WTB More Hotbars

[Catsy]

So, I use <a href="http://ayashi.net/foo/catsy-hotbar.jpg" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">a lot of hotbars</a>. I'd use more if I could spawn more than 10. This is not difficult to do either, especially if you raid or otherwise take advantage of all the items, effects, and abilities in the game, or if you really like macros. I've talked to people in game about this, and the response I usually get is that I'm trying to do too much, or that I don't make efficient use of the space I have. I don't agree. I've linked a screenshot of my hotbars above. Bar 1 is my /assist macro and combat spells, along with an emergency heal and in-combat buffs/debuffs. Bar 2 is mostly heals and cures. Bar 3 is utility stuff that I need hotkeyed, like sprint/deaggros/rezzes. Bar 4 is stuff I don't need hotkeyed as much as Bar 3, but that I still need to be able to identify and click on quickly in combat, like manastone/heart/shard, Urchin, CoS, etc. Bar 5, to the left, is an expansion of Bar 4, stuff I need quick access to but not necessarily hotkeyed, like out of combat rez, blessings/miracles, charm slot swap macros, and specialized stuff like /target Gnorbl macros, etc. Bars 6 through 9 are resized smaller and in 3x4 blocks, and each has a general purpose: potions and totems, calls and portals, concentration and maintained buffs, and miscellaneous items and abilities/commands like sigils, invis, yell, and racial abilities. Bar 0, not shown, is tradeskill buffs and macros. I switch Bar 1 to display Bar 0 when I'm TSing. This hotbar is also full. In order to get all this on there, I have to forego a lot of things I'd like to macro, like swapping in my best equipment for each resist type, swapping to my best overall raid gear, and such on. There are a few gaps in this screen shot because I was in the process of revising my hotbar when I took it. All of this is justification leading up to one simple question: what would it take to get more hotbars added to the game? I get that you wouldn't be able to use the Shift-# shortcuts to get to them after the tenth hotbar. I'm okay with that, I just want to be able to spawn more hotbar windows and add stuff to them, primarily macros and item shortcuts.

[Josgar]

Can I see a screenshot of your ui? I kind of want to see what you are talking about. BAH missed the link >.> hold on!

[nadym]

I have the same problem. 10 bars is not enough for me, all my spells, tradeskill abilities, tinkering gadgets, macros, socials. Really hope they add some more. But while i wait, is there any UI that provides more than 10 bars? Thanks,

[nadym]

also, i should mention that i play at 1600x1200 resolution, so my screen is not overcrowded at all.

[xOnaton1]

<cite>nadym wrote:</cite><blockquote>But while i wait, is there any UI that provides more than 10 bars? </blockquote>No, that's limited by the game itself. UI mods can't change that. Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere Vaspar - Fury - Lucan DLere

[nadym]

ouch, then we can only hope they increase them.

[redde]

/sign. I agree.

[Catsy]

I should add that it would be utterly FANTASTIC if you could map any key or mouse button--or anything else that you can map in the normal options--to a macro. Have there be a box in each macro definiton that says "click here to bind key", works just like the other key mappings. That way you could bind "emergency" actions or anything else without having to have it on the hotbar, or switch your hotbars around.

[Findara]

I wonder if its possible to make a fake hot bar.

[Tharangus]

<p>What you should probably consider (and this is what I had to do) is how many of those do you actually REALLY use?  How often are you using them?  At one time I had a full bar of equip macros and I swap resists very infrequently.  So I decided at that point that it was actually easier just to open up the little socials window, click on the macro tab, and then run them from there.</p><p>I still have max hot bars and most of them are full, though.  I still have more "trimming" to do you could say.</p><p>And I don't consider this a severe limit in the game... I've been in games that only let you have ONE toolbar at a time.  Now THAT is crippling.</p>

[Catsy]

<cite>Tharangus wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>What you should probably consider (and this is what I had to do) is how many of those do you actually REALLY use?  How often are you using them?  At one time I had a full bar of equip macros and I swap resists very infrequently. </p></blockquote> I raid, and on some raids I swap resists half a dozen times over the course of the zone. Most of the time it's once or twice. I like to have everything at my fingertips instead of paging through my list of macros to find something. As for the stuff already in my hotbar: I use every single one of them, and most of them frequently. The problem with reconfiguring the hotbar for most of these things, or going into my inventory to use an item, is that while I may not need all of them all the time, when I do need one of them I need it RIGHT NOW. While I may not have to worry about getting rid of a stun very often, when I do I don't have time to go into my inventory and find the potion to cure it. When I find that I'm just not using something anymore, I clear that hotkey and put something more useful there. Unfortunately, that leads to the other problem: cluttered, disorganized hotbars with no coherent theme. I like knowing that /this/ hotbar is where I go to find potions, /this/ one is where I keep my nukes, /this/ is where my buffs are, etc. As it is, a couple of my existing hotbars are starting to suffer thematic clutter. I understand that most people don't need more than four or five hotbars. They get by just fine with what they have. That's their playing style, and that's fine. For mine, I find I'm vastly more effective if everything is immediately accessible and where I expect it, and find opening up windows and looking for items or macros during a battle absolutely intolerable.