Hating the new market interface so far...
By
AgentMountaineer,
Posted on: 2010-05-04 18:46 in The Market and Inventions
Am also not a fan of the new interface. So far the only positive to it is that it no longer crashes CoH by trying to load EVERYTHING upon launch. But that plus comes with a whole bunch of negatives.
It's nice that Recipies/Enhancements are sorted alphabetically, except for the 'Other' category being stuck in the middle of the list- back to the top, please.
The fact that selecting a category in the left hand tree doesnt narrow down search results- I can't search for Acc/End within a specific category anymore, now I have to sort through ALL the Acc/Ends in existance.
Really hate the vertical slots, they take up far too much space to not display enough info.
it's UGLY!
It requires more input to achieve the same results as the old interface.
When placing bids, there's no obvious feedback that your bid has been placed.
I'm actually one of the few people who like the persistant amounts in the bid field, but I can definitely see that being something that needs to be optional.
I'm trying to to react just out of "It's new, therefore it sucks", but my overall impression is disappointment, frustration, and confusion. If the option to go back to the old interface was there, I'd definitely stick with it, even with the threat of it occasionally crashing CoH.
Also, on a similar note, the feature to warn us if were selling Salvage that can be used in a recipe we own was a ncie idea, but apparently they didnt fix it to not count memorized recipies, so thats a new feature that lasted all of 30 seconds on my Characters.
I'm going to offer up three simple suggestions that I think could really improve the usability of the new interface. Others may disagree. 
1. When you're clicked into a numerical entry field (e.g., Enter Price or Bid fields), typing the escape key clears the field entirely, but leaves your insertion point there. This would make it easier to get rid of the previous bid or price, which isn't always (or even often) useful.
2. When you're clicked into a numerical entry field, typing the tab key advances you to the next such field, from left to right, and then from top listing to lower listing. This makes it easier to change the number of items to bid on after entering the price, without needing to click in that tiny "X_" field.
3. When you search for a string in the market, you can use the "&" to separate string you wish to match with and "and" operator; e.g., "Recipes & PBAoE Damage & Dam/End". This would find all recipes for PBAoE Damage that have Dam/End in their names.
I think it would be a step towards getting the usability the old interface had back.
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this please
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Originally Posted by lukewarmdog
Classic option pls.
kthx. |
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I wasn't in the very beginning of beta, but I was in there. As far as I can tell, it went something like this:|
Originally Posted by Nitra
Not sure how something like this goes down, if it's the devs saying ok, we are changing this period, and here you go... or do they talk to the people that have to use this and find out what is the best way to go about this... most likely not the latter....
Not sure if things like this are talked about during beta testing... if not then maybe a steering committee might be the way to go, to better get a feel of how the populace with feel about certain direction the game is going towards sort of like a focus group if you may.... feedback is always a great tool |
1. Everyone agrees that the market UI could be better.
2. Players post some specific suggestions here and on the suggestions forums.
3. Devs ignore them and come up with their own ideas.
4. Devs completely rewrite the UI in accordance with their own ideas.
5. When it's about half done, they open beta and let people interact with it.
6. Everyone says "ugh!"
7. They keep doing the work they were going to do anyhow to improve it.
8. People make reasonable and concrete suggestions to make it less bad.
9. The devs implement some of those suggestions (it really was much worse before!)
10. It goes live!
That's what it looked like to me. There was a long thread in the beta forums, very similar to this one really. And the devs really were very responsive, and they clearly made changes based directly on the feedback received during beta. Still, this is what we wound up with.
I agree that the old UI could stand to be improved, and I can understand why sometimes it's better to start over from scratch than continue to tweak a messed up jumble of code, but I wish they had done a better job with the basic design and I wish they had made the time to finish it up and polish it properly.
Avatar: "Cheeky Jack O Lantern" by dimarie
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I did this last night and ended up buying a common I/O for 15 million because I forgot to reset the price and just plugged in my bid and hit enter without looking like I have done since 2 weeks after the markets opened for business
| Finally, the persistent last inf bid is dangerous. If you're buying a bunch of stuff, go low to high. Last thing you want to do is bid 100M on a purp recipe, then decide to buy a Inanimate Carbon Rod and forget to reset the price. Wipe the last bid price please, or at least give us the option to. |
I miss the color coding: A grey item meant it was stored. Green meant an outstanding bid. Bright green meant bought. Blue meant an item was posted for sale. Bright blue meant sold.
Sure, there are tabs that sort stuff but I like to be able to take it all in at a glance. I want to use the All tab to see how everything on my character is doing. Using the various tabs doesn't let me simultaneously monitor how multiple bids, stores, and sales are doing.
