EQInterface Forums - Changes to the AA window

06-21-2007, 01:58 PM

#16

Brighid741

A Tempest Toad

Join Date: Feb 2004

Server: The Seventh Hammer

Posts: 463

Coming to LIVE

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/p...topic_id=113552

Quote:

Hello everyone. My name is David Ford and I am in charge of the Alternate Advancement system for EverQuest. I would like to take a few moments to introduce the changes that we have planned for the AA system with the next patch for EverQuest and explain some of the specifics for these changes and discuss our motivations for making these changes. I'll check back on this thread periodically for questions and answer them to the best of my ability.

The biggest change you'll notice when you first open the AA window after the patch is that there are a number of tabs "missing"! When the AA system was originally created there were only 3 tabs (General, Archtype and Class) and that setup worked fairly well. But for each expansion that contained more AAs to purchase, we added additional tabs. The current number of tabs was becoming overwhelming so we decided to slim the UI.

We settled on 4 tabs. The three original tabs are still there but next to General, Archtype and Class tabs you'll see a new tab named "Special." The first three tabs are fairly self explanatory but let's talk about the "Special" tab for a bit. The Special tab will hold any AA that doesn't fit neatly into the previous three tabs. For example, the "Glyph" (expendable) AAs will be on the Special tab and various AAs that have been used for progression for several expansions will live on this tab as well.

It was very important to me when we created the new UI for the AAs that we didn't wind up creating a data overload. I also wanted to make sure there were at least as many, if not more, ways to "sort" the AA lists to find the AA you are looking for. The only "sort" previously available was the tab system. You could choose which expansion you wanted to look at by clicking on that tab and then scrolling through the AAs on that tab. With the new UI there are a series of drop down menus you can use to view only certain sets of AAs. Additionally all of the column headings can be clicked to order the visible AAs by that column in either forward or reverse alphabetical order. Finally there is also a "Can Purchase" button in the new UI that will narrow the list down to only the AAs that you currently qualify to purchase (ie: the AAs that either have no requirements or have requirements that you have already met.) Taken together I hope that it will be generally easier to find the AA ability you were looking for.

The final large change that will be introduced with this patch is the consolidation of AAs.New AAs have been created for previous expansions that were pure upgrades to existing AA lines. These added rank after rank of similar abilities, each with its own name. Finding the next AA in a line could be difficult at times. To eliminate that confusion and to cut down on the amount of data that each tab holds those types of AA lines have been consolidated into a single line. Innate Strength will have quite a few more ranks than you're used to after this patch, for example. This should make it easier for you to see where you are in a line without the need to search through multiple tabs.

We've all spent a fair amount of time going over the AA system in the past few weeks trying to get everything "just right" for this patch. In the process we've discovered and fixed a host of issues, both new and ancient. I think that the patch notes for this update will have a large section devoted to the AA system, both related to the changes mentioned here and the changes/fixes made to various abilities. I'm looking forward to seeing the new system on the Live servers later this month! In the meantime we have pushed the changes to the Test server and I highly encourage anyone who is interested to visit Test and check out the changes. I'll be carefully watching this thread and /bug over the next few days for issues that may be discovered and QA is continuing to search for problems at this time.

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06-21-2007, 07:21 PM	#17
danille Feeling Elemental? Join Date: Apr 2003 Server: Bristlebane Posts: 363	The new changes are awesome. Log onto test an check them out you will be happy __________________ Danille Impholder The Magician's Tower Bristlebane ~ Sol Invictus Keep Norrath Safe Caretaker of AYA

06-21-2007, 07:23 PM	#18
Savok On tour since '99 Join Date: Sep 2002 Server: Innoruuk forever! Posts: 473	Yes, big thumbs up for the new aa window! __________________ Gold: 03/16/99 - 03/15/12 Silver: 03/16/12 - 03/15/18 Done:03/16/18 And with a heavy heart I bid adieu to Everquest Live.

06-22-2007, 12:26 AM	#19
Kaliaila A Wooly Rhino Join Date: Jan 2003 Server: Tunare Posts: 74	Personally I'd rather they further split General into something like combat and non-combat. Put all the AAs that directly effect combat IE the offensive and defensive AAs in the combat tab, and then the TS AAs, AAs that have nothing to with combat (like Packrat), and other miscellaneous AAs (such as the Innates) in the non-combat one. At least the took the advice and moved the Veteran and Expendable AAs to their own window along with the Progression AAs. __________________ Xianzu 125 Monk Tunare Bearer of the Shackle of Tynnonium Wielder of the Whistling Fists Ascendant Apostle of the Celestial Fists

06-22-2007, 12:54 PM	#20
Edimas A Gray Wolf Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7	The EQPlayers posting by Nodyin with some more recent Screenshots. http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/n...cle.vm?id=50472