Update: AP Generation Banners Removed

Demiurge_Will

Hi, all,

When we introduced a banner to show how much AP is being generated by characters that don't move the board, we knew that some folks would want an option to control whether it showed or not. We added one for the next major release, but from the feedback we've gotten the last few days, it's clear that's not going to come fast enough.

We've also heard from many people that want this information to be visible, but find that this particular presentation really doesn't work for them.

So here's our plan:
- As soon as we can (we're aiming for tomorrow, 2/3, but still need to finish testing the change), we'll be turning the banner off. (UPDATE: This is live as of 5 PM Eastern.)
- We'll be revisiting some of the other options for showing this information that we considered along the way to the current presentation, and exploring some new ideas. Both of those avenues include suggestions we've heard here on the forums, so thank you for those. If we find a UI for this that's clear and has a much lower impact (ideally no impact) on turn length, we'll be adding it in a future release. (Depending on the solution, it might be a while before we can roll it out.)

Thanks for all your feedback.

Tredo

Thank you! As much as people piss and moan on the forums, it's nice to know that you're listening.

GothicKratos

Thanks for the update!

Unknown

The AP banner was entirely unnecessary for Goons, since we already saw what they were getting on a small banner each turn.

But you know what we don't have? A clear indicator what Dormammu's Aid is doing. Sometimes, you see the enemy's AP gain change as The Hood steals some of it, but mostly, it's guesswork. I'd like that banner to be moved onto The Hood, so we can track his ability.

Unknown

Good to hear. Can I just make the request that EVEN IF you implement goon AP gain displayed in a different manner that you add a toggle in the options menu to turn it off.

Personally (and i'm sure i'm not alone) being told about goon AP gain has absolutely zero use to me because I know exactly how much they all make already. If new goons are added it takes approximately 1 match with them to work it out so it's a feature where even the slightest inconvenience visually or delay wise is more than I want to pay for it.

I think it's a good idea for other players, so I am glad something is being added, I just want to be able to turn it off....

DrNitroman

Thanks for hearing us Will!
It's really nice to know that you are actually taking our suggestions into account to improve game design

Nymr83

Thanks for removing this, it was making itself a real nuisance when grinding thick as thieves!

Unknown

We don't need any notifications of AP gain. We need permanently visible AP bars. Do whatever you want to the character portraits, right now you have a ton of gameplay information hidden because you want to keep the character's faces up there.

Unknown

Good news and thz for the quick reaction

RWTDBurn

Thank you, thank you, and most importantly... thank you.

Vinmarc43

thx DEV, but if you can, speed up other banners too, like daken healing and hood,falcon. When playing with all these char. at the same time, it can be annoying.
thx

Unknown

ark123 wrote:

We don't need any notifications of AP gain. We need permanently visible AP bars. Do whatever you want to the character portraits, right now you have a ton of gameplay information hidden because you want to keep the character's faces up there.

I had the same thought a while ago, but those portraits are needed as buttons to see enemy info and swap targets

Unknown

gamar wrote:

ark123 wrote:

We don't need any notifications of AP gain. We need permanently visible AP bars. Do whatever you want to the character portraits, right now you have a ton of gameplay information hidden because you want to keep the character's faces up there.

I had the same thought a while ago, but those portraits are needed as buttons to see enemy info and swap targets

I don't know about you but it took me ages to find out that that could be done. There are no visible buttons, you have to kinda poke the area over the character or their shoulder. Why can't there be a "press to switch target" button?

Anyway we clearly need a better solution than "scroll left and right every turn" to the Ap bar. I'm not an ui designer but the current one blows.

Unknown

ark123 wrote:

We don't need any notifications of AP gain. We need permanently visible AP bars. Do whatever you want to the character portraits, right now you have a ton of gameplay information hidden because you want to keep the character's faces up there.

This is why if I had the choice I would always us the steam version over iOS.

JVReal

ark123 wrote:

gamar wrote:

ark123 wrote:

We don't need any notifications of AP gain. We need permanently visible AP bars. Do whatever you want to the character portraits, right now you have a ton of gameplay information hidden because you want to keep the character's faces up there.

