Let it Flow - About PoE's User Experience

Large review of original post & first addendum completed :)

Thanks for your comments guys!
Get at me in game @Jyyn

Do you like feedback? http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/355307/page/1
Re: Scrolls and clicking

I think Ctrl + Right click could be a good solution, as Ctrl seems to be the method of choice for these sort of shortcuts in the game, and I believe that combination currently isn't used for anything else (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
Awesome, well thought out

Did you know adding an open square bracket to any post terminates said post at that bracket?
Now i do!
IGN: Kulde
Last edited by Yxalitis on Apr 28, 2013, 5:43:26 AM
Awesome, well thought out post.
On selling to the vendor I have previously suggested:
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/285630

Why not make the vendor stack items in his inventory in the exact same location they are in yours, that way it will always fit, no matter what, every time.


Whenever you sell a stack of gear to the vendor, their inventor screen fills up the same way yours does when you are playing ie: start top left, move down that column, then shift right until you either fit the item, or fail to find room.

This can end up with you running out of room if you sell stuff out of order, which you can do because you want to keep some id'ed items.

This requires you to either revisit him, and sell the last pieces separately, which is not ideal if you are using recipes, or cancel the trade and start again.

Making this change would eliminate that.
IGN: Kulde
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unkempt wrote:
Re: Scrolls and clicking
I think Ctrl + Right click could be a good solution [...]


As you said yourself, this combination isn't in use anywhere else in the interface - since the objective of a change would be to simplify and homogenize the interactivity, it seems this would be counter to the goal. How would a new player learn of the existence of this shortcut, and why not make it as intuitive as possible instead?


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Yxalitis wrote:
Awesome, well thought out post.
On selling to the vendor I have previously suggested:
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/285630


Agreed, this can be irritating and has happened to me quite a few times.

Another simple solution to this would be to give the vendor more inventory space by default... he's a merchant, after all, this is what the guy does for a living for crying out loud!

Get at me in game @Jyyn

Do you like feedback? http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/355307/page/1
Last edited by Phoobrak on Apr 28, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
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Phoobrak wrote:
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unkempt wrote:
Re: Scrolls and clicking
I think Ctrl + Right click could be a good solution [...]


As you said yourself, this combination isn't in use anywhere else in the interface - since the objective of a change would be to simplify and homogenize the interactivity, it seems this would be counter to the goal. How would a new player learn of the existence of this shortcut, and why not make it as intuitive as possible instead?

RTFM?

How should a new player learn about just right clicking onto an unidentified item? At some point you either have to figure stuff out or put it into a tooltip or suchlike.
For example I found out about placing stuff in the stash or the vendor screen by using strg + click (don't even know now whether right or left - doing it automatically without thinking) by myself. Just tried a few combinations and, well, strg and alt (and perhaps shift) are the only keys that are commonly used for such interactions.
Anyway, I don't really care, but I hate when people get all perfectionist/ pedantic about such rather little problems.
Bird lover of Wraeclast
Las estrellas te iluminan - Hoy te sirven de guía
Te sientes tan fuerte que piensas - que nadie te puede tocar
"
Phoobrak wrote:
Quite correct with the "activation" comment, and I agree that making this consistent throughout the interface is crucial. Would you agree, however, that right-clicking an item would feel similar to "activating" or "using" an item, in this sense the item being the actual unidentified piece of gear which in essence is being "activated"? If not, can you see any other ways of making the identification process quicker?

One of my ideas from the original post was to create special interface slots for Portal and Wisdom scrolls, with bindable keys. This would in essence remove at least the first click of the action, while retaining the "I'm using this effect on this item" feel of the two-step action. For example, I've bound my "H" key to Wisdom scrolls in my action keys at the bottom, open my inventory, hit H then click on an unidentified item, using up a scroll. Added speed and practicality, no loss of feeling of interactivity!


Nope I can't see any other ways of making the ID process quicker.


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Well this is news to me. What is the proposed method, if any, for resetting zones? If there is no reset option for instances, what does the expected gameplay flow look like after it is removed? Are we to believe people will be jumping from instance to instance, Diablo 3 style, for their entire play session?


Well I thought I read that somewhere but I couldn't find a source. So I'll just leave it at that.


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This is an interesting comment! The first thing to say here is that reading order has nothing to do with aesthetics, and more to do with how brains, through repeated use and education, are hardwired with a certain logic for reading direction. Going against the grain will inevitably give a certain sense of discomfort which breaks up a user's flow.

Do you have an example of a game (or application/website) where the maximal-packing-order logic is applied? I've never personally witnessed it, so it might not be as jarring as the current method in use in PoE - I'd be curious to experiment with it, if you can point me towards a working example.


Well I was thinking of heuristics that simply reduce the chance of collision. For instance, items which are 3 units or taller fill in along the top row, items that are 2 units or shorter fill in along the bottom row (or underneath something else if it can perfectly pack 5 tile columns spanning its width); items that are 1 unit wide fill in from the left, items that are 2 units wide fill in from the right. Diablo 2 worked a little like this. Usually when you couldn't pick up an item, reorganizing would not help (not perfect of course). POE I play a lot more Inventory Tetris because the heuristic is less effective.
Last edited by PolarisOrbit on Apr 28, 2013, 4:51:33 PM
Thanks for this in-depth feedback, I bookmarked it for later use. I expect that several of the things touched upon will be adjusted.
Omnitect of Wraeclast
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Phoobrak wrote:
You bring up an interesting point: resetting an instance from inside said instance (using World panel, say) sounds wrong. Your use of the word "wrong" is what interests me here - can you elaborate on what you're referring to?

To me, resetting an instance from inside said instance sounds 'wrong' in the sense of 'sawing off the tree-branch you're sitting on'. Resetting an instance you're not in feels safer, if only because there's no chance of getting pulled along for the ride when that instance gets swept into oblivion.

Thinking logically about it from a software development point of view, both situations involve constructing a new instance, inserting my character, and commencing simulation, so there's probably not problem with such a scheme. Still, as a UX designer you probably know better than most that humans tend to follow the interface metaphor they're presented with even when it doesn't fit the facts. :)
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Erik wrote:
Thanks for this in-depth feedback, I bookmarked it for later use. I expect that several of the things touched upon will be adjusted.


... That's it? This guy types out some of the most comprehensive, non-whiny, helpful feedback ever seen on this forum, and the official GGG response is the equivalent of "Wow, saved."

I understand there's a lot of useless noise in this forum from disgruntled users, and I wouldn't expect an in-depth reply to each and every thread, but this is a slap in the face to the community. What's the point of Phoobrak typing all this up if it's just going to get a half-hearted pat on the back? That doesn't exactly encourage detailed feedback in the future. It would take less than 5 minutes to just type up a single sentence in reply to each point brought up.


Ranting aside, excellent feedback, Phoobrak. I definitely want to second vendor frustrations and replying to PMs as major annoyances in the UI design. My friends and I have all but given up on communicating using the god-awful in-game chat.

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