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Disabling ability visuals

fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
It has been discussed before, but is the much requested feature that allows players to disable or at least drastically reduce the amount of visual spam coming, or being worked on?
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
    edited November 2019
    I know that one of the arguments for not including such a feature was that players need to know what is happening to their ship.


    My problem with that argument, besides the more subjective counter-argument that too much information (ie too many visuals) quickly becomes less informative, is as follows:
    There are different kinds of abilities, and to say that they all need a visual is not to properly understand the function(ing) of these abilities.


    A first group, that includes stuff like Science team, Tactical team or Torpedo spread, concerns abilities that are only active for a limited time or that apply to a single attack. Players who have been around for longer than a few weeks will know that the effect has been applied and, after a few seconds in most cases, has ended.
    Visuals serve no or only a limited purpose here.

    A second group includes stuff that is always active. Think for example the adaptive fleet shields that add increased resistance to certain damage types when you are attacked.
    Players will know that it is active, there is no need for visual spam here.

    The third group includes stuff that is active for a bit longer than, say, the five seconds that apply to most abilities in the first group. Think of things like attack patterns, the engineering captain abilities and hazard emitters. For these abilities it is likely that players are not always sure whether it is still active. However, most of these abilities only show a visual effect for a very short time and when that time has passed, you are dependent on the little status icons.
    Visuals thus only limitedly serve a purpose here, and the icons quickly become more informative than the visuals.

    A final group includes abilities such as that of the Competetive reputation engines, and traits like Inspirational Leader. These are effects that are either not limited to a single ability, or they have a chance to trigger. A visual effect can be informative in these cases. Still, since most of these abilities and traits also come with status icons, the visual is not necessarily more informative than the alternative source of information, the icon.
    Visuals can thus be useful here, but there are still alternatives if it were possible to disable them.

    Edit: spelling/grammar
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  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
    azrael605 wrote: »
    No such thing is being worked on. No such thing has ever been hinted at. No such thing is needed.

    Well, thanks for the information regarding the first two answers, although if I remember correctly, there was talk of it being considered a while ago.

    The third answer is something I disagree with.
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  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
    azrael605 wrote: »
    > @fleetcaptain5#1134 said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > Well, thanks for the information regarding the first two answers, although if I remember correctly, there was talk of it being considered a while ago.
    >
    > The third answer is something I disagree with.

    Just because you disagree with it doesn't make it wrong.

    It's an opinion (not supported by arguments I might add), so it's not exactly 'right' either.
  • sennahcheribsennahcherib Member Posts: 2,823 Arc User
    @fleetcaptain5, don't waste your time to discuss with him. He just like to troll the threads.

    btw, I agree with you, I'm often blinded in tfo's by some skills (example: big white light, a kind of bubble or something),
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  • doctorstegidoctorstegi Member Posts: 1,235 Arc User
    @fleetcaptain5, don't waste your time to discuss with him. He just like to troll the threads.
    Couldn't agree more and to the topic there is some skill effects that should be tuned down a bit, specially for ground when you can't see the floor anymore even if you need to cause the in same mission there are enemy ground effects lets use HGA as an example.
    C-Store Inc. is still looking for active members on the fed side. If you don't have a fleet feel free to contact me in game @stegi.
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  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,919 Arc User
    azrael605 wrote: »
    No such thing is being worked on. No such thing has ever been hinted at. No such thing is needed.

    I don't remember where I heard it, but I could swear that they are actually working on ways to reduce visual 'spam.'

    One of the last updates changed the beam effects to make them thinner and less blinding, it was my impression that was the first part of the update, though I don't know for sure that any other steps are being taken.

    Overall, I am cool with things how they are now but I have the luxury of having a PC that can handle all the effects. I can imagine those with lower end PC's would appreciate something to lower the effects volume but I am not entirely sure if that's still being worked on or not.

    I'll admit, it gets kinda silly at times with all the effects going off at once, it makes battles into quite a light show. :lol:
    Insert witty signature line here.
  • avoozuulavoozuul Member Posts: 3,215 Arc User
    edited November 2019
    One of the devs showed a video of visual effects being reduced but it was not officially considered.
    I stream on Twitch, look for Avoozl_
  • jennycolvinjennycolvin Member Posts: 1,101 Arc User
    Agreed, this feature would be actually very useful.
    Even Kael himself - in a stream - said something along the lines of "if you can tell what's going on, you're not me". Don't remember which queue it was.
    Still, they wasted time reducing the size of BEAM, because yeah... that's what's causing visual clutter.

