Tab targeting has been silently removed...

[skipdog]

When do we get our forced 640x480 window with the original UI?

Because if the devs aren't working towards that and don't have plans to implement that, it's hard to get behind changes like this.

[Mblake81]

Originally Posted by skipdog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

When do we get our forced 640x480 window with the original UI?

Because if the devs aren't working towards that and don't have plans to implement that, it's hard to get behind changes like this.

Doesn't work the same on LCD as it does on CRT

CRTs fundamentally use analog technology. A pixel was simply a place on the CRT where the electron beam was modulated to make a square-ish spot. Because of this, all supported resolutions typically were similarly crisp (or similarly fuzzy, depending on your perspective).

LCDs are digital. A pixel is essentially a tiny square of all one color, like filling in a picture using graph paper. When using the native resolution, each pixel is extremely crisp.

However, if you try to use a lower resolution, unless it is an integer multiple of the native resolution, then each requested pixel will not fit exactly into a display pixel, this causes lumpy bumpy displays with lines and text being distorted.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Mblake81 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Doesn't work the same on LCD as it does on CRT

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Also, there has long been a very clear dividing line here: they don't try to mess with your environment, just the game.

Totally unclassic Discord? Allowed.
Totally unclassic Gina (you could read logs, but you couldn't overlay on top of the EQ client in classic) ? Allowed.
Any sort of unclassic new-fangled keyboard/mouse/joystick/gamepad? Allowed ... unless you use it to do something in the game that you couldn't do in classic, then it's banned.

There's an obvious reason why they draw that line: they can control the game, but they can't (seriously) control your environment. There's some small gray area (like their anti-cheat which technically runs outside the game itself), but it's pretty straightforward: they don't try to mess with your environment (the anti-cheat is only used to make sure you don't cheat in-game).

Clearly screen resolution is environmental, and there's nothing hypocritical about them having a logical line and sticking to it.

Oh, and if you want to argue in-game resolution only, A) they have practical limitations (I'm really not sure they even know how to force a resolution within Titanium), and B) even if they can, it's not like players in classic only ran 640x480 either [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Mblake81]

True, we didn't all use the same res as that was dependent on your preferences and what your machine could handle. But the original devs did force an environment on us, we all ran the same UI. Toggled or not. We were all defined by what it could and could no do.

These devs are more liberal and perhaps they can't force something with Titanium, it would be understandable considering its limitations. But if they did figure out a way it would not be wrong to make it across the board but scalable to the resolution you are using just like original did.

[Treehorn]

Originally Posted by Vexenu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Honestly this change is not that big of a deal. It's not like it makes doing certain content impossible. It basically just forces people to pay more attention and makes it more difficult for a single Enchanter to lock down a ton of mobs quickly. Most of the whining is coming from Enchanters who are mad they won't be able to solo farm high end cash camps as safely and efficienty as they did before. As usual, most of the vociferous objections to classic mechanics can be traced back to an insatiable lust for easy pixels, an affliction which has sadly taken over the minds of many within our P1999 community.

I disagree on some points. For me, this change makes for ‘the wrong kind’ of challenging, especially in the context of normal group grinding.

I love the enchanter class. It’s always been my favourite, to be the group’s safety net, always mindful of every danger, keeping track of each mob, and intuitively knowing when shit is about to hit the fan before it actually does. That’s the challenge of the class that I love. That’s the skill that makes “good CC rare to find”.

Taking away that difficulty, for the difficulty of clicking on pixels by shimmying around and mashing my mouse button, is not my idea of fun. It’s also not my idea of skill. It trades the intensity and difficulty of managing the dangerous circumstances of battle, for the arbitrary frustration of poorly designed controls. It’s “difficult” in the way that old NES games are difficult, rather than the way Dark Souls is.

I’m a casual player who never made it past 55. Not on my pre-Kunark enchanter, nor my P1999 enchanter. I just love the game, love playing with friends, and love the challenge of holding down a hurricane of mayhem with mind magic. I don’t care about cash farming, or the speed at which I can lock down mobs. I just want to have fun. This change makes the game much less fun.

This is also an accessibility issue. Gamers with physical disabilities, even issues as common as arthritis, are now being disabled from playing the game that they love. My RL friend has MS. He tried playing on beta with tab targeting gone. For him, it’s now truly and completely unplayable.

We were really stoked to play together in a static group of 4 other RL friends. We’ve been waiting for the green server for years. We’ve been vibrating with excitement since it was announced. Now, we’re all questioning whether or not we’ll play, if he can’t be part of it. And I’m sure he’s not alone. How many people have to be excluded from playing altogether, so that a small number of privileged people can have a more narrowly defined gameplay loop?

I understand the striving for the “truest classic experience”. I’m on board with 99% of it. But this one, I don’t agree with.

[Bannen]

Feels like a small minority is taking "classic" a little too far. I played EQ on launch day and for years after. The game was hard. Breaking an orc camp at level 10 has more strategy than new MMO's have at end game. Love it.

I'm really looking forward to the green launch but it has nothing to do with missing bad UI, bad targeting, and bad choices such as staring at a spell book. I miss having people at leveling levels to group with. I miss the classic item drops. I miss having the old zones populated.

I don't miss the bad parts that frankly sucked and were changed for a reason.

[kabouter]

I agree to a certain extent, I mean mouse targeting just doesn't work that well (having to click multiple times before the system registers the target). But it might turn out to be more fun, in the sense that crowd control will be harder and group encounters aren't trivialised.

Sadly a lot of enchanter dungeon soloing that was difficult before will be pretty much impossible on green.

I do truly feel for your friend, but we can't expect the staff to keep in all the QoL changes so it is more friendly towards players with disabilities. Isn't there another class he can play?

[kaizersoze]

Oh fucking please, you can still play an enchanter. You just need your pullers to not be retarded and pull like 30 mobs and actually keep tabs on your spawn timers. Throw out an AoE mez, break them one at a time, and lock the others down with single mez afterward.

[Jimjam]

Originally Posted by kabouter [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Sadly a lot of enchanter dungeon soloing that was difficult before will be pretty much impossible on green.

Sadly? Its an mmo! You're meant to be taking the other players into dungeons to farm items with them, not do everything solo and treat those players as npc vendors to buy the spoils of your soloing...

[Gustoo]

Tab should cycle between self and nearest NPC.

Its funny how much changes with a little change. How a UI change ends up being a class balancing change. Good stuff.