Gaereth said:
Basically, a lot of the UI mods allow notifications and info to be presented in a way that doesn"t make you stare at a certain spot incessantly until something does happen.
That is exactly what a good interface needs to do, and most MMOG interfaces don"t even come close to doing it. The WoW UI is generally conceded as the most intuitive, yet the number of useful mods out there shows how much it is lacking still. Any next gen MMOG must have options for:
- filterable, scrolling combat text above character
- important warning messages, with sounds if desired
- iteration on Offensive/Defensive targeting, with multiple designated targets, target-of-target etc.
- CT raid style MT/Assist windows for large groups
- target marking (preferably not based on Lucky Charms cereal)
- Cast Bar functionality, debuff/CC timer window for both yourself and enemies
- utilize nameplates and target markers as much as possible to keep players in the 3D world, not staring at 2D interface or scrolling text. You should be able to stack a ton of info on nameplates. Health, cast bar, combo points, etc..
- Decursive functionality (sorry for those who hate it, but manual dispel is the very definition of whack-a-mole UI monitoring)
- some automated heal options. i.e. heal most damaged, only heal sub 50%, etc. although this could be more appropriate for a ...
- good macro system
- real-time parsing utility (basically damage meters built in the UI. I never understood why this wasn"t built in every MMOG since developers actually parse stuff for class balance...right?)
- cooldown notification
Obviously all optional of course. Basically your goal as a UI designer is that players should rarely have to look at any character/numerical data except chat log.
One nice targeting system I have seen is Arena Live Frames. It shows class and life bars of all your enemies, and who your team has targeted in a very compact manner. Its the bar on the right in this 3v3 Arena video:
http://www.ourworkisneverover.net/wow/affix3v3.wmv
It was made by amateur modders, so I bet a real UI designer could iterate on it nicely.