Friends only as default

[mithrand0]

A lot of new users want to play with only their friends. They create a lobby for it. In the lobby screen, they do not set the friends-only option. In game, they then start kicking random pubs that join their game.

Some people suggest they don't read the screen, effectively not seeing the permission option. They just start the game.

I would like to propose making the permission option default to 'friends-only', rather than 'public'. People who read the whole screen can easily change it to public when creating the lobby.

[ywgATustcbbs]

Not only permission settings, but also many other ui buttons are unnoticeable, such as remove bot button. Many new players know how to add bots but they don't know how to remove them. F9 is another example.

It is necessary to add a starter tutorial picture or something to show the button useage.

If the game wants to have more players. It should treat new player as a fool. Add a ui tutorial like many online/mobile games do.

Btw, For me, i really can't relate main menu's "开始战役"(which is the direct translate For start campaign, yes i mean the first large text) to online game. I would definitely doubt where is online mode until i open that menu. So, why not change it to more obvious words "Play Online" witch tells everyone: "hey this is online mode, click me!". Or We could just Learn from tf2 that shows a pop-up which tells a new player"click this button to start online game", "click this to add a bot", "click this to remove a bot"...

Things have changed. It's not the era that everyone has a patience to study what the button is used for. Youngs need instant clear instruction when they play a new game, or they just throw it away. They are trained to use fast pace, simple ui, by companies like mobile games and tiktok.

[pR0Ps]

My 2c:

I don't think changing the default is the right way of reducing the amount of in-game kicks. I suspect that on this screen in particular, people are just rushing to pick a map and start the game and don't read the entire thing properly. I also think that once the game starts that people aren't generally aware that they can change this setting. So they realize that they're hosting a public game once someone joins, but don't know how to (or that they even can) change the permissions.

Suggestion: have the public/private status displayed prominently on the ready screen right next to (or even as as part of) the "Invite" button.

That way it's right in a player's face when they go to invite friends to a game they think is private. There is also typically more downtime on the ready screen as players wait for others to pick characters/gear so players are more likely to look around while they're waiting and notice that the game is public/private. It would also mean that if they realize mid-game that the game is public they'll have an easy and obvious way of changing it for the next round.

[Duke-M-commits]

I'm for mithrand0's proposal.

Regarding ywgATustcbbs proposal:

• The F9 button isn't needed, there is a vote button (without any description what it does ... hmm ... ok) at the bottom which changes this setting.
• Not being able to relate to a string means you should make a dedicated issue about it or directly communicate with the current chinese translator @zhongqingsong or even make this change in the open source itself, I'm pretty sure it's a win for everyone if better wordings are found.
• I would happily design a new UI, but I have no skills in creating it (and I also lack the time for learning it), and the ones knowing how to work with vgui2 are busy developing the rest of the game. So for now, it is what it is, a new UI is a big load of work.

Regarding pROPs input:

• Changing the default setting sounds well if the players are rushing through without reading.
• Putting a big red sign up somewhere is dangerous, because out of another persons perspective there will be soon another thing which needs to be big and red, until everything is big and red.

[BenLubar]

The vote button during briefing and F9 are the same screen.

[ywgATustcbbs]

I'm for mithrand0's proposal.

Regarding ywgATustcbbs proposal:

• The F9 button isn't needed, there is a vote button (without any description what it does ... hmm ... ok) at the bottom which changes this setting.
• Not being able to relate to a string means you should make a dedicated issue about it or directly communicate with the current chinese translator @zhongqingsong or even make this change in the open source itself, I'm pretty sure it's a win for everyone if better wordings are found.
• I would happily design a new UI, but I have no skills in creating it (and I also lack the time for learning it), and the ones knowing how to work with vgui2 are busy developing the rest of the game. So for now, it is what it is, a new UI is a big load of work.

Regarding pROPs input:

• Changing the default setting sounds well if the players are rushing through without reading.
• Putting a big red sign up somewhere is dangerous, because out of another persons perspective there will be soon another thing which needs to be big and red, until everything is big and red.

I understand it's a huge project to change ui. I suggest, instead of switch to another ui, show a half transparent picture overlay for the very first start of the game as a tutorial that informs new players on lobby icon meanings. Anyway, it is much easier to show an overlay. And many applications used this mthod to improve new users' experiences

[ywgATustcbbs]

The vote button during briefing and F9 are the same screen.

Yes. But i see too many new players that do not know there is a vote system. When someone start a leader vote in a lobby, they just don't know how to vote. Or when someone is talking about ping, they keep asking how to check pings. Same for remove not button. They just "can't see" it. I am pretty sure this is a common case in new players.

It is definitely a design issue that many people ignored the button/do not know it's useage.

[Duke-M-commits]

@BenLubar does the gui have any support for tooltips? Because it would be nice to know what all these small buttons at the bottom do (vote, bot-add & -remove buttons etc) without clicking on them to find it out by trial and error.

[BenLubar]

@DukeDukeEm I think vgui2 can do tooltips, but I'm not sure how to use them

[mithrand0]

... and I also lack the time for learning it)

Redesigning a screen will also cost time re-implementing it in code, while changing a default value is a minute work. This is why I suggested only changing the default for now.

If this changing the default fixes only a small percentage of the kick non-friends issue, it should be done. We can always create a separate issue for a complete redesign, that we can brainstorm later. In the meantime, this the default could be a small step and quick win.