Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsImproving the character selection screen
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 3rd 2009 at 6:00PM
The Addons menu is probably the first place a few tweaks need to be made -- as Mend Pet says, it would be nice to be able to load and unload groups of addons with just a click, but let's dream big. How about loading addons from directly within the interface, rather than having to drag them into the Addons folder? I would also like, though it'd probably be tougher to do, to see some kind of graphical interface, kind of a preview of what the addon might look like on the UI. Obviously power addon users customize things so much it'll be tough to tell what it would look like, and some addons have no graphical UI at all. But anything that can let me know from that screen what various addons actually look like or do in the game would be valuable.
Mend Pet has some good ideas for the character selection itself, too -- being able to sort characters the way you want would definitely be nice. Erik in the comments suggests showing other character information, like professions, beside each character's name, and it might be nice to see if the character has any pending mail or guild raid invites right from that screen, too. Of course, that increases the number of queries to the server, but if Blizzard can put it in the mobile app, it can't be too hard to put on this screen, too, you'd think.
Finally, even the character creation screen could use a once-over -- I completely agree with Mend Pet that there should be a way to check names that doesn't include actually creating a character. Other than that, I don't know of anything really pressing -- they mention that it would be nice to view more angles, and I'd suggest that it'd be cool to see various stances or animations, but then again, character selection can't show you the whole game even before you start playing.
Lots of good ideas in there. Obviously updating these screens isn't the most pressing of tasks, but it's true that, especially with a game that's been around as long as this one has, Blizzard shouldn't leave anything off limits when the patch notes come around.
Filed under: Patches, Tips, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Add-Ons
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 6)
Bronwyn Oct 4th 2009 1:20AM
Armory is often not accurate for names that are more popular, though, since there are a number of reasons a particular character will not show up on Armory, such as that character being under level 10. Won't show up on Armory, and you won't be able to snag the name either.
Jonathan Nguyen Oct 4th 2009 1:28AM
oh yes very true about under lvl 10.. didn't think about that. oh well I have one main and I'm good with the name hehe. =)
Aaron Oct 4th 2009 2:28PM
Use the Friends system to check for available names, easiest solution. It will either add a name to list (horde), Player cannot be part of your faction (alliance) and a Player not found (the name is free, grab it!)
Bronwyn Oct 4th 2009 1:22AM
Echoing Derick here.
david Oct 4th 2009 1:52AM
Honestly, the character selection screen needs to be completely redone.
First, the backgrounds. The orc and troll ones are simply terrible, it's an orange rock and the sky. Have something like standing in front of the door of Icecrown Citadel or something cool.
Second, character creation. This is being changed in Cataclysm, look up BlizzCon videos. Not too altered, there is now a large banner for both factions and then the six race icons underneath the faction symbol.
Third, changing character position. You click on this button and your character list is on the left side and the right list is blank. You drag the characters from the left list onto the right list. Easy.
Last but not least, instant log in. If you left click WoW, it opens the Launcher, then you log in, then you click Enter World, and loading screen... If you right click, it opens a box where you enter your account name and password, then you click Log In, go back to reading WoW fan sites, and then just click on WoW on your taskbar and you're logged in on the character you logged out on the past session.
--EP
Tbah Oct 4th 2009 3:30AM
Right-clicking on WoW icon on my computer brings up the... right-click context menu. Nothing Blizzard can change. But to have a separate button in Launcher for that...
symbioid Oct 4th 2009 2:01AM
One thing, as an altaholic, that I've wanted to see is an XP bar on the bottom so I can see which toons have rested/non-rested, how close they are to level, etc.
It would make it much easier to figure out which toon to play.
Angus Oct 4th 2009 2:32AM
1: Make 15 slots available per server. 10 on one faction, 5 on another. Allow PVP servers which cannot have 2 sides the extra 5 slots on their faction.
(If cataclysm doesn't give folks a reason to need this many slots, I don't know what will.)
2: Sort better. I don't care if it is by time played. Just some logical sort that doesn't have my bank alt (5th on my list) above my main. My old main might still be #1, but that wouldn't be so bad.
3: Rested XP (and percent of level) indicator on non-maxed characters. ("So which alt will get the most out of my 1 hour of playtime?")
4: Profession indicators on character screen. (Which warrior is a blacksmith?)
Scallywag Oct 4th 2009 3:26AM
They could improve the character creation screen by numbering the different hairstyles, skintones, facial features etc. Particularly in the last category, you find one you kind-of like, keep scrolling through, then because they are not labelled in any way it can be hard to remember/find the one you liked again later.
