|
Its been awhile since I've really had an issue with how Blizzard has done things in terms of quality. But the visual implementationof how chat channels are being added on the PTR and this next patch has gotten me a bit concerned.
For those who haven't had time to check it out yet, chat channels are basically going to be "Party Chat" type IM boxes just slightly larger. Although this in theory works similarly, it seems rather cheap, and seems like an afterthought and does not really promote the idea of a "place to hang out" which is the primary reason chat channels are being requested.
Current PTR chat rooms
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/889/bigchatroom.th.png) Photo courtesy of Killerducky, thanks.
Vs. a more classic style portrayed in MSpaint
+ Show Spoiler +
Even such a simple concept like this is far and beyond the functionality and more user friendly than the proposed chat so far in the PTR. Bnet 2.0 has done a fantastic job as far as improving the friends list and personal IM chat options. But chat rooms should not be a small extension of this, as it makes even chat rooms seem unfriendly and isolated. Rather than a main area or hangout type design that was present in previous games.
Would like to keep the current setup as an option to move or view chat rooms in a PM style box to allow chatting while doing other things. But would also like a standard chat UI area with full chat and mod functionality, which I think has more of a community feel to it and less isolated than PM box style chat.
I don't want to jump into a "omg activision is forcing them to push cheap crap out" flame war. But the quality of some things has fallen below the bar of expectation lately in my opinion. I know in the big picture this is a relatively small issue, but it did cause a raised eyebrow from me, and I'm curious to see how others are feeling about this. So please /discuss
*edit details* + Show Spoiler +Edited to allow for discussion to focus on the topic freely without being caught up in so far, non-relevant issues. Also reworded to come across as more of a discussion and less of a criticism.
|
For those who haven't had time to check it out yet, myself included
Might want to do that.
Because your awesome MS paint job seems to be basically the same thing they did but bigger?
Seems to me the channels were attempting to flow within the setup that already existed on b.net. And to be honest, all they need to be is a place you can :
A- Join
B- Create channels if needed
C- Chat in with other people who join
What more do you want? If it accomplishes the above works for me. What ground breaking things were people expecting out of chat channels?
|
That it is not really a backdrop and an just a bigger party chat style thing. Which is something that could be combined with the above example even, but a normal style chat room like shown above feels far better in my opinion. And just adding it in a party style chat just seemed a weak way to add it.
As far as functionality, yea its basically the same. But the presentation is lost imo, and it just may be my opinion which is why im curious how others feel about it. But im really not a fan of what was added.
|
It may be nostalgia talking her but I kind of agree with the OP. I really hoped they'd make the b.net 2.0 chat rooms similar to original b.net chat rooms both in size and function.
|
I was also taken aback by the fact that channels took place in a box and not a full screen as shown in your mspaint. Then I realized that it doesn't really matter, and if it does really matter then you can literally drag the box to take up the room you desire and it would look exactly like your image.
Seems like you're making mountains out of mole hills. We're finally getting chat channels and you're upset that it is an overlay instead of a replacement for the other menus? Personally I'm glad I can check out profiles (etc) while chatting.
I repeat: At first I shared your distaste for the way they look. After a moment or two I realized that in practice it is actually better (or even identical if you so choose). Attacking the quality w/o actually looking at the channels yourself is shortsighted. You even pulled the "A-word" card.
EDIT: Tested it just now and you can't actually quite get the chat box as large as in your MSpaint example, but it is about 80% of the size.
|
I wish they would just copy the wc3 chat channels or starcraft 1 chat channels. Those worked so well and flowed nicely.
|
personally I think chat will only feel unrestricted if there is a way to quickly go through parts of battlenet with hotkeys and some sort of 'Alt-Tab' feature.
|
I think the chat rooms are fine and serve it's purpose. You can easy enlarge the windows if you wanted to. I only expected from chat rooms to not be lonely in sc2 anymore and having just played 2 days with chat rooms I would say that the new channels have definitely served that purpose. I don't really feel it is a cheap addon or anything like that and I think rather that it fits in well with the design of b.net 2.0. Just my opinion.
|
It fits the look of bnet, works fine, and is generally awesome. Will be a great addition to the game.
