Suggestions

[center][b]* Long, image-heavy post warning *[/b][/center] The more I worked on this suggestion, the more I wondered if it had been suggested before. So if it has been, I apologise. It just came to me whilst I was arranging my dragons. If it has, please let me know, and I can link any original post that may have put forward this suggestion as well. EDIT: I just found another poster who made a similar suggestion prior, so I want to link them here in case any of their ideas prove useful! They also bring up the possibility of dividers! Which I think would also be an incredible addition. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/sug/2634814]Check out their thread here![/url] [center]---[/center] People at the moment use Marva's cloaks and assorted floating items to make 'lair spacers'... But I feel like it would be nice for some sort of official lair spacer feature that didn't require buying an 800-1000g apparel item for every spacer you want to create. Obviously, the specifics of this feature could probably be handled in a variety of ways, and I feel like if it was implemented the staff would know what way would be best for the way lairs function/the site's management. But for the sake of the suggestion, and because it was just way too much fun, I decided to create a few mockups (which became a lot of mockups), both of how the spacers might look as well as where the 'Add a spacer' button might be added. [s]All the mockups were done with the 4 dragons per row setting, so spacers for 5 dragons per row might look different.[/s] [b][u]EDIT:[/u] I have shared some additional edits on seperate posts, because I felt I was clogging this first post up with too many mock-ups... - [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/sug/3217176/2#post_53626365]5 Dragons per row mock-up + multiple row examples + scene/background spacer contrast decrease.[/url] - [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/sug/3217176/4#post_53636820]Suggestion for a 3 dragons per row setting + flipped dragons, and adjusted the position of the toggle.[/url] If you're interested in replying to this post with feedback, then do check out the follow-up edits I've made in post replies as well, in case something you want to mention is covered in any of those.[/b] ----- [center][size=5][b]Addition button:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/a6km2HM.png[/img] I also think having different types of spacers would be nice. So when you click on the 'Add spacer' button it will give you a selection of types of spacers that you can add. [b]It's possible that the [i]types[/i] you can add may be limited by:[/b] [LIST] [*]The dragons per row [*]The amount of spacers you already have active on this page [/LIST] [center][size=5][b]Edit Mode Layout:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/OZznx81.png[/img] I think that having a preview for background or colour spacers (mentioned later in the thread) would be nice, but I think text spacers may not work well for previews. The names would private, and for your own organisation use (especially for text spacers with no preview) And they can be renamed at any time, but only named from Edit Mode. ----- [center][size=5][b]Blank Spacers:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/p346Bh8.png[/img] ----- [center][size=5][b]Line Spacers:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/4ZLzEps.png[/img] ----- [center][size=5][b]Scene Spacers:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/3LfmIWE.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/4J29d4P.png[/img] Not going to lie, the scene spacers are my favourite, so I made two mockups. I think it would be nice to be able to pick from the following backgrounds for scene spacers: [LIST] [*][b]Lair banners[/b] [*][b]Scenes[/b] [*][b]Coliseum venues[/b] [*][b]World map locations[/b] [*][b]Maybe even vistas[/b] [/LIST] I hope it's okay to link this, but as an example of the sorts of backgrounds it would be nice to see, you can see this [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2519702]incredible thread[/url] of icons compiled by another user using a variety of different background assets on site. This is the sort of thing that would be nice to see. The ability to select which part of a background is featured in a scene spacer would be nice. If you've ever uploaded an image to a site as an icon, you might be familiar with those popups that let you select which square on the image you want as your icon. Something like that, but with a selection of site images. ----- [center][size=5][b]Text Spacers:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/2TJmVez.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/SDKeIlQ.png[/img] Two mockups again this time. I am envisioning these with the same limits that tab descriptions have currently. However, they may require additional restrictions due to their even smaller size. Text isn't too hard to fit here, but adding item icons takes up a lot more space. ----- [center][size=5][b]Colour Spacers:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/cpCb7Cl.png[/img] These should be a [b]set palette[/b] you can select from, [b]not[/b] hex colours. And the palette should ideally not be the whole range of FR's colours. As much as I personally would genuinely love to see coloured spaces to 'Radioactive', I can see these being very uncomfortable and possibly harmful to people who have issues with vibrant colours. And as such, sticking to a more limited, muted palette would probably help users a lot. ----- [center][size=5][b]Familiar Spacers:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/Hqr1YBA.png[/img] A while ago I suggested an item to revive the [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/ann/2658265]April Fools event of 2019[/url] for specific dragons, as a sort of 'Silhouette Scroll'. And whilst I would still be interested in that as a potential feature, if that is ultimately not viable, then maybe Familiar spacers