Feedback:User/Nom/Report interface clunky
Report interface clunky
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|---|---|
| User | Nom |
| Categories | Mechanics → User interface Player vs. Player → Other |
The Problem[edit]
The "report" interface is clunky and very prone to error. I can identify 6 specific issues.
(1) Reporting is done while attention-poor. This isn't inventory management, when nothing else is happening. Every time I've wanted to use the report interface, I'm also in the middle of a combat, which is the more important activity. I don't have time to be careful.
(2) Reporting splits attention between 3 spatial locations and two points in time. The process is as follows:
- Select character to report using normal gameplay interface. Spatial 1. Note that the character I'm wanting to report is almost never the character I want to be interacting with in-game, and often they aren't even in proximity to me. Leechers are "the guy back there", whose name I might not have checked closely as I ran past in AB or JQ, and are often out of targeting range by the time I get a moment to report them. Abuse spammers might be only visible in chat, not on the interface.
- Move to chat window and type "/report" (or "/report name", which might not even be typeable). Spatial 2.
- A window pops up in the center of my screen asking what I want to report them for. Note that name of the character whom I am reporting does not feature prominently (or at all?) in this window. This is spatial 3 and time 2. If I miss-selected the person I'm reporting, the only way to know is to peer around the window and figure out who is selected in the display. Remember that I am trying to fight at the same time.
(3) There's no double-check, nor mechanism to undo an error. About 20% of the time I report the wrong target, and only discover this when it says "you have reported wrong person for leeching". And there's no way to un-report.
(4) Reporting after-the-fact is painful. It requires me to remember the name of the misbehaving character (which for a leecher might not have appeared in a chat log) and switch to a completely different application and context. This is way too much work for "I don't want to be on a team with this guy who's not trying - please boot him".
(5) There's no easy way to report quitters, since they're no longer on the map.
(6) The whole process requires familiarity with the process. There's no way for a new player to see a "leeching" report, go "oh yeah", and quickly report the leecher too. I barely have time to report myself - I definitely don't have time to walk someone else through the process while a battle is going on. Remember also that we're already doing it tough because someone isn't playing; two more players stopping in order to officially complain about the first isn't a net win.
A solution[edit]
The solution to 1 and 2 is to reduce the number of indirections. I've been playing Eve recently, and it makes good use of contextual right-click menus. Being able to right-click on a name (on field, in party array, in chat) and go "report this guy" would remove a lot of the error cases.
An alternative interface would be a "report" button that pops up a window that includes a list of all PCs in the district (sorta like the party search or henchman window). This collapses the spatial interface down to a single window, and removes the time split. You select the offending player, click on the offense, maybe add a couple of lines of text in a "description" box, and submit.
The report button also removes the "how the heck do I do this?" issue. Click the button, and what to do next is obvious.
Regardless of the interface used, it should ideally highlight the character you're reporting. The ultimate would be something like (big text, name in colour) "You are about to report leeching bludger (blue team) for leeching.", and put a picture of the character and highlight where they are on the map (heck, if using the browse interface, do this as each character is moused-over).
Further solution[edit]
A refinement of this is post-hoc reporting. This functions a bit like the overview and replay stuff. You can choose to "report character from last match", and it brings up the same interface for the characters from the PvP match you just completed. This probably shouldn't be used for leeching, but can be used for more important stuff such as verbal abuse. It also allows the offense to be reported in-game, rather than causing further disruption for the victim by requiring them to stop playing for several minutes in order to report abuse.
Handling Errors[edit]
It should also be possible bring up a list of "recent reports" and cancel a report made in error. Conversely, the interface could allow you to 'flag for reporting' and then actually confirm the report later when you have time to think.
