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Positioning of the left side icons

DeletedUser28477

Hi, I am not sure what they are called, but on the left side of my screen (on a PC) there are different faces that come up for events.

Underneath those is another face for the treasure hunt.

im not sure what its called but when there are coins to collect, or resources / products to collect etc, a new icon appears so that you know that somewhere on your map there is something to collect.

the problem is, that this new 'collect' icon, appears BELOW the treasure hunt. Already on my screen, the treasure hunt icon appears half way behind my bottom-left menu (build etc..).

I am wondering two things. I am interested if these may be a good idea before an official proposal is made.

1. Would it be useful to propose an idea that the 'collect' icon (whatever it is called) shows up above any other icons on the left screen ? so that you always see it if there is something to collect.

2. if these icons (STORY / EVENT / DAILY) can be "merged" into one icon to save space.

I tried the daily one a few days ago, and managed to complete one set of tasks, but then realized i had to do multiple tasks in order to get a prize. I dont think i'll ever have the time to do them, so rather this icon not be on my screen.)
 

Algona

Well-Known Member
I have the same problem. I believe INNO plans to get rid of the Treasure Hunr.

Although if they shrank the Quest Icons it would also work.

Oddly enough this used to happen before they put the mundane Quest givers under ne quest icon.

Another case of INNO not learning from past mistakes.
 

Salsuero

Well-Known Member
https://forum.us.forgeofempires.com/index.php?threads/diamond-collection-box-aka-your-stuff-is-ready.21004/

1. Would it be useful to propose an idea that the 'collect' icon (whatever it is called) shows up above any other icons on the left screen ? so that you always see it if there is something to collect.

This wouldn't bother/matter to me. Give it a shot!

2. if these icons (STORY / EVENT / DAILY) can be "merged" into one icon to save space.

Very much against this... it adds more clicks to get where you really wanna go. No more clicks!
 

DeletedUser31592

When I made my browser window practically square it was where it normally is instead of hidden.
 

DeletedUser28477

When I made my browser window practically square it was where it normally is instead of hidden.

A person should not have to reposition / change their computer/browser to play a game.

if i need to do something to locate an icon - i may as well just peruse my whole map to see what needs picking up (defeats the whole purpose of the icon, to tell me that something needs picking up.)
 

DeletedUser31592

A person should not have to reposition / change their computer/browser to play a game.

if i need to do something to locate an icon - i may as well just peruse my whole map to see what needs picking up (defeats the whole purpose of the icon, to tell me that something needs picking up.)

I didn't say they should. Just saying that it can be manipulated instead of going full screen.

I can also see mine behind the buttons, as my screen normally is.
 

Salsuero

Well-Known Member
A person should not have to reposition / change their computer/browser to play a game.

Agreed. But the developers also have to use the screen's real estate as it is and they make assumptions (or perhaps they use technical feedback from the browser/app interface) about what most people are using to determine how much real estate that is. In my case, the icon you are talking about is almost in the middle of my screen. Plenty of real estate below it for more things if they wanted to go nuts. But, if I decided to drop my screen size or resize my browser window to be significantly smaller, I would run into visibility issues. The developers have to design the UI based on what they think will work for most people. They may have reached the limit for a handful of the population, but I don't think it's a major worry for them with so many game issues (like the port to HTML5 and GvG lag) still incomplete. I feel for you, but I just don't think your case (and those like you) is a significant population of the payers of this game to warrant developer intervention... yet. I could certainly be wrong about that.
 

Freshmeboy

Well-Known Member
This maybe a case of watch what you wish for...in popular games, devs will often add new content and mechanics to increase interest in the game and keep vets playing...Believe it or not, incidents and DCs are not 'new'...they are stealing game mechanics from other games and tailoring it to FOE. The problem lies in having so much content and little space for marker icons which leads to singular menus with ALL that content and that leads to lag....I farm games now that are almost impossible to play due to the lag created through added content. menu icons should be added but on the right side of the page to keep them distinct and the loading factor down...wishing for consolidation will only cause trouble...
 

Algona

Well-Known Member
I'll repeat. This is not a new problem. It used to happen during Events in previous years.

INNO solved this bu putting the mundane quest givers under one bigger Icon. Then added more bigger Icons for Events and DCs and recreated the problem.

Is the solution really that hard to figure out or implement? Shrink the Icons and move them up the screen and closer together?
 

DeletedUser28477

This maybe a case of watch what you wish for...in popular games, devs will often add new content and mechanics to increase interest in the game and keep vets playing...Believe it or not, incidents and DCs are not 'new'...they are stealing game mechanics from other games and tailoring it to FOE. The problem lies in having so much content and little space for marker icons which leads to singular menus with ALL that content and that leads to lag....I farm games now that are almost impossible to play due to the lag created through added content. menu icons should be added but on the right side of the page to keep them distinct and the loading factor down...wishing for consolidation will only cause trouble...

This is not a new icon. The icon im refering to already exists - & appears when there is something to collect.

