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Menus functionality & lag . Dev issue
f1r3r4m
Member Posts: 9 Arc User
Constructive criticism.
The following is a quick rundown of the experiences I have encountered while using the in game menu systems of Neverwinter. Whether it’s lag, inconsistency or unintuitive navigation I will try to expand on the problems I face, we face & should no longer face.
Hidden button assignments:
Pressing Square on the mount “Current” or “Insignia Bonuses” tab performs a “loadouts updated” action, which has no page warning of the function. On the “Stable” tab, the square button functions as the equip/unequip for mount collars. Due to this ability I have accidentally copied all settings to all my loadouts, mostly due to menu lag, while actually having 4 separate functioning toon loadouts, effectively wiping the utility of the others together. For example, CW full DPS loadout (Max Crit, Max critic sev) is very different to the Gold build loadout (Max gold bonus, Max health). Having to rearrange these can be frustrating, time consuming & has, in the past, misplaced a mount into the stables, while carrying full insignias, temporarily “hiding” the insignias I would have otherwise swapped out to other toons. I at first assumed this to be a bug where the insignias had disappeared but was later reminded to check the stables. Although this was the solution in this case, it only added to the amount of time required to rectify the situation when it occurs.
This hidden functionality also appears on the discard function from the “currently equipped” character tab or items tab “inventory page”. When discarding an item no longer required, a simple pop up window appears asking if you are sure you wish to discard the item. The problem here is that no other option is highlighted other than “Circle” which is to cancel the action. But, if you did press X, which is in most cases the confirm action button, the item would be discarded. Again, there is no prior alert to any button assignment.
This is worth noting, because the multiple item discard function has a window which pops up offering a slide bar to designate a set number to throw out, with all buttons clearly shown with individual action assignments.
In short, if something is highlighted with an assignment, we shall assume it will function as such. If no assignment is given, we should assume nothing will happen.
Actions are not uniform across all menus areas:
When accessing the “Banking portal” we have the option once called up, to place what we can inside. We press Square & we are given access to our inventory in the form of a pop up window. At every other time this window we are given offers the ability to rearrange or sort our bags. This places all items in order, as set to our desire, from a predetermined configuration, ie, type, name, etc. Yet, when the banking portal window shows our inventory, we are unable to sort with the normally assigned “R3” stick button & instead have to scroll down to view the very bottom of the bag to make sure that the item we want is not in the last hidden box slots.
An early edition adventurers bag would obviously not have had this problem due to the size being smaller at the games initial release, so, is this little issue due to the additions of Mods which offered larger bags, & therefore presented a problem which was overlooked & unplanned for with regard to inventory access?
Inconsistent menu options order:
Another similar problem which has persisted, is the menus for equipping & re-equipping gear such as rings, armour, boots etc. When we navigate to the enchantments we have slotted the menu which pops up first offers to refine instead of remove. This a little unintuitive, especially for beginners, as every other menu, with the exception of mount insignias, gives the option to “takeout” the item at the top of the menu pop up.
Selection of multiple boxes for transfer:
To save time, could we implement the ability to select multiple separate items for transfer from inventory to bank or even to reposition within our bags? This could be achieved by an additional menu option to highlight the currently selected item, then we would return to the inventory window, being able to navigate around the bag space to select other items whilst the initial choice was still active, thus enabling mass movement of contents to the location of bank/guild bank or even trade, without having to keep moving from one window back & forth while also having to scroll through multiple bags in this process.
Maps:
When we access the map page, some of them have a progress bar at the very top, which, if you have a lot of quests will require you to scroll to the very top of your list in order to view it’s status. “Rage of Bel” being the perfect example here. Usually we would find, on the mini map location of our play screen, a progress bar or another form of indication to alert us of map status, the Barovian day night cycle springs to mind here. No such option for Vallenhas, & as a result we need to scroll the quest list from the map screen. Alternatively, why not add the function of a shoulder button to allow us to travel to the top of the quest list while in the map window. R1 for top page, L1 for bottom as an example. PS4 is lacking mouse pointers so this would really help.
There are, of course, many more little improvements to be made, & as an ardent player of Neverwinter I hope to see updates which increase our enjoyment with regard to menus & navigation, along with time & management. A full rework of the menu window system for PS4/PS5, including inventory distribution powers, would immensely alter our intuitive gameplay experience, creating a more fluid, fun filled & consistent outcome for all.
