I think this UI update has been absolute garbage; I'd prefer if MindArk were to implement a Legacy UI option. Here's what HASN'T been fixed.
* Most importantly, before the UI update, the game did not run Always On Top. What I mean by this is, I run the game in Windowed Mode, and I have Chrome running on a separate monitor. If I were to hover the mouse over the Chrome window in the second monitor and scroll down, the game running on the other monitor will zoom the camera in and out. It was not like this before. I've tried finding any sort of workaround, I'm at a complete loss. The only way to prevent the mouse wheel from scrolling is to click a blank area of the desktop, or click within Chrome itself, or else scrolling the mouse wheel when the mouse cursor isn't actively hovering over the program causes the camera to zoom. So annoying!
* In your friend's list, you can no longer see when the last time a player logged on was. Why remove this feature?
* In Space, the only way to move the ship's healthbar when clicking on the L (edit UI) function is to drag the Progress bar on top of the Command Center bar until it "sticks". Then, and only then, can you drag the ship's health bars around. Why is it like this, when nothing else in the UI has this problem?
* On the topic of health bars, sure, having a # cooresponding with each station's health is, admittedly, more intel. But do you ever think that it's a bit much? We all know that 0% doesn't technically mean 0%, it really just means <1%. Honestly, I find the teal color offputting, I preferred having the HP bars with the red-to-green color pallete. When it's all one solid color, it really distracts your eyes from the action because instead of seeing a color out of the corner of your eye, you have to actively be paying attention to all 4 #'s. Not to mention, this update takes up MORE screen real estate on your UI, *not* less!
* Speaking of, why did Force chat get changed from a bright red, to a reddish pink?
* I swear, when you go to your Message Center, there is less text available to view per Conversation now, than there was before. Guys, at most, you're looking at 9 lines of text, that's a lot of scrolling. Just... wow. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of reading a message, by making the box so darn small!? I'm embarrased for MindArk, compared to other MMO's, this is a step backwards in terms of user friendliness.
* Let's talk about DM's. Before, when you got a Direct Message, it was immediately obvious someone had messaged you. Very frequently, someone will send me a PM, and if I've stepped away, assuming I did not hear the ping, the visual indicator that you have a new chat is so vague, I'm shocked that they thought this was a good idea. In fact, I don't enjoy, nor have I met *anyone* who is a fan of, the new sound effects. The new sound effect when you level up is so... meh. Before, it really did feel like you accomplished something. I'm not a crafter, but I've heard high-level crafters complaining about the new sound effects, too. Please, before you roll something out, make sure it's not objectively worse than what was already in place!
* Last and certainly not least, is the complete removal of the option to right click > copy and right click > paste text. Do you seriously expect everyone to know how to Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V? Sure, the option is still there, but WHAT WERE THEY THINKING.
I really just wonder where the priorities lay in the making of this UI update.
Certainly if it was intended to make the game more enjoyable in 2024 and beyond, it has achieved the opposite of just that.
Would someone please enlighten me, what exactly was wrong with the way things were before?
Could we just, go back? I'm so frustrated with this update!
And while we're on the subject, let's just touch on the topic of the camera update that happened a few years ago, because I never really voiced my concerns there when it happened. We lost the following features:
* No more click to move, what was wrong with that feature?
* You can no longer middle-click the mouse scroll wheel to snap the camera to look 180 degrees behind you, why remove this?
* Removal of the camera option that caused the camera to gradually sway as you turned the mouse. What was this feature called? I get that it was a tad disorienting, and was certainly not something enabled by default, but after I enabled it, I actually found it quite cinematic. But now it's gone, completely.