Magic: the Gathering in the UK
Everything That's Wrong With Magic Online
In the hope that someone with the power to change things might one day glance at this thread, and to vent my spleen, here is a non-exhaustive list of everything that is wrong with Magic Online.
Just in case my wish ever comes true here's the take away: DO USABILITY TESTING. There is no way you are doing any at the moment and if you did some (any!) the difference it could make would be huge.
Of course I only write this list because I really like Magic and I would love for there to be something better than MTGO or MWS to play it online.
(If anyone knows a solution or workaround for any of these let me know ... does "Use Software Rendering" under Display & Sound settings improve the graphics or make them worse?)
* "Error FRC033" when redeeming a coupon. I think this means "the items you are trying to buy cost more than the coupon is worth" but that is just a guess.
* When you use a coupon to part-pay for items in the store, the resulting email receipt makes no mention of it. Only when you check your own bank/credit card statement can you tell that the coupon was used at all.
* You have to register at a separate site in a web browser to make a compensation request.
* You (initially) cannot claim compensation for a draft that goes wrong without the game/event numbers even though you may have no access to them.
* Fonts are not anti-aliased.
* There is no facility to store credit card details so you have to type them in every time.
* Nonstandard windows and widgets that are much uglier and less usable than the Windows defaults.
* Doesn't run on any platform except Windows.
* Sometimes in chat windows it stops echoing back what you are writing and you can only see what the other person is saying.
* Sometimes in chat windows you cannot read the last line of text because it is in some way "below the fold" despite being scrolled to the bottom of the window.
* The "Choose Card Name" window for Pithing Needle (and other things one assumes) does not follow standard Windows behaviors. For example, if you click below the scrollbar button in the vertical scrollbar you will be jumped to that location rather than one screenful further on. In the list
* None of the images (except Planeswalkers) show in my version of the program.
* Left-click in the (misnamed) Classifieds section does nothing at all. You have to somehow work out that right-click has all the commands. This is demented.
* Colors are poorly chosen and clash, text often has poor legibility, font sizes are inconsistent and typography is dreadful.
* Long and erratic pauses, often for up to a minute after the timer has run down, during drafts.
* Because the information is not prepopulated, determining the real name of a user is impossible. Buddy lists have no annotation facility. Basically you have to memorize the MTGO nick of everyone you might ever want to speak to.
* DoNotChange / donotchange@donot.change. Yeah, thanks for that.
* No internationalization support for language, times, date formats or anything else.
* Detritus from previous policy decisions litters the UI. Example: rating headers but no ratings.
* Navigation is abysmal.
* Support staff have no way to add/remove players from games/drafts and seemingly no control over anything at all. If it doesn't work, fire up the compensation request form.
* Home page contains almost no useful information. Apparently Cephalid Seafood Restaurant are one of the top 5 clans and have been since 1972. Although I have no idea what this means or why I should care.
* Names longer than approximately 15 characters wrap in a really ugly fashion in the Information box. Again with the terrible typography.
* Buddy smileys are a sickly off-yellow and about as visually appealing as a car accident.
* Target areas (for the mouse) are far, far too small. No use at all is made of Fitts' Law or any similar understanding of mouse-based navigation.
* There are /too many/ ways to manipulate the UI. Looking at the homepage I can click through a series of menus in the bottom-left, or use the buttons along the bottom or use the buttons embedded in the homepage itself or use the dropdown in the top-right or use the arrows in the bottom-right or click on the tabs in the bottom right or click the boxes on the left or click the links in the page itself or click the Helpful Hints buttons towards the bottom or pick out a window from the right with the double-arrow and have it float uselessly over what I am trying to read. Too much! Give me some simple navigation, please!
* I can manipulate the background color and font size of the chat windows. But whatever combination of settings I choose it will look ugly.
