Sigh. I had just about finished the post when I accidentally pressed back, which caused the post to be lost. So this will be a bit brief and blunt because I don't fancy typing everything again...
So, I took a look at 1.3.6 and noticed some UI issues with removal of text labels. I didn't see am existing thread for 1.3.6 feedback, so here goes:
1. The basic social/progress/ship/character/etc buttons have lost their text labels. Now one has to mouseover every button separate to even know what they're for. Not a problem for me because I already know, but if I was a new player that'd be an instant turn-off; why does this game make me jump through hoops and poll each button instead of letting me know what they're for by simply looking at them? The space for the labels is there and the old way looked and worked perfectly fine.
2. The hull/armor/guns/speed/manouverability graph in the ship screen has lost the labels as well. Again, I know what the symbols stand for, but a newcomer wouldn't. The engines symbol has a spinning arrow behind it, does that mean turning speed? What about the bottom right symbol which looks like a ship without sails or maybe an oil can? The only improvement to the old graph that I had thought of was more text, as in descriptions of what each stat affects specifically, even if only as tooltips.
3. The change ship name pencil icon. In pretty much every other textbox in the world where you have to somehow confirm what you just typed in, pressing enter does the job. Here you have to press a button... ok, I thought that a bit odd previously, but it wasn't a problem so I never paid much attention to it. Now, the button is just a labelless pencil, and my intuition would say that it means that I must press it if I want to write in a new name. It's not a big issue for sure, but still.
If I had to guess, I'd guess that the intent is to give things a somewhat more retro/analog/mechanical feel by using only symbols instead of text, but especially in points 1 and 2 it comes at a heavy cost to usability (the interface) and expression of basic gameplay mechanics (ship stats) that it can't possibly be worth it, especially when it makes things more difficult and frustrating for new players who are already facing a steep learning curve.