    Abilities visuals are a hot mess, right now. There are too many effects, too different effects and some of them are outright blinding - Beacon of Khaless being just one example.​​
    kv1Ohsx.png
    Not agreeing with someone doesn't give you the right to be an TRIBBLE.

    Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
    - quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
    - quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
    - quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;

    Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
    Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    Honestly the beam thing does matter for small ships, and it matters for just reducing visual spam so you can see other details easier. Trying to level the T'Pau was really rough with DBBs because I couldn't see the ship most of the time it was firing.

    However the bigger problems are definitely the larger effects. I made a fun little build for the Maquis raider to really get the most out of the trait and the plasma storm console, but that requires me to be able to see wtf is going on in the plasma storm+grav well combination, well enough to find the flanking positions for enemy ships. When I can do it it works really well, but that's kind of a big iffy thing to manage due to the ginormous plasma storm blinding me.
  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    Agreed, this feature would be actually very useful.
    Even Kael himself - in a stream - said something along the lines of "if you can tell what's going on, you're not me". Don't remember which queue it was.
    Still, they wasted time reducing the size of BEAM, because yeah... that's what's causing visual clutter.

    Abilities visuals are a hot mess, right now. There are too many effects, too different effects and some of them are outright blinding - Beacon of Khaless being just one example.​​
    Reducing the beam width did make them look nicer, though.

    Yeah, the BoK effect is the worst ever.
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  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
    azrael605 wrote: »
    > @seaofsorrows said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > I don't remember where I heard it, but I could swear that they are actually working on ways to reduce visual 'spam.'
    >
    > One of the last updates changed the beam effects to make them thinner and less blinding, it was my impression that was the first part of the update, though I don't know for sure that any other steps are being taken.
    >
    > Overall, I am cool with things how they are now but I have the luxury of having a PC that can handle all the effects. I can imagine those with lower end PC's would appreciate something to lower the effects volume but I am not entirely sure if that's still being worked on or not.
    >
    > I'll admit, it gets kinda silly at times with all the effects going off at once, it makes battles into quite a light show. :lol:

    It isn't the first time that a small group of complainers caused unnecessary changes in the game. This no different than the snowball knockdown situation.

    Except that the topic here isn't to suggest that visuals need to be removed or toned down - it is to propose an option for players to disable them as they see fit. Did you even read what you were responding to?


    The two situations are completely different things too. You're talking about a thing that was specific to one event. I'm talking about visuals that are active in every mission, in every piece of content. Players care about their ships' looks, so obviously (as this can be simply deduced from the fact that players bother to change their shield visuals, colour schemes and so on) this would not be a feature that is only tailored to a small minority.
  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
    edited November 2019
    azrael605 wrote: »
    > @fleetcaptain5#1134 said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > It's an opinion (not supported by arguments I might add), so it's not exactly 'right' either.
    What argument is needed? I remain able to track what is happening and so I disagree.

    I cut out a piece because you already provided the answer.


    Well done. Now I have something to respond to.

    There are plenty of players for whom the opposite is true.
  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 5,051 Arc User
    edited November 2019
    Ignore the misquote, from 'I cut' onwards it's my text, the rest is quoted.
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  • alcyoneserenealcyoneserene Member Posts: 2,414 Arc User
    The icons showing each ability need to remain fixed in place. Instead of scrolling and disappearing where you can barley mouse-over much less track, they should be on a separate bar, all fixed in place, from left to right (as more are added, they continue to the right), greyed out when off, lit when on.

    This way, the mouse-over tooltip will always show, and can learn its position and know at a glance what's active and what isn't. A second bar just below that one could show up for targeted enemies.

    Also, give the option to remove the strobing lights (destabilizing resonance beam) and other whole-screen whiteouts. Feels like a flashbang going off whenever some power is toggled.

    An option to tone it all down or turn it all off would be appreciated. I mean, STO has some new leaders, maybe they will listen when all others have failed to, even if too little too late.
    Y945Yzx.jpg
  • jennycolvinjennycolvin Member Posts: 1,101 Arc User
    Honestly the beam thing does matter for small ships, and it matters for just reducing visual spam so you can see other details easier. Trying to level the T'Pau was really rough with DBBs because I couldn't see the ship most of the time it was firing.

