Guild Wars Mini-Interview #24
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Q: Are there any notable UI enhancements planned that you can share with us which will reduce the communication gap between pickup teams and those which are using voice communications, or make available more information to each player during a fight? Is there anything in the works to allow players to easily identify to their team some enemy players who may have their names written in foreign languages, especially foreign character sets such as Korean? This occurs quite frequently during the BWE's.
A: It's our goal to make a lot of information available to players during a battle, even more than you presently see. As I mentioned in a previous Fansite Friday, the UI is currently undergoing review and modifications. One of the reasons we read the fansite forums is to learn what players would like to see and experience in the game. For any game, the UI is definitely a hot spot for discussion. We want you to know what's being cast upon you, what sort of damage you're suffering (poison, hex, debuff, etc). Have you been given a special benefit from your party member? You should know that, too, especially if you want to keep him alive to continue getting those benefits! We want you to know the state of your health and the level of your energy at all times, and to be able to strategize counters to whatever befalls you. (What hit me?) is a question we all ask when we're dying, but in Guild Wars we intend to make it pretty easy for you to know (Oh, that is what dropped me so fast!)
In specifically addressing voice chat versus typed communication, there may be advantages for some teams in using voice chat, sure. Lots of people use the various voice communications systems that are available, such as TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, etc. But the UI is configured in such a way that keyboard messaging is a very viable means of communication, as well. For instance, in-game (typed) chat offers four modes: open chat, guild chat, team chat, and whispers. Those not using voice chat will still be able to keep their communications private via that system. In addition, you can tell at a glance if the person talking to you is your friend or enemy and whether he is in the mission or outside based on the color of the speaker's name.
As for identifying the names of the combatants: The only reason I can think of for identifying the baddies is to take gm out. The Called Target system implemented in Guild Wars works very well indeed. I don't believe that language or alphabet is too much of a factor here. For effective battling, if you call the target, your guild mates won't care if he's Matthew Marvelous, Presidente Pablo, or Boris Badinov. ;)