* Just in links in the main page there is massive signal confusion. Links in the main window right now are: White, Bold and Underlined; White and Bold (this one just moves the text a little, it's not a real link but as it looks like one and it does something I include it); Orange; White and Underlined; Pale Yellow and Underlined. There is also some text in Bold and Red that looks like a link (and should be a link to further information about ALA block constructed events being temporarily off) but is not. This is leaving aside all the boxes, buttons and other randomness that could definitely be included under the title "links".
* Event and Game numbers when shortened in tabs and window titles are shortened in a completely useless fashion. "Event 5..." is not useful information when we are up to Event 532377 ... every Event starting this month begins with a 5!
* Clans page is currently borderline illegible.
* Classifieds and trading in general is a wading-through-treacle nightmare of you-can't-get-there-from-here idiocy that could be used to train pacifists to kill. Third party tools are bad because clear APIs are not available. I expect this area languishes worse than almost any other area because it is not a profit center nor a core part of the product. But think what a humming trading section could do for participation. Do not be afraid of success! You could even turn a match-buyer-with-seller system INTO a money maker by charging a broker's fee.
* The entire program is just a bit too slow to do everything. Remember: 0.1 seconds or less feels responsive, more than 1 second feels broken.
* The system of making people "open" draft packs before drafting is ridiculous. At least 50% of all new users are going to need that explained to them personally. Just let people enter with a draft pack!
* Store credit card details for users that want them stored and then use those details to charge users as their draft starts. Do not make them buy product in advance. Stop putting barriers in front of people giving you money!
* Clicking on "Tournament Packs" in the Store takes you to Store Front. If they have been phased out, remove this button!
* Mottled grey backgrounds behind black text, pale gray background behind white text, and other, similar combinations harm legibility and add nothing.
* There is a "Leagues" option under Play. They have been down since before I ever played MTGO. Remove this button. Communicate more clearly with users the plan regarding Leagues.
* Provide a tooltip to explain what effect "Use Software Rendering" will have under Display & Sound settings. In fact, use tooltips EVERYWHERE.
* Provide a way to sign up inside the UI for news on Premier Events or particular formats.
* Sort out replays.
* Users don't like to horizontal scroll. Especially when there's nothing out there.
OK, that's it for now. Plenty more where that came from.
Just in case my wish ever comes true here's the take away: DO USABILITY TESTING. There is no way you are doing any at the moment and if you did some (any!) the difference it could make would be huge.
Of course I only write this list because I really like Magic and I would love for there to be something better than MTGO or MWS to play it online.
(If anyone knows a solution or workaround for any of these let me know ... does "Use Software Rendering" under Display & Sound settings improve the graphics or make them worse?)
* "Error FRC033" when redeeming a coupon. I think this means "the items you are trying to buy cost more than the coupon is worth" but that is just a guess.
* When you use a coupon to part-pay for items in the store, the resulting email receipt makes no mention of it. Only when you check your own bank/credit card statement can you tell that the coupon was used at all.
* You have to register at a separate site in a web browser to make a compensation request.
* You (initially) cannot claim compensation for a draft that goes wrong without the game/event numbers even though you may have no access to them.
* Fonts are not anti-aliased.
* There is no facility to store credit card details so you have to type them in every time.
* Nonstandard windows and widgets that are much uglier and less usable than the Windows defaults.
* Doesn't run on any platform except Windows.
* Sometimes in chat windows it stops echoing back what you are writing and you can only see what the other person is saying.
* Sometimes in chat windows you cannot read the last line of text because it is in some way "below the fold" despite being scrolled to the bottom of the window.
* The "Choose Card Name" window for Pithing Needle (and other things one assumes) does not follow standard Windows behaviors. For example, if you click below the scrollbar button in the vertical scrollbar you will be jumped to that location rather than one screenful further on. In the list
* None of the images (except Planeswalkers) show in my version of the program.
* Left-click in the (misnamed) Classifieds section does nothing at all. You have to somehow work out that right-click has all the commands. This is demented.
* Colors are poorly chosen and clash, text often has poor legibility, font sizes are inconsistent and typography is dreadful.
* Long and erratic pauses, often for up to a minute after the timer has run down, during drafts.
