[Accessibility] More regarding the minimap. This is kind of important.

[Archived Post]

Okay, I didn't want to whine after being able to resize the minimap, but this is kind of important. It's really still impeding my ability to play Champions, and that makes me sad.

I'll run over the issues as basically as I can.

Zoom: The minimap can't zoom in/out as much as before. When it comes to tiny circles which indicating what I'm supposed to be doing, not being able to zoom in fully to get a precise location for that hidden door or manhole cover is hell.

Icons: The question marks, exclamation points, and so on, both on the compass and the minimap, along with the player and party arrows have become too tiny for me to make out. Could we have an option to 'upsize' these? A 'big icons' option in the dropdown? That would scale them up to perhaps 3x or 4x their size? This is pretty much the issue that's keeping me from wanting to play at the moment. I don't want to go blind to play Champions.

Intetract Bar: You made this ridiculously tiny, and without a way to scale UI elements individually, it's become really hard for me to discern.

Things Made Smaller: I'm sure that there are a few other examples like I've mentioned with the activation bar, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. Just think of the things you've shrunk recently, and the things that I can't make bigger individually any more.

Combined, this has turned Champions into eyestrain land. It's become a hassle for me to play. I hate complaining, but it's moving further and further away from a shining example of accessibility. I mean, the miinimap update was great. I love being able to resize that, but until I'd actually sat down and played it for a bit, I didn't know what problems remained. These are the problems that remain.

I don't know if accessibility matters to you guys at all, or not. I can't say whether it does or does not. But... you're making it less and less accessible all the time. I don't know what else to say, really. I love the hell out of this game, but I'm not going to risk my sight straining it to see TINY, TINY icons and such just to play a game. There are other MMORPGs I can play. But really? I can't help but find myself wishing that I could play this one.

...would it be possible to have a 'revert to pre-minimap change UI' for now? Just for a little while? You're not expanding the UI yet, so until you get all these issues ironed out... well, that'd be great. Really, truly great.

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Frankly, I use the slash commands for everything, anyway. So I don't really need buttons. So if you could slip in an option that I'd have to set by editing the prefs file manually, that'd work! Even if I'd miss out on new buttons, that's really not a big deal to me at all. I'd much rather have a UI I can use rather than have new (useless) buttons on a UI that I can't.

Would it be that hard to implement a hidden switch to get the old UI back?

I'm really starting to miss Champs at this point. But I just can't play it like this...

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Basically, the problem is that I just can't make out anything at all on the minimap any more. It's actually disorienting to me and a good way to make me nauseous because it's become so hard to interpret. The mix of tiny icons and the lack of zoom, it's made it impossible for me to decipher. The only way I've been able to play is by following a friend around, but I can't keep imposing on people like that.

I just don't understand why the previous minimap mechanics, that worked so amazingly well, had to be ditched... for a minimap whose icons don't obey scaling... and for a minimap that doesn't zoom... it's baffling to me.

Really, if things keep going this way without any way for me to revert it, then my CO days are over. And I can't only be the only person who's playing CO due to how accessible it used to be, can I? I want to play CO but... eh, I can't like this. I'll just be back to waiting for GW2 and hoping on the best, there. One thing I loved about Guild Wars is that ArenaNet recognised the value of a global UI scale. But the UI scale in CO is no longer global. The new activation bar, the minimap icons, the compass and so on don't obey the scale.

Annnd yeah... there's that whole zoom thing.

I don't know. I think that to the majority of people that this is likely a non-issue. And for the majority the tinier interface is just better. It's just a shame.

[Archived Post]

My main issue is that the Minimap is all but worthless now indoors. You can't zoom in out anywhere near as bar back as you used to, and its current max is all of maybe 50ft ingame (based on how square you've made it).

This makes the minimap worthless for keeping track of your team in any indoor instance.

[Archived Post]

Exactly. The lack of zoom and the fact that the cursors now seem only 5 pixels big is actually giving me a bit of nausea. So I've been hesitant to play CO for that reason. I always play in a team, I never play CO alone, and now I just tend to go cross-eyed figuring out the map.

