Right now, the hover tips (the little bubble window you see when you stop moving your mouse in-world) are often annoying and don't seem necessary. For example, it seems useless to show the hover tip when hovering over land, since anything you might need to know or do is easily accessible by right-clicking. Given this, we are disabling hover tips for land.
Does the following logic for whether to show hover tips make sense?
Avatars: Always show the hover tip with the name of the avatar (so you can see who someone is at a distance).
Land: Never show hover tips.
Objects: Show hover tip ONLY if one of the following is true:
- The object can accept money.
- The object can accept dropped inventory.
- The object can be clicked on.
- The object can be bought.
- The object can be taken/copied.
The reasoning for objects is that if you need to find out anything else, you can right click.
Thoughts?
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Should we stop showing hover tips for non-interactive objects? |
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Philip Linden
Founder, Linden Lab
Join date: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 428
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11-08-2005 07:19
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Philip Linden
Chairman & Founder, Linden Lab blog: http://secondlife.blogs.com/philip |
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Kris Ritter
paradoxical embolism
Join date: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 6,627
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11-08-2005 07:23
Makes sense to me. For one thing I dislike the constant popping of tooltips as you mouse around even on bits of builds and stuff so much I've permanently disabled all tooltips, though they can be handy for interactive stuff.
You could always make a preference? radiobuttons or selector for 'always on everything' 'always off' or (roughly) 'interactive only' as per your criteria above. |
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Stephane Zugzwang
Brat
Join date: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 192
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11-08-2005 07:24
Hi Philip. Certainly seems to makes sense. The one thing I use hover tips for without even thinking about it (and so where I would miss them) is to get owner information.
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Stephane Zugzwang
-- To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour |
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Jonquille Noir
Lemon Fresh
Join date: 17 Jan 2004
Posts: 4,025
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11-08-2005 07:26
Keep hover-tips. I like them. People can turn them off if they find them annoying.
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Michael Martinez
Don't poke me!
Join date: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 515
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11-08-2005 07:26
Makes perfect sense, I like this idea..
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Jesrad Seraph
Nonsense
Join date: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 1,463
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11-08-2005 07:36
Keep hover-tips. I like them. People can turn them off if they find them annoying. Seconded. Thirded. Fifthed, in the name of Our Lady of discord. _____________________
Either Man can enjoy universal freedom, or Man cannot. If it is possible then everyone can act freely if they don't stop anyone else from doing same. If it is not possible, then conflict will arise anyway so punch those that try to stop you. In conclusion the only strategy that wins in all cases is that of doing what you want against all adversity, as long as you respect that right in others.
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Travis Lambert
White dog, red collar
Join date: 3 Jun 2004
Posts: 2,819
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11-08-2005 07:45
I would appreciate it & think its a great idea. I store prim-specific data in the description field of objects all over the Shelter for script consumption.
While there's nothing 'private' in there, its a little annoying having the tooltip popup with all this data whereever I happen to leave my mouse pointer sitting  Granted, I can shut that data off myself. But I'd rather all this extra information didn't confuse the new folks unless they were specifically looking for it - by right-clicking the object. Note that a Secondary description field on objects for script read/write, that is private to everyone but the owner - would be REALLY cool. _____________________
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The Shelter The Shelter is a non-profit recreation center for new residents, and supporters of new residents. Our goal is to provide a positive & supportive social environment for those looking for one in our overwhelming world. |
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Pol Tabla
synthpop saint
Join date: 18 Dec 2003
Posts: 1,041
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11-08-2005 07:46
Personally, I never tire of reading the word "object."
You could always make a preference? radiobuttons or selector for 'always on everything' 'always off' or (roughly) 'interactive only' as per your criteria above. I'm with Kris on this one...a median state where you only saw hover tips over "active" objects would be swell. |
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Travis Lambert
White dog, red collar
Join date: 3 Jun 2004
Posts: 2,819
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11-08-2005 07:50
Personally, I never tire of reading the word "object." I'm with Kris on this one...a median state where you only saw hover tips over "active" objects would be swell. Hrm. I'm a big fan of choices. A median state (interactive only) would probably please the most amount of folks. Even better if it defaulted to this median state.  _____________________
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The Shelter The Shelter is a non-profit recreation center for new residents, and supporters of new residents. Our goal is to provide a positive & supportive social environment for those looking for one in our overwhelming world. |
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Laukosargas Svarog
Angel ?
