(Someone's) Idea: Enemy Display

[AnttiV]

Sorry for making a new topic, but for the life of me I can't figure out where I read the original, and for a sidenote, this isn't my idea, just something I read here on the forums, all credit to her/him who came up with it, after thinking about it for awhile, it's clearly a winner.

I've been neglecting my Mesmer for awhile now, and just today decided to bring her to Cantha, and boy did that idea sound good after a couple of quests...

But, to bring it up: A Display (similiar to party list) listing Enemies. So you could select your target from the list, rather than trying to hit a moving targer on the battlefield with 1800x1400-ish resolution... (If it would be possible, I'd have interrupted Sister Tai's healing some three thousand times :D)

Anyways, it could be a great addition for all classes (short of monks/healer Rts, but we do have the party list already). In one glance you could see if there's a spellcaster running free and target it rather than furiously hitting tab...

But, more specifics.. would it be better for it to list ALL enemies in the radar, just in the aggro circle, or what? (Or all enemies in some specified "range", and just highlight those in your aggrocircle?)
Best of course would be all, with selectable options.

Is there any point for it to NOT be implemented, as in, would it make something obsolete, be overpowered, or something? I can come up with only positive ones, so, the question remains:

Would there be something negative about an "enemy display"? (other than it clutter the already cluttered playing field, but one CAN turn them thingies off, so it's a moot point.)

[Bob The Blind]

One downpoint I can think of is "What if you only pull half of a group?" You may then inadvertantly pull the rest simply by selecting (and attacking) the wrong name on the list (No! No! I thought I clicked the other Tengu Warrior.)

Another, that's kind of cheesy to be able to see at a glance what level and health (if it's just like the party menu) the enemies have. It reduces people thinking if all you need is manage a bunch of interfaces.

Thirdly and lastly, if it is a popup-when-needed menu, the sheer annoyance of it popping up. Even if it isn't clutter. People who dislike so called "Pop-under-ads" know exactly what I'm talking about here.


Alternately to get around your problem, hold Ctrl, zoom out and select the apporiate enemy. Or press Tab using your compass as a guide to which enemy you've selected.

[FireballX]

Hmm...most of the time you have a max of maybe 10-15 enemies to select from. Not too hard to hold down ctrl and pick, or hit C and tab through.

Especially since someone can call the target and make it easy.

Implementing this would IMO make it a bit too easy-mode for my liking.

[Kestral Pureheart]

Part of the skill of playing is being able to select the right enenmy from the group in front of you...why make it any easier?

[Ju Smurph]

This i would like though a different form... at the moment I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with "Tab" because i'm cycling through bone minions and spirits, which is dead time as a mesmer...

[chynephilim]

First of all, I haven't played mesmer or monk so I might missed some of your points. I can only say is would'nt it be uglier if you have lists that have all the list of enemies having the same name? And if i didn't know GW and you'll show me how it played PVP and you'll only gonna show me is click name-key 1-click name-key 2-click name- key 3-and so on then surely I would be disappointed w/ that gameplay.

My 2 cents. :-)

[AnttiV]

Mh. Few valid points. I admit I haven't even touched PvP, so I always forget to consider it.

I tought that it might make things easier, but in MY opinion it wouldn't, since I don't consider the skill to be accurate with the mouse movements (there fps's for you then), but to select which skill/attack to apply to which enemy/ally at specific times. Going for the skill-is-if-you-hit-the-right-10px-spot-on-the-screen, is too far fetched for GW, I think. And since you can c-tab-tab-tab-ad infinitum, it's not really supposed to be that way either..

For the I-clicked-the-wrong-dude; wouldn't that be minimized, if the enemies on your aggro circle would be "highlighted" (or colored differently, or something)

But, my points are from a spellcaster point-of-view, be it either mesmer, ele, etc. but mostly this would apply to mesmers/interrupt rangers (And monks, but there IS the party list). What I would like, is a similiar approach to playing a mesmer, as there is now to playing a monk: you can see clearly and select which dudes to select and apply needed skill.

Now as it stands, I swear I have to buy a new keyboard because of GW, since in a few weeks my tab will come off. And if I face a group with multiple eles, necros and healers... woe to the finger...

And isn't monking ALREADY "click name-key 1-click name-key 2-click name- key 3-and so on" (and you can even assign hotkeys for party-members, so could, in theory play monk without touching the mouse at all, even without the tab-tab-tab -procedure.)

[AnttiV]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, and even one started by myself. Meh, but my opinion still stands and I think this would be a good addition, if it was implemented properly and OPTINABLE. For a long time I hadn't played with my mesmer and just tried for kickers. Geez I hate the tab-show which ensues when n+1 dudes try to run you down. It's a bit more reasonable down in Elona, as there is fewer number of them buggers around (at least in the beginning, haven't played far).

ps. And, incidentally, the tab CAME off of the old keyboard and I REALLY had to buy a new keyb because of GW. How's that :D

[Miss Inverse]

... (and you can even assign hotkeys for party-members, so could, in theory play monk without touching the mouse at all, even without the tab-tab-tab -procedure.)

