From: JIRA (f. D. R. B. ) <ji...@pc...> - 2011-06-15 17:56:06
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[ http://jira.pcgen.org/browse/CODE-107?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:all-tabpanel ] David R. Bender closed CODE-107. -------------------------------- > Don't force user to select Align before Race before Class > --------------------------------------------------------- > > Key: CODE-107 > URL: http://jira.pcgen.org/browse/CODE-107 > Project: Code > Issue Type: New Feature > Components: UI > Affects Versions: 5.16.2 > Reporter: David R. Bender > Assignee: James Dempsey > Fix For: CDOM UI Build 1 > > > SourceForge ID: 1244889 > New summary: Don't force user to select Align before Race before Class > Type: New Feature > Priority: Minor > ====== > Details: > 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 Class selections that are no longer valid.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. > Submitted: > Jenni Merrifield ( strawberryjamm ) - 2005-07-25 21:15:15 EDT > ==== > Date: 2006-01-21 19:58:01 EST > Sender: jdempseyProject Admin & Donor > Hide > Logged In: YES > user_id=558288 > Jenni, the reminders feature flags things that the user has > left to do such as select languages or spend skill points. > It already has a 'You must select an alignment' reminder > configured. > This feature would end up being part of the solution in that > it would stand as a prompt to select the alignment, but it > is not directly related. The basic issue still remains we > are forcing a somewhat unintuitive order of character > creation on people. > With a default alignment from preferences, implementing this > would not be too difficult. Coding it to have an > 'unselected' alignment would be more difficult not so much > for class selection, but for class feature selection. Cleric > turning options are a good example - they rely on the > alignment already being set. > Date: 2005-09-30 23:06:03 EDT > Sender: strawberryjamm > Hide > Logged In: YES > user_id=931361 > I am not familiar with what James' "reminders GUI" is about. > However, it sounds like it might be something that > raises "reminder" message dialogs whenever the user has left > some important value unset when trying to set something that > does or could require it. > If this is being done in conjunction with relaxing the current > restrictions on when and which class, race and alignment > settings can be chosen in each of the Summary, Race and Class > tabs, then it should meet the requirements of this FREQ. > If, however, these restrictions are not being relaxed it would not > address the main issue which is that users are forced to deviate > from their natural thought processes when creating a new > character. > If, on the other hand, the "reminders GUI" is something else > altogether I would need to see an explanation of it to know > whether or not it would satisfy this FREQ. > Date: 2005-09-27 08:15:24 EDT > Sender: kariannaSourceForge.net DonorProject Admin & DonorAccepting Donations > Hide > Logged In: YES > user_id=252169 > James, this is related to your cool new reminders GUI > implementation, can this be closed in favour of your stuff? - K -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. - If you think it was sent incorrectly contact one of the administrators: http://jira.pcgen.org/secure/Administrators.jspa - For more information on JIRA, see: http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira |