recently the developers said they want to work on ways they can make the default experience better for players, by improving telegraphed abilities, so that things like DBM are not needed (as much). to that end, I have a few suggestions, to help standardize some abilities, moving forward. this will help all players over time easily recognize what to do when they are targeted with an ability. for example, it is very common even in LFR to see a player that did not know what to do when a circle appears on top of them. they run away from others when the ability needs to have everyone soak it, or run the ability into everyone when they need to run it out away from others. this should never happen. the abilities should be so visually clear that it should be impossible to mistake these two situations.
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avoid this!
On the ground appears a semi-transparent and usually red colored shape (usually a circle or rectangle but any shape is possible). any players that stand inside the shape will also dynamically begin to see small animated transparent chevron arrows that move from the center of the shape to the outer edge of the shape before fading away, further reinforcing that they will need to move OUT of this thing. -
get inside (soak) this!
On the ground appears a semi-transparent colored shape (usually a circle or rectangle but any shape is possible) with an outer edge that is dotted. the outer edge will also rotate clockwise. whether players are inside the shape or not, they will also see small animated transparent chevron arrows that move from the outer edges of the shape towards the innermost point of the shape before fading away, further reinforcing that you need to move INSIDE this thing.
while 1 or more players are inside, all players will see the shape ‘activate’: becomes more illuminated, the outer edge changes from a rotating dotted line, to steady solid line -
group get inside (soak) this!
same thing as ‘get inside (soak) this!’, just a (typically) much larger shape that can fit more players inside
note: players will NOT see it ‘activate’ until they themselves have gotten inside
note: in some cases, on some encounters, a single player with a specific debuff, or a player with a specific role, such as a tank, may need to run away from everyone else, while the rest of the raid groups up / gets inside to soak. In this case, players with that role, or players with that debuff, will see the circle, but it will look like an “avoid this!” circle for them
note: try not to lock an effect like this to a single players location that moves with the players movement, but if you do, also add the ‘get together’ effect on all eligible players -
Look away from something!
The NPC will have an icon floating above it’s head. it will be an eye shape. the pupil of the eye will be a black circle. within the black circle will be a blue smaller circle, that will gradually expand in size until it is the same size as the black pupil circle, at which point the ability will be cast by the NPC -
look at something!
this is usually a mechanic where you have a debuff and when the debuff expires, in whatever direction your character is facing, something happens. maybe a beam will be fired in that direction, or a projectile will spawn and start to move in that direction, or your character will breathe fire in a more cone-like shape. in any case, if and when this mechanic occurs, it often involves little or no telegraphing at all. what immediately comes to mind is lady hatecoil in eye of eternity, and the debuff, curse of the witch. you have to keep track of the debuff by looking at the top right of your screen, or set up some kind of weakaura to help track it. not good!
so for curse of the witch for example, I imagine a rectangle on the ground extending in front of your character. it is locked in whatever direction your character is facing. in addition, a circle icon will float above your characters head. within that circle will be 8 purple pizza slice shapes, that will fill in one at a time. shortly after they are all filled in, the circle will flash, and the effect will trigger and dissipate.
additionally, if the intent of the ability is to get you to hit specific npc’s with the ability, be those npc’s friend or foe, those NPC’s will have an icon floating above their head indicating you should try to hit them with the ability (the icon could be a single purple pizza slice shape oriented in such a way like an exclamation point without the dot). the use of the same color and shape is intentional to make the player realize they are related.
note: all players can see these effects
another example would be on the Kil’Jaeden fight, in the last phase when the pillars come down that fire fel blasts in a cross (4 directions) those pillars will now display rectangles on the ground that will extend the full length of the platform. this will much better telegraph where the blasts will appear, and where the safe spaces to stand are.
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run away!
a thin red laser beam connects the location, or pursuing NPC, to the target being chased. can be combined with “group get inside (soak) this!” to reinforce the idea that the player should run away from the point where the group soak is occurring. -
take cover!
the entire floor of the affected area will become covered with a transparent red color shape, except anything that blocks line of sight and would therefore protect the player from the effect. think of this like a flashlight shining towards a tree, behind the tree a shadow would be cast, an area that was protected from being hit by the light.
some line of sight blockers, like the columns on the jailer fight, will create a not-red area behind them (with no limitation on how far that not-red area will extend). whereas other blockers, like the walls you can take cover behind when fighting the last boss on Iron Docks BFA dungeon, may only provide a predefined ‘take cover’ area.
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2 specific players must get together!
a transparent beam effect connects 2 specific players, until they touch. all players can see this beam. all players other than the 2 chosen players will also see animated chevron arrows that move from the 2 outer ends of the beam, towards the middle of the beam, indicating these 2 players must come together.
what the 2 affected players will see, is slightly different. the chevron arrows will move along the beam in the direction of the other player they are connected to, inviting them to move the full length of the beam towards the other player. -
get together! (flexible, doesn’t matter who you get together with)
if you are not near any other players, a “2 specific players must get together!” effect will appear (only you can see it) that will direct you to move towards the nearest group of players. if no group of players exists, you will be directed to the nearest single other player.
what other effects are common enough that they deserve to get some love when it comes to better telegraphs?