[Suggestion] [UI] Users Free Will + Options Generates Individual Comfort You Can't With Universals

Hi!

This is my first time posting a thread here in this forum. I just want to drop in with this suggestion to the community and developers, you guys and the developers might see this fit for the game. My apologies in advance if this has been brought up repeatedly before here.

Users Free Will + Options Generates Individual Comfort You Can't

Among your audience there are legions, Planetside 2 devs, of passionate and serious gamers. Most of which, thanks to the Planetside 2 developers great revolution within the field of MMO local & server-client resource optimization, can play at such visual detail levels and resolutions which makes the visual aspect of Planetside 2 itself an aspect to enjoy.

Though, It is my opinion that increasing the amount of customization the user gets to do with the standard UI (HUD, Social & Tactical - Main gameplay screen) - In the standard UI settings - Is the number one improvement to be made to the UI at this point.

The user interface which currently is in function does not allow users to do the following:

• To hide
  • Everything but
    • Chat
    • Entity-plates
    • Reticles
    • Shield Health Bar
    • Mini-Map/Radar
    • Waypoints
    • The Ammunition Counter
    • And so on: Including but not limited to
  • Multiple items, like
    • Chat and Mini-Map/Radar
    • Alerts and Waypoints
    • Ability Status and Connection Monitor
    • And so on: Including but not limited to
  • Any element combination, like
    • Chat, Mini-Map/Radar, Alerts and Ability Status
    • Waypoints, Shield Health and Reticles
    • And so on: Including but not limited to
• To resize
  • Elements like
    • Chat window
    • Mini-Map/Radar
    • The Health Bar
    • And so on: Including but not limited to
• To alternate
  • Premade UI sets for different styles
    • Examples & suggestions:
      • Minimalistic: I want to enjoy the work my top end video card is doing!
      • Skeuomorphic: Tasting future virtual reality in the now!
      • Focused: A high hit-rate means winning. Center my stuff or make it very easily readable - only what I need to know about me and local enemies.
      • On Demand: I will only chat and gather non-crucial information updates when I want to. Make me one or more hotkeys for single and/or element group toggling!
      • Coloring: Give me colors: I want colors to present values. What's wrong with my connection? I see the red dot again in the corner. How am I, clip&stored shots left wise? I don't need to look - I know the percentage based color codes.
      • Socializer: I want to chat with in game text, have a VOIP UI element showing my squadmates in VOIP X, see my Twitch view count, see my stream live "Yes/No" status, have the option to have a toggleable UI element that brings in Twitch chat, a hotkey to switch Twitch chat in&output to standard in game chat with me locally and so on.
      • These are just some. They should be customizable on top of this in every way mentioned above earlier and they should be (at least) locally saveable for the users convenience. Hotkeys for presets and custom presets should be bindable.
  • Standard UI color scheme
  • Standard UI element arrangement
• To play with a reticle for aiming in "3rd person"/"follow camera" view when using Aircrafts, ground vehicles and diverse turrets. May not be wanted at all due to the FPS focus and style.

Satisfaction With Your Personalized Looking-Glass

Some additional reading for the interested:

For absolute newcomers - In user interface design theory, we're always dealing with what is often referred to as a users "Looking-Glass". A looking glass is exactly what you think it is; A user's terminal to operating functions in a game, tool, application, a website and etc. This can be in a game, a software tool and so on - Even simple websites you use everyday have it. When the user is starting the software to use it, he needs a terminal to get to use it, of some kind - He (vast majority user) can't magically edit code with university level complexity and get the software to do what he wants it to. So, we code him a looking-glass and a user interface - A terminal.

For the routine userinterface user - Typically (simplified) when creating user interface for games, a designer has to first consider two main aspects:

• What is the user here to do?
• Who is the user (attributes)?

Then, the design process starts in the minds of the clever hybrid humans good all-around UI developers truly are: Simulating a user using (Psychology) --> Then creating it technically ---> Then perfecting, styling and polishing it visually. In this process, your performance at the school bench, your talent and/or your experience truly decides how good you or your team achieves the desired result of:

• Getting the UI as efficient for the majority user as possible
• Getting the UI to be as overall appealing as possible to as many as possible

And ultimately, for the developer:

• Getting the UI to be as efficient at helping to fulfilling the organizational agenda as possible

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My background - For the tu quoque thrower's and method attackers: (Studied all books on my own, no degree taken - little practical experience) bachelor, psychology in business, organization and leadership, web page programming, 3D animation, a decade and more of gaming, electronics and simpler physics from mechanical engineering interests. The mentioned - either as serious hobbies, jobs or education - I've been through. Motiv for thread: Improve Planetside 2 for myself and others.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

- AschelPuddel

Yea, UI is too much at times, and too little at others. I'll spend waay too long looking for a point of shield gen as the markers are just too translucent until you hover over them

Agreed - The balance is just not there for me either.

Either I'm stuck looking at UI panels to find trivial but momentarily crucial information,
Or I'm annoyed at the unnecessary (for me) UI elements toning down my gameplay experience.