Suggestions for more informative messages

[Leif_-]

Talleyrand said:
Stating something needs to be fixed implies that it is broken. If Illwinter thought the current system were broken, don't you think they would have "fixed" it by now?

Not necessarily. Illwinter is a "garage operation" and they've always had a tendency to work more on what they find interesting than on what's broken (which seems a pretty sensible approach for this type of game, really.) So that they haven't "fixed" something can mean that they don't think it's a problem, that they don't think it's important, that they've prioritised other stuff, that the code they'd have to change is particularly ugly and double-plus-un-fun or that they've been distracted with shinier, more rewarding aspects of making the game.

Besides, this is really a UI issue, and Illwinter's attention to those have always been a little haphazard.

[Graeme Dice]

Talleyrand said:
Stating something needs to be fixed implies that it is broken. If Illwinter thought the current system were broken, don't you think they would have "fixed" it by now? I don't have a direct link to their brains but I do have a little bit of common sense.

Unless you are going to argue that Illwinter believes their game is perfect, then you have no idea whether they want the messages to behave in a certain way. However, even if they do want the messages to be uninformative, which is unlikely, it's the player's job to inform the developers of what changes are necessary.

Here's some advice: Don't bother applying for a position as ambassador for your country because you have very little knowledge about how negotiations work.

Could we avoid silly analogies about international politics? Illwinter can either keep the messages as uninformative as they currently are, or they can listen to the dozens of people who have asked over the past several years for improved information to be presented in the message summary. The first case is supported by a few people who feel that strategy games present too much information and would rather be playing a RPG. The second case has been asked for constantly since Dominions I was released.

[thejeff]

I don't think anyone doesn't want more information available.

There seems to be a consensus on more info in the battle summary screens. Is anybody actually upset that the main message page doesn't tell you who won the battle?

The debate is getting heated and the actual positions are inches apart.

[Truper]

This thread is generating a lot more heat than light. Its become personal, which is hard to understand, but clearly against board rules. Unless the dicourse here gets back on topic, and becomes more civil, I'm going to have to lock it down.

[FAJ]

I think it would be easy for illwinter to have a game setting that allows you to set how much of a message is shown in the main log area.

I think a changable setting is easiest and pleases everyone? Why does the issue have to be black and white?

I would like them to bring back the right-click-closes-current-window feature. Then I could very quickly scroll through the messages anyways.

[Cainehill]

Talleyrand said:
Oh, this is lovely. I've suddenly become the bad guy.

...

Graeme Dice, I'm all for more information too. Sometimes even when I watch a battle I don't know the specifics of who got killed, etc. Can't you read?

Let me guess - you're not studying diplomacy or pol science there, eh?