(Poll) Do you like the new hotbar?

"*groan* Keep it in the Dev Blog, dude..."
That's probably what some of you are thinking, I know. But there are very mixed feelings about the hotbar. Some love it, and some hate it. No one can keep track of it's like/hate status in the Dev Blog alone, not me at least, so I made this poll for people to collectively express how they feel on the new hotbar in the nightly build. If you want to discuss the hotbar in the comments, go for it. Just please avoid one sentenced comments like "I hate the new hotbar." or "I adore this hotbar!" Please include a bit on why you like/hate it. It adds to the conversation and makes you sound more professional overall.

 

I honestly feel like it could have been an improvement, but they decided to release it right when they got it functional rather than refined... It's a step in the right direction, but down the wrong path...

 

It's not so much bad as annoying not sure why they don't allow you to either toggle from single to dual or have one bar be single with the other being dual. Not sure who needs so many dual slots I'd use maybe three at the most if that even.

 

I am mixed on it, as it gives up a lot of power and flexibility the old hot bar had in order to make dual wielding multiple different pairs of items more convenient.

Not as many people know that outside of the default L/R slots(which are pretty easy to set up some simple dual wielding with), one could independently select what each hand used from the full hot bar.

The other really big thing I don't like about the new bar is you are limited to 6 active slots at a time. Sure there are another 6 gated behind a key press, but they are not visible and a new player is unlikely to know about them unless they accidentally toggle them or go digging around in the control settings, much like how many people first find out that could independently select each hands contents from the old hot bar.

If want more of my reasons on the hot bar, go much more in depth in the dev blog.

 

I have tried it out for a session or two... Mixed on it, but I do know what I don't like about it.

Really it is mainly only 1 thing. That is you can not switch to the tools (MM, paint, wire) with ease like you could in the old one. What I mean is sure you can switch to, but not from; with another click on the same button.

Think that was the only thing I didn't like about it. I actually used the old bar's mechanics pretty well, but this new one is ok; minus the above.

About all I can really say on it, as I can utilize this one to an extent just fine. Easy as the old one to use, but not as intuitive... Well that is my opinion on it.

 

What I think they need to do:

1). Find a way to get all 12 pairs on-screen simultaneously. Use small icons if they must.
2). As @Tamorr said, the MM buttons should remember the previous button so that you can hit that button again to go back to the one you had before hitting that. (Optional)
3). Empty 1H slot = "don't change what I currently have equipped", so that if you have a sword&shield and switch to bandaid&nothing, you should keep your shield on.

I think if we only did JUST #1, it would be better than nothing, and would make the hotbar 3x better.

 

The new hotbar may make dual wielding more immediately understandable, but compared to the old hotbar it actually damages it's maximum potential. It also causes an undesirable shift from improvisation during regular gameplay, to pre-planning in your inventory screen.

 

You can't move items that are in your hotbar from one slot to another. That drives me crazy

I don't want to dig through my inventory to move items around if they're in my hotbar.

 

That's also a pretty mig annoyance to me. Why can't clicking on the item in hotbar link me to the item in my inventory?!

 

I can't stand this new hotbar so much I sifted through my own post history to bring back an old suggestion of mine which would fix it... Those who've been on the dev blog have probably seen my 2 posts on it.
I have many problems with the new hotbar, but much of it has been said again and again so I won't reiterate here.
If you haven't seen the suggestion, however, I implore you to check it out.

The Hotbar and Selection Overhaul, a 7 month old suggestion that's only now becoming very relevant. Does much more than just change the appearance of the hotbar, and actually gives "the best of both worlds" of both the new and old hotbar, imo.

 

Shaadaris' thing looks like a much more natural and good version of the new hotbar.

 

I don't mind the concept of the new hotbar. I originally thought it was going g to be an addition to the old hotbar, which I would prefer. Thus getting g the best of both bars.

 

I actually like the new hotbar. I just want it to be easier to move things to different slots. It's a great idea because let's be honest: how many of us know where numbers above maybe 7 are on our keyboard? Pressing anything above 6 or 7 can be annoying in the middle of a fight. The new hotbar allows you to use the slots 1-5 TWICE. That's great in my opinion.

 

I like many other changes, but I think this new bar is a failed concept.

Many people don't use dual-wieldieng and even those that do, use it only to max. 2-3 combos at a time. Making 6 dual wielding bars makes most (if not all) of the 2nd spots unused, which leaves you with an ugly half-empty bar and less stuff visible on screen.

 

That's exactly my view.
Me too can't think of anyone ever needing more than three of these "double-slots".
If they haid said that the second bar would be all "single-slots" as compensation, I propably would have gone with it. But the way it actually is, is definitely not my way.

 

I do, all the time in Stable Starbound, and games like Terraria, and back when I used MMOs like WoW and FFXIV.

And let's not forget you can also scroll through the buttons with the mouse wheel too if you really have that much trouble. And you can also rebind those keys to things like G, B, etc. And if you have more than 2 mouse buttons, you can bind some of those extra mouse buttons to some of those hotbar buttons as well.

The point is, swapping hotbars is clunky and some people hate doing it. It should be an option TBH. In fact, what they could do is give us two 10 button hotbars and we'd both be happy.

 

I'd say this was a good idea, poorly implemented, but i honestly don't believe that, I hate it and i found the old hot bar's dual wielding more intuitive than the new one's, despite being made specifically for that

 

I keep looking, but I can't seem to find the "best" or even "remotely ok" aspect of the new bar...

 

Being able to assign an offhand is, IMO, the "best" part of it, and technically, we have 2 more slots than the old hotbar (6 slots, but 2 groups, so 12 slots total) I do take issue with the hotbar not removing items from your inventory, and I do take issue with not being able to drag things off the hotbar itself.

 

The fact that it doesn't hold items for you is a real turn off. Those ten buttons of extra unsorted space were a godsend. Instead, we lose inventory space now. Anything you are using sits in the inventory, and you lose space on the bars as well since anything that isn't held in one hand takes up two slots. I get how this is useful for two one-handed items, but losing bar space by holding one item kind of sucks. The old buttons to swap what was in the left and right slot on the old, better bar would fix this problem, such as having a broadsword and bandage in two shared slots, and pressing X to switch between either or when that slot is selected. That alone would make me ignore the inventory loss, but I'd still be unhappy because it's lost inventory space. I'm a packrat, and I organize everything out of bad habit; losing space just bothers me.

Think about it; would you use your sword while it's sitting in your backpack? Of course not, you'd hold it with your hands.