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Most of the forum goers in the closed beta test also stated that they did not like the current design for what it's worth. As mentioned above many suggestions were made and the devs did improve on what they had but they were going to go forward with this design regardless of what the beta testers said |
Originally Posted by Nitra
Not sure how something like this goes down, if it's the devs saying ok, we are changing this period, and here you go... or do they talk to the people that have to use this and find out what is the best way to go about this... most likely not the latter....
Not sure if things like this are talked about during beta testing... if not then maybe a steering committee might be the way to go, to better get a feel of how the populace with feel about certain direction the game is going towards sort of like a focus group if you may.... feedback is always a great tool |
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I am furiously indifferent to the new market, for now. I havent done any major botches, yet. I move a lot of common IOs (Im a small business kinda fella, but I want for nothing), so I like the remember price feature, but dont like it when Im trying to buy salvage.
I guess I just adjusted to the new market interface by spending a few more minutes at the market being careful. There are holes in the design that you will fall into if you arent careful. And while that might not be a big deal for some, (a person trying the market for the first time, or coming back for the very first time) if a person hits one of those holes, that'll be their justification for "blah blah market sucks blah blah, I was right blah blah."
All told, (in this thread especially) the new market is running mild all over CoX, I am furiously indifferent to it, and will continue that mindset into the forseeable future.
(tl;dr WHATCHA GONNA DO, BROTHER, WHEN MARKET MANIA RUNS MILD ON YOU?)
"And I swear to effing god, that community is .01% nethergoat-level smart and 99.99% completely fascinating varieties of turd-licking idiots" -Talen Lee
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Okay, I have reservations about the market interface too. |
Originally Posted by peterpeter
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3. Devs ignore them and come up with their own ideas. |
But this is just BS.
Several of the things you see in the market interface are a DIRECT result of suggestions for improvement that were made during beta. While I'm not a huge fan of the new interface, it's still MUCH improved from what was seen under closed beta.
The devs are NOT ignoring people and they ARE trying to be accommodating with the new interface. Simply because all changes don't materialize instantly doesn't mean they aren't listening.
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Thanks for reading his entire post.
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Okay, I have reservations about the market interface too.
But this is just BS. Several of the things you see in the market interface are a DIRECT result of suggestions for improvement that were made during beta. While I'm not a huge fan of the new interface, it's still MUCH improved from what was seen under closed beta. The devs are NOT ignoring people and they ARE trying to be accommodating with the new interface. Simply because all changes don't materialize instantly doesn't mean they aren't listening. |
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Hey, I think I knew that guy! One of my friends roomed with him in college.
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Originally Posted by Fusion_7
cheap Inanimate Carbon Rob
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Shame everything else does |
Originally Posted by Vermain
I like it because it doesn't randomly crash CoH for some reason anymore.
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Back on topic though, I actually like the new system. It doesnt lag as much at BM with all the noob mms standing around with all there pets out spamming powers just to annoy people.
As with any new system, theres going to be issues with it until it gets sorted out but you know as well as I do what the devs are like, if its functioning and isnt exploitable, it isnt a priority so expect it to take a while. *points at ITF 'Lag Alley'*
The only annoying part now is the pig squeel noise demons make every two seconds around BM it makes me want to mute the game after about 10 seconds.
Well... that and the fact the servers gone to crap since the 'update'
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Hyperstrike, note the emphasis. At first, the Devs did ignore us. Then only after the original CrapSammich of their new UI was thrust in their faces did they actually start listening to us.
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Originally Posted by peterpeter
I wasn't in the very beginning of beta, but I was in there. As far as I can tell, it went something like this:
1. Everyone agrees that the market UI could be better. 2. Players post some specific suggestions here and on the suggestions forums. 3. Devs ignore them and come up with their own ideas. 4. Devs completely rewrite the UI in accordance with their own ideas. 5. When it's about half done, they open beta and let people interact with it. 6. Everyone says "ugh!" 7. They keep doing the work they were going to do anyhow to improve it. 8. People make reasonable and concrete suggestions to make it less bad. 9. The devs implement some of those suggestions (it really was much worse before!) 10. It goes live! That's what it looked like to me. There was a long thread in the beta forums, very similar to this one really. And the devs really were very responsive, and they clearly made changes based directly on the feedback received during beta. Still, this is what we wound up with. I agree that the old UI could stand to be improved, and I can understand why sometimes it's better to start over from scratch than continue to tweak a messed up jumble of code, but I wish they had done a better job with the basic design and I wish they had made the time to finish it up and polish it properly. |
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Not a big fan of the new market UI either.
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I agree on this.|
Originally Posted by DrMike2000
This reminds me of Windows Vista, or the changes to recent versions of Word.
The old interface worked fine for me, the new one's clunkier and uglier. |
I don't see how hard it would have been to do some tweaking to the old interface to allow it to:
- Keep persistent bid amounts
- show salvage you need for a recipe
- show recipes for salvage you have.