Join date: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 1,304
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Make more use of the cursor
11-08-2005 08:05
I find Hover tips equally useful and irritating.
I like to see how much a buyable item costs but try playing a game like Mahjong and you'll soon turn off the tips while playing at least. If the purpose is to reduce bandwidth used by millions of hovertip texts, then I suggest... - Disable tips in prefs by default. ( Inform new users that tips exist if they require them ) - Disable tips for inert unscripted objects. - Enable all tips at the press of some modifier key. - Make more use of the cursor ( some of this happens already ) -- Change the cursor when hovering over a touchable object -- Change the cursor when hovering over a pushable object -- Change the cursor when hovering over a buyable object. -- Change the cursor if object can be copied or taken. -- Change the cursor if object accepts inventory. -- and combinations of above. [edit] Another idea is to stop showing the name and description and add another field specifically for hover text, this be a scripted prim parameter maybe. |
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Cahliah Dassin
Registered User
Join date: 10 Sep 2005
Posts: 20
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11-08-2005 08:22
Personally, I use the hover tips all the time. I like to see who land belongs to as I fly by without having to stop, open up the 'About Land' window, and check there. I like to see who objects belong to - and what they are - without having to do the same.
However, I can see how they can be annoying. I agree with the idea of making it a choice - either have them all on, have them only for certain things, or have them off. |
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Blueman Steele
Registered User
Join date: 28 Dec 2004
Posts: 1,038
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I'd like to see....
11-08-2005 08:31
it work more like the status bar on a web page, holding you mouse over an object puts text in a status line that you can turn on and off.
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Myrrh Massiel
Registered User
Join date: 7 Oct 2005
Posts: 362
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11-08-2005 09:37
...i think it's a great idea, and the proposed all/some/none toggle an ideal implementation...
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Aurael Neurocam
Will script for food
Join date: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 267
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"Intermediate state, clickable"
11-08-2005 09:56
I'd like to see something like this:
DO NOT show tips for objects that you can't interact with by default. (including ground) When you click a non-interactive object, show the hover tip. Allow this to be set from the menu: _ Show all tips X Show tips on interactive objects _ Show no tips |
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Blueman Steele
Registered User
Join date: 28 Dec 2004
Posts: 1,038
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Dances like a muppet
11-08-2005 09:56
ALL!
*doo bob a be bop a boo bop SOME! *doo bob a be bop a boo bop ONE? **dances offstage** NONE! |
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Babs Glitterbuck
Registered User
Join date: 3 Feb 2005
Posts: 16
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11-08-2005 10:16
Thank you for asking, Phillip.
Hovering is much easier than right clicking. I have tried turning them off and much prefer the useless info over right clicking. Was actually amazed to see how often I use this feature, once I turned it off! My vote is for the scripted only hover feature to be added as an additional option. |
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nimrod Yaffle
Cavemen are people too...
Join date: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 3,146
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11-08-2005 10:23
Why not make an option to be able to show non-interactive object hover tips only? I wouldn't turn it on, but I love hover tips and it would allow people from both sides to be happy. Plus, the more options the better!
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Edgware Marker
Registered User
Join date: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 7
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11-08-2005 10:44
I am working on a project that makes use of hover tips for explanation and clarification. It would not be good if they no longer worked.
