We have made further improvements to nameplate stacking that is now live on Beta. These changes should prevent nameplates from going below the unit they are attached to, and they should no longer shuffle positions in the stack as often.
We are aware of another issue where units in separate packs will sometimes have their nameplates overlap, and will be addressing this soon.
Appreciate the work you guys are putting in but you got a LONG way to go.
I appreciate the communication, thank you.
I tested the stacking behavior tonight post-change. Similar to what was described in the blue post, the nameplates randomly jumping around the screen has gotten significantly better. I tried to make them act up and they were very well behaved. With single packs, the spreading/positioning behavior worked basically exactly as I expected. I also noticed the known issue with nameplates from multiple packs. It behaved as if the nameplates from each pack spread from each other, but had no idea the nameplates from other packs existed, so they overlapped very badly. In short, what I found was exactly as described in the post above. I recorded with OBS, but probably no need to post since it was exactly the intended result of the update.
I still strongly disagree with not being able to color code nameplates by NPC ID. The names of the mobs we’re fighting is not some kind of mystery that color coding NPCs by NPC ID magically reveals. The names are plainly available information to everyone. It’s just that it’s painful and slow to have to read text instead of color code. I’d get more fun out of pressing my rotational buttons and focusing on the game instead of spending some cognitive globals looking for the mob I want to prioritize or kick or whatever.
I’m personally planning to use macros with priority target names to set my target and focus quickly in keys next season (2 different macros for each key), but that doesn’t sound like a whole bunch of fun.
I agree that toning down the spaceship-UI plater profiles people have been able to make pre-midnight is probably good for the game. I’m good with removing dynamic color or animations based on what’s happening moment to moment in combat. But taking away NPC ID is over-zealous. The UI shouldn’t be actively fighting against us by obscuring information that is supposed to be available to everyone.
Its pretty funny when 12 year-olds can make a better ui than all the stiffs at a multi dollar company. My friend once told me that when you get a job at Blizzard its your last stop before you realize you don’t belong in that industry.
I would love to see these customizable position settings for Blizzard’s nameplates, that were available with Plater:
Aside from adjustable settings, I would love to see a couple of other features:
Colorizing nameplate healthbars based on threat. I know there’s a setting for a flash and a little red thing above the healthbar for if you get aggro, but personally I barely notice them. You should be able to check a box to color healthbars:
(a) Green = aggro as tank or no aggro as dps/healer
(b) Yellow = caution/transition color
(c) Red = no aggro as tank or aggro as dps/healer
Colorizing nameplate healthbars or somehow denoting casters from non-casters. As someone in this thread pointed out, we already see the mobs’ names, so colorizing nameplates does not give any more advantage to us than the information already presented. What it does, however, is enable everyone, not just experienced players, to identify which mobs will need to be interrupted.
Furthermore, a lot of mob names are similar, and a lot of them in a dungeon may have similarly-prefixed names, so adding an extra color, or icon, or anything really, just adds clarity on top of having to very quickly read names in the heat of battle.
There is already a common practice of making some mobs larger in size to signify that they are elites, more dangerous, and usually immune to CCs. They have nameplates too, but you are adding more clarity to discern them from regular mobs by making them larger. Denoting casters on nameplates is exactly the same concept.
Can we fix stacking buffs and cooldown charges next
As in the tiny friggin number on the icon
current stacking nameplates are also way too mobile, yes they should show players where the mobs are but also they should not hop all around as mobs move a single step… if you are to use these to target if they rapidly hop around it is very hard to utilize them
This video was posted 4 days ago and the update here is less than a day old though
I do appreciate all of the work you guys are doing. The problem with the UI name plate is going be a major problem for dots class when trying to switch the correct target and name plates are all over the place.
“Why don’t blizzard listen to feedbacks?”
While a marginal improvement, nameplates really are in a horrid state.
Here is current Beta plates post 11/25 hotfix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bg2vaReogY - Windrunner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv4t1qAHmZI - Cinderbrew
You can see they shift and a ton of padding. This is only ~5 mobs for Windrunner, it is so much worse for Cinderbrew. It doesnt look like its stacking at all, and when it does its all over the place. God help me playing any dot class.
Here is live on Mythic Salhadaar prog from a guildie last night:
https://www.twitch.tv/titan_hermes/clip/BumblingSarcasticMomCmonBruh-qI0C8yxopOF2bfy2
You can very clearly see how snappy Live is. They stack on top of each other, very little padding, clear, and easy to target.
I cannot stress enough how nameplates are the single most important thing to get right. I have pretty much given up M+ testing due to how enormously frustrating it is to just interact with the game. I have not given any feedback on the actual content because I can barely tell whats going on.
And? It’s still relevant. There are a lot more issues that need to be addressed that are covered in the video.
Blizzard asked for feedback back, and it’s there.
Yeah just seemed weird to reply to a nameplate update with old nameplate content and “look at everything else that’s wrong”
I mean, its slightly less spaced now? Everything else is still completely valid.
I agree, never said the points aren’t valid. I figure it should get it’s own attention, not in a reply to nameplate update
They are better but still much much worse than what they could be.
Randomly, nameplates that are not even close to each other fly way up the screen.
You guys know you can look into Plater code, right?
How the hell did we even get to this state? This is the type of stuff that needs to be in working order during the internal alpha testing, not… 2 months before launch. It’s so bad.
Its entirely their own doing too. It works perfectly on live and nothing whatsoever to do with combat enhancements. They have always controlled placement.
They took it apart and apparently haven’t been able to put it back together.
Its their code. Plater never controlled that.
As ssear said, plater could never change anything about how the nameplates behaved and interacted with eachother. The only thing it could do was offset the anchor point that blizzard chose.