Trained vs Expert

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GodricTheWell

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Trained vs Expert

Post by GodricTheWell » Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:33 am

I can't remember where I read this, but I saw a post about the difficulty of distinguishing between Trained and Expert Skills icons. It was either something about the illegibility of the yellow circle in the Expert Skills icon, or the difficulty in telling the hexagon and circle shapes apart from one another.

Does the yellow circle (for expert) even matter? Would there ever be a case where a skill icon would be in a circle and have a white inner stroked circle? If the answer is no... then why use the inner stroke at all, let alone coloring it?
:admin Skill = icon only
:admin- Trained = skill icon reversed in a solid hexagon (square would be better but probably not sci-fi-ey enough)
:admin+ Expert = skill icon reversed in a solid circle

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Horizon Jeff

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Re: Trained vs Expert

Post by Horizon Jeff » Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:05 am

Not sure what you mean by inner stroke. We use both shape and color to distinguish just to increase the difference between the two.

:admin = the skill admin. It applies to any level. For instance, Professor Leander Standish can suppress :science, which would suppress any level of the skill.

:admin- = trained admin. The shape and the color are both indicators of the level.

:admin+ = expert admin. Again, we're trying to reinforce the design by using both shape and color.

So if you're asking wouldn't shape alone be enough, very possibly, but it seems simple enough to add the color as well.

GodricTheWell

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Re: Trained vs Expert

Post by GodricTheWell » Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:43 am

The inner stroke refers to the white/yellow line that is "inside" the solid black shape. White and Yellow are difficult to distinguish, especially when really small and involving a gradient from white to yellow, or white to light grey.
My confusion was whether or not there'd be a circle-shaped icon with a white-stroked circle inside and a circle-shaped icon with a yellow-stroked circle (and likewise two hexagon versions, one with white stroke and one with yellow).

Your response confirms that this is not the case - which means there are two things being used to differentiate Trained from Expert skills: Shape and Stroke Color. Setting my opinions on these visual descriptors aside, my confusion has been resolved. Thanks!

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