Allied Health Bars on HUD request

Battleborn Battleborn General Discussion
#11

I’m going to offer a difference of opinion here (because, why not? Haha).

I kind of disagree with having this in place.

Your non-supports are in the thick of the action too. They have to be aware of their own health. When to push, when to withdraw, etc. they can’t blame their death souly on ‘you didn’t heal me’.

And if they are in dire need of healing, they should be making a notable point to the healer that they require assistance (making a mental note where the healer is on their minimap, seeking them out, or vocalising it via mic that they need healing and where they are at).

They have to pay attention to whom is around them too. They are making note of whom they are doing damage to, how much health the enemy team member has left. Whom to chase and whom to leave. Etc. by monitoring the health bar above the enemies heads.

So, why should a support character get the advantage of knowing whom in their party needs support, when many would consider their main job is to do support? (Yes, they can attack the enemy too)

Those whom aren’t support, whose main job is to attack the enemy, don’t get health bars on their screen to show whom is close to death and whom isn’t. So they can know whom is an easy target, etc.

I see the lack of health display bars on the screen, as being a tactical/strategy thing. It adds a key element for a support character to master. ‘I’m such a great support, I don’t need to see whom is in trouble or not, I’m just that good’… Yes, a bit over the top? But I believe a really good support character, probably thinks this way, haha.

So while I can see how having such a thing displayed on the screen would be a helpful thing… I too think it isn’t entirely nessecary if you are super confident in your abilities in that role.

Thank you healers… You got this! :heart:

1 Like
#12

So. Many. Incorrect. Uses. Of “whom”… (general rule of thumb is “who am I speaking to” v. “to whom am I speaking”; who is the subject of the sentence while whom is the target).

Because supports in BB are doing more than just watching for who to heal. They’re intended to attack and be aware of nearby enemies (and everything else that a damage dealer does) while also needing to be aware of their allies and what condition their allies are in (for which there is no method for deducing current health states; enemies that appear near you can easily be presumed to be a danger because they’re alive enough to attack you while allies near you could be fully healthy or near death).

They’re doing everything that the attackers and defenders are doing, plus more.

The entire point is that healing is something that support characters have to do in addition to attacking and the like but there are no tools to make that easier: you can see where your allies are on the minimap even if they’re not nearby, but you’re not allowed to see what their condition is unless they’re right in your face?

#13

Grammar ain’t my thing, type how I want, when I want, blah blah, forgive me, haha.

I see your points… But someone needs to shake things up and add a different view every now and again, world can get boring if we agree with each other all the time.

I still personally see a support character’s main role as being support, attacking secondary (I don’t play a support, so I can see how supports will disagree with me on this too).
Yes, they have to multitask, but if they are confident in their role, I would think they have it covered.

But I can understand how the bars above players heads are a little small. And hard to make out when they are constantly moving.
But again. This is what mics are for (communicating who needs help). And if players choose not to use them, then that’s a whole other thing isn’t it?

So really… The HUD for health bars, is for those whom choose to/don’t want to use mic communication.
And I understand, many of us don’t. We all have various reasons for this, and that’s cool.

So for those who don’t want to use a mic, and communicate vocally to their team mates about needing healing, etc… Sure, something to offer a little help and assistance might be a good idea.

But maybe instead of a HUD that shows the health bars of their team, I hate to use the example of that ‘other game’ (yes, you know what I mean…), but I’m gonna…
When a player is low on health, a ‘critical’ symbol appears on their player (whether near by or not), so you can see they are in dire need of attention, without being aware of their health bar status… You just know ‘I need to get to them ASAP!’.

Sure, BB already has enough graphical noise… But I think a simple icon on a low health player, would be a better fix, then an on screen display of everyone’s health, as I think that’s an advantage healers just don’t require.

#14

[quote=“elle_tee, post:13, topic:1543667, full:true”]So really… The HUD for health bars, is for those whom choose to/don’t want to use mic communication.
[/quote]

Actually, no. Health bars on the HUD provide the information more precisely and more quickly than mic communication does (there’s a reason that, in MMOs, HUDs display ally health and mics are still required for communication in raids; the HUD hp display eliminates the need to tell someone that you need healing). It’s not a question of “HUD is just there for people that don’t talk”; people that use mics are going to get just as much mileage out of it as people that don’t.

