Back in February, MMO YouTuber MarleMMO reminded me that Ashes of Creation is planning to obscure enemy health bars during PvP – a concept that sounds nuts but actually has been done before. “IIRC, you couldn’t even see health bars at all in Darkfall,” he said. “Its system was closer to Monster Hunter in which you could only determine rough states as a result of the bloodiness of their character model.”
Somehow this concept seems so weird to me, and I don’t even understand why. In my first MMORPG, you literally had to create your own unit frame for nearby players (including enemy players) on the fly, so it should be fundamental for me, and yet subsequent MMOs have made the health bar such a integral part of the UI that it’s hard for me to fathom now.
I suppose some MMOs have made the minimap optional too, and when first launched, EverQuest didn’t include a large-scale map at all. But I expect both nowadays. Are there any standard MMO UI elements you consider “optional”?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
