Alacrity & visual noise

[Skotlex.7580]

So, I was wondering... why does the boon "alacrity" engulfs my character in bright pink flames?

 

I don't object to the color choice, but rather how bright the whole thing is. Compare to other boons, all of which have very subtle effects, to the point you may not even notice they are there unless you look closely.

 

On the other hand, alacrity screams at you as if it were the most powerful thing ever since legendary weapons.

 

Could the visual overload of this boon not be brought down to meet the rest of the boon family?

[kharmin.7683]

My guess is that it was decided to make it more visible because of the way in which the boon can affect a player's rotation. If you're used to certain cool-downs ending, but suddenly are hit with alacrity, you may not otherwise notice and then the boon would be wasted (because not all players follow rotations by watching the skill bar)?

[Za Shaloc.3908]

My guess is that it was due to it being exclusive to Mesmer when it was first introduced, so the pink made sense. It wasn't even a boon and was more special, so I imagine ANet felt they had more liberty with its appearance. Ever since it was introduced to Revenant and changed to a boon, it hasn't made sense to me why it has the appearance it does. Personally I dislike it...it just feels off to have my Ventari tablet cover everyone in pink clouds.

[Skotlex.7580]

> @"Pterikdactyl.7630" said:

> Personally I dislike it...it just feels off to have my Ventari tablet cover everyone in pink clouds.

 

What bugs me is how much it covers my character. And alacrity isn't even that heavily impacting in a fight like... say, protection is, and that one is hardly noticeable in a fight.

 

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> My guess is that it was decided to make it more visible because of the way in which the boon can affect a player's rotation. If you're used to certain cool-downs ending, but suddenly are hit with alacrity, you may not otherwise notice and then the boon would be wasted (because not all players follow rotations by watching the skill bar)?

 

If this is so, would it be enough to have alacrity display this pink burst on application, and then subdue to a subtle effect like all others afterwards? I would hazard the guess that one needs to look at the skill bar to adjust rotation to the reduced cooldown anyway, and I find that having the numbers be displayed on bright green enough visual indication for the effect.

[Emprer.7256]

I feel the same about the visual effect too as it covers the whole character. I don't mind the color, but whenever I do wvw trying to give alacrity to 10 men, it becomes very visually busy and distracting.

[DonArkanio.6419]

My suggestion would be to make it somehing like **Koda's Warmth Enrichment**. So once your character has the _Alacrity_, your torso is pulsing with whatever color or effect they choose to make it.

[Biff.5312]

> > @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > My guess is that it was decided to make it more visible because of the way in which the boon can affect a player's rotation. If you're used to certain cool-downs ending, but suddenly are hit with alacrity, you may not otherwise notice and then the boon would be wasted (because not all players follow rotations by watching the skill bar)?

>

> If this is so, would it be enough to have alacrity display this pink burst on application, and then subdue to a subtle effect like all others afterwards? I would hazard the guess that one needs to look at the skill bar to adjust rotation to the reduced cooldown anyway, and I find that having the numbers be displayed on bright green enough visual indication for the effect.

 

I find it useful for this very reason. Sure your suggestion would be fine with me, but I doubt this will be a priority anytime soon.

[Skotlex.7580]

Just adjusting the alpha value of the effect to make it subtle is enough. It may not be on top of the priority list currently, but eventually ANet really should work on reducing visual noise, and alacrity is an easy target for that.