You should add an option to the HUD that shows a player's name next to his ship. Many times during a large battle, I get confused because I don't know who everyone is. I want to keep my enemy selected, but I also want to know who that guy behind or next to me is. Enemies don't always show up red. I can't take the time to deselect my current opponent, select the guy next to me, find out he's my friend, then reselect my opponent to resume fighting. It just takes too long. The name could even show up on radar.

This relates to my idea of allowing players to set a friend/foe list, as I discussed in the follwing thread:

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/14732

However, in addition to knowing who is hostile and friendly, it would be helpful to know exactly who everyone is. Different players have different skill levels and knowing exactly who everyone is allows you to respond to their skill level appropriately. The best solution is for both ideas to be implemented.

Yeah, I was thinking about this recently. For player names, and also potentially for cargo (to see contents without selecting). It would have to be a disable-able option, and it might slow things down a little for people on older machines, but it's worth a look.

[*Stamp of Approval*]

Good Idea.

I think this is an excellent idea. Also, I think there should be an option to turn off your own ID tag, so that other people, even if they have IDs activated on their HUD. This should be illegal in nation/station space. If you have your ID off and a station guard or some other law inforcement entity sees you with your ID off, they can hail you and give you ten seconds to turn it on. Otherwise, they start shooting. I also think there should be a chat channel that is anonymous, and if your ID is off sector chat is anonymous also. It's not stealth, but it's a way to engage in activities of questionable nature anonymously. Pirates would love this option, but don't discount it just because you don't like pirates.

Good idea. Additionally, it would be nice to have an autooff feature, for example, I don't want another visual element in the way while Im trying to fight, so it would be cool to have it disappear from the current target once you've fired your weapons. Might also be cool if the name stayed on the radar. If you untarget the ship for any reason, the name pops back up on the hud. Could also be done with a bind I suppose.

No, Professor Chaos. This is not that kind of ID tag; it would simply be an echo of current 'u' PDA information to the HUD. I do not think I want IDs in the radar - they are really too small to handle that effectively and would be to in-the-way if enlarged to the point of being able to handle IDs.

I know what it IS, I'm suggesting what it COULD be. I think the sector list should list your name only if your ID tag is on, otherwise it just shows what kind of ship.

I agree inc. Sounds good as long as you can bind a key to toggle it on and off quickly.

Wow! People actually like one of my ideas for a change! This is the first time I've received a stamp of approval. Thanks incarnate for responding. It's nice to know you read this stuff.

Now the trick is going to be to make it light enough and non-obtrusive enough so that people actually use it. No ones going to turn it on if each player name takes up half of your screen. It only has to be big enough so that you can tell players apart. For a good look, you can just select the player.

It seems like a cutomizable friend/foe list would make a lot of sense to go along with this. Any word incarnate on when or if that might be coming?

I would use it, it seems very useful. All you need to make it unobtrusive is a customization option to set the font size. Also, an option to show the name of just whoever is selected, or all players in view. For more information on a player, maybe a feature in the sector list that lets you call up the stats of a player in the sector or something.

Yes to the original idea. Yes to the customizable FF list.