Why the mouseover highlights on dialogue options don't work

[Soresha]

The highlight you now get when you mouseover the clickable dialogue boxes - this is not a good UI change. It detracts from the text.

The cream on dark brown is easy to read, it's easy on the eyes. The alternate yellow on brighter brown is more in-your-face and makes the text harder to read. Same thing with the green version for signature quests.

But the flashing effect as you switch between the two is worse. I was intentionally examining this for a few minutes and ended up with a headache which still hasn't gone away. A headache which came on totally out of nowhere. I don't think that's a coincidence.

After some thought I realised why these highlights don't work. Mouseover highlights are a common UI method on buttons, yes. BUTTONS. Not whole blocks of text. Critically, buttons have either an icon or a single word instruction like "save", "load" or "quit" on them, or they have no detail at all beyond being a button-ish shape.

These dialogue nodes are NOT buttons. They are story. They are blocks of text, often quite a few paragraphs to read in a row. Now from a UI design point of view, ask yourself this. What's more important: the substance of the text or the interaction with the UI? What should the player be focusing on: the storyline of the quest they're doing or where their mouse pointer is at that moment?

Basically you are detracting from the immersion in the game. The questing. The important interaction here is between the player character and the NPC, not the human player and the UI.

I noticed you've got a similar highlight on the main menu options - yeah ok, whatever. I'm not a fan but it doesn't hurt anything having it there.

But if you're going to insist on keeping this, please give us the option to turn off all such highlights. Some of us aren't great natural readers (dyslexia, etc. -  I actually have a touch of that going on in my brain) and you've just made it harder for us to enjoy the quests.

Sorry to sound so negative, but it's honest, considered feedback. This is a blue paw issue (joke for anyone in the last beta!) Please get rid of it or let me turn it off!