Decision Paralysis: Interface Selection

[KodiakBehr]

Every so often somebody takes a straw poll on their favorite interfaces, and it's my opinion that usually there are only two conclusions to be drawn from them.

1.  People generally don't like to be slowed down by verb-coins, but tolerate them for their favourite stories.
2.  There is no consensus about the rest.

Having my fingers lightly rapped for using a two-verb verbcoin last time, I'm now tempted to build a game around the good ol' 9-verb interface, or maybe a 6-verb variant (Open/Close merged, Push/Pull merged, Give removed).  It'll obviously allow for more complex and creative interactions, though at the expense of crowding the screen a little.  Although I'll miss having object/character names appear over the cursor, rather than in a fixed textbox, but this would proclude a description of the exact action being undertaken.  "Am I USING, TALKING, OPENING, or what?"

But before going this way, I'm wondering, is anyone sick of the 9-verb interface yet?  Is the 9-verb interface going to chase anyone away from playing a game?  And flipping the question around, do your expections on size and scope change when playing a game with a two-verb interface (look/interact), as there is, overall, just less to see and do in any given room?

[Radiant]

The primary goal of an interface is usability, and a common pitfall is to design an interface with instead the primary aim to look cool. For a 9-verb interface, usability means (1) implementing keyboard shortcuts for all nine verbs, and (2) having the right mouse button default to the most fitting verb for whatever object you're looking at. #1 also applies to verb coins. Note that this is precisely what LucasArts has always done, but some fangames tend to overlook that.

Bottom line is that it will take you very little time to implement this, and that not doing so will cost you players.

[Anian]

I'm not trying to argue or anything, here's 3 reasons I think the 9/6verb interface is not that good of choice:
1. more often than not (and this has been the case in stuff like early MI games as well), usually it creates more of "guess what the designer thought should happen" situations, especially stuff like "push" and "pull" where you need to guess the verb
2. I would happily use such an interface if there was more use for it, but how many games do really use all the verbs frequently, how many times do you actually use "open/close" in games and not only that, but using that instead of "interact" when it means the same thing, open/close drawers, doors, panels, box, machine etc. you know it and the designer knows that "interact/use" would work just as well.
3. I know I can't be the only one that tried everything on everything at one point on another, but even when that's not the case, when it's just a few items, you get a lot more combinations where you have to click so many times around the screen just get it to work

Games can still have puzzles and I think using a 9/6 verb interface just to make a game harder is just lazy design. I'd take for example and option to click on 9 items on screen and interact with them over having 2 items in inventory and using 6-9 actions on them, but that I guess goes into personal preference.

[EchosofNezhyt]

Nope. Honestly I can't stand the old uis, I feel like its the most aged thing in these types of games.
When I play a ags game and it has a 2 verb interface, I'm glad because I know don't I don't have to do all that annoying ui clicking and I can focus on the gameplay or whatever elements.
I feel like I'm not loosing anything in terms of stuff to see and do in the room. Any who off to bed...