This is a continuation of the discussion from the old forums. Meathead started a thread there but it looks like nobody at CG saw it.
The original thread is at https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/271315/mega-thread-new-portraits
I think stylistically the new artwork is fine. The problem is that it's not supposed to be just art. It's supposed to be functional in identifying different characters even when they appear in very small icons, condensed from their fuller expression. The shadowy style obscures differences between characters that were previously obvious, creating more confusion.
Honestly, there should be more effort to create easily noticed distinctions when working on art like this. People are already going to identify toons incorrectly just because the pictures are new. To add heavy shadows or otherwise obscure details only makes the problem worse. And not only for older players who are used to a certain look, but also to new players who simply lack the encyclopedic memory of character details that someone playing the game for multiple years can call on to ID different toons.
I don't bring this up now because I have any hope it will change in response to these comments. I only raise the issue in the hopes that the next time they decide to revamp all the artwork they consider functionality.
I just wanted to ask if there's any update about the possibility of letting players switch back to the old portraits if they have difficulty with the new portraits.
It is possible that no one at CG saw the thread. But it’s equally possible they did see it and aren’t interested in what the thread is asking for.
The ability to choose between multiple portraits would be great! I would even buy those with some kind of in game currency - not crystals or $$ :)
there isn’t anything wrong with current icons- I imagine I will get used to who is who again, but I would exchange in game currency to avoid the learning curve - additionally some of us are emotionally attacked to the clone wars or rebels versions of characters
It would be nice to hear a response to feedback. Was the purpose of the original feed to actually get feedback and respond to it or just let the developers get a good laugh at how everyone (obviously a few boot lickers aside) thinks the change is awful? I'm guessing they could have easily reverted it back until at least some of the feedback was addressed, so the fact that they didn't probably means they just don't care. I guess bonuses are given based on just having a task done rather than being done and acceptable to the customers. Must be a great place to work.
I lost a GAC because of many similar looking icons. In a hurry I added Maul to Bane.
I also wonder the reason behind such changes in which direction some chars look. Palp was looking to the right and now he is looking straight forward. While SEE was looking straight forward is now looking to the right side. Makes a lot of confusion. This is simply not cool!
The thing is that, yes, the new art is terribly suited for a mobile game (and is only slightly better on PC at full screen) but the real purpose is (probably) that some suit at CG decided they needed to pivot to AI or wanted to write off their Midjourney subscription as a business expense.
Yeah, the art might be fine somewhere else but not at all suitable for a mobile game. Whoever is in charge of the UI needs to be replaced because they are making the game LESS accessible. It should be easy to improve a lot of them just by giving them different backgrounds - why do they all have to be black? Could have red background for Snips, yellow for CAT, blue for Fulcrum, then black for GL Ahsoka. Or have some of them facing a different direction.
Faction-dependent backgrounds would be cool. For toons that are different instances of the same character (the different Hans or Chewies, for example), having some color or symbol that tells people the faction would be enough to distinguish them even if you can't see whether or not Chewie is wearing goggles.
That doesn't help the HothTwins, of course, but it would help quite a bit.
For toons that are within the same faction, they simply need to be more distinctive -- STHan and RaidHan do fine, no one confuses them despite being the same character in the same faction. Similar differences should be present for other characters.
i think the second rework is much much better and can stay that way.
bit out off topic but i wonder for a long time now why jyn erso's model is so **bleep** ugly.
Has anyone heard anything at all from CG about this issue? The communication on this issue is terrible!
I measured the portraits on my mobile on the Mod selection screen and they are just 4 mm high. They need to be much simpler and clearer! At least let us have the old ones back!
I've started liking them more and more as I'm getting used to them, but I'm not saying they're perfect, definitely needs some simplicity/clarity/uniqueness adjusting. With improvements they would be much better than the old ones imo.
There are several cases of characters being extremely hard to differentiate, and a few who needs full overhaul, but also some which are very good.
Maybe- but I can barely see who is who when managing mods so it's a fail according to me. I hate modding now but my inventory is full and they are spilling into my inbox so I have to deal with it.
The worst part is the complete lack of communication from CG. Nobody asked for this, they didn't tell us it was happening, and then told us they wanted to hear our thoughts, but never even acknowledged the things people were saying.
Yes! Dealing with mods has become nearly impossible. As one can not just click and see what the icon is. People with eagle eyes might have no problem. But my eyes are not so good. Beside we have about 300 chars and allowed only to have 200 chars in layout.
I have the feeling the programmers are just working on PC and never look how it looks on a mobile. I am sure designers of EA have eagle eyes. They should show their products first to people who are not seeing so well.
I am a gilde leader. So I have not much fun with this game. specially since TB is loading gilde leaders with much work. So the only thing I love on this game is the beautiful design. ...seems I should not have any joy with this game. For the first time EA created something I really hate: new icons! Please CG let us choose between new and old icons!
I would definitely like to have the older portraits, as they were much easier to see who I was using. There have been several times where I've put in the wrong character and lost a battle over it. Thankfully I use preset squads a lot, so that alleviates this issue a little bit. I'd almost argue that the new portraits are an accessibility issue - especially since many players are being affected by it.
Yes indeed! For anyone without **perfect** eyesight this is a real issue. I hope CG will fix this issue by gong back to the previous portraits.
Agree that it's an accessibility issue. That's a keen insight.
