A Couple of QoL Update Disappointments

[Hamfast.8719]

I got excited when I read the recent Quality of Life WIKI update post that read: _Leveling up and items that grant levels and experience now display a less noisy visual effect to other players._

 

But in actual game play, I soon realized that I had mis-read it. They only changed the VISUAL effect. What has always bothered me is the SOUND effect volume. (Standing at the Bank, when someone goes **BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!** ad nauseum). I really didn't know the _visual_ effect bothered anybody.

 

Take the word VISUAL out of the WIKI post. I would be MUCH happier if it read: _Leveling up and items that grant levels and experience now display a less noisy effect to other players._

 

Better still, make the area around the Bank (and the TP, etc.) a "Cone of Silence" zone with regard to hearing any sound F/X originating from other players and their skills and items. That way we could also be free of the incessant Salvation Army bell ringing of Ho-Ho-Tron. (Thank you sooooooooooo very much for letting us silence the Job-o-Tron Backpack! Unable to murder someone through the computer, I had been instead contemplating suicide!)

 

-ALSO-

 

I can see where some people would appreciate the automatic remembering and activation of the most recently used Build and Equipment templates when switching between PvE/WvW/PvP. But it's not for me. I change armors a lot, and don't want the game doing it for me. Could we PLEASE make this an OPTION instead of having it forced on us? **OPTIONS are ALWAYS better!** (Print out that sentence, and hang it above your desk so you never forget).

[AgentMoore.9453]

Seconding the visual noise disappointment. The meta on the new map's a visual nightmare, but they're going to tone down a dull level-up flash and leave the infuriating audio spam? All right then. With the technology available to make things appear/be audible only on your screen, it boggles the mind that this kind of spam is still present in the game for others to deal with.

 

I appreciate the fact that they've been tweaking things of late, but the changes have been incredibly weird:

- Removing fall damage reduction

- Removing heal speed traits

- Replacing the Black Lion's icon with a teddy bear and adding a glow to it when they have something new to sell you

- Switching the order of Ranger 1-hand sword skills and breaking chain combos

- Breaking PvP/WvW/PvE gear loadouts into separate entities, calling them templates, and then re-initializing the ability to automatically switch between them depending on what game mode you're in as if that, too, is a new feature

 

There's more that I probably haven't noticed as I'm more of a PvE player than anything else, but I've been struggling to see the benefit of the recent changes being made because they don't feel like QoL right off the bean. That isn't to say nothing good has happened, but they're giving us things that seem less important compared to pressing issues like bug-fixing and clean-up of older content. Things such as:

 

- Capes. I guess some people wanted these. They look a bit funny, but hey, fashion

- Weapons can be hidden out of combat

- Chef skill to 500; I actually have no problems with this one, it was fun and good, but it makes people expect other work stations in their home instances

- Mounts of completely new creatures seen nowhere else in Tyria or lore (Massive hummingbirds? Fox kangaroos?), but ignoring core animals or highly-requested skins like Sylvan Jackals

 

QoL lately doesn't feel like it used to (Dyes free to apply, wardrobe system, novelties system). It's almost like the term "QoL" is being used whenever any change is made, not just changes that actually improve a player's quality of life. It should be about removing the thorn from the lion's paw, not painting the lion's nails and leaving the thorn in.

[Randulf.7614]

The wiki one you can adjust yourself since it is player edited.

 

As for the second, options are always good I agree. Add your voice to the big templates thread. You aren't the first to ask for this and you wont have your opinion drowned out like you will in a sep one which drift down

[Hamfast.8719]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> The wiki one you can adjust yourself since it is player edited.

It isn't the WIKI post that bothers me. It is correct as-is.

 

I want ANet to drastically remove the level-up sound effect so that they can someday (soon, I hope!) actually write _Leveling up and items that grant levels and experience now display a less noisy effect to other players_ and have it be true.

[Randulf.7614]

> @"Hamfast.8719" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > The wiki one you can adjust yourself since it is player edited.

> It isn't the WIKI post that bothers me. It is correct as-is.

>

> I want ANet to drastically remove the level-up sound effect so that they can someday (soon, I hope!) actually write _Leveling up and items that grant levels and experience now display a less noisy effect to other players_ and have it be true.

 

Ahh fair play. OK that sounds reasonable

[Vallune.8150]

Yup.

I went from the same state of joy reading the patch notes to utter disappointment when, within the first minute of logging in after the patch, someone started spamming tomes at the bank.

 

At least four ways to fix this, this wasn't one of them!

 

(1) Remove (or **drastically** reduce) the sound effect

(2) Make the sound effect only heard by the player using the tomes / items

(3) Add a "Consume All" option for tomes - so levelling to 80 can be done in one click

(4 - my favourite) Make it so tomes can only be used inside a designated sealed & soundproofed "Levelling Pod", located in all major cities and Lounge areas. Looks something like the matter transporter from The Fly.