Some mod options would be nice, but you can make private channels, so don't invite idiots I guess.
|
On December 06 2010 10:54 VonLego wrote:
I was also taken aback by the fact that channels took place in a box and not a full screen as shown in your mspaint. Then I realized that it doesn't really matter, and if it does really matter then you can literally drag the box to take up the room you desire and it would look exactly like your image.
Seems like you're making mountains out of mole hills. We're finally getting chat channels and you're upset that it is an overlay instead of a replacement for the other menus? Personally I'm glad I can check out profiles (etc) while chatting.
I repeat: At first I shared your distaste for the way they look. After a moment or two I realized that in practice it is actually better (or even identical if you so choose). Attacking the quality w/o actually looking at the channels yourself is shortsighted. You even pulled the "A-word" card.
I just mentioned that I have not personally looked at them for the purpose of honesty and completeness of my post in case there was things i was unaware of. So far nobody has mentioned any of that, and it is exactly as described. Tbh, I do not think its required to see it first hand to fully understand what they have done with the chat channels. Its a pretty simple concept, that can be comprehended without going into the PTR. So unless I am missing something from not actually seeing it, which does not seem to be the case so far, this is a weak argument for people to keep citing.
Secondly, I am not making mountains out of mole hills. In fact in my post I agree and stated its a small issue. But the fact that there were no chat channels originally, and after a huge demand for it they seem cheaply thrown in there, it thought it was at least worth discussing.
Also, I agree its nice to have the option of making a PM box out of the chat rooms to do other things, and that functionality can 100% stay, and I hope it would, while also creating an older-style more complete chat area.
|
The chat rooms will be fine. The travesty is how long it took to get them.
|
I think it's fine, Blizzard should just be on top of the popular private channels and promote them (put them on a list like the public chans), also increase chat channel size to an infinite amount or allow more chat customization like IRC with user limits, passwords, etc.
|
/agree with Grond. I thought they had some "cool new ideas" for chat rooms? Isn's that why they needed 3 months to get them out? How on earth did this take three months to add?
|
What's wrong with this:
|
Shouldn't it be pretty easy to customize the menu to look like that?
|
There is nothing "wrong" with it. This is simply a discussion on style and implementation. I think that is a perfect way to add a PM style chat functionality so you may do other things if you wish. But lacks the feel of traditional chat rooms imo. Its all taste I suppose, but I feel just having the current style and not making a standard chat area seems incomplete.
|
a new shirt came out, I haven't bought it yet, but from the pictures it doesn't look that good
I propose that they add more colors to make it look better
do you see the problem with the example i just gave?
go test it first before complaining about it
and to your point about making a better setup in 2 minutes in paint
drawing a chat setup does not equal coding/testing/releasing a new chat setup
|
How is it possible for them to screw up something as simple as chat rooms? They had this back in 1998 and even before that with warcraft and diablo...come on...
|
On December 06 2010 11:25 my0s wrote:
There is nothing "wrong" with it. This is simply a discussion on style and implementation. I think that is a perfect way to add a PM style chat functionality so you may do other things if you wish. But lacks the feel of traditional chat rooms imo. Its all taste I suppose, but I feel just having the current style and not making a standard chat area seems incomplete.
There are plenty of things wrong with chat channels. No time stamps and no functionality. (eg. moderation, basic commands to add/remove/ignore/view player stats,ect
|
On December 06 2010 11:28 awu25 wrote:
a new shirt came out, I haven't bought it yet, but from the pictures it doesn't look that good
I propose that they add more colors to make it look better
do you see the problem with the example i just gave?
go test it first before complaining about it
and to your point about making a better setup in 2 minutes in paint
drawing a chat setup does not equal coding/testing/releasing a new chat setup
This has actually already been discussed like 4 posts up. Try reading the thread before making a post with weak and already covered points.
And nowhere did I say I somehow codded and implemented this chat through MSpaint in 2 min, I said it was a better design imo. Blizz has plenty of staff that could code simple things like that very easily, its not even an issue as far as I can see.
Finally, this is a discussion on what was added, not an opportunity for you to try and flame with some weakly thought up, out of context rant.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT![[image loading]](http://img823.imageshack.us/i/bigchatroom.png/)
![[image loading]](http://img139.imageshack.us/i/sc2chat.jpg/)
