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Hi!
I'm a longtime dota player (5.84c was my first map in like 04 or something), and I've played in high skill leagues for much of my time (old ihl, ihcs2, nadl, tfl) as well as many mid skill (new ihl, tihl, thr t2-3, dc t2). I've literally played thousands of games of dota (just adding my dotacash and tda accounts gets me into the 1000s). I've been playing for about as long as Icefrog has been developing, and I tried making the switch to dota 2 when I got into the beta 2 months ago, but I have one major issue that's holding me back: Key pieces of information are just not displayed properly. I apologize upfront for not "using search" and if there are other posts on this, but since the UI hasn't changed in 2 months, I'll assume this is not the case.
What do I mean by this? Take for example attack damage and armor. These values are displayed SUPER prominently in dota (perhaps too prominently, as armor/weapon type don't matter for dota). However, in dota 2, the damage and armor values are miniscule. I have 20/20 vision, I'm playing in 720p, and they're still not readily apparent. Yes, the information is there, but it's not displayed prominently enough for me to immediately learn everything I need to know.
Also, on the whole I just feel like the screen real estate isn't being used efficiently. Pretty icons are too large, relevant information is too small. I realize this orients the game towards newer players, but dota is such a numerical game that it won't be long before new players demand the same information.
My advice is predicated upon minimizing the time necessary to process all dynamic (eg capable of changing), relevant information. The key pieces of data that inform and shape a player's decisionmaking process should be front and center. Pieces of data that are easily memorizable (what level is my spell) should be sacrificed for the more relevant data.
What I recommend:
Regarding the spread of the bottom UI:
1) The box between the minimap and the hero portrait is okay. The box between skills and items is not. It has to go - all this does is serve to take up valuable real estate, and more importantly, it separates your stats and items. In dota, you can look at your items and skills simultaneously. In dota 2, it takes two separate glances + registering the information. This makes a 0.1s process into a 0.3s process - which is huge when we have APM in the 120+ range. Gamers can make ~6 mental actions per second, which means you're wasting a decision simply by not concentrating the information.
Damage/Armor/Stats:
1) Get rid of the box they are in; it's unnecessary.
2) Switch str/agi/int from horizontal to vertical (more space without the box) and have the values on the right side of the icons, and make them large. They should be the size of the current HP font.
3) Switch the location of the icon and the value for dmg/armor. What I mean by this is put the value inside the little box (containing the sword and shield) with the sword and shield underneath. The icons don't need to be any larger; the text does. It should be the size of the HP font. The shield/sword icons can be very small, as people will immediately understand their meanings, and never really need to be told "this is damage and that is armor" again.
HP and MP:
1) To be honest, I don't believe bars are necessary. HP and MP could be centered above where the stat box is now. If that's not an option:
2) The font size should be MUCH larger than it is (MP especially - it is WAY too small). You can raise the size of the bars to the height of the hero portrait without losing any aesthetics.
3) The HP/MP regen is a FANTASTIC new feature! However, displaying this information even at full HP/MP would be even better.
Spells/Abilities
1) The spell level counter dots at the bottom, while visually appealing, are unnecessary and take up too much screen real estate. Anyone who's played more than 10 games of dota can tell you exactly what levels their spells are at any time. This information just really isn't relevant enough to justify the space it is given.
2) The level-up dots should be replaced by mana costs. This is VITAL information (do I have enough mana to cast all my spells) and the font needs to be much larger. The dots could probably be overlaid on the spell icons, and if not, can be done away with and put on the mouseover text. I don't think anyone has ever been in battle and thought "What level is my spell?" Furthermore, that data just isn't relevant; you would rarely choose not to cast a certain spell (with some ultimate exceptions) because it is level 2 rather than 3.
3) Cooldowns: I think this information should be moved from the mouseover to the main UI, possibly above the spells. This can be the font size of the current MP font; this information is fairly static and not relevant to the decision of actually casting the spell, it is just good to know.
Items:
1) Gold is just too small. It needs to be bigger. Or maybe, the issue is just that it's gold text on gold background; this could easily be remedied by making the text black, or by getting rid of the "SHOP" text. Clicking gold-> shopping is intuitive.
2) In the actual shop, there needs to be some shortcut to switch between "Basic" and "Upgrade." I'll admit I disliked the shop at first, but it's grown on me despite the fact that I hotkey hero to 1 and buy clarities.
3) Not sure if this is a UI issue, but the shop shouldn't let you buy a second complete janggo if you already own one, it should default to recipe only.
Minimap:
1) I think the minimap could be made larger, or at least have an option to extend it to the point of the hero portrait. This could be easily done with the default as is, with the option of enlarging it.
Please let me know what critiques you have for me, as well as justifications for not using my suggestions. Of course, if you intend to release UI modding tools, this is moot, but I imagine that they are neither necessary nor advisable (Ally cooldown trackers, opponent cooldown trackers, etc).
