by Abraxas on Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:19 pm
I'd really like to praise the new UI, since it does look pretty, but as it is right now it has too many flaws to overlook.
For one, the piety/gold/conversion and attack values are hard to read. Also the empty item slots stand out too much from the rest of the screen, specially when you consider that they should be drawing the least attention out of anything in the ui.
And then the biggest problem, the mana/health bars. I don't really have a problem with their positions having been swapped, but with their new stylish look, it's harder to tell exactly how full they are. This becomes even more of a problem with battle predictions, since enemies have a differently styled health bar, making it much harder to compare the damage dealt by each side. Not to mention how the prediction markers are much more subtle now, and in the enemies' case very, very difficult to see, since it's black.
The new ui has potential, and definitely looks pretty, but it feels like style got in the way of functionality.
Now, for the balance changes.
I'm not sure if I agree with the burning cap, I suppose I need to test it further. Something about fireball strategies needed a nerf, sure, but I had the impression that the biggest culprit of their overpoweredness was the Crystal Ball.
The paladin's new Holy Works feels like it's more a negative trait overall, even without the god changing restriction, except for some very particular cases.
I assume that the new indulgence preventing piety loss on boons is unintended, because otherwise it really is insanely powerful.
The closer spawns of prepped altars is a very nice change, which hopefully will further discourage scumming.
As an aside, it seems like the bloodmage's new Power Hungry still doesn't work at all. I think it really says something about how players see the ability when a whole week has passed with it not working, and it was mentioned maybe twice.
Oh, also, it feels like the game now loads much, much faster on startup, which is a big plus.
That which is not dead may eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.