Marcosius Oct 4th 2009 5:42AM
If there's something I'd like to see redone, I guess it would be at the very least being able to sort out the characters on the list anyway you like. Someone also said to add some sort of way to see all your characters, on other realms as well without changing realm windows... That sounded useful for an altaholic like me.
Endless Oct 4th 2009 6:07AM
For character selection, I want to see "rested" value for each character in the list, a new mail indicator, and a warning icon when any mail is about to expire.
For character creation, I ask for face zoom, and for removal of that stupid colored tint. I want to be able to create my characters on the first try, without having to reroll because I picked a wrong color or a wrong face.
Jimbodedrummer Oct 4th 2009 7:43AM
What I would love would be IMO very easy to do would be a way to organize your characters on the characters screen. I realize this isn't crucial but for people who play horde and alliance and are organize freaks (like me), it would be very nice! I would rather have all my 80's at the top and the level 26 warrior at the bottom, because who knows when I'll get around to leveling him. :P Just a thought and I was surprised to see no one comment about it...maybe it's just me that wishes it, anyone else?
thottstation Oct 4th 2009 7:56AM
I wish the female orc wasn't so damn small. Compare it to the female undead, who takes up THE ENTIRE SCREEN.
Nawaf Oct 4th 2009 9:05AM
I want to get to choose between backgrounds, where the higher level you are the more backgrounds to choose from. With four backgrounds, we start with just the original one, then we get another one at level 11, a third at 61 (outlands), and the last at 71 (northrend). Here's how that can happen:
Horde:
orcs get barrens at 11, thrallmar at 61, and warsong hold at 71.
trolls start with senjin village, then barrens at 11, zabra'jin at 61, and zul'darak at 71.
tauren get barrens at 11, cenarion refuge at 61, and taunka village at 71.
undead get silverpine at 11, plaguelands at 51 or 60, and vengeance landing at 71.
BE get ghostlands at 11, scryers tier or Quil'danas at 61, and the Sunreaver corner in dalaran at 71.
Alliance:
humans get westfall or redridge at 11, honor hold at 61, and valiance keep at 71.
dwarves get loch modan, then wildhammer hold/keep/whatever, then explorers' league outpost.
gnomes start with tinker town, then get loch modan at 11, then that gnome outpost in blade's edge mountains, then flizzcrank airstrip.
NE get darkshore at 11 (near the sea so it doesn't look exactly like the original one, then cenarion refuge, then D.E.H.T.A. at 71.
Draenei get bloodmyst, Aldor rise at 61, and at 71 they get .... umm..... well I guess they could have two outlands backgrounds, one at 61 and one at 70. after all, there are a lot of draenei bases in outlands to choose from.
I also wish we can get a background for factions we got excalted with, for example, we get a wrymest temple background for getting excalted with wrymest accord, a dalaran background for kirin tor, and so on.
Hitman Oct 6th 2009 1:12PM
Actually i think you will find that the character screen HAS indeed been changed since WoW came out. Maybe it just coz i've played it longer than most, or maybe some of you have forgotten that the login screen never used to show enchants/glows etc on weapons. It now does :)
Just a fact for you anyways.
Jack Miles Oct 4th 2009 9:42AM
I'd like to see some customization on the login and character selection page. Stuff like being able to change the between themes (Vanilla, wrath, ally, horde, dwarven tavern ect...) and music (Again choices like the original theme, tavern music or Duskwood).
Lemming Oct 4th 2009 11:19AM
One way that I miss from SWG of old, and hasn't been done since AFAIK, is a carousel of your characters on the screen. I always thought that was pretty cool.
metalspawned Oct 4th 2009 3:49PM
Yes to sorting characters. For the love of all that is good, please!!!!
Sepkoski Oct 4th 2009 6:54PM
I haven't read through all the other posts yet, so I'm not sure if this has been said yet.
For me, the character selection screen is one of the few times (as a druid) I really check out my armor and admire how my character looks.
I would love to have a feature to choose a companion and a mount (standing beside your character) to display in the opening screen.
Danthier Oct 4th 2009 7:27PM
"The Addons menu is probably the first place a few tweaks need to be made -- as Mend Pet says, it would be nice to be able to load and unload groups of addons with just a click, but let's dream big."
Addon Control Panel
"Erik in the comments suggests showing other character information, like professions, beside each character's name, and it might be nice to see if the character has any pending mail or guild raid invites right from that screen, too."
Altaholic
Seriously, if SOMEONE thinks it's a good idea, and bliz hasn't implemented it, there's an addon for it.