I get it, its a game that is 15 years old, it has history, its has almost 20 expansions. However after watching this game grow from its most primitive point, I'm talking tiny window with a stony UI and single chat pane, to today's free to play. I don't play on my original account as well I got it when I was 13 and have no idea what the login details or the email it was attached too. Here's the thing I'm not here to beg for a return to harshness I got anouther thread for that. No Everquest old girl your current UI is a horrible mess, I'm talking bad like hair after a taquila fueled saturaday night getting caught by the police as Amanda Bynes mess. So, yes I can navigate it, I don't don't have too many issues with it, but newpeople do, when you log into the game for the first time you are given a a real Charlie Foxtrot. After 10 minutes of wrestleling with it you have something resembleling at working UI. Now I played for years off and on, but the last two or so years, right about when crescent reach came out, the game has had a very bad down right terrible UI and I'm willing to bet it sends some prospective players running. So what can we do to make the game more playable.
Your post is a mess. In structure, grammar and spelling it ranks as only passably coherent. Much like you complain of the EverQuest UI. The irony has now been pointed out.
If you don't like the default UI there are more to chose from that people make. I use the default because even after patches it tends to function.
Well then, perhaps I should avoid posting during a bout of insomnia, or using a tablet for posting purposes.
Translation: UI is not friendly for real newbies, especially the chat windows .... kinda agree on that
If you don't like the default UI check out www.eqinterface.com There are many custom UIs there, updated pretty quickly after a patch & some are quite customizable such as SparxxUI or VertUI
I know about that, but its silly to expect a newbie to know that. Look a game can be hard and subtle but it helps if the interface is easily navigatable for a new person.. I'm not new but I cringe when ever I roll up a new guy and have reset up my screen.
I'll give SOE props for actually advertising EQ, I have seen them popping up from time to time, but I think they're mostly catering to retired players than new players. Those retired players know where to go and how the system works by now, so I don't see them wanting to spend a lot of time revamping the system.
He's right, the default UI is REALLY bad. It's oversized, doesn't have half the information easily available, (What are buffs called? How long do they last? No default support for LAAs) overly complex functions needed to play, (Chat filters, /alt activate numbers not being in game) poor customization options, (Why can't you resize the X-target window to horizontal or a shape other than 1x5?) and default windows that are sometimes impossible to use (Map window with one background color that renders some maps unreadable) You can't expect people to spend an hour or two on a third party site and to deal with xml errors and UI reloading to get a playable UI. Oh, and half the UIs that look cool haven't been updated in about 5 years, good luck! And those are just the problems they face as newbies. If they don't quit, they get to deal with 100+ buttons on screen, MORE chat filter BS and needing third party maps from two different sites.
I've never understood the default UI hate. At all. It functions absolutely perfectly for what I need and I've been able to "customize" it endlessly to suit me. Plus there's no UI nonsense to mess with after a patch. Win-win.
The default UI is not very new player friendly. It would be pretty cool if there were templates for new players that came with some stuff already set up, such as multiple windows for text, and combat spam filtered to the additional window, just for starters.
I've always used default ui. I wondered if it was a problem for new people until my 7 year old nephew insisted on trying eq I went to set his ui up for him and he stopped me and said he could do it himself lol, he did about 90% of it on his own and got it lookin playable, I figured it must not be terribly confusing heh. granted he'd seen me and his brother set a ui up a couple times but still if a 7 year old kid can figure it out it's good enough. besides if it doesn't work for some one they can always get one of those nifty player made ones.
People, including seven year old children, have different levels of talent and intuitiveness for different things. Assuming something must be easy because a child can do it is invalid.
My .02, having started as a brand new player more than five years ago (in my 30s with absolutely no prior MMO or gaming experience), it was not confusing. I'm guessing those younger would not find it troubling either, for the most part.
I have a close friend that started less than five years ago and he found it confusing and difficult to adjust. He's now 26 or 27 years old.
Yes, the UI is quite complex. It's a tough thing to manage though. If you have all messages in a single window, it may look simple, but then all the battle-spam, tells, shouts, /raid, /group, etc. is going to one window. Breaking all of those channels out makes the UI ever more complicated looking. Adding spells, hot bars, combat abilities, buffs, and other windows is necessary, but the default implementation is cumbersome. I started in 1999 like many others here. I've gotten used to the UI and grown with it as it's changed. I don't know what my reaction would be as a brand new player. It is not as clean as WoW's interface. I played WoW for two years and only added a few mods. I've modded the EQ UI interface to fit what I need/want. I guess the best analogy would be Windows/Unix and Macintosh (pre-OS X). I've always been a Windows/UNIX guy because I like the level of control these OS's give you.