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Brock Zander
Registered User
Join date: 23 May 2004
Posts: 31
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11-08-2005 11:00
Thoughts? Sure, Considering the excited nature of posting here correctly & then asap posting a direct link in the General Forum to get people's attention, is making me wonder if this already done. I like the new "enhanced" idea being asked of an already established feature. In the meantime, feel free to read my thoughts posted below /108/58/70507/1.html This would make sense when you feel the system is almost at a point where nothing else needs fixing. Please tell me this was not brought up at a recent Staff Meeting as an urgent tweak or fix/hot topic. The feature is currently set as an option to turn it on or off. My laughing is at LL in why is time, effort, energy, money & a thought being wasted on changing something when it's already in place as an on/off switch? I’m assuming it’s a slow day over at LL to come up w/this idea. This seems like an enhancement to the current feature when there should be fixes to other things in SL. I can only assume that this new patch coming up tomorrow is leaps & bounds as far as performance is concerned & you feel the need to get ahead start in enhancing something else that is already established. Sorry for getting off topic, but this post seems off topic when considering there should be more pressing issues to deal with then enhancing a feature that’s already working, is not causing problems & is already an on/off switch. Thanks for the laugh this morning, you should do more of these post |
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Torley Linden
Enlightenment!
Join date: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 16,530
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11-08-2005 11:00
On a lateral note... one erroneous thinget I've noticed with hovertips for land is... if land is for sale to a specific Resident, the hovertip will still show it as "For Sale: L$0" and not say, "ONLY TO A SINGLE PERSON, NOT TO YOU, BUCKAROO!" Gotta still go to About Land to find that out. @_@
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Persephone Milk
Very Persenickety!
Join date: 7 Oct 2004
Posts: 870
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11-08-2005 11:06
I like the idea of having several preference settings for this rather than just eliminating something so many people are apparently using. But you can turn them off by default if this helps keep the confusion down for new players.
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Please visit my stores on Persenickety Isle Musical Alchemy - Pianos, harps and other musical intruments. Persenickety! - Ladies Eyewear, Jewelry and Clothing Fashions |
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Strife Onizuka
Moonchild
Join date: 3 Mar 2004
Posts: 5,887
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11-08-2005 11:48
I'm all for options, why not add some new settings to the ini file but make the changes the default.
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Truth is a river that is always splitting up into arms that reunite. Islanded between the arms, the inhabitants argue for a lifetime as to which is the main river. - Cyril Connolly Without the political will to find common ground, the continual friction of tactic and counter tactic, only creates suspicion and hatred and vengeance, and perpetuates the cycle of violence. - James Nachtwey |
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Gwyneth Llewelyn
Winking Loudmouth
Join date: 31 Jul 2004
Posts: 1,336
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11-08-2005 11:51
I agree on turning hover tips off by default, and leaving things as they are. New users will never notice what they're losing; old ones will continue to use them and waste bandwidth and/or asset server resources
So, everybody will be happy for the moment, and when we've grown to 1 million users, the number of people who'll still be using hover tips will be negligible  Seriously, can I ask about an estimate on the impact the hover tips have right now? (for instance, say, we would get a 5% improvement on overall performance if there were no hover tips) I can imagine that bandwidth may not be an issue, but a hit on the asset server's database each time the mouse cursor stops over an object is really something to avoid, and it would make a lot of sense to get rid of the hover tips just because of that. I'd say, go for it. We love our asset servers and wish them to run at top speed without impairing their performance due to the need of cute thingies _____________________
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Iron Perth
Registered User
Join date: 9 Mar 2005
Posts: 802
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11-08-2005 13:29
Have an llSetHoverTip(TRUE) command
Right now, I use hover tips because textures take time to resolve and people can hover over objects to see what the texture will resolve into (eg, playing cards) I also use them for playing chips. People can hover over the chips to see how much without having to click on them. The visual display for touching can be annoying. Ideally, if we do set hover tip to true, it would be nice if the object were more proactive in displaying the hover text. If that is troublesome to program, then objects with touch events will have to do. |
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Doc Nerd
Registered User
Join date: 7 Oct 2005
Posts: 20
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11-08-2005 13:42
Why not just set up a menu for controlling what hover tips you want?
*check box* Enable Hover Tips *check box* Object Hover Tips *check box* Different types of Objects(money, script, physics, etc.) *check box* Land Hover Tips *check box* Avatar Hover Tips |