What the new interface accomplished:
- Keep persistent bid amounts
- show salvage you need for a recipe
- show recipes for salvage you have.
- annoyed a lot of players
- made it harder to find non-IO set enhances
- made it harder to find non-IO set recipes
- made it impossible to see everything you had going on in the market at once.
- changed the radio buttons for showing sell and buy so that when selecting both button it is now shows "has items for sale AND has bids for item" (instead of "has items for sale and/or has bids for items" as it did previously)
One more for "don't like".
Searching hasn't been an issue, although I liked when the "other" recipes tab was at the top--or bottom...w/e. I do like using the "find" button from my inventory, it makes it easier to dertermine list prices on some postings.
BUT. I *hate* the lack of a "tab-able" interface. Crazy though it may seem, I sometimes want *more* than one of something. I now have to click over into the teeeny lil window, BACKSPACE, and retype. Also, when making a purchase, I like to creep up w/ lowball bids. With the persistent bid action going on (and no tab), this process is made woefully tedious.
Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
Just quit in disgust over the new market UI (no, not the game, just the session).
Aaaarrghh ... I hate it! 
Disappearing bids, the find button behind the item transaction history, a clogged screen, items "jumping" from one tab to the next (not a bug, but either I jump through the tabs in search for the item or I need a spyglass to find it in the All section because they removed the color coding), etc... it's (to express my true feelings atm I would need many four letter words ... *takes a deep breath* ... still mad, but I'll behave) ... it's really really horrible.
After my latest market experience I would even take the old UI back if it had a 100% chance to crash CoH every time I load the market data for the first time in the session.
Heh, yeah, that sucks too, but I've seperated (in my mind at least) the problems with the market performance and the problems with the market interface. Hopefully the performance will improve soon as those issues are even worse than the baffling lack of tab functionality.
Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
1) I want colors as shown above
2) I want to search within categories/within other searches
3) I want an option to disable persistent bids.
New MS word about sums it up for me. Not an improvement and needlessly different for the sole purpose of making customers relearn ingrained actions.
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Originally Posted by Smurphy
1) I want colors as shown above 2) I want to search within categories/within other searches 3) I want an option to disable persistent bids. |
- I want to be able to search for "For Sale OR Bidding" at the same time.
- I want the "other" categories back to the top or sorted into their own lists (Temporary Powers, Costume Recipes, Generic IO)
- I want All the stuff you listed too!
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I'm a player who usually goes with the flow because it's I'm just here to enjoy the game. A few nerfs to powers or whatever doesn't affect so long as I get to play with my friends. |
Originally Posted by Soliton_Wave
New market hurts my brain.
The only thing I find useful about it now is the find all salvage options. The rest of it just makes me all uuhhhhhgggg. Not sure if its a viable option or not to allow players to switch between market modes. i.e current / old style UI modes |
That being said, I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE NEW CRAPPY AUCTION HOUSE INTERFACE. I've said it, the UI design is sheer utter crap. It makes no intuitive sense. In fact, it goes so completely against the first Auction House UI that you get so easily confused and make mistakes.
So many times now I thought I was selling instead I was bidding. You can't just place a recipe in the slot now and see how many people are bidding and what the history is. The colors are painful to look at and gives me a headache. The font is way too big and you have to enlarge the display completely to get your information.
Nobody clamored for a complete overhaul of the Auction House. What was the improvement??? Terrible, sloppy, unintutive design. Everything else UI wise in the game is nice and clear. Congrats, now I don't even want to go to the auction house at all.
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I want color coded buttons:|
Originally Posted by Djeannie
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- blue buttons when getting Inf from sold items or posted bids
- red buttons when cancelling posted sales
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That is twice today I have had a moment of panic because the interface had a weird burp and I thought I'd sold something I wanted to keep (A purple and a Kinetic Combat triple, so that would have been bad).
[conspiracy theory] You know, those "high listing fee" warning are obviously not designed for people throwing around billions of inf...maybe the intent is to make the market more friendly to the casual player by forcing the rich to pay too much and sell for too little due to typing too fast, market burps, or minute disturbances in the Force? We don't want to spread the wealth, so they're going to force us? [/conspiracy theory]
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There is clearly something seriously wrong with the market interface. I watched my steps VERY carefully this time to be certain I did not make a mistake the first time this happened.
This time, I had a Numina:Heal recipe sitting on the market, dropped an enhancement onto the market. Clearly clicked on the price box for the enhancement and entered a price of 5.5 million. Very carefully clicked on the Post button, double checking to be sure it was, in fact, the Post button for the enhancement, and watched in disgust as the Numina recipe posted and instantly sold instead of the enhancement.
This is absolutely unacceptable. I am now completely afraid to even touch the market. This time it was a fairly inexpensive item, and a loss of only a few million. I've got a fair number of purples and PvP IO's sitting around, and there is no way I'm placing any of them on the market under the current conditions.