Who the hell decided this was a good idea?

chalupaoffury

You know what? I was really meh about Arc, our new pwe integration "have you installed neverwinter?" needless social network platform. I've got a pretty beastly computer, so the extra memory it hogs isn't really effecting me. However, I had to reinstall the game on my laptop due to a hardware issue, and I had this thing forced down my throat. Gamely, I decided to give it a shot and not judge until I'd tried it.

You know what the hot key combination is to bring up the in game (entirely view blocking) overlay? Shift and tab. Or, for those of you who have never played this game (which I feel may include a lot of devs) the specific combination you use to block while auto-cycling through targets. You know, so you're not clicking wildly in all the madness that co fights can turn into.

So, new tank joins the game, and tries to block (presuming he figures out how, the tutorial is really vague on this now) while shifting focus on the bigger target in a mob. And then is blinded by a pointless social networking overlay INTENTIONALLY DESIGNED with this exact setup in mind.

WHO PLANS THIS STUFF? I know, in the settings, you can change it. I caught it before I even started, because I always check every settings screen on new stuff. I'm a minority here, and this was a really dumb decision. I can't wait for the zone rage over it. "See, you gotta tab out of the game, then open up the settings on arc, and..." Yeah, no complications or anything. Totally simple.

This kinda half-thought out silliness is why Cryptic has the reputation it does. I mean, what, nobody thought to go through the key binds for their games and figure out a button that doesn't see a lot of use? You ever see anyone use shift+f12 for anything ever? Why the hell would you bind it to possibly one of the most common mmo keystrokes around?

I'm mystified.

fudgemonsta

They use Shift+Tab because every other one uses Shift+Tab.

Steam, Origin last I recall, even bloody Stardock.

nepht

It is badly designed. Not much else I can say about it, its just that crap.

agentnx5

fudgemonsta wrote: »

They use Shift+Tab because every other one uses Shift+Tab.

Steam, Origin last I recall, even bloody Stardock.

Yep.

That's why I use MOUSE4 to block and disable the overlay crap in stuff like Steam.


A solution could be to change the default binds (including getting rid of that hideous comic-outline default...)

ariesmajor

fudgemonsta wrote: »

They use Shift+Tab because every other one uses Shift+Tab.

Steam, Origin last I recall, even bloody Stardock.

Yeah but, with steam you can change all the shortcuts so it doesn't have to be shift tab

jennymachx

Use a Xbox gamepad. Problem fixed.

biffsmackwell

Huh, so they didn't take Champions into account when making this thing? Not surprised.

But, you know, just quit Arc after launching?

jennymachx

biffsmackwell wrote: »

Huh, so they didn't take Champions into account when making this thing? Not surprised.

But, you know, just quit Arc after launching?

Or just download from Steam directly without having to bother with Arc if a full re-installation is needed. The launcher can still be run without Steam too if needed.

flyingfinn

But...but if you don't use Arc you miss all those coupons.
It's like they did that Champions Online 'Use Coupons' button for nothing.....
:rolleyes:
:biggrin:

chaelk

I'm doing the easy win method of doing settings. I'm not connecting the thing. My games run perfectly well form desktop

kallethen

I'd actually give Arc another glance if they actually made it so that Cryptic games are integrated into it beyond just being a launcher/installer for the games.

The Shift + Tab stuff had me uninstall it right away when they first came out with Arc too.

trailturtle

It's worth noting that this keybind is fully customizable.

wingofbenu

biffsmackwell wrote: »

Huh, so they didn't take Champions into account when making this thing? Not surprised.

But, you know, just quit Arc after launching?

My guessw is they basically just went "lets steal steam's UI without actually doing anything that maks steam good"

sistersilicon

trailturtle wrote: »

It's worth noting that this keybind is fully customizable.

Not entirely. It only accepts one modifier key, so you can't set it to a Vulcan nerve pinch key combo like, say, Ctrl+Alt+`. And it still doesn't excuse PWE's main office from not recognizing a reasonably common key combo from one of its own games. (Betcha if Neverwinter had tab-targeting, one Guardian Fighter in the QA department would be enough to get the default changed.)

wingedkagouti

jennymachx wrote: »

Or just download from Steam directly without having to bother with Arc if a full re-installation is needed. The launcher can still be run without Steam too if needed.

Or even take a USB stick to the computer that has CO installed, copy the install directory to the stick, take the stick to the laptop and install from it (assuming of course that the "beastly computer" isn't the laptop).

Still, it would be really nice to have a link to a download for just the basic Cryptic Launcher on the CO site.

therealted

I'm currently downloading the client directly. Does that not work anymore? Guess I'll find out soon-ish...

archaerest

I wanted to punch the game in the face when that overlay kept popping up. It's a horrible default setup, and it shows that there was little effort put in when making the changes. I'm new to the game, so outside of trying to figure out all the games quirks (CoH vet), I started to have this junk pop up. I'm glad this thread was made, because it saved me from further wanting to punch the game in the face.

nyrkes

chalupaoffury wrote: »

...pretty much

Totally... I ran into this pretty recent since coming back to CO and it got me killed 2wice b4 I decided to take a moment and tab out to re-assign keys. Biggest reason why I don't run games thru Steam. 'bleh' Crap design.

alexofspades

I use Scroll Lock on steam as my shortcut.

I'm not going to touch Arc, ever. If they force Arc to be used in order to play the game, i'll uninstall and leave permanently.

agentnx5

trailturtle wrote: »

It's worth noting that this keybind is fully customizable.

Good information!

sistersilicon wrote: »

Not entirely. It only accepts one modifier key, so you can't set it to a Vulcan nerve pinch key combo like, say, Ctrl+Alt+`. And it still doesn't excuse PWE's main office from not recognizing a reasonably common key combo from one of its own games. (Betcha if Neverwinter had tab-targeting, one Guardian Fighter in the QA department would be enough to get the default changed.)

Also a fair criticism. Champions does get the short end of the stick when it comes to development funds, although it has been improving as of late so perhaps there's reason to have hope.