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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:06 am
by juckto
TurkeyXIII wrote:QUOTE (TurkeyXIII @ Nov 23 2009, 02:48 PM) There will inevitably be people who want the lightning icon to be what newbies see when they log in, for whatever reason. As entertaining as I find the 'FAO is a dictatorship! All important decisions are made behind closed doors!' posts, you should probably make a poll.
Proposal:
Make a minor change to the next version of the
installer so that people who
download and use the installer - in other words,
just newbies - have the for a powerup icon instead of the currently used.
Reason:
We have all seen newbies fly from one powerup to another, thinking they're "leveling up" or whatever. Or we've heard them ask "What does a powerup do?". This is because a lightning bolt is confusing. A wrench is associated with mechanics, which is associated with repairing, which is kinda what the powerup does. Thus, it is more self-explanatory.
Note:
Because this change is for the
installer, NOT
automatic update, this will NOT affect anyone's current icons. You can still mod it to whatever you like.
Query:
Can you come up with a good reason why newbs should still use the lightning bolt?
"Don't fix what ain't broken" could equally have been said about FAZ R1 ...
(Posted in general for visibility)
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:24 am
by Xeretov
So if I vote no, that means "Yes please change the icon", and if I vote yes, that means "No don't bother"?
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:36 am
by Makida
"Yes" means that you can come up with a good reason why newbs should still use the lightning bolt, and "no" means that you cannot. But after reading Xeretov's reply I had to double-check again.
(I cannot... It seems like a pretty good change. The lightning bolt symbol really is confusing. (Unless you're trying to stay cloaked for as long as possible, I suppose...
))
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:46 am
by Camaro
juckto wrote:QUOTE (juckto @ Nov 22 2009, 04:06 PM) "Don't fix what ain't broken" could equally have been said about FAZ R1 ...
No its "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:20 am
by Jimen
IMO, this is a case of catastrophically misplaced priorities. The reason newbies don't know what a powerup does isn't because of the icon being confusing or something silly like that, it's because it's literally not documented anywhere at all, except the occasional forum post and perhaps Cadet II. Doing a text search of the entire wiki for the term "powerup" scores only three results - two of them dealing exclusively with what the powerup icon looks like (without explaining what the item itself does), and the third being a random buglist entry. Needless to say, that means it's not in the Learning Guide or the Academy or Cadet I or Common Newbie Errors or any of the other training material. Powerups aren't the only thing that suffer from that total lack of wiki info, either - a lot of things that newbies find hard to pick up (like accurate ripcording and ship loadouts) suffer from the same "barely mentioned at all" syndrome. I don't know if it's vets taking small things for granted or what, but as things are now, you can't expect competence even from Cadet I graduates.
Additionally, I find it ridiculous that anyone's considering changing the icon because it's too misleading. It's not the icon that's misleading, it's the name. In most other games, a powerup powers you up - in this game, however, it just refills your current fuel/ammo/energy bars (I think?). Before you change the icon, how about changing the name to something more suitable like "Refill" or something?
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:01 am
by Camaro
Or "Repair Kit" and replace it with a +, or a wrench.
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:17 am
by RealPandemonium
Jimen wrote:QUOTE (Jimen @ Nov 22 2009, 10:20 PM) IMO, this is a case of catastrophically misplaced priorities. The reason newbies don't know what a powerup does isn't because of the icon being confusing or something silly like that, it's because it's literally not documented anywhere at all, except the occasional forum post and perhaps Cadet II. Doing a text search of the entire wiki for the term "powerup" scores only three results - two of them dealing exclusively with what the powerup icon looks like (without explaining what the item itself does), and the third being a random buglist entry. Needless to say, that means it's not in the Learning Guide or the Academy or Cadet I or Common Newbie Errors or any of the other training material. Powerups aren't the only thing that suffer from that total lack of wiki info, either - a lot of things that newbies find hard to pick up (like accurate ripcording and ship loadouts) suffer from the same "barely mentioned at all" syndrome. I don't know if it's vets taking small things for granted or what, but as things are now, you can't expect competence even from Cadet I graduates.
Additionally, I find it ridiculous that anyone's considering changing the icon because it's too misleading. It's not the icon that's misleading, it's the name. In most other games, a powerup powers you up - in this game, however, it just refills your current fuel/ammo/energy bars (I think?). Before you change the icon, how about changing the name to something more suitable like "Refill" or something?
+1
ib4 edit the wiki yourself or shaddap
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:21 am
by finnbryant
Jimen makes a good point, but it doesnt change the fact that the lightning bolt doesnt make sense. the wrench is much better.
so maybe the extent of the change could be increased?
1. change icon
2. change name to refill/repair kit
3. update wiki
I would fix the wiki, except i dont know anything about "powerups" and would probably do more damage than anything.
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:03 am
by jpomailo2
juckto wrote:QUOTE (juckto @ Nov 22 2009, 07:06 PM) thinking they're "leveling up" or whatever.
Damn, is that why im still a (5)?
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:13 am
by Psychosis
i think that is a good idea, the lightening bolt doesn't really make much sense...