Add icons to role selection list

[gartkb]

This addon is such huge QOL, thank you so much. Useful and so intuitive, hard to overstate how good the design is. I have some suggestions:

1. to make finding the role in the selection quicker, I'd like to see the accompanying icon next to the text label in the list that comes up when right clicking.
   
2. I'd like to see colored dots added as options for generic custom use, exactly the way the current roles are implemented in the list. So red green blue etc. this could be a tree'd subitem so as not to make the list long and cumbersome. right click -> 'color' -> red/blue/green/etc
3. this is a real blue sky thing, but I'll mention it. I'd like to see those colored dots also show up on player characters, like having extra personal targets. When I'm progging I want to easily keep track of certain people so I know where to be at certain times. basically the same as putting raid markers on people's heads, but personal, for when I am not commanding.

[xvwyh]

The next update will feature role customization, so you will be able to add your own custom roles, name them, select icons for them etc. There will also be an option of displaying the icons for respective roles in the context menu. Take a look here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1f771or/squadroles_a_squad_management_plugin_for_arcdps/lmymlfc/. So that should cover your 1st and 2nd points.

As for your suggestion to make submenus - I'd like to, but I haven't researched yet how to accomplish that. Maybe in the future.

3rd is beyond the scope of this addon, sorry. It might be possible in theory (I'll just need to find a way to enumerate all visible nameplates to modify them), but I think this gets dangerously close to overstepping the line of "addons shouldn't allow players to have an unnatural advantage or allow them to play better", paraphrasing GW2's third party program policy. You could argue that this addon already does that, but you can also look at it from the perspective of the addon benefiting not just one player, but 50, who otherwise would have a worse time, waste more time on waiting for the commander to organize the squad, or perhaps not even have that commander to lead them.

[gartkb]

thanks, that all sounds great. it may seem silly but since I've been using your addon I've been far far more willing to tag up again because it just makes the comping process so much easier. really great, can't stop telling my friends.

on the overhead-dots, I see other uses like marking trainees without singling them out, and personally I'm not sure there's more than marginal play benefit considering the existence of personal target, but I see where you're coming from so fair enough.

When I was comping last night one more thing occurred to me. I'm not sure it's a fit but I may as well throw it out. Pretty much the one remaining friction point when comping from LFG is the situation where the group fills without X role. This is why tags tend to go through a couple phases of LFG advertisements, but I feel like it would streamline a lot if the chat would have "so-and-so joined the group" so as to facilitate identifying the last person that joined. There's squad buddy or squad chat arc addon but that doesn't touch the actual chat window. It might not make development sense to do it and maybe touching the chat window would be another can of worms but to me it makes functional sense, and tbh, you seem to be raising the bar as far as including functionality inside the game rather than in added windows. So just in case it appealed to you.

anyway, can't thank you enough for this. It removes SO much friction from comping, it's night and day. So thanks and cheers :)

[xvwyh]

since I've been using your addon I've been far far more willing to tag up again because it just makes the comping process so much easier

That's the whole idea. I'm glad my addon helps you.

In regards to your idea, I will consider it. I have touched chat in the past, to make a chatlog recording addon, so I have a foundation I can build upon. Adding a custom message with a player chatlink (so it can be right-clicked with mouse) shouldn't be too difficult. But in any case, I can add an option to sort the list of players in Squad Manager by their join time, so that would at least help figure out who was the last player that joined.

You first two requests were implemented in version 2024-09-18.