Another thing about this subject from ... you know my lower tech level of perceiving things ... I think the script needs to be larger. Not huge, but larger or presented in a different script or fashion. Normal script as I'm using here, has a certain look to it, as if on a generic brand of canned soup. Which entertains the eye? ~TL~ Or which looks to be a more quality product?
One question comes to mind, which is "how long are average load times for instances?" My own loading times are very fast, and difficult to see any tips that may be there due to the faster speeds than I've heard some players mention. Remember Batman's instance transition? Maybe we need something entirely different from what we have? All of these seem possibilities that are much more eye entertaining than a stagnate picture. ~TL~
OK, what do you call this one... A loading artwork of the scene the player is entering into, yet from the perspective of the entrance scene itself, yet also with the back shot of an avatar head/body in aprox the same place the player's avatar would be apearing, as if the entrance scene transitions from artwork into reality. It doesn't have to be the entrance, yet an artwork depicting the avatar looking at a representation of the area. Most of what I'm posting on the subject is to cause further thoughts into possibilities from our collective forums brain bank. I don't think our tips are all that great or I'd pay attention to them more often. The artworks we have look nice but there's always room for improvement, especially if our programers are going to be placing time into this. Richard Garriott axiom: "you are the avatar", meaning the you on the screen. We don't have a you on the screen in our loading screen artwork, we have a scene from the perspective of the you sitting in the chair operating the computer. Just something to think about. ~TL~
From the perspective of someone who just started seriously playing a couple weeks ago I enjoy the load screens and hints as they are. My load times are usually around 15 seconds and they are nice artwork. However, I don't have a million hours in game like most of you so I can also see them getting stale over time. I think more optimization to reduce load times and more artwork and tips would the best approach imho.
They should make the loading screens have a minigame. It'd have a character, and you had housing you could decorate, and there'd be this compelling storyline spread across 5 episodes, put out yearly.
there IS a lot more artwork; it seems like some of it has gone missing lately. when they started adding new stuff recently they may have retired too much of the older stuff.
I personally would like access to the inventory, character window, skills window, etc, while it's between scenes.