Before, the map was so clear and perfect, it was one of the best minimaps I'd seen in a game. The only flaw it had is that it didn't remember its own zoom level for indoor versus outdoor (which was needed), but these changes took what was a great minimap and just gutted it.

All I really want is a magic "Go back to the old damn UI!" button, so that I can start enjoying CO again.

[Archived Post]

i have a thought.

Here's hoping that Cryptic are paying attention. If not, perhaps Tumerboy will see this and pass it along, who knows?

There's a simple solution to this. Almost all of it. (Except the new, annoyingly tiny activation bars. Please stop making things both tiny and disobedient regarding the global scale. Please. Please? Thank you.)

But yes, this idea will fix many issues, for the vast majority of people.

Have an option on the minimap dropdown titled 'Use old minimap behaviour.'

What would this do?

1. It would restore the original zoom levels.
2. It would restore the original 'feel' of the minimap (including how it unshadows areas you're passing through).
3. It would restore the larger icons. As opposed to those tiny ones that make my eyes bleed.

Essentially, the idea here is that it would keep the square 'skin,' and it would keep the positions of the buttons, but the minimap beneath would be returned to the way that minimaps used to work. The functionalk perfect way that allowed me to play the game.

You know, if you'd listen about stuff like this, Cryptic, you'd actually be able to advertise yourself as an accessibility friendly game. You'd be able to tell people that you are in interviews.

I don't understand the change to this new map, anyway. It's horrible. I'm not talking about the square skin but the behaviour of hte minimap itself. All I want is to go back to the old minimap behaviour. Please?

Even if it's just a checkbox hidden away in Troubleshooting.

Would it be so impossible to have to that? To have a 'return to original minimap behaviour' option? Like I said, it would keep the square skin, but the important part of the minimap (the minimap itself) would be functional.

[Archived Post]

*insert obligatory "ZPA joke" HERE*

Yeah, sorry man :o
I don't think it's gonna happen, but GL on the fight :cool:

[Archived Post]

I've read some of your posts and understand why the new mini map doesn't work for. But as an option that may help until they fix it, could you use the compass to try to find the exclamation points and question marks? Hope that helps, if not entirely, maybe a little.

[Archived Post]

I can't even remember the last time I used the mini-map to go anywhere! Have you tried opening the larger map to turn your character in the right direction and jetting off to do missions? This is usually what I do, and I use the mini-map to make sure I don't run past any green circles or big yellow quest marks.

To the keeping track of party members, I have no suggestions other than just watching where they run off to.

This isn't really a solution to your mini-map problem, but it might help your strain a little if you're determined to play :)

[Archived Post]

Even before the minimap change, I would normally open the large world map, drop my marker, then go wherever I needed by following it.

[Archived Post]

I do need the minimap though to compensate for poor sight, it helps a lot. It helps most with tracking the party.

I don't know, I've just always found it necessary.

And @AngelOfCaine - Levelling snark at a disabled person asking for the reinstatement of accessibility options that once existed in a game doesn't make you look like the nicest person. It really doesn't. I know snark is your thing in general, but really.

Still though, if you want to mark this game as a no-go zone for those with disability issues, by community and developer, then this is the right way to do it.

Just remember that this kind of thing will come back to bite you in the rear.

I'm missing CO because I tend to play it with friends who don't normally game at all, but they got hooked on CO due to the presence of werewolves. But for most people who have sight issues, well... they may just decide 'bugger it' and leave the game to play other things.

GW2 is just around the corner, too. And ArenaNet is usually good about this stuff. So... this may be a non-issue.

That has werewolves as well, of a sort, so a transition won't be hard.

(Really, I'd not have put in the effort that I did if I didn't like this game. And not playing won't be by choice. So yeah... I guess there isn't much I can do. So it'll just be a matter of moving on to GW2. And no, this isn't a ragequit, there's hardly a lot of 'rage' here, is there? Disappointment and mildly depressed about the state of things, sure. But rage? Nah.)

[Archived Post]

For finding your team indoors, Click their picture and target them, then F key follow to get set in their direction.
But but but...
Shouldn't you be able to track them by scent? Just sayin is all.