* Because the information is not prepopulated, determining the real name of a user is impossible. Buddy lists have no annotation facility. Basically you have to memorize the MTGO nick of everyone you might ever want to speak to.
* DoNotChange / donotchange@donot.change. Yeah, thanks for that.
* No internationalization support for language, times, date formats or anything else.
* Detritus from previous policy decisions litters the UI. Example: rating headers but no ratings.
* Navigation is abysmal.
* Support staff have no way to add/remove players from games/drafts and seemingly no control over anything at all. If it doesn't work, fire up the compensation request form.
* Home page contains almost no useful information. Apparently Cephalid Seafood Restaurant are one of the top 5 clans and have been since 1972. Although I have no idea what this means or why I should care.
* Names longer than approximately 15 characters wrap in a really ugly fashion in the Information box. Again with the terrible typography.
* Buddy smileys are a sickly off-yellow and about as visually appealing as a car accident.
* Target areas (for the mouse) are far, far too small. No use at all is made of Fitts' Law or any similar understanding of mouse-based navigation.
* There are /too many/ ways to manipulate the UI. Looking at the homepage I can click through a series of menus in the bottom-left, or use the buttons along the bottom or use the buttons embedded in the homepage itself or use the dropdown in the top-right or use the arrows in the bottom-right or click on the tabs in the bottom right or click the boxes on the left or click the links in the page itself or click the Helpful Hints buttons towards the bottom or pick out a window from the right with the double-arrow and have it float uselessly over what I am trying to read. Too much! Give me some simple navigation, please!
* I can manipulate the background color and font size of the chat windows. But whatever combination of settings I choose it will look ugly.
* Just in links in the main page there is massive signal confusion. Links in the main window right now are: White, Bold and Underlined; White and Bold (this one just moves the text a little, it's not a real link but as it looks like one and it does something I include it); Orange; White and Underlined; Pale Yellow and Underlined. There is also some text in Bold and Red that looks like a link (and should be a link to further information about ALA block constructed events being temporarily off) but is not. This is leaving aside all the boxes, buttons and other randomness that could definitely be included under the title "links".
* Event and Game numbers when shortened in tabs and window titles are shortened in a completely useless fashion. "Event 5..." is not useful information when we are up to Event 532377 ... every Event starting this month begins with a 5!
* Clans page is currently borderline illegible.
* Classifieds and trading in general is a wading-through-treacle nightmare of you-can't-get-there-from-here idiocy that could be used to train pacifists to kill. Third party tools are bad because clear APIs are not available. I expect this area languishes worse than almost any other area because it is not a profit center nor a core part of the product. But think what a humming trading section could do for participation. Do not be afraid of success! You could even turn a match-buyer-with-seller system INTO a money maker by charging a broker's fee.
* The entire program is just a bit too slow to do everything. Remember: 0.1 seconds or less feels responsive, more than 1 second feels broken.
* The system of making people "open" draft packs before drafting is ridiculous. At least 50% of all new users are going to need that explained to them personally. Just let people enter with a draft pack!
* Store credit card details for users that want them stored and then use those details to charge users as their draft starts. Do not make them buy product in advance. Stop putting barriers in front of people giving you money!
* Clicking on "Tournament Packs" in the Store takes you to Store Front. If they have been phased out, remove this button!
* Mottled grey backgrounds behind black text, pale gray background behind white text, and other, similar combinations harm legibility and add nothing.
* There is a "Leagues" option under Play. They have been down since before I ever played MTGO. Remove this button. Communicate more clearly with users the plan regarding Leagues.
* Provide a tooltip to explain what effect "Use Software Rendering" will have under Display & Sound settings. In fact, use tooltips EVERYWHERE.
* Provide a way to sign up inside the UI for news on Premier Events or particular formats.
* Sort out replays.
* Users don't like to horizontal scroll. Especially when there's nothing out there.
OK, that's it for now. Plenty more where that came from.
