- Before integrating a UI for hotkey customization you need to implement the recognition of all key codes as recognized by the operating system so that one can take advantage even of redundant keys not related to the active keyboard layout.
- You also have to remove any confinement of certain keys to a single function and vice versa.
Someone already covered [a lot of the issues with the chat][1] I agree with but I extend on and add some points:
- While the persistence of chat input is a nice idea most of the time it is unnecessary and annoying. Instead, as mentioned in the linked thread an input history is an a lot better solution.
As soon as one presses enter a new entry in the history is created and the state saved at all times. To retrieve previous entries you scroll up and down, respectively ( recommendation: ctrl or alt + up/down arrow keys). - The left/right arrows should allow to move the pointer between the written text to be able to revise mistakes.
- There has to be a shortcut to clear the input field completely. (recommendation: ctrl + backspace)
- The chat needs to activate when one gets a whisper or a party chat message. However, it would be annoying for the whole window to appear thus requiring to press escape to disable it again.
So it’s better to only display the message bubble, without the rest of the UI. The bubble disappears in 5-8 seconds. If more people write before the countdown ends the 2nd or 3rd bubble, based on length, is forced to disappear. - In mouse mode by default one should click through. I’m not sure whether there is interest to make the rest of the chat appear on hover or click.
- Right click on text bubble or message at the top bar: Whisper, block, report player; add as friend, to party, to guild, to chat room
- Right click on channel icon:
- merging of channels, e.g., one often wants to track both normal and party
- what channel should appear in the upper bar (A lot of people will not want to track the shouts so you have to allow to set the channel to divert there.)
- enable drag to rearrange the order
- Add a trade and map channel
- If you don’t let people customize the top bar, shouts will have to be much more exclusive, 500-1000 silvers a megaphone. You will have to raise the prices anyway once you open the game to bots and several ten thousands of players and I advise against multiple server instances to limit the number of players apart from other geolocations.
Auction house:
- Button to clear the current search configuration
- The search input field also has to accept text editing as suggested above for the chat input field
- Recipes need a type and subtype filter: weapons->blunt, rod, staff, etc.
- If there are level requirements for some recipes add a distinguished filter, otherwise base the level filter on the product.
- Add filters for the armor type, potential, price and sockets. Reorganize the interface so you can add more filter later on.
- When searching for gems, add a filter to look for ones already socketed in.
- Require to repair an item before registration
- Let inventory to open on top of the auction window when opened afterwards. It is a pain to switch to the sell tab every time.
- Compare auctioned items to currently worn ones when hovered with the mouse
party
- more filters and options for sorting of available public parties: level range, average level, map, play time, channel
- show on the location and channel on dimmed members
- Dim immediately when out of reach for exp/item share. It is not clear what the mechanics are currently based on.
- Let any member pickup drops. I suspect it is supposed to work like that but it doesn’t.
- Add a help entry with a clear description of both item and exp distribution mechanics in a party.
– - The bug report button should also accept text editing as described above and the description needs to include what information is sent beside the short message.
- You should put the weapon on top of the shield when on the back of
the characters. That allows the player to continue to focus at the
center of the screen instead of checking the bottom before a fight. - Allow to swap weapons by clicking on the arrow
- Do not show the new recipe ingredient window when swapping weapons/shields. Only limit it to items selected for swapping, if you unequip the item or another one is dropped you can show the window.
- Optionally: It would be nice to have a recipe view for the inventory and the warehouse. Once you collected a lot of them it becomes a pain to find a specific one you want to trade, auction or store
[1]: Chat system needs a lot of work