could take the place of it. With these spacers, you would also be able to name familiars without applying them to dragons. [b]Though, you still need to apply them to dragons to bond with them![/b] I realised that the names can probably remain, even if the familiars are not attached to a dragon, because when you add a familiar to a new dragon it retains the previous name it had been given. Familiars currently accompanying a dragon will show the breed icon of the dragon they are attached to, and clicking on that icon will take you to the page of the dragon they are attached to. The hover text for the first familiar is not lined up to the icons, so you can still see the mockup for where the name would be input. But the chest icon would indicate that a familiar is in the player's hoard, and the heart with a star indicates that they are awakened. ----- [center][size=5][b]Icon Spacers:[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/8MUuoVm.png[/img] I listed this one last here, because I am not really sure how well it works. The icons for items in this game are quite small, and so they struggle to really take up the space. I figured it was worth a mention, at least. ----- [center][size=5][b]What about spacers in the centre?[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/KKQSszO.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/BfVHlsP.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/R9Oegew.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/nEFaZW8.png[/img] Here are some additional mockups for spacers placed in the centre. These are a concept for Double spacers. Though they could be placed in any position, they work well in the centre. They probably wouldn't have 'Colour spacers' or 'Icon spacers' available. Since a colour spacer of this size might be overwhelming, and an icon spacer of this size would likely look strange. ----- [center][size=5][b]What about combining spacers?[/b][/size][/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/t1EBfPs.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/0I9txtQ.png[/img] You could essentially create a second banner, providing other players with more info about your lair or even about your user. [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/NnC9L68.png[/img] You could dedicate entire rows to single dragons, featuring a background that suits them and a small amount of information. [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/GqiYRKY.png[/img] The same thing as above, but I wanted to share an example where the two-wide spacer is displayed in a place other than the centre, showing that there is a possibility for asymmetry. ----- [center][size=5][b]Problems, and how to (possibly) solve them:[/b][/size][/center] This suggestion would create an entirely new look for many lairs, and make browsing the site a completely different experience. I sort of expected, when thinking of this, that it would be only a small visual improvement to the Marva's cloak spacers. But once I started work on the mockups, I realised it could possibly have a massive impact on how users layout and present their lairs depending on which of the ideas might be implemented. As such, I can imagine this might be a possibly controversial suggestion. I am aware that it would require a lot of work to implement, but I think that - if it seems like the right thing for the site - then it might be worth considering in the future. Who knows! However... I think it's important to discuss a few possible issues that may arise with this, most specifically issues relating to [b]accessibility[/b] and issues relating to [b]'abuse'[/b] of the spacer system. ----- [size=4][b]Accessibility[/b][/size] The amount of information the spacers contain, along with the varieties of colours visible in background spacers and colour spacers could be difficult for users with visual processing issues. [b]If possible, it would be amazing for there to be a site-wide, account option to visually disable spacers.[/b] This [i]could[/i] put users who have spacers disabled at a disadvantage, since information housed in text spacers would be unavailable to them. There might be users choosing to use their spaces for additional user information, that may be important. So the option to individually toggle spacers back on for certain lairs could potentially be useful. In fact, if the toggle is available for every user that would be great. By default, the toggle for lair spacers would remain 'active'. However going into settings would allow users to change the default position for the toggle to 'inactive'. Only lairs that have spacers featured on them would display the toggle at all, so you would know if you were currently browsing a lair that had spacers, even if you had them disabled. Let's say my lair looks like this with lair spacers (my second dragon is on the next line over, thank to lair spacers) [img]https://i.imgur.com/beM9Nwl.png[/img] This would be my lair with spacers revealed. --- [img]https://i.imgur.com/WsQkmDG.png[/img] And this would be my lair with spacers hidden. If possible, the ability to hide [b]specific[/b] spacer types would also be incredible. There may be some users who are perfectly fine with text spacers, but would like Background or Colour spacers hidden. ----- [size=4][b]'Abuse'[/b][/size] I've captioned this 'Abuse' in quotation marks, because I'm talking specifically about spamming your lair with an excessive amount of spacers just to overload the system somehow (if that's something that can happen) or to just annoy people with pages and pages of a busy background spacer over and over. I have a few ideas about how this could be countered, possibly? [b]1) Treasure sink[/b] This also doubles as another treasure sink, since almost every suggestion I see for new features tends to have people requesting the feature be some sort of treasure sink. Each spacer would have a cost. Whether or not the type or size of spacer has a different cost would probably be fine to be left up