Feedback on Colourblind Support for Gem Sockets

I'm not a huge fan of the notches. Yes, they are subtle for the vast majority of players, but as others have noted that makes blue and white sockets hard to distinguish.

What if:
- Blue = Circle
- Red = Square
- Green = Triangle
- White = Diamond
I would put the marks N,S,E and W to me this would be the best way to remember? I don't know but feel sorry for people that Have this. What ever you do come out with its not going bother me a bit :)
Last edited by Fasteddie1 on Aug 31, 2021, 8:33:07 PM
"
HardSide wrote:
I appreciate the effort, but I think maybe adding the letters (W/B/G/R) in the background of the socket would be better, the notches blend too much together and are hard to see.


Not colour-blind myself, this makes a lot of sense.
~ Adapt, Improvise and Overcome
Maybe something like this might work better visually? :)

Embed R,G,B,W inside the sockets.


"
tinnsiah wrote:
Maybe something like this might work better visually? :)

Embed R,G,B,W inside the sockets.




That would be best, should they force it on everyone.

Only visible if no gem is socketed, AND they can remove the notches that ruin the socket fidelity.
Last edited by TOP_Commander on Aug 31, 2021, 8:32:33 PM
I think it should go like blue socket continues to be circular, green sockets become triangular and red sockets become squares.
Its more visual than those lines and it should be a toggle in the options menu
I like it. The design resembles the INT/DEX/STR directions.

Also total colorblindness is very rare, so it shouldn't be that big of a problem that blue's notch is overrided by connection.

It's neat and helpful!
"
xhemix wrote:
Also total colorblindness is very rare, so it shouldn't be that big of a problem that blue's notch is overrided by connection.


Total colour blind can see white very well, so even then it's a non-issue, white will stand out a lot more than any other socket. The colour of gems are probably a way bigger issue for them than sockets though, as red, green and blue will all look the same (while for other types of colour blindness, 2 may look similar at worst).
On "Mar 21, 2013" I sent, among other feedback, this in a message to Chris:

"Whith alt+mouseover over an item on the ground a colourblind person cannot identify chromatic items or the colour of sockets in general. The usual way to find out what colour of socket's are on an item you need to take a gem of a known colour on the mouse and see which socket's stay bright (the others are greyed out or sth. I don't know, but I'm sure you do). A possible solution for easier identification of socket colours would be to implement an option that gives different coloured sockets different shapes (ex.: circle, triangle, rectangle for red green blue would do). Giving the gems instead of their individual graphics each those same graphics with the same option would also help to see what fits where and wouldn't affect normal players at all as the option would only be used by those who need it."

He answered with
"[...] I appreciate the feedback and suggestions in this PM too. I'll definitely be sharing them with the other designers."


It's been more than 8 years and now we get invisible "notches". Why?
I know Path of Exile is a "video" game so by design the vision-impaired are not part of the target community and GGG is a busy company, so its no surprise that this wasn't implemented eight years ago. But the current attempt seems narrowly targeted at "colourblind" people. When you're changing the shape anyway, there are more "ailments" that can be adressed. You have all the feedback already and there is still nothing in the lore that makes sockets or gems "round" or even "of a specific colour". Your "notches" only help people who have trouble with colours, but perfect visual accuracy. It saddens me that you are such a great company making this awesome game being so good at what you usually do and then you disappoint with this half-feature. Maybe I just got used to you overdelivering by five acts that a single step in the right direction doesn't feel good enough anymore. Don't get me wrong I'm thankful that you're trying and hope I can help with my feedback however bloated it might be :)

To update the 8 year old information: Since the addition of white sockets (and item filters)
I recommend:
(the "on the ground issue" disappeared due to item filters)
Socket shapes:
Red = Square
Green = Triangle
Blue = Hexagon
White = Circle (so that all corners fit)
And make the gems the matching shape as well...
Abyss sockets don't need a change as they're already sufficently different... sumething about the centre being different. Can't be certain what it is, but it works for me.

One other thing I picked up in this thread are anoints on the passive tree. Just "name" the oils on alt+mouseover instead of or in addtion to showing the pictures.
Far too subtle. How about for colorblind sockets we simply add the old version as an *option*? The old version worked fantastic.

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