Topic

Buff timer should count up, rather than down

Right now, buffs have a timer displays "(time remaining) / (total time)". This implies that there's a percentage or fraction, and because the time remaining is decreasing it seems counterintuitive. It makes more sense to me if it displayed "(time elapsed) / (total time)", or if you guys want to keep the countdown, a simple "(time remaining) remaining" would be fine.

Posted 18 months ago by Dave Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Works just fine for my little brain. 

    Many download or scanning bars 'fill up' as the action completes.  More and more of the device has been scanned, or more and more of the download has been moved to your computer.

    If something is getting less and less, I like a visual reminder that the amount is going down.  If it were filling up, I'd be confused. 
    Posted 18 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I also prefer it as it is.  It is sort of a standard in games and changing it would unnecessarily perplex a lot of people.  As to the way the timer displays, I'm pretty sure that's short for "time left out of total time" much in the same way that, for example, Netflix TV shows have a "11/12" on info screens to indicate that it's episode number 11 of 12 total.
    Posted 18 months ago by Magic Monkey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • But Netflix counts upward - it doesn't say 1/12 when you're watching episode eleven, because there's one episode left in the series. (Maybe it'd be 2/12 until you finish the episode, but the point still stands.) Netflix works like normal fractions do. I'm just proposing that the timer works the same way.

    To put it another way, if you have "(time remaining) / (total time)", displaying the total time is practically irrelevant. Since you see how much time is remaining, it doesn't really matter that the buff lasts for x minutes. Maybe it's good to know generally, but for practical purposes all that matters is that you have x time remaining to use the buff.

    I guess the main thing bothers me is that the way it's displayed implies a fraction, and fractions normally fill up to one. If I were to glance at the timer, without seeing how it works, just for a moment so I could read it before it changes - it would seem to me like it was counting up. "30 seconds / 2 minutes" looks like 25% completion, not 75%.

    I'm fine with it counting down, but it should be clearer about what it's doing.
    Posted 18 months ago by Dave Subscriber! | Permalink