to the staff or something, if a feature similar to this one was ever implemented. If spacers were purchased, similarly to lair tabs, I believe they should at least be able to be deleted. [b]2) Spacer limits[/b] I'm a big advocate for creative freedom when it comes to features on sites like this, even when what we might create may look strange or make sense only to us. I love the fact we can layer the same apparel multiple times, even if it might seem unnecessary. I've always been in support of (slightly) line-breaking modern genes, because I don't mind if the occasional apparel item clips. So there is a part of me that would love to suggest that spacers have a fairly large limit per page (the same as dragons), since I can see some people really wanting to use a large number of spacers with very good intentions. For example, if you wanted to use spacers to dedicate an entire row to a single dragon, you would need quite a few spacers to accomplish this. That being said, [b]there does need to be some sort of limit to spacers[/b]. I'd love to hear thoughts on this about what sorts of limits spacers could have? Should the cap be a small number like 10? Would it be a larger one like 20? The cap for dragons per page is 60, so should spacers also be 60 per page? [s]Should spacers take up the same spaces as dragons (so only 60 dragons/spacers per page, with any combination)? [/s] ([b]EDIT:[/b] I [u]agree[/u] now they shouldn't take dragon slots. This was initially raised as a query to the community and not a strict suggestion.) Should Double spacers take up two slots? ----- [center][size=5][b]Other notes:[/b][/size][/center] [LIST] [*]Edit: I made a [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/sug/3217176/2#post_53626365]mockup for 5 dragons[/url] now, as well as one for a hypothetical [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/sug/3217176/4#post_53636820]3 dragon layout[/url]. Check them out, if you like! [s]I haven't provided a mockup for 5 dragons per row yet. I imagine the sizing would be different, and it may be possible for 3-wide spacers to exist on 5 dragon rows. If anyone is interested in seeing mockups for 3-wide spacers them please let me know![/s] [*]This suggestion features many different types of spacer ideas, and I am putting forward the possiblity of having the ability to chose between all of them (or at least some of them). However, this suggestion is primarily intended to exist to suggest the concept of spacers alone, and the mock-ups are primarily just to give players (or even devs) possible ideas for how something like this [i]might[/i] look. So if you are interested in spacers, but would rather they remain something simple (like blank spacers, or line spacers), with no additional choices, then feel free to say that. Whilst I would like to see spacers with more options, I'd be very happy regardless to just see a simple spacer system as well, so we no longer have to use Marva's cloaks. [/LIST] [center]--- [/center] At the moment, I think that's the end of my thoughts. Thank you so much for reading through this, whoever might read through it. I did get a little carried away having fun making mockups, once I realised how much would be possible with the idea of official spacers. If you have any thoughts on the types of spacers suggested, ideas for how to prevent spacers from negatively effecting players' experience on site, ideas for what spacers could be used for or alternative suggestions then please feel free to share them below. ----- [center][size=5][b]Edits:[/b][/size][/center] Creating a section here for any additional thoughts I might have related or semi-related, that may pop up after the post has already been made. Or any updates in response to other people's feedback. [img]https://i.imgur.com/OXYsRvg.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/yECCWCJ.png[/img] [center]---[/center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/qEAEJyW.png[/img] Just a few mockups of being able to select the colour of the background for your dragons on the lair page. I've always found the background colour of dragons on the tab to be quite dark. Featuring a version with white selected, a version with a colour selected, and a version with a colour selected that also modifies the energy bar. Any version would be cool, I think. As with the Colour spacers mentioned above, if something like this was implemented it would definately be best to be from a set of colours selected to hopefully be non-offensive and muted enough. I added this suggestion here specifically, because whilst making these I realised that the white text box (which is meant to match the lair tab descriptions) looks a lot lighter than the background dragons have. And whilst I don't want to suggest changing the dragon background colour on lairs, having an optional ability to make it lighter or less noticeable might make the text boxes look less strange next to the dragons. [center]---[/center] [size=4][b]Dark mode considerations...[/b][/size] Whilst no dark mode has been 'confirmed' for the future, I believe it has been stated that dark mode is being considered. A feature like this one could very easily be effected by the implementation of a dark mode, and since I really support a dark mode in the future I do have a few thoughts. Primarily, that the Colour selection feature (either for spacers or dragon backgrounds) would make sense to be dependant on the mode. In that, if a user is viewing a lair in light mode, the colour might appear as shown here, light colours that blend well with the white background to avoid too much contrast. But viewing that same lair in dark mode would display the reverse. Dark colours or the same hue that blend into the background, in a way that hopefully wouldn't be too vibrant of a contrast. Background/scenes could possible have a gradient overlay - if there was a want to reduce contrast. With a light fade at the bottom on light mode, and a dark fade at the bottom on dark mode.