 

[Kruhljak.2705]

The problem with #4 is that inevitably people will start using the pods for things better not spoken of in polite society. Of course, I wouldn't want to sully the minds of others in this polite thread, but we can all shudder quietly while imagining the weird stuff people will think of doing in there....

 

;-)

 

More to the point, I think #3 is best. The "tech" is already in game for many other things and let's face it, most of the issue is around the mass level-up and I think everyone doing that would love to just get it over with in one click rather than having to mouse-click spam, and the folks around them would be relieved that one "LEVEL!" (remember when announcing that in MUDs and other multi-player online games was a thing? no? me = old *sigh*) won't be followed by 75+ more. Win/win is a universally favorable goal.

[Ashantara.8731]

_Visual_ noise is, well, **visual**. ;) I agree, though, that the sound effect of level-ups is an annoyance in VIP areas. But the lighting flashes were a lot worse!

 

As for adding an option for automatically switching builds and and templates when you enter different game modes: people were asking for it to be automated (I guess you can't please everyone? ;) ). An option would be nice, of course, but I doubt it can be easily implemented into the current system, so I prefer to have it the way it is.

[Hamfast.8719]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> I doubt it can be easily implemented into the current system, so I prefer to have it the way it is.

 

NOT automatically switching builds has been the default for over 7 years. I can't see where re-implementing it with a check-box should be so very hard.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Hamfast.8719" said:

> > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > I doubt it can be easily implemented into the current system, so I prefer to have it the way it is.

>

> NOT automatically switching builds has been the default for over 7 years.

 

It has _not_. It was _always_ automatically switching to your WvW build when you would enter WvW, and to your PvP build when you would enter PvP. That's how it's always been, and so they fixed it to remain this way.

 

By the way, there _were_ no builds for the same game mode, they would always have only one per, and now it remembers the last one used in each mode, as it has always been (unlike you claim).

[Zaklex.6308]

> @"Hamfast.8719" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > The wiki one you can adjust yourself since it is player edited.

> It isn't the WIKI post that bothers me. It is correct as-is.

>

> I want ANet to drastically remove the level-up sound effect so that they can someday (soon, I hope!) actually write _Leveling up and items that grant levels and experience now display a less noisy effect to other players_ and have it be true.

 

Have you tried adjusting any of your volume controls? There's one specifically for effects, lowering that should be what you're after, and yes, I know it lowers all sound effects, but what's the problem with that?.

[Hamfast.8719]

> @"Zaklex.6308" said: Have you tried adjusting any of your volume controls?

 

Of _course_ I've tweaked my volume controls. That's the first thing one does when there's a problem with the volume.

 

> @"Zaklex.6308" said: I know it lowers all sound effects, but what's the problem with that?

 

The problem is that I _like_ having sound effects. Since I don't have to worry about disturbing anyone else with my game noises, I tend to have the volume UP a bit. The "leveling up" noises are some of the loudest in the game - out of proportion with most other sounds - and can really make me jump sometimes. If I was fine playing with no sound at all, I wouldn't be here complaining about how loud that effect is.

 

Aside from immersion into the game world, sound also provides audible cues for stuff that's going on around me that I find helpful (and occasionally humorous!)

[Hamfast.8719]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said: It has _not_. It was _always_ automatically switching to your WvW build when you would enter WvW, and to your PvP build when you would enter PvP. That's how it's always been, and so they fixed it to remain this way.

>

> By the way, there _were_ no builds for the same game mode, they would always have only one per, and now it remembers the last one used in each mode, as it has always been (unlike you claim).

 

I've pretty much always played the same PvE build, with occasional small tweaking. I don't do PvP, and I only do simple dailies in WvW to earn Reward Track stuff. I never bothered to set my characters up any differently for WvW since I don't go there for player vs. player activities. So forgive my faux pas... it's news to me that the different game modes retained separate builds. Let me put it _this_ way instead:

 

Just give us the **OPTION** to keep the old functionality, for whatever individual reasons we may have. A simple toggle for anyone who prefers the way it has always been.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

The 'old functionality' is what the Devs just reverted to in the latest patches. PvE build when entering PvE, and WvW build when entering WvW. If you use the same build for both, then that's what you will get, and always got before.

[Zaklex.6308]

> @"Hamfast.8719" said:

> > @"Zaklex.6308" said: Have you tried adjusting any of your volume controls?

>

> Of _course_ I've tweaked my volume controls. That's the first thing one does when there's a problem with the volume.

>

> > @"Zaklex.6308" said: I know it lowers all sound effects, but what's the problem with that?

