Change how the lobby works? | Forums

[Compassghost]

I remember one issue I had with the lobby was that it had 100 people capped, and there were multiple lobby chats.

That, and players who were red were in-game and can't read the chat, people who were yellow were AFK, and green were few and far between.

Perhaps remove players who are in-game from a lobby? Or sort based on color and then name? It just seemed kinda weird for the lobby to be sorted in such an odd fashion that made it hard to PUG FTs or meet new people.

[Freelancer852]

I think they should leave everyone in the chat, but make it so people Online (green) all show at the top of the chat, with people who are AFK (yellow) shown below, and finally the people In-Game (red) shown last. Maintain the alphabetical organization within those tiers.



We also need a serious revamp of the chat system in general. We need tabs for the chat channels, especially for individuals whispering.

[UbiSusie]

Speaking purely from a player standpoint, I like the way it is. I like being able to get into a game, play and then come back to the same channel I was in to continue any discussions going on. Sometimes my friends list was buggy and it appeared as Cortexian suggests, green first, then red, then yellow and I really didn't like it that way. Instead of scrolling through one alphabetical list (everyone), there were three lists to scroll through. I admit, because of my position, I have a very big friends list and I am looking at the idea of having to look at the chat channel the same way (if what is suggested were to happen) doesn't really appeal to me. I like the lobby channel the way it is, personally. Although a pull down list to join the other channels would be nice.

[Freelancer852]

Just make all the public channels list in the Channel List that's already in-game... Then you don't need an additional pull down or anything.

IMO, The chat system in this game should function more like an MMO and less like a shooter. Meaning that when you join a game you remain in a general chat channel that shows all chat relevant to you and the game; including whispers, public chat of the channel you're in, fireteam chat, squad chat, and match chat... Something like this:


That's just a rough draft that I threw together in Photoshop... I have an idea on how to filter the whisper tab as well.


EDIT - The individual tabs would filter their own chat only. The whisper tab would have sub-tabs for individuals that let you select exactly who you want to talk to.

Match:


Squad:


Whisper:


Fireteam would act the same, but I didn't have any screenshots of fireteam chat being used to add into my mash-up here.

[JDCAce]

I like it. Of course, there would be keybinds for each tab, yes?

[Freelancer852]

Sure, the existing ones would automatically switch you to the appropriate tab. Just need a /g (and /general).

[KegaroOne]

I don't know... To me there is already to much clutter on the screen. I like the idea, but I would hate to have a giant chat box on the screen like that.

[Freelancer852]

Yeah the scale is a bit rough. The tabs don't really match how the rest of the GUI elements are made either. You could make the whole thing smaller by combining the squad and match chat tabs if needed.

Like I said, it was just a rough draft. I'm working on redesigning the entire UI with suggestions people have had an the forums and from PUBLIC chat. IDK how it will turn out or if it will be worth showing (it DOES look better than the draft photos up top), but if I think it's an actual improvement I'll post it up.

[LiquidX74]

on the subject of improving the lobby... The current lobby drives me bloody nuts. It's so poorly laid out.

Now, I'm no artist, and certainly no game game designer, but doesn't this look better (ie: more logically laid out? Rather than having the player model on one side and the inventory on the other... Plus it lets the social aspects of the game be much more prominent than they are currently.)


Note: if I were an artist or game designer, the entire screen would be rethought. The UI team has been the subject of my ire for a long time now - but now that the game is offline, I actually made a mock up

[JDCAce]

I like the character model with the lines indicating wear the equipment sits on your person. (Not sure why the team upgrade is on the belt, though.) To expand on the idea, I would like tabs for various items in your inventory: Primary Weapons, Secondary Weapons (should they include something beside a pistol), Abilities, Armor/Headpieces, Armor Inserts, Grenades, and Ammo (should they include something beyond Magnum). Whether they include said tabs or not, it would be nice to have a "sort" button that would automatically sort inventory items by type, class, level, or something else.