Okay, I have been waiting to make this thread until post patch because obviously the framerate issue has been the biggest issue on everybody's minds, but with the patch out and the framerate improved (though not perfect, kudos are still due to the Bethesda for making some headway on this problem), I think it is time for us to call attention to some of the other problems we are having with the game.

So this thread I want to piggyback on the poll BSOA started here:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1277346-limited-hotkeys-on-consoles-ps3/

His complaint, and mine, and many others' was about the limited functionality of the hotkey system on the ps3 controller. If you read through this thread, you will find many good suggestions for improving this aspect of the game, an aspect which directly influences the games total playability, and, if you check the poll, you will recognize that if spending half of your battles sorting through menus is a grievance for you that you are not alone.

So I wanted to make this thread a place where people can do two things:
1) Talk about their wildest fantasies for Skryim's user interface, regardless of how unrealistic these fantasies are, or how unlikely to be implemented
2) Make serious suggestions about how the existing UI could be improved so that we can spend more time fighting dragons and less time shuffling through our favorites menu like we're trying to find just the right song on our ipod

So, I'll kick it off with a dream: I would love to see a radial menu in Skyrim akin to what you get in Dragon Age: Origins, Assassin's creed, Red Dead Redemption, and other notable games. Through this menu, you could access and equip spells sorted by school, potions and poisons sorted by effect, shouts and special powers, customized weapon and armor sets, a quick heal function, and a list of convenient companion commands, such as you get in FO: NV (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_G9-vZPDI2gQ/TMtSI9syfcI/AAAAAAAAADQ/FazLg7ssKuk/s1600/fallout-new-vegas-20100428000634823-large.jpg)

I think that the radial menu adds a great deal of polish to a game, makes activating crucial items like potions, spells, and weapons a snap, prevents immersion-breaking menu searching, and gives you quick and effective control over any followers without the annoying and redundant aspect of going into the dialogue menu and listening to them repeat for the nth time their greeting voice-over or their command-affirmative voice over.

On a more practical level, I will omit any changes to companions whatsoever, even though I think that this is a BIG ISSUE that needs to be addressed, because companion control is virtually non-existent in this game, making strategizing your battles almost impossible unless you are going solo, and the AI issues don't stop there, they make all of our horses act like feral wolves too . . . but I digress.

The more practical way to improve the functionality of the PS3 controller involves a simple change in the D-pad layout for me, along with some minor tweaks to the favorites menu.

Basically, this involves creating 4 favorites menus instead of just 1, and abolishing the the left/right hot keys already there. Now before you get mad at me, hear me out:

What I would like to see replace the left/right d-pad is a left/right hand specific favorites menu. Thus, click the right d-button and bring up a list of items that will equip only to your right hand (unless they are 2handers), click the left d-button and bring up a list that will equip only to your left hand. This format would smoothly integrate with the already bipedal first person p.o.v that is characteristic of the ES series, and give you a logical, simple way to quickly access the items you use most often in either hand by simply sorting through a short, modified, arm-specific favorites list. This way, you can access the weapons and spells you need quickly, without having to browse pasts thousands of potions, shouts, non-combat specific spells, and other miscellany, and best of all, by assigning the item specifically to the right favorites menu or the left favorites menu, you never have to worry about dropping your shield to find you are suddenly dual wielding when you only meant to equip your mace instead of your dagger. Implementing this functionality into the menu should be a simple matter of holding R1 or L1 while pressing triangle to favorite, or else triangle can bring up a short menu that asks you confirm where you want to equip the item, or something. It doesn't require anything more than a few lines of text.

And I haven't forgotten the up and down arrows. Up would retain its present functionality, however, it would simply be a lot less cluttered with all of your weapons and offensive spells now assigned to the favorites menu connected to your specific hand. So you could still quickly get to your potions in combat by pressing up, and spend a lot less time browsing past the items you don't need.

To cut down on clutter even more, I would recommend reserving the down arrow for all shouts and special powers, since as the game progresses this list can become rather extensive. Now the up favorites menu is even less cluttered, and you have quick, 4-directional access to anything you could possibly need. The lists you must browse through to find what you need are cut into fourths, and you can happily immerse yourself in your game without squinting at an alphabetical list 300 lines long to find the very specific item you need every time you find your current item less effective than something else you have in your inventory during combat, exploration, etc.

And really, it doesn't even need to get this specific. Just providing 4 favorites menus instead of only 1, and letting the user determine their functionality, would achieve the same effect. Or even dividing the current system into 2 lists would cut clutter in half. We don't need a down arrow that does the same thing as the up arrow, so why not at least let it bring up a separate list?

Thoughts? Other ideas? Please dream and scheme to your hearts content here.