T's on mini-map are now little v's

I just logged on using the new "main" client, 1.18.4.3, and found I don't have T's on my minimap anymore. Other avs above or below me are now represented by tiny little v's. And I do mean tiny. I have a big hi-res monitor, and I could barely tell the difference between up and down pointing. (Admittedly my vision isn't perfect, but as I have the UI size turned all the way up, this shouldn't be an issue.)

So is this just some random weirdness I'm experiencing, or is this an "enhancement" in this new version?

It's an enhancement. One of the blog posts mentions it, that they are now chevrons that will point up or down.

Apparently it´s an enhancement

From the blog: [Update, 2007-11-06 @ 9:30 am]

"Quick answers to some of the questions that came up in the comments
“friend glyphs” means the resident indicators that show in the minimap, for friends. Historically, all of the glyphs were green dots (same altitude) or a T/inverted-T (above/below). As of the 1.18.4 viewer they’re dots, up or down chevrons. After this server update, the viewer will receive enough information to show friends in yellow, everyone else in green."

From what you´re saying we can apparently paraphrase this as: "After this server update, the viewer will receive enough information to show friends as invisible in yellow, and everyone one else invisible in green."

*looks at blog, smacks head on desk*

Gee, why didn't I think to look for it in the rolling restart announcement?

/me sighs, imagining some 19 year-old Linden shouting out at the staff meeting "Those mini-map T's are just too darn easy to read. We really need to do something about that!"

I noticed it on my alt using the RC and didn't like it all . It's barely usuable to spot one person, let alone in a whole crowd of people.

No, not invisible, just not immediately obvious whether they are above or below you. Here is a pic:



I guess I'm just being whiny. I'm sure I'll adjust eventually... it's just annoying that they spent time messing up one of the few things that was well-designed. I could tell someone's position without even looking directly at the mini-map, but that would be pretty hard now.

At least the chevrons seem to be drawn with a black contour, which means people inside your house above or below you, who used to show as bright green Ts over a bright blue blob (it was a pain to read), will now be visible more easily.

So it no longer shows relative position in terms of someone being higher or lower? That's just mad! Guess that's a case of fixing it until it's broken.

Bring back the "T's"

Technically it does show that... it's just hard to determine at a glance. The chevron will point up if they are above you or down if they are below you. The main problem is that they are very compact, the same size as the same-altitude dot, so they all look the same if you don't look at them too closely.

Turns out I'm not the only one dismayed by their small size, as there is already a JIRA entry for it:

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-2808

I can appreciate the benefit of the black outline, and even the shape I can get used to, but I agree with the JIRA commenters that the chevrons should be larger.

I tried zooming the mini-map, but it doesn't change the size of the glyphs.

You know what does? The UI size preference. As I mentioned before, I keep mine at max size on my big hi-res monitor, meaning the picture above is as big as those things get.

How small can they get? Glad you asked.

I'm not willing to download the new viewer yet ( I wait to see if there's any major glitches first) but I'm anxious to check this out. I'm embarrassed to admit that I hated the damn T's. I could never remember which was which. I have neurological issues that affect my memory and comprehension so it's probably not so hard for most people. Even when I'm having one of my worse days I can figure out arrows pointing up or down. I never could figure out why they chose "T"'s to begin with.

I just hope they show up better on my screen than they do on Ava's.

Is that what those T's meant?

Hmmm, I like them, the black outlines make them a bit more significant when they're clumped together in one place. They also have a smaller footprint that makes more of them visible in those circumstances, imho.

Personally... I like it. The chevron system for higher/lower makes sense to me, and I have no problem reading it... Then again, I also spend a lot of time hunting very small objects through a microscope, so I think "ease of use" is probably relative in this case. ^^;;

They could have done the same thing with the T's, though, really, imho.

*tilts head sideways and mis-reads as "region above = much much greater than than region below."

Maybe I'm contrary, but I like the cheverons better than the Ts. I think it's a good improvement -- much more logical and intuitive.

Ooh. I'm going to need stronger glasses to see those little thingies. Why doesn't LL field test these "enhancements" first?

More fixing things that don't need fixed, rather then fixing things that actually impact performance.

Swell.

Hmm, I'll have to see. I always got the Ts mixed up, not knowing if the regular T meant someone is below or above me (it's not obvious it's supposed to point or what.
I would much rather have an arrow I can click on on the mini-map that would give me on of two side views (X and Y axis), showing avatar heights, with dots too high up for the view clustering at the top or bottom as appropriate.

I haven't downloaded the new client. What do they look like if they are on the same level as you? Still dots?

I was hoping for a vowel...

Yep. The chevrons are the same size as the dot, and tend to look like a dot if you don't look right at them.

The silly thing is that the shape of the glyph is entirely client-side. The could have made the new shape an option, so that people who prefer the old "T" could keep it.



I believe The Fonz has a vowel for you.

I like the chevrons. They make much more sense to me. Question though: I'm seeing a red upside down T in addition to all the normal green chevrons. What's the red T mean?

[Edit: Nevermind, I figured out that it's my map beacon. ]

Hmmm, I wonder why they left the map beacon as a T.

The JIRA for this shows there is now a patch available that lets the user choose which av glyph to use, the chevron or the T.

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-2808

I LOVE the new chevrons. They make so much sense and are easier to understand. I would go and vote for the JIRA because I think letting people have options is best, but I worry the Linens will just take it as a sign that people prefer the T's and change it back again.