Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Is there any client redesign planned ? any improvements for the UX in the pipeline? It's a great game but with the UX falls short of widespread best practices that have become standard across systems, devices and platforms.

An interface can have a simple introductory presentation and allow for customization and the addition or evolution introducing complexity more gradually would allow more players to connect with the game.

From a UX standpoint, the interface with so many top level buttons on the left is very cumbersome as is Intermingling of the buttons that open windows with the those that open full screen activities. This static iconographic -only large set of buttons that require roll over to see descriptive words as the top level 'menu' of the interface is functional but it's fundamentally where UX problems start. I'm not saying it should be taken away but new players in particular should not see it! I understand that all the features are highly integrated but some sensible hierarchy, or separate contexts for the activities would vastly improve the experience.

One of the worst buttons on the left is the tree of ships that replaces gameplay in the background. This is a tree diagram with tiny representations of ships. It replaces the beautiful state of the art rendering in the context of an abstract graphic that has very low visual impact and poor information content, and leaves all of the other information panels active in front of it. This multidimensionality problematic and while functional leaves me as someone that knows how to design and execute beautiful interfaces perplexed. A more successful interface would integrate information about skills, ships , market prices, factions, and manufacturers and bring these together in a showcase of beautiful modeling and rendering. Many things come to mind about how to better approach this part.

The pilot model created at the start has no real role in game play, or player to player interaction. Simply adding station lobby prehaps some with a lounge, would be a great addition.

The game 4k
There is plenty of screen to get the recommended specs in 1/4 of the screen. The interface feels severely piled and scattered especially on 4k. Having an option to show the 3d game play in a pane of the main window with data in other panes would be such a relief.

One overall solution would be to replace the top level interface with a concept of Views. Each view would have a constant control to switch between open views, close views and open new ones. A primary starting view would be a welcome screen with only part of it having an in game location-based theme.
Having a "View" based interface would allow a new UX to incorporate the traditional interface. A traditional view with the data windows piled onto the gameplay and the buttons on the left would be a "Data-Overlay" type of View.
Other views might have hierarchal sets of choices, and be based on panes instead of draggable windows. Each pane would display data or an activity with an internal resource URI. An API would make possible shareable widgets, and activities with plug-ins. Finally a set of common activities would evolve from game play and add to "common views" suggested when a player opens a new view. Each view would have a separate set of open data windows and they would not inter-operate. One set of data would be 'closed' and another set opened when each view is switched, but each view would be static and persist between play times. The only change with the traditional interface would be that it would open the ship tree, hopefully improved in a new independent view.

Anyway just the ability to rearrange tab order freely like you can on a web browser, and SAVE and RECALL, sets of tabs would be two small relieving improvements.

DUST has a much better UX. Maybe EVE could benefit from that ?

This post puts the UX into the UXB

If you even had a clue with regards to the history and context surrounding what you are suggesting here I think that you would not be bringing it up. Suffice it to say that what you suggest here is an extremely touchy subject.

In general just judging by your comments I am going to say that Eve is not a game for you. Also judging by your post I'm going to guess that you have already figured that out for yourself.

Eve is very much different from other games. Most of us are here because of that and not in spite of it.

From time to time we get players coming in here saying how Eve could be so much better if it were just more like every other game out there that are all clones of each other. I find the difference of Eve refreshing and what keeps me coming back.

There are plenty of games out there designed around the playstyle that you suggest here, probably most other games actually.

Sigh, non popular acronyms should always follow their description.

The UI has been undergoing refinement over a decade. Some of the problems you mention aren't even problems, they are advantages.

Anyway, there is a suggestion function. File your suggestion, with actual suggestions. You think you can design a more beautiful and logical layout then design a better layout and submit it as a suggestion.

You can change the tab order. So maybe a lot of your problem is you're too busy criticizing the interface and not spending enough time learning it. If you don't like the "ship tree" button. You can remove it. Generally, you shouldn't be messing with something like that when you're flying in space anyway. Some thing are best done in station.

Most of your suggestions are awful. The last thing I need is a separate window of space that could accidentally be minimized in the middle of combat.

This is NQ&A so I won't tell you what I really think.

Uhhh... not to sound too dumb... but could someone give me a "laymen's translation" of the OP?

I could not understand more than two-thirds of it.

I'll try:

I read this as: "Eve is not a WoW clone like every other MMO out there."

I read this as: "WoW allows third party add-ons and game breaking macros for everything under the sun why can't Eve"

I read this as: "I think graphics are more important that gameplay so I think the CCP should drop the pursuit of engaging game play and chase after superior aesthetics like so many failed games that have come and gone." Note to the OP chess and backgammon have both been around for thousands of years and are both widely played. Neither of them has good graphics.

The OP went on to comment on a view's based UI and I currently work in view's based programming UI for my job and would like to say that different people's brains work different ways and the view's based UI does not work for everyone. Just because you like it does not mean that everything on the planet should be made that way.

sure:

* troll
* rant
* whine
* Walking in station suggestion number 54.854.843.584.484.469 (aka nothing new)
* Dust

I'm going to hazard a guess at "user experience"

You know...that thing they talk about in themepark MMOs

So he wants to turn our UI into a large power point presentation then?

You have to make the interface your own! Drag and resize windows to your preference while you're doing whatever it is you enjoy doing in the game. Watch Eve Online gameplay with youtube or twitch and see how the other players are doing it. My own UI is based off what I've seen Johnny Pew and suitonia have..

Same for the Neocom.