I'm a longtime dota player (5.84c was my first map in like 04 or something), and I've played in high skill leagues for much of my time (old ihl, ihcs2, nadl, tfl) as well as many mid skill (new ihl, tihl, thr t2-3, dc t2). I've literally played thousands of games of dota (just adding my dotacash and tda accounts gets me into the 1000s). I've been playing for about as long as Icefrog has been developing, and I tried making the switch to dota 2 when I got into the beta 2 months ago, but I have one major issue that's holding me back: Key pieces of information are just not displayed properly. I apologize upfront for not "using search" and if there are other posts on this, but since the UI hasn't changed in 2 months, I'll assume this is not the case.
What do I mean by this? Take for example attack damage and armor. These values are displayed SUPER prominently in dota (perhaps too prominently, as armor/weapon type don't matter for dota). However, in dota 2, the damage and armor values are miniscule. I have 20/20 vision, I'm playing in 720p, and they're still not readily apparent. Yes, the information is there, but it's not displayed prominently enough for me to immediately learn everything I need to know.
Also, on the whole I just feel like the screen real estate isn't being used efficiently. Pretty icons are too large, relevant information is too small. I realize this orients the game towards newer players, but dota is such a numerical game that it won't be long before new players demand the same information.
My advice is predicated upon minimizing the time necessary to process all dynamic (eg capable of changing), relevant information. The key pieces of data that inform and shape a player's decisionmaking process should be front and center. Pieces of data that are easily memorizable (what level is my spell) should be sacrificed for the more relevant data.
What I recommend:
Regarding the spread of the bottom UI:
1) The box between the minimap and the hero portrait is okay. The box between skills and items is not. It has to go - all this does is serve to take up valuable real estate, and more importantly, it separates your stats and items. In dota, you can look at your items and skills simultaneously. In dota 2, it takes two separate glances + registering the information. This makes a 0.1s process into a 0.3s process - which is huge when we have APM in the 120+ range. Gamers can make ~6 mental actions per second, which means you're wasting a decision simply by not concentrating the information.
Damage/Armor/Stats:
1) Get rid of the box they are in; it's unnecessary.
2) Switch str/agi/int from horizontal to vertical (more space without the box) and have the values on the right side of the icons, and make them large. They should be the size of the current HP font.
3) Switch the location of the icon and the value for dmg/armor. What I mean by this is put the value inside the little box (containing the sword and shield) with the sword and shield underneath. The icons don't need to be any larger; the text does. It should be the size of the HP font. The shield/sword icons can be very small, as people will immediately understand their meanings, and never really need to be told "this is damage and that is armor" again.
HP and MP:
1) To be honest, I don't believe bars are necessary. HP and MP could be centered above where the stat box is now. If that's not an option:
2) The font size should be MUCH larger than it is (MP especially - it is WAY too small). You can raise the size of the bars to the height of the hero portrait without losing any aesthetics.
3) The HP/MP regen is a FANTASTIC new feature! However, displaying this information even at full HP/MP would be even better.
Spells/Abilities
1) The spell level counter dots at the bottom, while visually appealing, are unnecessary and take up too much screen real estate. Anyone who's played more than 10 games of dota can tell you exactly what levels their spells are at any time. This information just really isn't relevant enough to justify the space it is given.
2) The level-up dots should be replaced by mana costs. This is VITAL information (do I have enough mana to cast all my spells) and the font needs to be much larger. The dots could probably be overlaid on the spell icons, and if not, can be done away with and put on the mouseover text. I don't think anyone has ever been in battle and thought "What level is my spell?" Furthermore, that data just isn't relevant; you would rarely choose not to cast a certain spell (with some ultimate exceptions) because it is level 2 rather than 3.
3) Cooldowns: I think this information should be moved from the mouseover to the main UI, possibly above the spells. This can be the font size of the current MP font; this information is fairly static and not relevant to the decision of actually casting the spell, it is just good to know.
Items:
1) Gold is just too small. It needs to be bigger. Or maybe, the issue is just that it's gold text on gold background; this could easily be remedied by making the text black, or by getting rid of the "SHOP" text. Clicking gold-> shopping is intuitive.
2) In the actual shop, there needs to be some shortcut to switch between "Basic" and "Upgrade." I'll admit I disliked the shop at first, but it's grown on me despite the fact that I hotkey hero to 1 and buy clarities.
3) Not sure if this is a UI issue, but the shop shouldn't let you buy a second complete janggo if you already own one, it should default to recipe only.
Minimap:
1) I think the minimap could be made larger, or at least have an option to extend it to the point of the hero portrait. This could be easily done with the default as is, with the option of enlarging it.
Please let me know what critiques you have for me, as well as justifications for not using my suggestions. Of course, if you intend to release UI modding tools, this is moot, but I imagine that they are neither necessary nor advisable (Ally cooldown trackers, opponent cooldown trackers, etc).
so they are just trying to adjust it for all i guess. There would be no room for the info we wanted to add.
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