Views: 29
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Titmarsh on
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MODO is awful, how this is the third rewrite of this software completely baffles me. It seems like there has been no top-down design or QA whatsoever. Agree with everything Tom has said, here's a few more..
* I've had to apply coupons to numerous payments, it doesnt tell you how much the coupon is worth and how much you'll have to pay.
* Collection Management is ridiculous. There is no way to select multiple items as tradable, you have to click the up arrow on each and every one. To confound the problem, it seems each time you press the up arrow it does a server call. Under times of high load it can take over a minute to up the trade count of one card by one! This is utterly unacceptable. I want a make all copies greater than X of each card tradable. This would work for people who are collecting playsets or just one of each card to redeem.
* Trading bots are usually rubbish. They crash about 20% of the time I use them. Wizards should take control of this software and offer a trader interface.
* It is ridiculous that traders get to the top of the list by having a nick prefixed with the most dots, sort it out. There are far more intelligent ways to show traders than one big long list.
* If I start a trade, then realise I have something to give that isn't yet tradable, I have to close the trade screen (and lose the state of the trade), make the card tradable then reopen it. Why is the tradability of my collection checked on trade start, and not just time-cached or recalled when I do a trade action?
* To echo Toms point about the menu system, it is insane. If i click "Collection" when I first log in, its not at all obvious that I have to go Home > Draft to enter the draft screen.
* In game how do you move the "Exiled Cards" box somewhere more relevant than over the play area? Im sure theres a way but its not obvious how.
* Sometimes you misclick "Ok" in game because it lags on registering the first click, meaning you click it twice and miss your attack phase. This happens to me ALL THE TIME.
* Why oh why isnt there an easier way for players to trade with each other. Posting Ads is clunky and doesnt have a quick enough turn around. Make a trade chat room, seriously.
* When you have multiple buddy chat windows open in the right hand pane, if you are typing to one buddy and the other one says something it auto swtiches to that window. This is really annoying, just make the tab flash like we are used to in every other chat/IM program since the dawn of time.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Royde on
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* When you minimise "revealed cards" in a game, more than once. Clicking on one of the bars to maximise the window doesn't maximise the one you click on! That's pretty confusing when you're being timed.
* Modo should be able to benefit from more than one screen. The game play area on one, with all the other rubbish on the other? I realise that this isn't useful to many people, would it be hard to implement?
TOM: For storing credit card details: I just use paypal, so that's pretty quick and painless.
* Don't fractional tickets with different trade bots annoy anyone else? Can't wizards accept that 1 tix ~= $1 and have "cents" for tix?
* If modo were being made now- Is it really that useful to be able to own UNopened boosters? Couldn't we enter drafts with tix only (which exists sometimes with nix pax) and win tix only? You'd then also have the option to buy boosters from the store, which would be opened when you bought them.
* Trading with other players- There used to be an auction room. I think it still sort of exists (ask an adept) but that not many ppl use it.
* I don't find that I get connection issues on Modo too often. Sometimes I have mabye 200ms lag, but rarely and briefly. That's annoying, but you can pace your clicks around it. Modo != CS
I've never been DC'ed or dropped from a draft or anything like that. Is it really always modo itself? Or is it often peoples' slow/ laggy internet connection or slow computers? (NOT always)
* All trading and collection management is rubbish. WoW and other MMOs manage this much better as far as I'm aware. Magic is supposed to be a trading card game.
* What's wrong with accounts having ratings that people can see?
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Permalink Reply by Battlefield Schmattlefield on
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Not sure if this is in the list of pops above already but if often says "waiting for opponent" but it's actually waiting for me, and only when I log out and re-log-in do I see it's my time counter that has been going down. This is annoying and was the cause of lots of timeouts for me when I started on there. Modo schmodo.
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Permalink Reply by Thomas David Baker on
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Yeah I read this too. At least they've realised how shit it it, hopefully this release will actually change things. Oh and another one too add..
* Where the hell are Daily Events? Ok so I found out after asking an Orc that they are hidden in one of the millions of obscure menu systems. This is rubbish.
Thomas David Baker said:
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