I had the same thought a while ago, but those portraits are needed as buttons to see enemy info and swap targets

I don't know about you but it took me ages to find out that that could be done. There are no visible buttons, you have to kinda poke the area over the character or their shoulder. Why can't there be a "press to switch target" button?

Anyway we clearly need a better solution than "scroll left and right every turn" to the Ap bar. I'm not an ui designer but the current one blows.

I use iOS, I never scroll to see my own AP, I only scroll to see their AP. For my AP I use the handy color gauges under my characters, I think it would be ideal if they could shrink those down just a tad so they don't scroll all the way to the right, then shrink the enemy images a bit and place a bar just like it for them coming from the right. That way you can see the filling progress for colors that matter, and it'll glow when they are able to use it just like ours. Might take some fussing with to make it graphically fit, but it doesn't need to be as huge as the player's side of the display. There's room above the health indicator to move them higher up the screen, and move the enemy pics up higher since they are already smaller than the player's. That'll give room for a smaller bar from the right to sit on top of the player's bar to indicate opponents AP.

Unknown

JVReal wrote:

ark123 wrote:

gamar wrote:

ark123 wrote:

We don't need any notifications of AP gain. We need permanently visible AP bars. Do whatever you want to the character portraits, right now you have a ton of gameplay information hidden because you want to keep the character's faces up there.

I had the same thought a while ago, but those portraits are needed as buttons to see enemy info and swap targets

I don't know about you but it took me ages to find out that that could be done. There are no visible buttons, you have to kinda poke the area over the character or their shoulder. Why can't there be a "press to switch target" button?

Anyway we clearly need a better solution than "scroll left and right every turn" to the Ap bar. I'm not an ui designer but the current one blows.

I use iOS, I never scroll to see my own AP, I only scroll to see their AP. For my AP I use the handy color gauges under my characters, I think it would be ideal if they could shrink those down just a tad so they don't scroll all the way to the right, then shrink the enemy images a bit and place a bar just like it for them coming from the right. That way you can see the filling progress for colors that matter, and it'll glow when they are able to use it just like ours. Might take some fussing with to make it graphically fit, but it doesn't need to be as huge as the player's side of the display. There's room above the health indicator to move them higher up the screen, and move the enemy pics up higher since they are already smaller than the player's. That'll give room for a smaller bar from the right to sit on top of the player's bar to indicate opponents AP.

All the information that could possibly be useful for the match should be on screen. It's not a controversial argument.

The currently equipped TU should also be obvious. Not the most fun experience going through a huge fight and suddenly "Of yeah, Windstorm. That was his TU. Guess I lose"

jojeda654

JVReal wrote:

I use iOS, I never scroll to see my own AP, I only scroll to see their AP. For my AP I use the handy color gauges under my characters

Those are fine, if you like to use skills as soon as you gather enough AP. You may not always want to do so. There have been several matches where I've hit the AP cap, but I was unaware because the gauge only indicates when you have enough to fire the skill at least once.
Tends to happen when I leave Hulk for last. Ticks me off because I realize that I could have downed him earlier with the 3 Berserker Rages I had. Instead, I spent a few extra turns for a TBTI.
And while I could check my AP every turn, I haven't been able to get the game to reliably show me my AP. By that I mean, it always takes me several swipes from the edge of my screen for it to finally register. So annoying!

Unknown

There are also situations like Falcon's blue or Fury's Yellow where the bars don't necessarily tell you whether you've hit 5 ap or not.

Scoregasms

Personally, I do check my AP totals every now and then if I'm looking to do a double Power Surge or a double Smite and don't want to start the combo without being able to finish it. But, that's not too often.

I'm sure it's been asked before, but why not have Landscape mode for Mobile to have a similar layout to the Steam Client? If I can play frakkin Peggle in Landscope mode on my Phone, I'm sure I can rock MPQ matches in it too. Of course, I know that's not an easy update, but it doesn't have to be dynamic, make it an option for the user. Always Landscape or always Portrait and maybe have the ability to switch it in the Menu and reload the game?

Unknown

hmm, bar ap should be removed and all 3 ability(hero icon) moved to the left(not stacked) there will be space on the right thats where our and enemy ap are..........in my opinion.

loroku

Thank you for both!