test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Too Much Information (At Least Too Much Irrelevent Information)

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
There are a lot of complaints about too little information about what skills do.

This is a completely valid criticism - there is surprisingly little documentation on what stuff actually does.

However, there's also way too much useless information that clogs description text.

Let's take a skill you're training:
It'll show entire paragraphs but only detail two abilities that it will effect. Many players are justifiably confused as to what their skill investments are really doing (other than being used to bulk up to the next rank).

At the same time, we have to wade through dozens of verbose descriptors to find anything of meaning.

Here is where a poet is handy:
Why use a sentence when the right word can sum up the same idea?

My Big UI Formatting changes:
  1. Reformat Skill interface to color code headings
  2. Use indents to show lists as subsets of heading.
  3. Show Practical Effects of an item before the lore description
  4. Blank lines (white-space) and ellipsis (...) sometimes appear without serving much of purpose, pushing useful information down so we have to scroll more
  5. Some love the graphs but the interface could handle this more simply (i.e Rank 2/10)

These are basic design principles that could help ease the processing of complex data.

That said, I really enjoy this game and (being a lifetime subscriber) wish the best for it. There are a lot of good idea from the community and the development team that could refine the rough edges and bring the gameplay back to the forefront.

Omelie's List of Information to Add
  • The effect each console has on ship, weapons, and abilities - a title, the rank, what it changes and by what amount. No more, no less.
  • Explain stacking items reduces effects
  • Show affected abilities/items before and after a skill change. For example,
    Raising Beam Weapon from 2->3:
    • +5 Damage: Phaser Beam Array Mk II (29->34)
    • -2 Power Consumption: Phaser Beam Array MkII (4->2)
  • Which skills/abilities share cooldowns with others - show this information in description
  • Complete list of affected skills (not "etc." after listing two)
  • Include option to display a list of alternative skills that could fill a particular Bridge Officer's skill slot.
  • Abilities/Skills of Bridge Officers need a similar system to above mentioned system
see: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=122641

More Forthcoming...
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Completely agree. At the moment they show a WHOLE LOT of nothing. Which isn't helpful or eloquent at all.

    Flipside: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=122641

    I notice a lack of replies on legitimate topics so I am in before this make the 2nd page.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I was actually going to make post about the skill window as well, but this will work as well. My thoughts about improving the interface was to add a note on to the officer skill information to announce what skills improve the officer skill. An example would be:

    Science Team I
    Skills that effect this skill:
    -Starship Operations
    -Shield Maintance

    Information:
    ...........

    Now when we are looking at the officer skills we can get a better sense of where to place our skills to optimize our ship and command.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    It's brutally obvious that the skill system is lacking information in a really bad way. I'm a Lt. Cmdr 8 in game and I still don't have much of a clue as to what the skills do. Frankly, I also can't seem to see much of a difference from a starting character an my Lt. Cmdr, skill-wise that is. It truly doesn't "feel" like the skills that I purchased have any real affect in game both on the ground and in space.

    I really hope the developers do something about this. Everything seems so confusing and as I go up in level that confusion seems to grow and that sucks :(
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Yep, I see we all feel about the same about it. My thoughts on where it is lacking are in the linked post. Feel free to reply to that as well (if only just to bump it back to page 1:P)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Omelie wrote:
    Completely agree. At the moment they show a WHOLE LOT of nothing. Which isn't helpful or eloquent at all.

    Flipside: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=122641

    I notice a lack of replies on legitimate topics so I am in before this make the 2nd page.
    Agreed - whereas mine is more a question of formatting and layout, your specific suggestions are wonderful.

    EDIT: Added Omelie's Information
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I expanded Omelie's notes and added a link to his/her thread.

    Overall, there are both layout/design issues that make reading it difficult.

    This is only worsened by the content itself being too wordy and not actually saying what it does.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Exactly. Nice rewrite to your format btw :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have to agree on this, I have 1 char at 45, and alot of the time I pretty much just ploped points into something that looked like it would improve some of the equipment or BO skills I used, but there was always uncertainty.
    This was aprticularly true at the times when I got my new rank, as I was eager to get my new ship and all that.
    Now that I'm at 45 I wish I could respec as I have noticed that alot of points are wasted in skills I have no use for, points I could have used to improve skills I do have use for.

    More info on what the different skills do and improve upon would be greatly apreciated.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    maybe add tracking spead relative to angular velocity :eek:

    signature radious's of ships :eek:

    blast velocity in torp systems :eek:

    flight time and speed :eek:

    energy consumption
    with real life or death meaning

    collision damage

    war head upgrades

    beam crystals

    mods to weapons.

    but before they do all that they have to add a huge number of base attribute similiar to EvE i would hate to say it and know i will get blasted for even suggesting it but seriously my skills and fitting of the ship should only vary the preformance of the ship and weapons base attributes by a maximum % of the base. in order to balance the playing field. with older to newer players.

    there is like 50 damage types the enemy can do to you through the stat menu of your ship.

    as it stands it seems to me that its mostly about getting the blue items or at least thats what i am seeing in the forumns

    and people are more focused on pve content

    in pve what your ship / player attributes are, is irrelivant if they can be so massivilly changed buy equiping huge over strengthed items.

    in pvp it becomes more about getting the complete blue sets then about good piloting.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Omelie wrote:
    Exactly. Nice rewrite to your format btw :)

    You should the Ultimate Suggestion Thread:
    http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=122694

    It links to this and shows similar threads. :)

    A functional reformat of GUI and description elements could make this game FAR less confusing at times.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Not exactly sure what I 'should'. But I do like that thread once I have time I'll pop around to the links in it :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    you are so right in so many ways but they really need to adopt a system like EvE's ship atribute before doing anything.

    because it is pretty irrelevent to even look at the ship stats.
    it was lmfao

    and you cant even see base stats on the weapons that would effect your hit or miss ratio
    i miss enough to know that accuracy bonus on the weapons is irrelevent LOL

    1 out of 100 shots maybe.

    the damage does not vary much either based on the targets orientation/range/speed relative to my own.

    the weapons all fire at 10 km LAZY as **** range.

    the ship does not have a base sensor strenth so sensor jamming will last a default 16 seconds and will always happen

    if alls you want is more irrelevant info go for it, hope you get them

    but they still wont mean anything if they dont take more of a simulator approach to the problem

    in eve in order to properly calculate chance to hit with you turrets.

    the angular velocity must be lower then the tracking speed
    your targets angular velocity is the targets distance/heading/velocity/signaure vs. my velocity and speed.
    (signature radious does play a role in it as well)

    and all the before mentioned can be manipulated by skills and mods quantifiable on the fitting window.

    i really dont think cryptic devs would be able to pull if off, to put that much detail in the games mechanics they are to focuse on end game raids LOL
    says it right here
    http://www.startrekonline.com/upcoming_content
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Found better information on skills in the powers panel. I clicked on Science Team I and saw that skill is enhanced by the deflector skills
Sign In or Register to comment.