Hi. Before starting, let me disclaim that I am not the one that makes the decisions on the game zoom, but I did participate in the discussion around it before it was implemented.
Staffview, just like its name implies, was never meant to be available for players, only for testing purposes. However, we are aware that many players, myself included, have gotten themselves used to staffview, and the new zoom system may be difficult to get used to.
That said, what has been said in the announcement is not the full reasons for the implementation of the new game zoom system. It serves as well to fix the following problems:
- Playing on a lower resolution left the player with almost no vision on the default game zoom. We wanted players to not be penalized for playing on a lower resolution.
- As Content Scripters and Mappers, we were unable to determine the field of view of players. For CS, having every player with the same field of view allows us to better determine ranges such as how far a trainer can see the player, or from which range players can see NPCs during a scripted event. For Mappers, this makes it possible to create maps that favor exploration, as they no longer have to assume players can see the whole map at once.
- Having to open the console and type staffview every time you launched the game was inconvenient. It's much more ideal to be able to launch the game and have the same game zoom from the last session.
- Having to control the game zoom from the console was also not ideal. It's better to have everything in the option menu.
That said, much of the current content assume a larger game zoom, and we are aware this can potentially cause problems, such as trainers challenging the player from offscreen. The game zoom no longer being a round number also makes the pixel ratio inconsistent, which is personally what I don't like.
We are still opened to feedback, but in order to evaluate compromises and alternatives, we need more constructive feedback. What exactly do you dislike about the new game zoom? If you think the field of view needs to be increased, can you show us locations where the current game zoom is objectively making it hard to navigate or is causing other problems?