xroads wrote:Really?
How did you guys ever play before a few years ago when there were no panels?
I am just saying it is a ton to digest for a new player.
Before Panels there was BOB, that performed a lot of the same functions. Before I discovered BOB I hated the fact the there was no meaningful stats function on the UI. However, it only took me a couple weeks after I joined to discover BOB, so that was a very brief period. For years I played with BOB turned on, but I always hated the fact that it required constant updates both to itself and to greasemonkey. When Panels came out and did most of the same things without the hassle of constantly searching for the latest version, I switched to Panels and I've never looked back.
Is there a bit to figure out there? Well, yes. But when you're a new player in any game you expect some kind of learning curve while you figure stuff out. I'm sure you didn't figure out all the menus on Pacific Theatre of Operations on your first try, either.
The thing I love about Panels is the fact that you can position them how you want to get exactly the feel that's right for you. For instance, I rarely bother reading logs, so I have Chat directly under the map and the Log way down below that. On the other hand, there are analytical people who always read the log, so they put Log directly under the map and Chat lower down, or even on the right side sometimes. Everyone can make the screen look exactly how it suits them, and that is, I think, a plus for everyone, including new players. People like being able to customize their experience.