It’s also not just supports that are going to get use out of such a health display. Rather than waiting for someone to tell you that they’re being attacked and are about to die, you can simply see that they’re being attacked and about to die because their hp is dropping.

It’s important to note that I don’t think they should be on the HUD for everyone at all times. They should be an option you can turn on (or turn off) if you so choose. Some people like having a lot of information displayed on their HUDs; some people like to keep their HUDs clean and displaying only the minimum amount of information.

I can see a reason that the devs would simply not implement this (other than the “we don’t have the time/resources” argument) and that would be wanting awareness of ally hp to be a fundamental part of healing in BB, which is a legitimate argument. It’s a skill they want us to have. If that’s true, I’m fine with it. But if they don’t, I’d like them to give us the tools to make it easier/faster.

4 Likes
#15

This is exactly what I mean. It ‘shouldn’t’ be easy/faster in my view.
It’s a skill to master.
A key element of a support role character.
Players tend to pick the characters they play because they are confident/great at them, or because they want to get better/master that character.
(Sure, some pick the characters they play because ‘this looks good’ or ‘coz I wanna’ too - good for you guys!)

I’m not saying it’s an easy job, and that healers don’t deserve full credit for the hard work they do, it’s extremely hard work, and a very thankless job.

But, players who (whom… I just like the way it sounds, haha) want to be healed, and the healers who have to do the healing, need to accept “sometimes, death happens”.

Implementing a tool to make it less likely that someone will die, especially in PvP, where one of the main goals (always do the objective) is to kill another team player to make it easier to win (less team members to compete with, the better), seems a little too ‘advantaged’ to me.
(There’s more than 1 healing character - team ups happen)

Maybe PvE? But i think in PvP, most already want to see a certain skill level with players competing in such modes anyway. And we all know mic communication is more successful in PvP than without it. So, no need for a HUD again if using a mic.
(If you don’t say you need help. You don’t get help. And if you die, you die. Death happens.)

That’s pretty much the only point I’m trying to get across.
That a HUD of health bars, does just what you said, makes it ‘easier and faster’, in a game where things shouldn’t be that way in my opinion.
Each character has a different level of difficulty with play, different skills and tactics, and key elements to master.
Some characters combat others characters, some characters compliment other characters, etc.

I think you would be taking a bit of that ‘I’m the best around’ factor away from healers, by implementing an ‘easier and faster’ tool.

We will just have to agree to disagree on this one. (But as I said, gotta shake up the opinions sometimes, haha)

Healers/supports, disagree with me though (as you have)… When I see you out there, I have nothing but respect for you, and I think the fact you choose that role when I myself don’t (because I’m awful at it) makes you a lovely player, I thank you for it! :heart:

#16

I admit, I rarely play support, however the first time I tried it it were a nightmare to keep track of everyones health.

#17

The last thing we need is further catering to parties. Not that parties are toxic, but if they are going to implement this, just make it available for everyone

#18

As a support main (I play all of them except for Kleese now. The health fix is tricking me into thinking I can front line. I can not.), I want everything, how should I say… clean. All the health bars full, no enemies or minions on the field. No one dead. So if they’re not gonna watch themselves, I’ll do it for them. But it’s difficult to even know where some characters are. And it would be so helpful if people would just stop teleporting as I’m healing them. I could get there fast enough to stop them. Supports want to save everyone. I’d be okay with this not being implemented only if we don’t get more pings. Like, please I need to heal you. Or for Attikus to say, I have my ult. Or Orendi to say, I need healing. Some characters have self healing methods, where my effort is wasted. I need all the info to do my job, because I can overkill, and it wastes my time. Attackers just move on and kill the next guy, because they don’t need to keep track of everything, they just need to capitalize on what’s in front of them.

#19

This I very much understand.
I know the more information the better. Most certainly.
As you said, different characters have different abilities, so a healer isn’t always required for everyone.

And one will often choose a teleport back to base, inconvenient for the healer right next to them yes, but they might have thought it quicker and safer for the healer too (why have us both die, if I can’t defend my own self from this enemy, I can’t defend you too).

