Hello everyone!
Today i would like to discuss a particular role post Unity Update, and as the title indicates, it's Transporter. i would like to clarify that it is about the User Interface (UI) of the specific role, and not about its power.
As You may know, with the Unity Update, the UI of Transporter has been changed, in my opinion for worse. It is actually terrible. i will explain why by first noting the change.
Before the Unity Update, unlike most other roles, Transporter as well as Witch used to have two squares next to each player alive at night since their abilities target two players. For Transporter, the squares indicate the targets that the player will attempt to transport.
After the Unity Update, Transporter only gets a single square next to each player alive at night to indicate the first target. Upon clicking on it, a new list appears with candidates as second target. After clicking on a second target, the player must confirm that he/she wants to attempt the transport of said players by pressing on a button "Transport".
i believe that - aside from habit, nostalgia and frustration - the UI post Unity Update for Transporter is terrible.
The very first reason is the extra button "Transport" to confirm the selected targets. This button is unnecessary. No role has ever demanded a confirmation of an action. For example, If You attempt to investigate a player as Investigator, it does not have a button that says "Investigate". You are not required to do anything more than clicking on a square next to a player's name. Even Power Roles such as Jailor and Mayor do not have such when attempting to execute or to reveal.
Secondly, this button is not just an additional, meaningless chore. It can actually mess Your gameplay up if You forget to click on the "Transport" button, with dire consequences. i have already died twice in ranked games as Transporter because i did not click on the "Transport" button. And mind You, i have a rating above 3000, so i am well aware of what i am doing. i believe that a lot of other veteran players and new players alike can get tricked by this poor UI and get executed due to failed transport as they would seem to behave like a Jester.
Aside from these two reasons. that is the "Transport" button being a meaningless chore and a tricky addition that can mess a player's gameplay up, it is even very inconvenient in it's very design itself. Suppose You have decided to transport two targets, but decided to transport someone else instead of one of the two targets. Before the Unity Update, it sufficed to click on a single square to change one of the targets to another target. Now, it requires 3 clicks: You have to choose the first target again, even if You only wanted to change the second target, and vice versa, then press "Transport" button. At times we change our mind with only 5 to 3 seconds left before the night ends. The UI post Unity Update would hinder us from doing so because the excessive clicks required on top of looking through two lists is hard to fulfill within only 2 seconds, and actions performed during the last second does not get registered. As such, the Transporter's UI adds a gameplay restriction where the player cannot change their mind during the last few seconds of the night, unless they are extremely skilled in clicking buttons and looking through lists.
Finally, i would like to note that it is also very unintuitive. Befote the Unity Update, the targets for attempted transport were clearly displayed in the players list. Now, only the first target is shown in the players list, and the second target can only be found in the chat box or in logs. This enforces the player to use the chat to check the chosen target(s). Ultimately, the player now has to use two lists on top of the chat. Having to look at a list versus having to look at two lists on top of the chat, it goes without saying that the former is more intuitive than the latter. Hence, i conclude that the Transporter's UI was much more intuitive.
Here, i will sum up all the arguments against the Unity Update's UI change for Transporter:
1) Unnecessary chore: Addition of an extra button "Transport" to confirm the action.
2) Additional difficulty in playing Transporter: Forgetting to click on "Transport" can have dire consequences.
3) Gameplay limitation: Amount of clicks necessary to change a chosen target is increased from 1 to 3, which limits a player to change his/her mind during last few seconds of the night.
4) Unintuitive design: Chosen targets are not clearly shown and requires the chat or logs to verify the chosen targets.
i believe that the arguments i provided transcend my personal feelings, and i hope that the community agrees with me that they are strong enough for Blank Media Games to consider to revert the UI for Transporter or bring forth a better UI.
Please let me know what You think!
Saana