Which is infact what I do... My Monkeh only needs mouse for movement between fights :D

[SongOf]

Bob The Blind hit the nail on the head.

Reason #1:
With the recent changes, Guild Wars is becoming more and more about being fed raw information through GUI's. This is a huge no-no.

One thing that divides an intelligent player from a mediocre one is interpreting situational awareness. With the inclusion of an enemy party window, you are striping the game down to "Click on smallest bar, press spacebar until it dies." Repeat.

Imagine if a proximity warning alarmed the party every time an enemy was adjacent to a monk. There is absolutely no need for verbal communication, GVG has become "fix this, NOW click on smallest bar".

Reason #2:

Can you imagine monking WITHOUT a party window? Hard right?
Now imagine mesmering WITH an enemy party window. Rediculously overpowered.

Mesmers are so powerful yet so difficult to play for a reason. They must constantly scan each target manually and look for an opening. It will...

-be rediculously simple to spread hexes and conditions evenly
-be VERY obvious in GVG that your opponent has split, or that the flag runner is currently enroute because their name(s) will be grayed out.

Nuff said :P

[AnttiV]

ooo I hate PvP, it always messes up nice ideas :D
But, again, valid points, I understand. Maybe not proximity-colored then :) What about only displaying (adjacent, nearby, earshot, etc, and this is togglable by the player? pre-mission, like skillsets. or something).

And, it would make Mesmers easier to play.. but where's the wrong in that? Where does it stand that Mesmers should be hard to play? (There's enough shortage of mesmers as it is, I can't usually find any when I'm organizing, or helping to organize a group.)

[Aiiane]

This really should be in the Suggestion forum rather than the CDF.

[AnttiV]

Mh. You're right. Maybe there wasn't a suggestion forum back when I made this thread? Err.. or something. I so did not make a mistake then :laugh:

anyways, anybody feel free to move this to where it belongs (probably trash :)

[Apu]

well, u know that everyclass has their own spell casting animation right? eles have red light, mesmers purple, monks blue, and so on... Me and many ppl have learned how to differ each one from the other (and i dont play everyday so im no hardcore player, nor i play 6+hrs a day), specially since the day i started playing mesmers, back in the day of launch before all other visual aids were implemented. My point being, classes can be diferentiated by looks and animations (Talking bout mobs) and also they have a different name for each class. Just try to learn how they look and wut name they have for future fights. Its not that difficult to asociate this red flame thingy goes with the guy name "beast searer" or w/e.

Oh, and about your KB problem, try to take it easy if u concentrate and/or pay attention u will stop KB smashing. :P

[Kuldebar]

To the OP:

Your suggestion is what a lot of combat and healing mods do in World of Warcraft. These interface mods boil down the in-game 3D environment into numbers and bars that players click on to perform a set action as defined by the mod.

Guild Wars has generally shied away from being too UI heavy and they have no scripting function I am aware of to support mods or macros.

I must say the recent addition of Heroes seems to have cluttered the interface up a bit, makes me wonder if it's a sign of what they will do with the party unit frame box...

Well, I hope they don't bloat the game up too much.

I spent 2 years in WoW before I decided to dust off the un-played Guild Wars CD; it's definitely a brave new world.

[AnttiV]

well, u know that everyclass has their own spell casting animation right? eles have red light, mesmers purple, monks blue, and so on... Me and many ppl have learned how to differ each one from the other (and i dont play everyday so im no hardcore player, nor i play 6+hrs a day), specially since the day i started playing mesmers, back in the day of launch before all other visual aids were implemented. My point being, classes can be diferentiated by looks and animations (Talking bout mobs) and also they have a different name for each class. Just try to learn how they look and wut name they have for future fights. Its not that difficult to asociate this red flame thingy goes with the guy name "beast searer" or w/e.

Oh, and about your KB problem, try to take it easy if u concentrate and/or pay attention u will stop KB smashing. :P

Yeah, I know what you mean, but that wasn't the problem at hand. The problem is that I think the "skill" in Guild Wars should be just what you described (and duh, holding control shows the names, what's there exactly not to get from "Shadow Mesmer" :). Anyways, what's my point is, that the skill should be just that, when you notice a threat, you apply a skill you think (that's the real skill, to know *what* to use and *when* and to *who*) BUT it should not be trying to hit the damn 10-px-tall little red word with your mouse. I mean that skill in Guild Wars <> skill in FPS (aka. precise mouse control).

btw. I am in no way suggesting that the "enemy list" would be anything more than to aid in the selecting of the enemies. Displaying a health score wouldn't probably change that much, cause you can see them on the battlefield already. And the display really should not display what anybody is doing at that moment (skill usage), THAT would make it too easy. Simply, I just want something to help me select the one dude I want, not my teammate hitting him in the head practically standing on top of him.

What about option in alt/ctrl usage so that when you hit alt (see friendlies) you could not click on enemies and their names would NOT display when the mouse is over them and vice versa with ctrl? (would help selecting the xunlai agent in towns too when she's been mobbed by surrounding peeps.)

That way holding down ctrl (or another binding to another key?) and seeing the enemy names would allow you to click on them baddies and not accidentally select your own team's monk and try to interrupt her... :P