Honestly I don't see a reason to not support, all the mock-ups you made are very appealing so I'm gonna say support (too tired to write something more thoughtful though lol)

[quote]That being said, there does need to be some sort of limit to spacers. I'd love to hear thoughts on this about what sorts of limits spacers could have?[/quote] I like the idea of a spacer taking up one of the 60 'slots' per page, so there is a small consistency with the length of lair pages. To prevent someone from making 500 lair pages with 59 spacers and 1 dragon per page, you could have a spacer take up a dragon spot in the lair. If you've got 100 lair spots open, you can have 90 dragons and 10 spacers, or 99 spacers and 1 dragon, but not 100 dragons, one per page with 5900 spacers around them. (If people with all their lair slots are upset they wouldn't be able to use spacers without getting rid of some of their dragons, pair this update to the site with raising the max lair space limit? So people can buy more space to put spacers in, instead of deleting dragons.)

@clockworkMoose I love your idea of having spacers take up the same slots that dragons do!

This would also incentivise people who have smaller numbers of dragons that they don't plan on increasing to purchase lair expansions - which are a very large treasure sink already. At the moment, I only have 11 spare spots in my lair, so if the spacers were tied to lair space then I would have a lot of reason to go ahead and buy new lair spaces.

(And I've seen people ask for more max lair space in the future too anyway, so this would be a good chance/reason to add some more)

I love this - both conceptually and visually!

The only thing I'd say is to nix the text spacers. It's not like we don't have bios etc for that information, and removing it completely avoids the impact of needing to hide spacers for accessibility.

You put a lot of thought into this and I love the mock-ups you created. I honestly think this could be a great idea to implement. I definitely think it works best if each of these "spacers" takes up a slot in the lair. I support this suggestion!

I think that for the blank spacers, I'd just as soon see the "text-align" center/left/right options for dergs. That said, for everything else, this sounds amazing!

I will say... if somebody really wants to make 500 pages with one dragon apiece and has the treasure for it... I'd let them. It isn't hurting anybody, I don't think. Heck, I'm pretty sure you could do that now with pages and lair tabs and stuff.

I love these, so big support from me! I have some concern with the image/familiar spacers potentially giving users with older devices/weaker internet connections trouble, though (my 2018 phone has been having a bad time with FR lately), and the amount of visual information with extra images making it hard to process/navigate. I definitely have that issue on other sites where users can alter the layout significantly, and the mockups here with image spacers and lots of spacers at once give me some of the same visual confusion effects.

Everything else, though? Would love them. I think you could also definitely do some different "styles" of line spacers, too. Element themed, swirly, etc.

Oh this is SUCH a brilliant idea! I'll always support more lair customisation :)