Once again. Mics. If everyone lets each other vocally know their intentions. Things might run more smoothly. Otherwise… We have to rely on trying to know what the other person is thinking. (If you don’t indicate you are turning car, I can’t know to slow down or go around you… Or avoid you!).

Sadly… We aren’t mind readers… Would make a nice superhero power, but I’d like to be able to fly as my preference I think, haha.

That’s why I suggested above, instead of health bars on screen. Maybe a symbol (like that other game… I meant OW), that appears on a low health character?
Mercy (from OW) for example, can see when a character is low by a ‘critical’ symbol appearing on an ally (if the ally is far away, they appear as a silhouette, so their location is still obvious), So she knows to get to them ASAP to use her healing rod… Or they die.

No, I’m not comparing games. No, I’m not favouring one over the other. Play ALL the games.

BB could implement a similar feature, but make it their own.
Maybe have low health characters glow a certain colour?
Leave a trail of colour for a healer to follow when low health to know where they are?
Or just something symbolically obvious, like the critical symbol… But something Battleborn’ish.

But the full HUD, I just think is too much. (For all the above reasons listed - agreeing to disagree, haha)

I guess my other concern with implementing this feature, would be people whom already complain about healers not healing them. If it’s painfully obvious on a players HUD, then those cranky pants folk are just going to complain about ‘not being healed’ further more.
So… Tread lightly. Healers clearly want more of a heads up. But it shouldn’t come with more ammo for current complainers.
But, Y’all got this!

I’ve had my say now… So talk amongst yourselves.
Obviously, GBX reads this stuff. So if you gather enough support for such a feature, you just might get it healers, good luck! :slight_smile:

1 Like
#20

Well the point of HUD is to make the players life easier. You could also just remove healthbars, crosshair etc. That would also give the player more effort to play the game, hur dur git gud. And I hate this retarded way of thinking.

So no, even as a non support character, with the tunnel vision a first person game has, I want to know when a friend is in danger even before he is aware of it himself.

A portrait of the character, healthbar and shieldbar, and the name of the player above it, no numbers in the healthbar, just knowing the percentage is fine. You know when a Kelvin is half health he’s still fine.

So with the name on it, I’m also more aware which player is which character. I often don’t know this because players are different characters each match, and I’m a self centered bastard that doesn’t keep in mind which characters my friends are playing.

2 Likes
#21

I’m not trying to put down what you said but I mean you’re either in a party (pre-made or pug) which having that extra little HUD feature would be nice but if you’re running solo missions then yeah you really wouldn’t need it. I agree with some of the other comments on here having the option to toggle it on or off.

#22

If you’re running solo missions then then allied health bars wouldn’t appear anyway b/c u don’t have allies. Lol. even if ur going solo in pvp, you can’t tell me you don’t want to know what the other people are up to. The other 4 people could be in a party in which case that would help you act like less of a “random” and make better decisions. But I will always be in favor of things you can toggle on and off

#23

We’re basically saying the same thing.

#24

Well even for non healing characters, this would be essential for everyone! I play as just about everyone and as any role I’d want to see my teams health so I can go in and assist them when they are in trouble. And so that the enemy team doesn’t get a kill :wink:

#25

I agree with this, it’s very inconvenient to have to spin 360’ to check the health of all players in your team when they don’t move as a group. This is especially true if you have characters playing that like to stealth and go off on their own; is that player engaged, can I reach them in time to heal/support them, is the rest of my group okay for 10 seconds without healing etc. Having their health displayed in the HUD would give a better reaction to the current situation.

That being said it would be nice to have an option to turn on/off, adjust the scale %, and placement of the health bars in the options menu. Maybe even color co-ordinate the icons on the mini map with the health bars and portraits in the HUD etc.

#26

I would still like situational information rather than a permanent HUD,

So any Battleborn in your view, would not be displayed on the HUD, it’s when they pass out of the field of view that a HUD icon is implemented.

I would also like that directional, so if they pass out of the screen to the left, then its represented on the left of the HUD and so on and so forth

Just spoon feed me that info Gearbox

#27

already has been replied from the lead programmer that they are working on it.

2 Likes
#28

Sounds good to me, yeah I was conscious that I had replied with the same sort of content to a previous post, still redundancy is never bad :grinning:

#29

Yaaaaaaaay

#30

Wow, they are actually looking into this.
I didn’t expect that.

Nice