Help me out with my research study!

[Ryanrocker 200]

Edit: Study is now closed, thanks all for your participation!

 

Hey all! For my Human Computer Interaction class, I'm analyzing people's opinions about ARPG User Interfaces. I know everyone on the forum here is either currently playing an ARPG or has a love for the genre, so if you could take a few minutes to fill out this quick 13 question survey, I'd really appreciate it! Internet cookies available to all who participate

Edited April 11, 2014 by Ryanrocker

[Spock 271]

Oooooh, cooookies!

[Flix 5,116]

Had to stop and think about just how I like the minimap to act. In the type of games the survey is asking about, I generally want the minimap to behave as the camera does. In many ARPG's, the camera is fixed, so that minimap better not be rotating just because my char is facing another way. However in some games like Sacred 2 you can rotate the camera, and in that case there really is no proper up, down, left or right. In those cases the minimap can turn to match whatever way I'm facing (otherwise you get the strange effect of moving up/left on the screen but down/right on the minimap), and I've got the "reset camera" button if I get turned around or disoriented.

[Ryanrocker 200]

Had to stop and think about just how I like the minimap to act. In the type of games the survey is asking about, I generally want the minimap to behave as the camera does. In many ARPG's, the camera is fixed, so that minimap better not be rotating just because my char is facing another way. However in some games like Sacred 2 you can rotate the camera, and in that case there really is no proper up, down, left or right. In those cases the minimap can turn to match whatever way I'm facing (otherwise you get the strange effect of moving up/left on the screen but down/right on the minimap), and I've got the "reset camera" button if I get turned around or disoriented.

Hmm, I'll admit I did not think about that relating to the type of ARPG being played. I definitely agree, and the reason I included the map question in the first place was because I was thinking about Sacred (little bias I know ) Well it'll certainly be a point I make when I go to present my data analysis. Thanks for pointing it out

[Flix 5,116]

Really I think minimap rotation is only issue with games with camera rotation. So Sacred 1=No minimap rotation because why would it move? Sacred 2=option to rotate.

 

It seems like I always start out thinking, "I want that map fixed in place, so there's no confusion which way is north." But then time after time I find it even more disorienting to have the minimap's "up" be different from my character's on-screen "up." All I really need is a north pointer on the minimap, like a compass, and better yet, the button in Sacred 2 that resets the camera and faces it north.

 

Haha, this was the only issue in the survey where I had a nuanced thought-process. Mostly I felt very straightforward and clear about what was best (health bars, clock timers, etc.).

[chattius 2,520]

I would like to have all and decide what I use when I play. Currently I play a staff Inqui and I use camera follow to bring the enemies into the 180 degree damage angle. Normally I like fixed camera more.

 

For the health bars I quote my daughter who helps at a center for handicapped kids:

'It are just a few lines of code to make a more flexible interface. Colorblind or limited angle of view... Tools like AutoIt help them a lot - but more and more games block these tools for stupid anti-robot reasons.'

Out of experience these kids don't want all automated, but using Autoit to do different acustics beeps at certain health levels is welcome by them. Worked well with Sacred2 where you could mod your health interface to your likes.

[SX255 630]

I got stomped on the cooldown representation. All the provided methods were good. Though not having a timer makes it a bit more exciting when you are in a pickle and the last 5 sec are ambiguous.

 

And yes, lots of options to customize your menus and screens is a lot better over having NO options at all. I really hate it when a game doesn't even give me a basics "slider" for texture quality, or the ability to turn off postproccessing to save on CPU.

 

Out of experience these kids don't want all automated, but using Autoit to do different acustics beeps at certain health levels is welcome by them. Worked well with Sacred2 where you could mod your health interface to your likes.

 

Half of my deaths in ElderScrolls: Oblivion were from no visual clues that I'm about to die.

[gogoblender 3,068]

Hey all! For my Human Computer Interaction class, I'm analyzing people's opinions about ARPG User Interfaces. I know everyone on the forum here is either currently playing an ARPG or has a love for the genre, so if you could take a few minutes to fill out this quick 13 question survey, I'd really appreciate it! Internet cookies available to all who participate

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1R5IVI4HeEPTf9UORHAiAXSpN3lpYDytBaah1X18SAcg/viewform

And, done!

This has so much bearing on so much of my life Ryan, lol, it seems like I'm looking at displays like this too much

Great new avatar too sir!

 

gogo

[Ryanrocker 200]

Wow, in only 19 hours I got 642 respondents after posting to the Path of Exile reddit as well as here. Guess I have a lot of data now xD. Study is now closed, thanks for everyone who filled out a survey

 

I got stomped on the cooldown representation. All the provided methods were good. Though not having a timer makes it a bit more exciting when you are in a pickle and the last 5 sec are ambiguous.

Mind if I quote you in the report on this SX? Really like your take on not having a timer

[SX255 630]

Wow, in only 19 hours I got 642 respondents after posting to the Path of Exile reddit as well as here. Guess I have a lot of data now xD. Study is now closed, thanks for everyone who filled out a survey

 

I got stomped on the cooldown representation. All the provided methods were good. Though not having a timer makes it a bit more exciting when you are in a pickle and the last 5 sec are ambiguous.

Mind if I quote you in the report on this SX? Really like your take on not having a timer

Go right ahead. It will only lead to making better games in the future

[Dragon Brother 619]

I came to do this now it's the weekend and you've closed it, sorry I couldn't help!

[Ryanrocker 200]

I came to do this now it's the weekend and you've closed it, sorry I couldn't help!

No worries, I did not pace myself at all for this and the submission deadline was tonight so I had to stop all the incoming data. Was getting a bit overwhelmed haha

[Dragon Brother 619]

Haha last minute stuff. Gotta love uni. I'm so glad I finished end of last year.

 

At least you got plenty of useful data!

[Spock 271]

Well, he got plenty of data. It's up to him to make it useful.

[Ryanrocker 200]

Well, he got plenty of data. It's up to him to make it useful.

Well said indeed