All im asking for / suggesting, is that this icon appears above the other icons. (for those people that can not see the icon if it appears).

Ive tried to re-size my screen but can not without making this game impossible to see (all the text is too small). This is the optimal size for my computer / the game.
 

Salsuero

Well-Known Member
All im asking for / suggesting, is that this icon appears above the other icons.

With that said, I vote no specifically to this. You're going to have all of the other icons get pushed down and perhaps bump something else off the screen for an icon that I don't think "many" people actually even use. And any time a new item is ready to collect, all of the other icons will shift down, causing folks who do rapid questing based on muscle memory to now have to shift their eyes and click movements (believe it or not, it can get pretty easy to know and repeat exactly where to click to not lose precious time on rapid FP donations) until they are ready to collect whatever it is that just came ready, which they may not be needing/wanting to do right away. That may not sound like a big deal, and it probably isn't... but in my opinion, it's just as valid as what you're saying. The point for me is that you're not "fixing" the problem... you're simply reordering the problem and shifting it to other players.
 
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DeletedUser28477

With that said, I vote no specifically to this. You're going to have all of the other icons get pushed down and perhaps bump something else off the screen for an icon that I don't think "many" people actually even use. And any time a new item is ready to collect, all of the other icons will shift down, causing folks who do rapid questing based on muscle memory to now have to shift their eyes and click movements (believe it or not, it can get pretty easy to know and repeat exactly where to click to not lose precious time on rapid FP donations) until they are ready to collect whatever it is that just came ready, which they may not be needing/wanting to do right away. You're not "fixing" the problem... you're simply reordering it.

If the "permanent" icons appear as position 1, 2, 3 and 4.

after a while, there is something to collect, the 'collect' icon appears in position 1, and the 'permanent' icons appear in positions 2, 3, 4 and 5. (position 5 is off the screen on some Pcs)

But, you now see the collect icon in position 1. you check your map & collect everything.

the collect icon now disappears and your permanent icons now move up a place.

no worries, im off to bed soon, but it solves a problem, and its illogical to have an icon to tell you something - if you cant see it.
 

Salsuero

Well-Known Member
But, you now see the collect icon in position 1. you check your map & collect everything.

You assume I want to see that icon at the top and have it move everything else down. I do not. I like where the icons are and that they stay there. It gives me predictability when I'm running rapid FP quests. I don't wanna accidentally overshoot and hit an icon that appears just because something came up for collection. My Alcatraz and barracks come up at random times. I don't need to collect them right away if I'm working on a large donation to a GB and I just wanna cycle through quests quickly. No one may agree with me, and that's cool, but I'm fine with the way it is, so that's why I voted no.

...it solves a problem, and its illogical to have an icon to tell you something - if you cant see it.

I totally agree... for those of you who deal with this. How many people have such small screen resolutions, though? I suspect it's not many nowadays. But for me, personally, It doesn't solve anything since the problem doesn't affect me, but would instead create a small and insignificant new one for me. Even though it may be small and insignificant (and yes, one I could probably learn to live with)... I would prefer that to not happen if it's my choice. Therefore, I'm sticking with my no. Unless... they can stick it here:

Screen shot 2017-12-17 at 5.37.59 AM.png Screen shot 2017-12-17 at 3.21.46 AM.png

...and not move the other icons at all... just populate that space when the icon shows up and leave it empty when not. You could move the story, daily, and event icons down a small amount to make enough vertical room and then never move them again. Then I would be a yes.

Or if you were to propose to move it somewhere else entirely... and the right side of the screen has plenty of space... then that would get a yes from me.

Coincidentally, I don't like that they shove the diamond and other specials in with the indicator icons:

Screen shot 2017-12-17 at 5.34.33 AM.png
Screen shot 2017-12-17 at 5.34.43 AM.png

...since it creates multiple pages that you have to scroll through to see the Kraken, for example. That's an icon issue that I do have. Why not have that indicator window expand downward as you get more icons placed into it, rather than making it a paging system?

Or you could make it user-customizable... maybe drag downward to show more of them or upward to show less. You could even use the existing arrows in this way... clicking the down arrow could expand the panel by one icon, and the opposite could happen when clicking the up arrow. Then you could choose to show 3... 4... 10 icon slots if you prefer, rather than the permanent 4 slots + paging. For my town, I'd have it always show 6 slots, which would allow me to always see all of my boosts (LoA, DT, Kraken) + happiness (which is honestly pointless as I've been permanently enthusiastic for over a year) + the occasional diamond special, and the occasional "something is disconnected" icon when I'm rearranging things and forget to place a road segment somewhere. Others may choose more or less slots to be always visible depending on their setups.

And for that matter... putting the Kraken in there, but not showing it in GE, GvG, or on the continent map, where you also use the Kraken to fight battles... makes little sense to me. I have to go all the way back to the main town page if I wanna see if I can use my Kraken for the next fight. :mad:
 
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