New names under spots

[Commodore Phoenix]

As a captain who believes in skill and relying on ability rather than what the game can offer, I believe that the new names under a spotted ship is dumbing down the game. That's it if you want more of an argument comment.

[Imagine]

I really don't think this makes much a difference in games, honestly. I mean, like once in a blue moon through the clouds it might make a small change but frankly, as far as I'm concerned, this is a non-issue.

[HamsterIV]

Say you are going up against two pyramidions, one is piloted by a level 10 with a crew of all the same clan tag, while the other one is piloted by a level 3 with a level 2 gunner and two AI. Who do you target first? Before we had to guess which one was capable of the highest dps, and which one we could safely ignore.

[Commodore Phoenix]

Exactly it removes all gameplay and just makes it quite stupid its making the game more easy for easy players but its making it worthless for players that are skilled. It was already easy to tell the difference between ships now its just slapping people, who have intelligence, in the face.

[DMaximus]

Exactly. It removes all gameplay and just makes it quite stupid. It's making the game easier for unskilled players but it's making it worthless for players that are skilled. It was already easy to tell the difference between ships now it's just slapping people with intelligence in the face.

I know, I hate how having the ship's name displayed removed all that gun-shooting and engine-repairing gameplay I used to love so much. Now all we can do is sit on Dunes and stare at the names on any ship we can spot.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan because I don't like the way it looks, but it really doesn't change how the game is played at all.

[Commodore Phoenix]

What I'm saying is where did we say that we needed to have the names on the ship could we not use our intelligence to work it out seriously the only reason that we would possibly need names under each ship would be if they were both the same ship and we were on a beginners match, I am saying that it just makes gameplay silly if all we do is target a ship that has a name under instead of working out which ship is which when we engage them by their weapons or by who is destroying parts. Gameplay isn't about who can shoot the most things or repair the most objects it's about using wit, guile and subterfuge to outsmart your enemy, so that you arent just in a game where you end up with everyone sitting on one point each. Coordination is the best part of team-work and if you remove the need for communication then it makes it even easier just to have silent matches, which is not a good thing for this game.

[Dutch Vanya]

I can understand where you are coming from, but i really don't think this UI change "removes all gameplay". Then again i know most gamers are just very adverse to change. I just find it hard to believe that because you can see the name of the ship instead of just the ship with a box around it, that all of the sudden you need absolutely no communication with your crew anymore.

[Nidh]

What on earth are you guys complaining about? The names are an awesome addition. Before, coordinated targeting against two of the same ships was "hit the guy who's up higher in altitude" or "the guy to the most south." What is so game destroying about "Holy#!&% the (insert name here) is closing fast! All to the (insert name here)!"?

[HamsterIV]

I think Phoenix is looking at this from the wrong angle. Here is a quote from 40k which describes my view on the matter:

The uniforms of the Imperial Guard are camouflaged in order to protect their wearers by hiding them from sight.

The principle is that what the enemy cannot see he cannot kill. This is not the way of the Adeptus Astartes. A Space Marine’s armour is bright with heraldry that proclaims his devotion to his Chapter and the beloved Emperor of Mankind. Our principle is that what the enemy can see, he will soon learn to fear…
[\quote]

[Moo]

It's unrealistic, it's intrusive, and it's dumbing down. I don't like it.
By removing all ambiguity, you are requiring less skill.
A reasonable compromise that someone suggested is that the names only appear on spotted ships while looking at them through a spyglass. Other suggestions were enabling it only on beginners matches, or adding a game-creation option for whether it should be enabled for that match. All would be an improvement.

[Letus]

It's both kinda cool, but kind of pointless.
Maybe when we get full ship customization, it would make sense, but as of now, it's rather "meh" to me.

I can see how people like it for when against a all pyramidion team or something, figuring out which team is the more threatening, but those were always easy to figure out early in the game, if you knew what you were looking for.  Ram happy pyramidion?  Probably not your big threat, just pot him off a bit and focus on the guy who looks like he knows what he's doing.


And what will happen when all the level 10's name their ship the same name as the level 1's?  Same problem that people are arguing for why this feature should exist....
We should all name our ships Pyramidion, Goldfish, Squid....just to throw that argument off.  "Go for the Pyramidion!"  "Which Pyramidion?"  "The Pyramidion named Pyramidion!"  "But they're both called Pyramidion!"

..."Cut the blue wire Bob!"  "BUT I'M COLOURBLIND!"

[Nidh]

I can't even understand your argument. How is seeing a name dumbing down the game? Aren't the name's of ships usually painted visibly on the side? The font is not even that big. What about not knowing the name of a ship makes it harder? There is no difference discerning the priority  of  a target whether you know it's name or not. If you think seeing the name of the ship makes things easier than I think there's something wrong with the way you select your target.

[Sammy B. T.]

Until we can do cosmetic changes to our ships, I really like it. I like that if I am playing with an allied Junker, my enemy knows which one will be delivering their doom. Calling out coordination based on ship name and not class makes it easier to immerse myself in the game. I'm not just saying the Galleon is the threat, I am not saying the Lucky Duck is the threat and so on.

I would say they need to turn it off for spectate. Otherwise we get the name above and below if we are looking in health bar mode.

[Gambrill]

Maybe Muse could have the option as a tool in options that you can select or deselect as you wished?
Would that be enough to settle the rage in your heart?

[Pickle]

It is dumbing down, turning it into an arcade game.  The screen used to be nice and clean, now it's starting to resemble the HUD of an F-16.  Not the low tech airship environment at all.

Put the names in the map or make them only visible when using a telescope, rather than create a HUD that's moving away from the low tech feel and aesthetic of the game.  It would be more useful in 3v3 to have your own team's ship names showing on the map.