As you all know, version 3.2 is going to contain a big UI update (maybe not the whole game - we’ll see - it may come to pass that we split the UI update into 2 parts, since Gems is quite a large game). A UI update also allows us to handle a bunch of Quality of Life features as we go.
One of the screens we’re re-imagining right now is the Chat Window. It’s something that some of use quite a lot! And I suspect that some of you may use it in different ways to us.
Now there’s all sorts of nitty gritty details we could go into with chat… emojis, PMs, formatting, avatars, timestamps, etc… but we can deal with those later… right now I’m really interested in approaching this at a very high level…
It turns out that how you use chat isn’t something we collect data on, so the next best thing is to ask you all directly!
Did you prefer the full screen window?
Do like the current resizeable window?
Do you ever use the transparency feature on the new window?
Any feedback on that would be much appreciated thank you!
And for anyone who doesn’t have any direct feedback, I’ve created a poll where you can give a quick answer.
Give me the old fullscreen window back
I like the new window, but I only use it fullscreen
I like the new window because I can resize it
I use all the features on the new window, including transparency
I would use BOTH styles of chat window (fullscreen & small/resizeable) if I had the chance
I like the chat window as it is, except for the wasted space taken up by the pull-out handles. You used to be able to “collapse” those against the lower right portion of the window; this no longer works. If you could bring this back so that the chat can be tucked into the lower right of the window again, I’d be a happy camper.
I like the new chat window, but a quick tool option to make it fullscreen would really help out.
(Note: If using the fullscreen option again returns the old character limit on it, I won’t be touching it. Same applies if using it greatly shrinks the text like before.)
Transparency has its uses, but I’d actually like it more if it still turned completely invisible, but the transparency level kicked in when a new message was added. Sort of like the live notification system of the previous chat window while on the map, but kept within its own confines and focused on what you chose it to, like only Guild/PM, disable World servers. (If you’re using fullscreen, then either use the old notification system or maybe have the line of text appear over the screen. With the option to disable the notifications altogether for full or resize.)
I like the idea of the window only showing up (partially transparent) when there’s something new to show. Diablo 3 has a really nice take on the chat window, where the chrome fades out until the user is interacting with the window, but the chat messages themselves linger against no background for a bit longer.
Also, it would be really nice (for PC) if typing on the keyboard would immediately bring up the chat window with focus in it. If that’s not an option, then a hotkey to enter chat (in type mode) would suffice. (MMOs often do this with the “/” or “Enter” keys.)
Should you not start with a poll about who likes the new UI versus the ones who prefer the future old one?
For the chat, it’s difficult to write a message and play at the same time (thanks x4 speed bonus)… I will prefer that one line chat will be include in the battle UI so we can read during the fight without having to jump on the chat UI…
I did not know until now that I could resize the chat window with touch interface, so I’ve to test it first
But without this knowledge I wanted the full screen back on my tablet.
I won’t much care what happens to it otherwise, but I just want the chat to freaking stay where it is. No more going to check on things and seeing nothing past three minutes ago.
Also: timestamps on every message. Pleeeeease. Have a specific ‘game time’ if using local time is too big a pain in the rear.
the sidebars are useless for me once set up and you can’t hide the arrows anymore. Before the last update you could hide them by dragging the chat window to the bottom right of the screen.
If you accidentally click on one of the expanding arrows, the chat window moves to the left or up and it stays there if you collapse the sidebar. It doesn’t move back in position.
Can’t lock the chat window size once resized, and the huge bottom right arrow will always stay visible.
Never used the transparency feature, other than testing it out. It was very annoying to say the least, having text visible on top of other gameplay elements. If chat is shown at all times, it should have its own container element.
When first starting the game, clicking the Chat button will open the Global channel even when you are not in a Global channel. Please simply open the Guild Chat in this case.
All in all I preferred the old full window chat. After a while I got used to the smaller chat windows, until the last 3.1 update made some aspects more annoying (can no longer hide sidebar arrows and chat window size can’t be locked).
There you go.
when i was playing the agme a lot i (before the update) i know i would love the transparency.
right now i play little so i rarely ever use chat
i want a full screen when the chat is active
i want resizable windowed transparency mode when the chat is transparent/inactive
(the chat is suppose to toggle between those modes on its own)
also please consider a toggleable option to:
allow text input when inactive
meaning it will pop the keyboard and allow typing (possibly without switching to full transparency/fullscreen mode) if you tap in the typing space while the chat is inactive/transparent
(perhaps make only a small part of the typind space to be “active” and tap-able for this when in transparent mode)
it would be used only by some players who can figure a way how to play the board without tapping that “Active” space but i know i miss this feature each time i use transparent mode i wanna tap there and nothing happens…
The only real wish I have with chat is that the guild chat and the global chat be separated into different buttons.
If the guild chat was a separate button then the exclamation point could show up, telling guild members there has been a new post to guild chat.
I don’t like to keep global chat on most of the time but feel forced to keep it on just so that I don’t shut off the guild chat. Only a handful of our guild has joined our LINE chat so having notifications on the guild chat would prompt in-game chatters only to check the guild messages.
If there is a pertant thing i need to watch, i leave the window in small transparent to cover the other guys troops. Other than that, i never use the chat window. our guild and sister guild moved to discord.
local time stamps (or even system time stamps) would be so helpful because of knowing when someone has updated anything. our chat is really really empty, but others might want to know when an announcement about stuff not working or guild updates might have been.
I voted for old fullscreen chat. It’s not that I don’t like the new window, but I’ve played with the resize and transparency options and just couldn’t make it work for me. There’s not much unused screen real estate in the game, so even when small and transparent, the chat window still inevitably covers up some control I need to access. I find opening and closing chat, which hasn’t really changed, is still the easiest option.
Also, my guild also uses Discord, so our guild chat is mostly unused. I would say that, of the mobile games I’ve played, this has the most awkward and clunky chat implementation I’ve seen, and I think that’s why so many guilds use 3rd party chat tools. I’ve used 3rd party chat for other games too, but it’s usually a supplement and not a replacement.
The new window chat is fine and i never use transparency but a notification of a new message on the chat would be very useful. PMs would be great, too. And i like blondes.
I agree that things like notifications for guild chat & better timestamping would be great… and we certainly have those in our backlog to add some time (it will likely be after 3.2 though).
Seems like,from the feedback, people are split about where I expected. So a full screen option that is EASILY altered to a smaller transparent window will likely be the best way to go (oh, and we’d make sure that all text was auto-faded in there except for new lines as they added).
