Right now the queue is limited to 24 hours, which is fair enough, but it also relies on the player manually adding up the values to see what else could fit in there. Or (accidentally?) dumping out a skill at the end of the queue to make room.
For example, if an Alpha has 4 skills in the queue:
2hrs + 4hrs + 3 hrs + 10 hrs it means there’s enough room for a 5 hr skill to be added.
Easy calculation if it’s whole numbers, however, very rarely is that the case. 2h6m + 3h47m + 5h52m + 9h16m is a bit more complicated…
It would be useful to have a more accurate visual reading (e.g. mousing over the blue bar above the skill queue) to see this information.
The last skill must START within 24 hours. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to complete.
The only time you need to do some math is if you are adding a skill at the beginning of your queue - that could bump the last skill. Adding a skill at the end is no problem.
The design intention is to get people to login more often. When CCP removed the 24 hour queue limit for subscribers a few years ago, one result was a drop in the PCU - and a lot more noise from the “Eve is dying” crowd!
Thanks for the responses, that’s what I mean. I do understand the mechanic of adding a long skill at the end of the queue.
But if an Alpha has 5h23m left in the queue, and a skill to train that’s 5h30m there’s no easy way of knowing if it’ll bump a skill at the end without manually adding up or just chucking it on and seeing.
The blue bar doesn’t show exactly how much space is actually left, it’s more of a guide.
Having a better visual cue as to exactly how much space there is is my suggestion here. And wouldn’t affect the amount of times an Alpha needs to sign in imo.
if you have 5:23 in the queue still, it does NOT MATTER how long the skill you add is, unless you’re adding it BEFORE the end of the queue (in front of another skill). The last skill in the queue can exceed the 24 hour limit (which coincidentally is how the skill queue used to work in the first place).
Even if you add it before another skill, frankly, it still doesnt matter. The skill being displaced becomes the ‘new’ end of queue skill hanging over the 24 hour limit. The only time you’re going to push skills off is if you’re adding a fairly long skill that takes 12+ hours.