    However the bigger problems are definitely the larger effects. I made a fun little build for the Maquis raider to really get the most out of the trait and the plasma storm console, but that requires me to be able to see wtf is going on in the plasma storm+grav well combination, well enough to find the flanking positions for enemy ships. When I can do it it works really well, but that's kind of a big iffy thing to manage due to the ginormous plasma storm blinding me.
    I did level the T'Pau with DDBs and kept her that way - as a side note, it's a very funny little ship and I quite like her! - so I know what you're saying, but yeah. If I were to choose between reducing the visual cluttering created by pretty much every ability and reducing the beams's size... yeah, I'd choose the first.
    warpangel wrote: »
    Agreed, this feature would be actually very useful.
    Even Kael himself - in a stream - said something along the lines of "if you can tell what's going on, you're not me". Don't remember which queue it was.
    Still, they wasted time reducing the size of BEAM, because yeah... that's what's causing visual clutter.

    Abilities visuals are a hot mess, right now. There are too many effects, too different effects and some of them are outright blinding - Beacon of Khaless being just one example.
    Reducing the beam width did make them look nicer, though.

    Yeah, the BoK effect is the worst ever.
    They do look nicer, I agree... if you can actually see them between all the spam you have on your screen XD​​
    kv1Ohsx.png
    Not agreeing with someone doesn't give you the right to be an TRIBBLE.

    Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
    - quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
    - quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
    - quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;

    Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
    Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
  • stoyozstoyoz Member Posts: 63 Arc User
    I wholeheartedly support the idea. There should be an option to tone down the visual effects, or at least a bare minimum on/off switch. There are effects in the game that are several years old and I still don't know what they do (nor do I care) and when multiple ones are spammed together, they aren't even distinguishable. So, at least for me, they have no informaton value at all.
    There are some really beautifull ships in the game, and it is a shame, and almost fustrating, that you can only admire them parking on orbit somewhere, because the PvE contet just vomits visual junk allover them. In my opinion, the only things that shuld have visual effects are: weapons fire, active hazards (e.g.: grav. well) and helas (like hazard emitters, or transfer shield strength). I don't want my ship becoming purple, or to have spinning ring over it. I am awere that I just activated BfI, or a 'team' ability without the effects. Also, what is the point of a borg cube becoming purple-red-yellow-green-white-pink-blue disco ball, just because three ships are firing at it?
    So if i could tone down, or just simply disable those effects for myself, I would be very happy.
  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    The icons showing each ability need to remain fixed in place. Instead of scrolling and disappearing where you can barley mouse-over much less track, they should be on a separate bar, all fixed in place, from left to right (as more are added, they continue to the right), greyed out when off, lit when on.

    This way, the mouse-over tooltip will always show, and can learn its position and know at a glance what's active and what isn't. A second bar just below that one could show up for targeted enemies.
    The game has far too many buffs/debuffs, the icons would fill the entire effing screen if they all had an always-visible icon.
  • dragon#2626 dragon Member Posts: 293 Arc User
    I would argue the amount of visual spam we currently have to a large extent defeats the purpose of the extensive customization options for the ships. What is the point if half the time it's obscured by gratuitous VFX?
    I swim through a sea of stars. . . .
  • alcyoneserenealcyoneserene Member Posts: 2,414 Arc User
    Yes, but the ability icons already exist. I'm proposing to give each a permanent location, tiny as they are, from left to right, at the very top or bottom of the screen.

    Greyed out when not active, properly lit when active. Mouse-over hover shows tooltip of what they are. With time one learns where to look without needing mouse over and what the icon looks like, tiny as it may be.

    Versus what we have now: endlessly appearing and disappearing and scrolling left to right.

    As others pointed out, we don't need a ton of effects to know what is active. The Boff and ability trays already indicate a lot that does not need to be shown visually - except for those who like the visual effect overload who can keep them on as they are and as they continue to add.
    Y945Yzx.jpg
  • annemarie30annemarie30 Member Posts: 2,745 Arc User
    whatever power throws out a big black cloud is horrible.
    We Want Vic Fontaine
  • dragon#2626 dragon Member Posts: 293 Arc User
    whatever power throws out a big black cloud is horrible.

    And not only in terms of visuals, if it's the one I'm thinking of. A really nasty power-drain move employed by higher-level Breen ships.
    I swim through a sea of stars. . . .
  • lianthelialianthelia Member Posts: 7,921 Arc User
    I agree there are some things that can be rather annoying. The trait battle ready is a good example, not only is it annoying visually but audibly as well...I can understand maybe for a couple seconds but the entire duration?

    Even if you turn the setting to low things can still be annoying at times.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    whatever power throws out a big black cloud is horrible.
    And not only in terms of visuals, if it's the one I'm thinking of. A really nasty power-drain move employed by higher-level Breen ships.
    Tyken's rift.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
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