The gooyey

The GUI (graphical user interface) in swtor is both awesome and horrid.  The graphics are just incredible.  I can't imagine what they would be like if I turned up my graphics settings from medium.  Or if AT&T would get off the donkey and run fiber to our house.  The only house in the neighborhood that can't get fiber.

I digress.

Check this out.  Back water Hutta noobs hit Kass City.  Napa and Sonoma gawking at the sights.

Kass City

The 'user' part of the user interface.  Well, I can't think of anything nice to say.  Other than it does let me do my own keybinding.  Otherwise .... sucks comes to mind.

You will like things exactly the way some designer sitting in a 2x2 cube thinks you should like them.  Nope, zero, notta - nothing.  What if I have color blindness?  Screw you.  Dag-nab it, I'm forced to making wrong turns for the next gazillion years because I can't rotate my mini-map.  What if I don't want my companion bar in the lower left.

And for gosh darn Universal Design Failure - how in the galaxy am I going to heal without a target of target?  The dang universe is falling I tell you.

Bah.  Well, if I'm going to play this game, guess I better start figuring out what is what.

1.  Chat windows.  You can add custom windows.  Can be closed.
2.  Left vertical action bar.
3.  Companion frame.
4.  Player frame.
5.  Target frame.

Below 4 and 5 are the two center action bars and your XP bar.  Note how the health bar is red.  Will I ever get used to the health bar of a friendly player being red?  Note how the energy bar is yellow?   Mr/Ms/Mrs sits.in.cube.all.day Designer?  Have you heard of red/yellow color blindness?

6.  Focus frame.  It is important to take note that there is one and only one way (I have found to date) to set your focus.  Key bind it.  If a slash command exists, it is hiding pretty darn well.  Oh, and you can not make your focus modifier key be any of the modifier keys such as alt, ctrl or shift.  By default I think it is the End key.  Now that's really logical.  Maybe EA owns controlling shares of Razer?  Because I'm thinking a Naga mouse is going to be pretty mandatory for this game.  Oh, look - a Star Wars branded Naga mouse.  Go figure.

7.  Mini-map.  Can not be rotated.  Can not be closed.
8.  Mouse over pointer details.
9.  Right vertical action bar.
10.  Quest tracking.  Can be closed.  Quest inventory 'on-use' items are not displayed in quest tracking.

Frames can not be moved or sized.  Colors can not be changed.  There is not a color blind option.

I'm thinking EA hires only film screen and game designers.  Perhaps somebody at EA needs to learn about what a User Interface Designer might offer them.

Rift really 'had it' when it came to UI design.  They did a really good job.  Star Wars has been so long awaited and anticipated that you almost have to overlook the UI flaws just because the story line and graphics engine are so great.

So yeah, I'll cope.  Thank gosh for key bindings.  And I really do think a Naga mouse is in my immediate future.