[Pcgen-trackers] [ pcgen-Feature Requests-1244889 ] Don't force user to select Align before Race before Class

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Feature Requests item #1244889, was opened at 2005-07-25 18:15
Message generated for change (Tracker Item Submitted) made by Item Submitter
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Category: User Interface
Group: None
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Jenni Merrifield (strawberryjamm)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: Don't force user to select Align before Race before Class

Initial Comment:
FEATURE REQUEST:

Make it possible for users of PCGen to create a character 
without forcing them to select an alignment before they 
select a race or forcing them to select an alignment and 
race before they select a class.


The SUMMARY TAB should:

[[alignment]]
* Allow users to select any Alignment value without having 
selected a value for Race or Class

* When no Alignment is selected, the user must be allowed 
to select from all Races and all Classes that have not been 
restricted by a different attribute of the character.

* Changing the alignment from one value to another must 
update the list of Races and the list of Classes available to 
the user

*  Changing the alignment from one value to another must 
not change Race or Class selections made before the 
alignment change but the UI should indicate any Race or 
Class selections that are no longer valid.

[[race]]
* Allow users to select a value for Race without having 
selected a value for Alignment or Class

* When no Race is selected, the user must be allowed to 
select from all Alignment and all Classes that have not been 
restricted by a different attribute of the character.

* Selecting a Race with alignment or class prerequisites 
must restrict the user from selecting otherwise legal 
Alginment or Class values that the selected Race is 
restricted from having.

* When a Race with no alignment or class prerequisites is 
selected, the user must be allowed to select from all 
Alignments and all Classes that are not restricted by some 
other variable.

* Changing the Race from one value to another must 
update the list of Alignments and the list of Classes 
available to the user

*  Changing the Race from one value to another must not 
change Alignment or Class selections made before the 
Race change but the UI should indicate any Alignment or 
Class selections that are no longer valid.

[[class]]
* Allow users to select a value for Class without having 
selected a value for Alignment or Race

* When no Class is selected, the user must be allowed to 
select from all Alignment and all Races that have not been 
restricted by a different attribute of the character.

* Selecting a Class with alignment or race prerequisites 
must restrict the user from selecting otherwise legal 
Alignment or Race values that the selected Class is 
restricted from having.

* When a Class with no alignment or race prerequisites is 
selected, the user must be allowed to select from all 
Alignments and all Races that are not restricted by some 
other variable.

* Changing the Class from one value to another must 
update the list of Alignments and the list of Races available 
to the user

*  Changing the Class from one value to another must not 
change Alignment or Race selections made before the 
Class change but the UI should indicate any Alignment or 
Race selections that are no longer valid.


The RACE TAB should
* Enforce the same behaviour with respect to RACE as the 
SUMMARY TAB.

The CLASS TAB should
* Enforce the same behaviour with respect to CLASS as 
the SUMMARY TAB.


----------


CURRENT SYSTEM BEHAVIOUR:

* The Summary tab restricts users from selecting a Race 
until after an Alignment has been specified and also 
restricts the selection of Class levels until after a Race has 
been specified.

* The Race tab allows the user to select a race from the list 
even when alignment has not been specified , but blocks 
the user from selecting races with alignment prerequisites 
of any kind.

* The Class tab allows the user to select a class from the list 
even when alignment and race have not been specified , 
but blocks the user from selecting classes with alignment 
prerequisites of any kind.

----------

COMMENTS

  The experience of using PCGen to create new characters 
can be improved and made more consistent by allowing 
users to enter character creation data in a more natural 
order.
 
  According to some user feedback data I collected[1], the 
majority of RPG'ers (whether DM or Player):

* Usually begin developing a character concept starting 
from a particular class

* Occasionally begin developing a character concept 
starting from a particular race

* Rarely begin developing a character concept starting with 
a particular alignment.

* Most often choose a race after picking a class (or choose 
a class after picking a race), and then choose an alignment.

There are two exceptions to the previous point:

* If the selected race (or class) has a single alignment 
prerequisite (like the Paladin's LG), the alignment is self-
selected by the chosen race (class).

* If the selected race (or class) has a prerequisite that 
allows multiple alignments (like the Bard's "Any non-
Lawful"), the player may pick a valid alignment before 
picking a valid race (or class).
 
  Given the above, the current implementation is forcing the 
majority of users to follow the least common thought 
process path for character creation every time a new 
character is created (That is the path of Alignment, then 
Race, followed by Class.)

  The exception to that is those few users who leave the 
Summary tab and use the Class and/or Race tab to define 
these character attributes.  Nevertheless, if the Alginment is 
not yet set, the current implementation will restrict users 
taking this route through the UI from selecting classes and 
races that have alignment prerequisites of any kind .

  By accepting this FREQ, these inconsistencies and poor 
user experience issues can be mitigated.

----------

[1]  About a 12 to 18 months ago I offered to help with the 
UI Design of PCGen and, to that end, I created a survey to 
get some user feedback about the UI.  Unfortunately, real 
life reared it's ugly head a few months after I started that 
effort and so I was never able to bring the results back to 
the project.  I still have the data of course, and even though 
I have never been able to do an indepth analysis, there are 
a few trends that are fairly obvious.


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