The first barrier to entry into Glacial Defiance for Console Players

The above screenshot is the interface that Switch 2 players are required to use in order to type messages while docked. There are similar screens on Playstation and Xbox consoles.

For comparison, let's consider the following chat message: "LF 5 GD" (Looking for 5 players for Glacial Defiance). 8 characters including spaces and the \[send\] button. Short and sweet.

To send this on PC or Mobile you type: \[hold shift key\], 'L', 'F', \[space\], '5', \[space\], 'G', 'D', \[enter\].

**9 button presses**, including keeping the shift key held. 1.1 button presses per character.

To send this on Playstation, Xbox, or a docked Switch, you type: \[left-stick press\], \[left-stick press\] (to activate caps lock), \[down\], \[down\], \[left\], \[left\], \[left\], \[confirm\], \[left\], \[left\], \[left\], \[left\], \[left\], \[confirm\], \[space\], \[up\], \[up\], \[right\], \[confirm\], \[space\], \[down\], \[down\], \[confirm\], \[left\], \[left\], \[confirm\], \[send\]. Each of these presses also requires you to wait to be sure that it was inputted correctly due to input lag, making it take significantly longer.

**27 button presses**, including activating caps lock. 3.38 button presses per character.

There are mobile phones over 30 years old with a better typing experience than modern-day consoles.

This is the user experience that console players are being asked to use to communicate with each other in order to form groups each time anyone suggests the in-game Recruitment Chat. It is slow. It is clunky. It is horrible, and many players across Playstation, Xbox, and Switch are going to open this screen and immediately decide that, as much as they are interested in Glacial Defiance, putting up with this screen is not worth it. This is more than just the friction Pablo recently described; it is frustrating and tiresome to send messages to each person advertising a group on console, and I cannot help but feel that someone has severely misjudged the console player experience required to interact with this game mode.

Keep in mind that we have not even gotten to the point of playing the game mode yet. This is just to start forming a group to try the game mode out.

While there are good arguments on both sides for whether match making is right or not for Glacial Defiance, nobody should be required to put up with this kind of experience and there needs to be an alternative in-game way of making groups.

And no, players should not be required to use 3rd-party platforms like discord or buy 3rd-party equipment like keyboards to form groups in an acceptable timeframe. For this mode to see any reasonable consideration by console players, the process needs to be in-game and easily usable with a controller.

Thank you for reading.