Loading Screens - Are They Bad?

[Borzo]

I've noticed people having a concern with regards to loading screens, and how they "break immersion". Not a lot of explanation is given, however, as to what exactly the problem is. I was hoping some people could explain why they feel loading screens are a problem.

In WOW, there's loading screens between continents, there's loading screens when I hearth, when I use a mage portal, when I use one of the Org/SW zone portals, when I join a BG, when I do Tol Barad, when I go to do my dailies, join a dungeon, etc etc. It's hard to go 15 minutes in WOW without a loading screen sometimes. I never thought of them as "breaking immersion" or "taking me out of the game", however. But those are the reasons most people give for being against loading screens, and was wondering if people could elaborate some more on how they feel about this.

For the record, Guild Wars 2 will have loading screens between major zones. In a dev talk, I think, it was mentioned that you could go and run in a straight line for up to 15 minutes as you crossed through a zone, before hitting a loading screen . It's my understanding that this is done so that you don't have lag and server issues -- like in Wintergrasp, or during a city/leader raid. I assume that means each zone is on its own server/computer... thus avoiding things like Wintergrasp crashing all of Northrend, or raising server-lag to 1000+ms levels during big events. Personally, I think it's worth the trade-off, but some people don't seem to think so.

Opinions are welcome!

[sacrypheyes]

as long as it doesn't take several minutes of loading to get from one zone to another, i don't see why i'd care.
i can't think of a decent recent game with ZERO loading screens so... (speaking of pc games that is)

[StationaryHawk]

I think it's a necessary annoyance. No one will ever want loading screens; they take away from immersion, force you to wait all of 2-3 seconds. But considering the benefits of loading screens, as shown in GW1, they're entirely worth the minor annoyances. Separating the world into instances allows for less lag during the large, 100+ people dynamic events, and ensures the rest of the world won't suffer for the actions of one location, or that one location won't be dragged down by the rest of the world.

I am in favor of them.

[Anthoren]

I think it's a necessary annoyance. No one will ever want loading screens; they take away from immersion, force you to wait all of 2-3 seconds. But considering the benefits of loading screens, as shown in GW1, they're entirely worth the minor annoyances. Separating the world into instances allows for less lag during the large, 100+ people dynamic events, and ensures the rest of the world won't suffer for the actions of one location, or that one location won't be dragged down by the rest of the world.

I am in favor of them.

I love how ever since GW2 got its own section people just give my answers for me.

[MalazanFan]

Even though loading screens might break immersion, I think the personal story adds sooo much to immersion that players will still be more immersed (i need a thesaurus) than in most other MMOs that don't have them.

FFXI had has loading screens between all zones and it never really bothered me.

[Wynnyelle]

I don't really mind them. I can see how it would irritate somebody with a crappy connection, but it shouldn't really be a huge issue for most people, I would think. I don't really think it's immersion-breaking at all. I hardly noticed them in WoW or other games.

[Berteh]

Just grab a SSD. Loading screens = obliterated.

OT: No they don't really bother me at all. I usually enjoy the wait, as it gives me time to grab a sip of my drink or eat some food etc

[Blznsmri]

They weren't a problem in GW1, they wont be in GW2.

[Kaelwryn]

Just grab a SSD. Loading screens = obliterated.

OT: No they don't really bother me at all. I usually enjoy the wait, as it gives me time to grab a sip of my drink or eat some food etc

Agreed. Gives me a chance to run and grab a drink or whatever. Also the loading screens in GW1 were usually short, unless you had never been to the area before but even then it was relatively quick load.

[Moralio]

I think it's a necessary annoyance. No one will ever want loading screens; they take away from immersion, force you to wait all of 2-3 seconds. But considering the benefits of loading screens, as shown in GW1, they're entirely worth the minor annoyances. Separating the world into instances allows for less lag during the large, 100+ people dynamic events, and ensures the rest of the world won't suffer for the actions of one location, or that one location won't be dragged down by the rest of the world.

I am in favor of them.

Pretty much this. Also I dont mind loading screens a whole lot because they give me time to grab a refreshment, stretch or something.

[Will]

For me, loading screens don't break immersion any more than the fact that I have a user interface in my face. Interestingly, the games I feel to have been the most immersive in my life are ones that have practically no UI. The point I'm making here is simple; with a UI already stuck in my face, loading screens can't make my experience any less immersive. Not to mention some of the loading artwork is just fabulous and I wouldn't miss seeing it (the first few times, at any rate)

An option to disable loading screens and replace them with a fade out would be handy, though.

---------- Post added 2011-09-29 at 09:09 AM ----------

I think it's a necessary annoyance. No one will ever want loading screens; they take away from immersion, force you to wait all of 2-3 seconds. But considering the benefits of loading screens, as shown in GW1, they're entirely worth the minor annoyances. Separating the world into instances allows for less lag during the large, 100+ people dynamic events, and ensures the rest of the world won't suffer for the actions of one location, or that one location won't be dragged down by the rest of the world.

I am in favor of them.

Imo Fade out to black > loading screen in terms of less obnoxious alternatives.

[Jovanaar]

Trust me, you won't get bothered by them, there aren't as much as there was on GW1. And never disturbed me there.

[Tutorial]

As been said before up here, they are a neccesary evil.
Quite frankly it gives you time to do things... Or even just be like "Oh, shiny art".

[Umbra]

Imo Fade out to black > loading screen in terms of less obnoxious alternatives.

So, rather than staring at some awesome piece of art related to the zone you're going to, you want to stare at a black screen? Just want to make sure we're on the same page here.

[Deleted]

People forget that WoW has these between zones aswell. They're just not visible like the GW ones.

When you change zone in WoW, you always get some FPS lagg, because you're going through the loading screen.

[Jovanaar]

There we go.. When you port you'll be in a small loading screen for a few seconds. And look at that art. You're not going to complain about this do you?

[Mif]

This is the server lag that happened when Blizzard tried to make a massive event with a hundred players participating.



Blizzard's solution:
Limit the number of players that can be in the zone, or in other words prevent people from playing with others in an MMO.

Personally, I'd rather have portals between maps that I wont even see because I'll be using waypoints to get around.

[Drakhar]

C'mon, loading screens have been around forever. I think the main complaint is that the zones aren't seamless like WoW's, because to argue that there shouldn't be loading screens is honestly retarded, particularly when used in the context of WoW where there are plenty of them. The one thing that bothers me about loading in GW2: PvP. On respawn you get a loading screen - why? Hopping between waypoints (even in the same zone) I can live with as the time is minimal, but the fact that it happens in structured PvP kinda bothers me. Again, it doesn't seem to be much of a delay, but every second counts, and I wonder how much it will affect slower systems (shouldn't really affect me, but still an issue).

[Arrowstormen]

I think they are fine, it parts the world up a little and might for some make it feel less connected, but the "zone changes" in WoW has always looked kinda weird.

[[-Spiritus-]]

I think they are fine, it parts the world up a little and might for some make it feel less connected, but the "zone changes" in WoW has always looked kinda weird.

Yeah, interesting point. My fav was always pre-cata Feralas to 1kNeedles. "I'm walking along in mah jungle.. do ti do... WHAAA?"

No one likes loading screens, but as long as they are as unobtrusive as possible, it'll be fine.