Anglakhel
06-04-2009, 06:25 PM
In the last couple of months we've been seeing a growing trend of UI Mods and AddOns that alter the HUD within your UI. Specifically, Mods that make additions to the HUD when dealing with friendly and enemy targets. Previously, I discussed the Nemesis Mod (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=273772) which takes some of the elements of a PvP Blackbook and ties it into special icons that appear when important enemies are nearby. You will see a graphical icon over the head of your current Nemeses or anyone you are currently Dominating. Today, we're looking at another AddOn that using Icons over player heads to make better sense of your playing experience: Group Icons.
Group Icons
Group Icons (http://war.curse.com/downloads/war-addons/details/group-icons.aspx) is a very simple AddOn brought to the community by project manager Rhekua. When you activate Group Icons it will place a small icon over the head of everyone in your party or warband. Party members will show up with a small green icon that looks like a head and shoulders above their avatar's head. When a party member dies, they will show up with a bright red version of the head and shoulders icon.
22395
For members of your warband, the icon is slightly modified. It appears like a stack of several of the regular icon and it colored blue. When a member of your warband dies, the icon goes dark with a red border.
22394
I find Group Icons to be extremely helpful in chaotic oRvR. It can become very difficult to track party and warband members when navigating a battlefield where others are also engaged. Avatars can look very similar and nameplates are not always desirable to have visible or easily readable if they are visible.
22393
Group Icons always you to quickly scan the area and visually track where you in relation to the rest of your party and warband. Being able to easily read the locations of your allies makes it easier to move and react to the enemy in a coordinated fashion and helps keep people from running off in the wrong direction.
Interestingly, these Group Icons seem to have a much longer range that the usual visual range for characters. So you can see the icons when the actual avatars are out of sight. You can also see the icons through terrain, such as on the other side of a hill or through a wall.
This aspect raises some potentially troubling issues, however. Similar AddOns allow you to place icons of the heads of enemy players. These modifications can allow you to track a target that you should not be able to see visually due to features of the geography. There was a substantial outcry during beta about the targeting rings around our characters. Initially in beta, the targeting rings would track the motion of your enemy target with a red arrow that would allow you to follow their movements even if you could no longer visibly see them. These target icons raise the possibility again for enemies to track you when they shouldn't be able to see you at all.
I would like to see some extra functionality added to Group Icons. It would be nice to add in a special icon for the Warband Leader, Warband Assistants and the Main Assist. It would add another layer of visual organization to the warband that would be extremely helpful. You can find similar functionality in AddOns like FollowMyLead, LeadAssist Show and Paint the Leader, but I think it's long overdue to have a comprehensive AddOn that allows us to visually organize our parties and warbands.
Are you using Group Icons or a similar AddOn? Let us know what you think about it. Or chime in on the issue of Icons allowing you to track friends and foes when geometry and geography shouldn't allow you to see them. We want to know what you're thinking.
Group Icons
Group Icons (http://war.curse.com/downloads/war-addons/details/group-icons.aspx) is a very simple AddOn brought to the community by project manager Rhekua. When you activate Group Icons it will place a small icon over the head of everyone in your party or warband. Party members will show up with a small green icon that looks like a head and shoulders above their avatar's head. When a party member dies, they will show up with a bright red version of the head and shoulders icon.
22395
For members of your warband, the icon is slightly modified. It appears like a stack of several of the regular icon and it colored blue. When a member of your warband dies, the icon goes dark with a red border.
22394
I find Group Icons to be extremely helpful in chaotic oRvR. It can become very difficult to track party and warband members when navigating a battlefield where others are also engaged. Avatars can look very similar and nameplates are not always desirable to have visible or easily readable if they are visible.
22393
Group Icons always you to quickly scan the area and visually track where you in relation to the rest of your party and warband. Being able to easily read the locations of your allies makes it easier to move and react to the enemy in a coordinated fashion and helps keep people from running off in the wrong direction.
Interestingly, these Group Icons seem to have a much longer range that the usual visual range for characters. So you can see the icons when the actual avatars are out of sight. You can also see the icons through terrain, such as on the other side of a hill or through a wall.
This aspect raises some potentially troubling issues, however. Similar AddOns allow you to place icons of the heads of enemy players. These modifications can allow you to track a target that you should not be able to see visually due to features of the geography. There was a substantial outcry during beta about the targeting rings around our characters. Initially in beta, the targeting rings would track the motion of your enemy target with a red arrow that would allow you to follow their movements even if you could no longer visibly see them. These target icons raise the possibility again for enemies to track you when they shouldn't be able to see you at all.
I would like to see some extra functionality added to Group Icons. It would be nice to add in a special icon for the Warband Leader, Warband Assistants and the Main Assist. It would add another layer of visual organization to the warband that would be extremely helpful. You can find similar functionality in AddOns like FollowMyLead, LeadAssist Show and Paint the Leader, but I think it's long overdue to have a comprehensive AddOn that allows us to visually organize our parties and warbands.
Are you using Group Icons or a similar AddOn? Let us know what you think about it. Or chime in on the issue of Icons allowing you to track friends and foes when geometry and geography shouldn't allow you to see them. We want to know what you're thinking.