No Green Buttons for Things We Can't Do

[Ashrem]

If we can't build something because we need to do research first, the button should be red or amber, not green. It's confusing enough to experienced players, it must be worse for new players. Make the [Research] button red or amber to indicate you can't build currently.

Edit: Alternatively, have the research requirement listed with the other requirements, so we don't spend time assembling resources before we find out we don't have the research.

 

[DeletedUser3297]

Or make the research button actually direct you to the technology you need to research instead of just taking you to your current research

 

[DeletedUser5521]

I totally agree. When I was "little" and clicked on that research button, and was taken to my research, I'd be looking all over the place thinking "What are they talking about???" Now I know better, but sometimes I still get Jimmy-Jack'ed lol

 

[Ashrem]

Yes. It's not the word "Research" that is an issue, it's having the button labelled green, which implies you are ready to go.

 

[DeletedUser3297]

I don't think color coding would help. It seems people just do not pay attention to what they are doing. I have seen it many times on the forum where a player complains about needing diamonds to start productions in guest race buildings because they never noticed the numbers in red were a missing resource. Or the players that complain that they can't collect supplies or coins because they never noticed the numbers in red indicating they were at max capacity.

Color coding is pointless when you don't even pay attention to what actually happens in the game

 

[DeletedUser188]

It's confusing enough to experienced players

I can't speak for the other "experienced" players just myself
I have never been confused about what the green research button means
Changing the color won't solve the confusion ,the button, (no matter the color) would still mean the same thing and take you to research tree when pressed
Players that are confused about a green research button would be equally confused about a red one

make the research button actually direct you to the technology you need to research instead of just taking you to your current research

This is a good idea that I can support
I have often wondered why when research is pressed we aren't taken to the relevant research on the tree

 

[Ashrem]

No answer is going to fix every case, but I think the majority of us will notice the difference between a red button and a green one. I'm more concerned about having seen I am lacking resources (because the red text did make a difference) and spending the time lost to assembling the appropriate resources, then wait until I'm ready to start the job at the end of the day, only to notice that the big green button doesn't actually mean I can proceed.

(Edit: for me, a better alternative might also be to have research be one of the requirements listed in the description. Then if I haven't got the research done, it will show as a deficit before I spend time trading and buying the other resources.)

 

[DeletedUser5521]

Players that are confused about a green research button would be equally confused about a red one

This is a good idea that I can support
I have often wondered why when research is pressed we aren't taken to the relevant research on the tree

I can't speak for anyone but myself either, but I don't think it's "confusion" so much as the part of the brain that works on auto-pilot usually associates green with "go" and red with "now hold up and wait a second". When you see a green box or something else green, the auto-reponse is usually not "woooahh...don't go there...recalculating..." as it generally is with the red box (or whatever object).

And @Andrew420 I would also like to see us taken to the relevant research when we click on that ... maybe amber? ...research button. Sure you can hunt it down yourself, but I'm thinking the purpose here is to suggest an improvement over what currently exists

 

[Ashrem]

Indeed. Per the subject, the improvement would not be giving people green light when they can't proceed. While the building/research event is the one that triggered the thought, and is the example I chose, my point is that the game shouldn't ever be presenting a green button when it's not possible to proceed.