Thanks for reading, I hope this is met with welcoming eyes. Happy adventuring!
F1R3R4M
The following is a quick rundown of the experiences I have encountered while using the in game menu systems of Neverwinter. Whether it’s lag, inconsistency or unintuitive navigation I will try to expand on the problems I face, we face & should no longer face.
Hidden button assignments:
Pressing Square on the mount “Current” or “Insignia Bonuses” tab performs a “loadouts updated” action, which has no page warning of the function. On the “Stable” tab, the square button functions as the equip/unequip for mount collars. Due to this ability I have accidentally copied all settings to all my loadouts, mostly due to menu lag, while actually having 4 separate functioning toon loadouts, effectively wiping the utility of the others together. For example, CW full DPS loadout (Max Crit, Max critic sev) is very different to the Gold build loadout (Max gold bonus, Max health). Having to rearrange these can be frustrating, time consuming & has, in the past, misplaced a mount into the stables, while carrying full insignias, temporarily “hiding” the insignias I would have otherwise swapped out to other toons. I at first assumed this to be a bug where the insignias had disappeared but was later reminded to check the stables. Although this was the solution in this case, it only added to the amount of time required to rectify the situation when it occurs.
This hidden functionality also appears on the discard function from the “currently equipped” character tab or items tab “inventory page”. When discarding an item no longer required, a simple pop up window appears asking if you are sure you wish to discard the item. The problem here is that no other option is highlighted other than “Circle” which is to cancel the action. But, if you did press X, which is in most cases the confirm action button, the item would be discarded. Again, there is no prior alert to any button assignment.
This is worth noting, because the multiple item discard function has a window which pops up offering a slide bar to designate a set number to throw out, with all buttons clearly shown with individual action assignments.
In short, if something is highlighted with an assignment, we shall assume it will function as such. If no assignment is given, we should assume nothing will happen.
Actions are not uniform across all menus areas:
When accessing the “Banking portal” we have the option once called up, to place what we can inside. We press Square & we are given access to our inventory in the form of a pop up window. At every other time this window we are given offers the ability to rearrange or sort our bags. This places all items in order, as set to our desire, from a predetermined configuration, ie, type, name, etc. Yet, when the banking portal window shows our inventory, we are unable to sort with the normally assigned “R3” stick button & instead have to scroll down to view the very bottom of the bag to make sure that the item we want is not in the last hidden box slots.
An early edition adventurers bag would obviously not have had this problem due to the size being smaller at the games initial release, so, is this little issue due to the additions of Mods which offered larger bags, & therefore presented a problem which was overlooked & unplanned for with regard to inventory access?
Inconsistent menu options order:
Another similar problem which has persisted, is the menus for equipping & re-equipping gear such as rings, armour, boots etc. When we navigate to the enchantments we have slotted the menu which pops up first offers to refine instead of remove. This a little unintuitive, especially for beginners, as every other menu, with the exception of mount insignias, gives the option to “takeout” the item at the top of the menu pop up.
Selection of multiple boxes for transfer:
To save time, could we implement the ability to select multiple separate items for transfer from inventory to bank or even to reposition within our bags? This could be achieved by an additional menu option to highlight the currently selected item, then we would return to the inventory window, being able to navigate around the bag space to select other items whilst the initial choice was still active, thus enabling mass movement of contents to the location of bank/guild bank or even trade, without having to keep moving from one window back & forth while also having to scroll through multiple bags in this process.
Maps:
When we access the map page, some of them have a progress bar at the very top, which, if you have a lot of quests will require you to scroll to the very top of your list in order to view it’s status. “Rage of Bel” being the perfect example here. Usually we would find, on the mini map location of our play screen, a progress bar or another form of indication to alert us of map status, the Barovian day night cycle springs to mind here. No such option for Vallenhas, & as a result we need to scroll the quest list from the map screen. Alternatively, why not add the function of a shoulder button to allow us to travel to the top of the quest list while in the map window. R1 for top page, L1 for bottom as an example. PS4 is lacking mouse pointers so this would really help.
There are, of course, many more little improvements to be made, & as an ardent player of Neverwinter I hope to see updates which increase our enjoyment with regard to menus & navigation, along with time & management. A full rework of the menu window system for PS4/PS5, including inventory distribution powers, would immensely alter our intuitive gameplay experience, creating a more fluid, fun filled & consistent outcome for all.
Thanks for reading, I hope this is met with welcoming eyes. Happy adventuring!
F1R3R4M
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