>

> The problem is that I _like_ having sound effects. Since I don't have to worry about disturbing anyone else with my game noises, I tend to have the volume UP a bit. The "leveling up" noises are some of the loudest in the game - out of proportion with most other sounds - and can really make me jump sometimes. If I was fine playing with no sound at all, I wouldn't be here complaining about how loud that effect is.

>

> Aside from immersion into the game world, sound also provides audible cues for stuff that's going on around me that I find helpful (and occasionally humorous!)

 

So you know sound is in relation to how close it is to you in game right? That's why those level up sounds have the affect of being so loud, because the person is usually standing right next you, it's just how sound works unfortunately...try it any location, the sounds will rise and fall with your distance/closeness to them.

[Hamfast.8719]

> @"Zaklex.6308" said:

 

> So you know sound is in relation to how close it is to you in game right? That's why those level up sounds have the affect of being so loud, because the person is usually standing right next you, it's just how sound works unfortunately...try it any location, the sounds will rise and fall with your distance/closeness to them.

 

Not to sound snippy, but thank you, Captain Obvious.

 

- Adjust the volume controls... _check!_

 

- Sounds seem louder the closer you are to the source... _check!_

 

Got it. Thanks! Problem solved. We can all go home.

 

 

_EDIT: My apologies for being snotty. There are plenty of people that (for a very long time) have asked for this particular sound to be toned down. Some good, simple solutions have been suggested. (There's even another thread running concurrently about JUST this particular issue). It would take less than a minute to pop the file into a sound editing program and lower the volume by 75%._

 

_Our gripe is legitimate, and we HAVE already done everything that can be done on the player's end. We DO leave the area when people spam it. We DO turn down our volume. We SHOULDN'T have to do all that in a game world that prides itself on trying to get people to play together in harmony._

 

_Please forgive my rant. The poorly-worded Game Update note got my spirits up, only to be squashed when I realized my hopes had not come to pass after all._

[Hamfast.8719]

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> The 'old functionality' is what the Devs just reverted to in the latest patches. PvE build when entering PvE, and WvW build when entering WvW. If you use the same build for both, then that's what you will get, and always got before.

 

Problem NOT solved.

 

My personal issue isn't with the builds changing or not. I could care less. _I don't want the game automatically changing the armor that I am wearing._ I want to be in control of that. From that standpoint, this is NOT the old functionality. I'm not a big-time WvWer, but I can't recall ever having the game change my armor for me.

 

**OPTIONS ARE ALWAYS BETTER!**

 

That's all I want. Options. A check box so I can have it work the same way I have always know it. Nobody loses anything. Everybody wins. What's there to argue about?

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

O...k...

Doesn't change my armor in the least. Maybe you've done something with Equipment Templates or something; I don't know.

[Poormany.4507]

Also disappointed with many of the recent QOL updates (except the dynamic HUD - that one I feel was well done). Most of the rest seem to be random minor stuff that very few/no players truly care about (flashing, cute Black Lion icon(???), barely noticeable visual noise reduction, sorting templates) while completely ignoring many of the main issues, many of which have existed since launch (loud/unnecessary sound effects on certain, specific items (everyone knows which ones most players want to be disable-able/muted altogether), overpriced build template costs, consume all options for tomes/other common items, etc.) Wish they'd focus on the latter ones more in place of the former ones...

[XYLO.7031]

While I do know it bothers some people, I didn't mind it. I guess it is similar to an HP train where everyone gets an undiscovered waypoint. I can liken it to a strobe light only with that similar "boom boom boom" sound.

 

Again, I see it as a feature. I like getting waypoints as I zip by on my beetle.

[Hamfast.8719]

I just stood next to someone at the Bank rudely spamming the noise. MUCH softer now! It seems ANet gave us the best Wintersday gift of all - they _listened_ to us!

 

I had my sound turned up louder than normal, and I'm sure it would've shaken the pictures off the wall in my computer room and made my ears bleed if they still had the old noise. Can anyone confirm? I'm not sure I saw ANY light show, either (but then again I never really noticed that part much).

[Hamfast.8719]

Hmm... nope. The BOOM BOOM is still with us. (Sigh) I don't know what the guy at the bank was spamming. Thank goodness they cut down the visual effect though... it's barely noticeable now.

 



 

 

[Trise.2865]

Why are you standing around in the bank? Don't you have anything else to do? anywhere else to be?

[Dante.1763]

> @"Trise.2865" said:

> Why are you standing around in the bank? Don't you have anything else to do? anywhere else to be?

 

I mean does it matter what they do in game? a noise that has received tons of complaints over the years should probably be dealt with, though im sure its -wayyyyyy- down low on their to do list.