I started the story" or "I selected the wvw/spvp reward track" or something else. 

Fourth, more data and code would have to be  created to track when a currency is unlocked/visible and when it's not. That's more potential points of failure. 

Fifth,  newbie players with few currencies eventually become less newbie with many, many currencies. This is asking for something that only benefits a small group and only benefits them temporarily. Work that may not even be noticed at all because new players have few reasons to look in that screen because gold/silver/copper and the current map currency is displayed on the main inventory screen. 

I do  agree that the screen is very cluttered but if any changes are made they should benefit all players at all levels of experience.  Marking currency favorites, search by currency name or content, sorting by name, quantity owned, filter by "have currency" ... Features like those would benefit everyone.

Ultimately the clutter is annoying but it's  not impactful to playing the game.  Unless this is a low hanging fruit that can be banged our by a dev during their lunch break for fun, resources should be directed elsewhere. 

 

[kharmin.7683]

This reads more like a solution searching for a problem.

[Tinker.6924]

2 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

This reads more like a solution searching for a problem.

Nailed it.  Remembering back to when I was new I didn't even know the currency screen existed for many months. By the time I learned about it I had a ton of different currencies and and I was  so relieved about finding an easy way to see  them that I paid no mind to the clutter. 

[Danikat.8537]

Just now, Tinker.6924 said:

Nailed it.  Remembering back to when I was new I didn't even know the currency screen existed for many months. By the time I learned about it I had a ton of different currencies and and I was  so relieved about finding an easy way to see  them that I paid no mind to the clutter. 

Back in my day you couldn't miss them because they all went in your inventory. 😬

I think the only exceptions were gems and karma, and karma was character-specific so there was no way to share it. Gold wasn't an inventory item but each character had their own and then you had to put it in the bank and withdraw it to swap it between them, which was really annoying if you were at a vendor in the middle of nowhere and realised you didn't have enough with you.

I think everyone fairly quickly found their bank filling up with various tokens and currencies. I think I emptied most of a bank tab when the wallet came along.

[starlinvf.1358]

Newbie: How do I get X?

Map chat: You get them with Y. 

Newbie: I don’t see that.  You are a troll!! Blocked!!!

[Malus.2184]

On 2/13/2024 at 4:01 AM, Silverpoopoo.1476 said:

I don't understand why devs haven't thought of this. New players are super confused by all the currencies in the wallet. But this is mostly a UI problem.

If you just hide the currencies until a player either 1) gets some of it or 2) reaches the map that uses it, this would make it so that new players only see the new currency when they have reached the point in the story or map where they will find it useful.

Instead of being hit with "here's dozens of currencies, fresh lv1 noob" it will be "you discover 1-2 new currencies each time you enter a new map" which is a much easier learning curve.

It would be enough to add to their description where the currency is from with this format "Currency" (Expansion/Living World - Specific Map - Method of Obtaining). An example would be "Airship Parts" (HoT - Verdant Brink - Airship Cargo). That would be infinitely more useful for new players.

Also, a search function in the Wallet would be golden so you can easily locate that one currency you're looking for.

[Sobx.1758]

29 minutes ago, Malus.2184 said:

It would be enough to add to their description where the currency is from with this format "Currency" (Expansion/Living World - Specific Map - Method of Obtaining). An example would be "Airship Parts" (HoT - Verdant Brink - Airship Cargo). That would be infinitely more useful for new players.

I think the current...

"Airship Parts
Earned and spent in Verdant Brink. Train the Itzel Language Mastery ability to trade with Itzel vendors for bladed armor and other goods.
Currency"

...already provides enough information.

Edited February 14 by Sobx.1758

[Setz.9675]

On 2/13/2024 at 8:29 PM, Sobx.1758 said:

Weird idea that protects the player from... what exactly? Curiosity? Knowing there's more content to play? Interacting with playerbase (by asking questions)?

I don't see the positives in what you're proposing here.

It would protect a NEW PLAYER from being overwhelmed.

Veterans that slowly experienced new currencies/content being added have no idea how a new player experiences this game.

[Sweetbread.3678]

20 minutes ago, Setz.9675 said:

It would protect a NEW PLAYER from being overwhelmed.

It would protect a dumb person from being overwhelmed. There's a difference.

[Sobx.1758]

1 hour ago, Setz.9675 said:

It would protect a NEW PLAYER from being overwhelmed.

Aren't the currencies you don't have greyed out and at the bottom of the list, under every currency you currently have more than 0? What's so confusing about "I have 0 of this currency at the moment, but when I hover over it, it tells me where I can get it"? Where are those NEW PLAYERS you're speaking of (speaking for?) getting lost?

1 hour ago, Setz.9675 said:

Veterans that slowly experienced new currencies/content being added have no idea how a new player experiences this game.

Well, wrong.

Edited February 15 by Sobx.1758

[Zebulous.2934]

Lol we were all new once.  Some of us left and came back.  Coming back was interesting.  Learning the wardrobe system was a journey. All of my pvp equipment turned into items that I couldn't wear.  Then I found out that the only skins I had unlocked were from the equipment currently in my possession.  I had to scour the TP for the cheapest versions of all my old equipment.  Town clothes had become tonics, the hats had become helmet skins.

It all took time for me to resolve but it felt like exploration.