Floating Names are Horrible.

Floating names on everyone's heads are horrible. They look bad, they kill immersion and roleplaying. I don't like them. (Plus I have a lot of trouble reading them as people are running by)

I'd much rather see a system where I could personally name everything I come into contact with. So if I see another person and want to label them "Thief Guy" then I can just do that. I don't know the other person's name yet because I haven't asked them.

Likewise, I HATE that everyone already knows my name without even talking to me. That really needs to change. I should be able to limit who can see my name.

I don't understand why rabbits and sheep are labeled at all. It seems like it's just one more thing taking space up on my screen.

Developers, please consider making the floating names a more immersive game mechanic than we currently have. I could write a 2000 word essay on possible improvements but I don't want to waste my time. If you require more detail I'll be happy to provide it upon request.

 

Hmm, I don't have any floating names. Maybe there is a setting?

 

press N on your keyboard...toggle names.

 

RTM

 

Additionally, I wanted to add something. Though you can turn names off if you click on someone after you turn them off - you cannot see that persons name. If you turn the names off you should still be able to left click to see a person/npc - this is probably going to be the case as this is a pre alpha release, but just in case it wasnt thought of.

 

The floating names are necessary, because in a game there are no visual clues as in real life, where you can tell a person just by looking at his/her face.

Trust me, running around in a world of clones, without nameplates, would be very taxing for most peoples nerves.

"Hi Matt!"

"I'm John."

"Oh hi Debra!"

"I'm Bob."

"Sheeesh."

 

I agree with Badear in so far as I should be able to toggle if MY name is visible to other players or if NPC names are visible or just PCs. This would also require some magic behind the scenes for the chat log.

 

The best solution, IMHO, is to have name plates only show on character mouse-over. Furthermore, a name plate should be generic (ie Man/woman/peasant/lord...etc) until the player knows of the character - either by talking with and asking names, or by being given / pointed to by another character.

Same goes for players.

That way, you get no floating license plates and yet get to identify a character / NPC on mouse-over (if you know them).

 

Yes, if all we have to compare against is what the character is wearing, one could easily get confused simply by putting on your "out in the field armour" versus you "in town outfit".

Personally, in real-life I have issues recognizing people if they simply change their hair-style, everyone running around with a name-tag would be great.

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It does break immersion though : However so does the chat-log itself. The names are listed there whenever someone speaks.

Though, now I suspect someone will now advocate the removal of the chat window, I'm sure.

 

You're missing my point. Using this same argument, we might say "There are sounds in the game when people talk. Therefore we should make sounds every time someone talks so that we know that people are talking. Because we can't make the exact sound that someone would make when they actually spoke the words they were typing, we'll just replace that sounds with a BEEP and call it a day."

The floating names do serve an important purpose, but I'm looking to make the annoying BEEP sound go away while still fulfilling that same purpose.

 

I agree that requiring a mouseover is a good compromise if nothing more robust can be done. I also like your idea of generic name plates.

 

I have problems with that too...as I've detailed in another thread. However I don't see where complete removal would be a viable solution.

 

Well, I would agree, both forms of functionality seem to fly in the face of Richard's concept of "less in-your-face user interface".

 

Because the chat window is so completely necessary (I can't read fast enough while typing at the same time and read what NPC's are saying on the main screen), I'd like to see the game client just have a permanent chat screen off to the side. This would actually interfere LESS with my immersion because the viewing screen where action occurs would not be cluttered with the chat screen. It would be like having a second monitor for chat (speaking of which, it would be nice to have dual monitor support for this very reason).

 

I was under the impression that such already existed ? I have actually seen wide-screen photos from triple monitor setups posted on this forum.

 

Awesome...I haven't tried it yet, as it seemed that it would split the screen, correct?

What I'd like to see is the ability to drag some boxes to another screen and focus entirely on a single clear screen for action.

 

Yes, it simply makes the central view itself wider. Though that in turn would give you more space on the left/right to place interface items.

I hear the entire interface also gets smaller (it does not scale to screen width), which was noted as a possible issue by the triple-monitor poster.

 

It's already possible. In Eyefinity view, just drag whatever out of the main screen to the side ones. it does block some of the " peripheral" view but it's unobtrusive.

 

If it blocks my view at all, it's going to be a distraction. The semi-translucent background of the chat window (for example) is simply not something that I want to be on my screen during PVP (when that arrives) or if I just want to soak up the scenery (which is always).

 

Not an issue in Eyefinity. https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...ial-r3-group-shot-challenge.7582/#post-130789

The UI items are the same size on 5760*1050 as they are on 1920*1050 - Just a lot more real estate to move them.