Mapmaker interface makes no sense

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AdamH

When I play a Mapmaker, four cards come up for me to look at. I'm supposed to put two into my hand and discard the rest, and the prompt says to click on two cards to put in hand.

However, when I click on a card to put in hand a big yellow X comes up over the card. This is what it looks like when I discard a card using anything else in Dominion. It looked to me like those would be the discarded cards, so I was surprised when they ended up in my hand.

Whenever there's a reveal window that shows me multiple cards and I'm supposed to discard some of them, the ones I click on are always the discarded ones and there's always a big yellow X over them. Why is Mapmaker different? I assume it's because the wording on the card directs you to put two into hand and discard the rest (which is a different wording than most of these other cards) but even if you're dead set on clicking on two cards to put into hand (which I don't think is a good idea because it's different than everything else) you definitely need to not have a big yellow X over cards that are not being discarded.

Ingix

It's the same interface with the same colors as for example Border Guard and Miller which (to me) fall into the same category of effect. It is the same color for what you select from to topdeck with Artisan. It's the same color as when you decide what to top/bottomdeck with Sybil.

Yellow is simply the color of "make a selction now", context dependent on what happens. Red is trashing, green playing, orange Exiling, special cases of selection that happen offen enough to have their own color.

I can see that if you associate yellow with discarding, this interface is confusing. But unlike Advsisor or Envoy, you are primarily choosing what to "keep", that the other cards are discarded is just the "cleanup" of the abilty, they could have been put back, as e.g. Wandering Ministrel and Apothecary do.

AdamH

Right, so if this is the way you really want to do it, then the cards you select shouldn't have a yellow X on them. Just change the X to something else.

Ingix

Why not? Yellow X means "select this for something". I assume you play with the option "Confirm single Trash,...". If you use it, you will see that the yellow X is indeed more often.

santamonica811

Ingix,
I think that people are suggesting that, rather than a large "X" on the card, it should be something like, say, a rectangle 'enclosing' the selected card.

I would not mind Dominion using different colors.  But, if one decides to use Yellow for all cases, maybe show selections in different ways, to avoid the kind of confusion the OP mentions?

Ingix

I still don't understand why after many effects using a yellow X, this one is suddenly the one that needs to be changed. In other words, Border Guard selects cards, uses yellow X. Miller selects cards, uses yellow X. What is so different about Mapmaker that here the yellow X is misleading?

AdamH

Those other cards should be changed too. I think the reason it hasn't been brought up (at least by me) is because I never actually see that yellow X for any of the other cards. Once I've selected something the game can continue. I'm only noticing it on Mapmaker because I have to select more than one thing that isn't being discarded.

I also don't understand why this justification is necessary. The interface is confusing and just because it hasn't been complained about until now doesn't mean it is OK the way it is. If it is a problem the just fix it, I don't see the point in asking me to justify why I'm only bringing it up now.

jkommelb

Just playing my first Mapmaker game right now, and holy crap is this a bad setup.  Cannot agree with Adam more, this needs to change.