Have Players gone Addon Crazy

[xanzul]

The other night I was raiding when one of our players had a series of disconnect issues, eventually when he got back on his addon data had reset and he was unable to raid becuase his ui had set to default, his meters etc were not showing and his weak auras were not responding.

Now he did have stuff like dbm working and I think bartender was fine also.

But my question is this, have raiders become to attached to addons to be able to raid properly.

I raid with about 10-12 addons and most of them are small changes or boss mods addons.

But some people I am aware of are pushing the 50+ addons which I find crazy because at what point do your stop being a good player and become just a tool to press a button when the addon says so.

When to move, when to pop X,Y,Z. How to shop, where to fly, how to level, what a boss will do.

I just wanted to get the communities opinion on how many addons is too many addons.

There is a reason why Blizzard recently made some modifications to how addons affect resources. It is fine. Addons simply change the UI but the player still has to make decisions based on what is shown on the UI. Addons don't play the game for you so please just stop. Most people who shun addons in general seem to know the least about them and sure as hell don't understand what they do or how they work or their place in the game.

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If Blizzard invested development time in making their UI more responsive and didn't put awkward bot thwarting limits on their macros then I'd say remove them all. Since Blizzard doesn't make improvements to their UI there is no real reason to limit the amount of addons people want to make the game fun.

If an addon can do all the heavy lifting for your class, I recommend letting Blizzard know so they can fix or remove it. Otherwise these addons can disguise real game play issues and prevent them from being addressed.

What? The default UI has changed significantly since release. Blizzard is constantly adding addon features to it but still the fact remains the reason why we have them is because Blizzard wants us to be able to change our UI rather than being restricted to the default. Again its fine and no addons don't play the game for you.

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I use very few, but I don't really play on the "hardcore" level. Atlas Loot, DBM, and Recount are the only ones I really use. I used to use HealBot a lot on my holy Paladin, but I haven't played that character in so long that I don't know what level 90 healing is like or if HealBot is even still relevant. I used Bartender for a long time, but I don't even bother with it anymore.

I feel like the game UI itself has always been fine, and I have never had any need to change it.

Addons don't make you hardcore. It is just text files for gods sake.

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Personally I've never installed any addons ever. I mean surely Blizzard should provide everything that you need to play the game. And in all honesty dozens of damage and threat metres and whatever else really aren't necessary to play the game. Sure, without them you won't be optimised but then no one else would be either, if the game had no addons.

The whole addon craze has never made sense to me. Not why people are ok with this system that puts people on an uneven playing field, and not why blizzard is cool with letting third parties do what is essentially hacking the game. I would be very grateful if someone could explain it.

And someone from the "shouldn't have to" crowd appears right on schedule. Here is the thing: yes you do have to use addons if you want to change your UI that is the entire point of allowing them. There is not one single legitimate argument against Blizzard allowing the community to change the UI to their hearts content as long as it abides by the terms of use.

[lopk]

Why do you assume there is an issue? Blizzard made the game so that you could have addons, therefore people use addons.. There is no flaw in using them.

No one ever said that there's a flaw with using them. I've talked to people who have told me, word for word, "I cannot play without addons." That is what I don't understand, unless they're just exaggerating their dependence on them.

Anyway, as for my own usage, I'm on the light side.

[xanzul]

But there in lies the problem also, Instead of complaining to blizzard about a badly coded ui issue or a poorly coded element in the game players just decide to get an addon and put the issue under the rug.

Wat I do find annoying and I 100% believe that blizzard should address is boss mods, I think boss mods are fine once the content is say a month out. Without boss mods players will have to pay attention in fights, learn timings and work better as a team to overcome "unseen" issues. Where with boss mods from the get go it is "right big dmg in 5 seconds have personals ready, healers prepare" 4,3,2,1, ok there we go. Next mechanic.

My guild is not 13/14 normal and we only raid about 6 hours a week, other guilds on my server are 4/14 heroic and they all say the same that boss mods addons have made the fights seem to trivial that they have flown through the fights and this content is supposed to last months....

I have my fully upgraded 4 piece already with other bits, and one again 6 hours a week is all we raid.

Make it so boss mods can only be updated a month after content is released and then lets see how the difficulty scale goes up. Its then that older more experienced raiders who have raided with little addons will shine versus people who have only know raiding will a full assortment of addons to play for them.

Again nearly every change to default UI has been because of addons. Stop pretending things are being "swept under the rug" because that is 100% bullshit. Want proof? Patch notes from the past 9 years. Go read them.

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Can I ask why you feel that without addons your unable to play , I would like to get to the root of the issue.

Because different people have different preferences in how game information is displayed to them? You know...the entire point of why Blizzard allowed them? What is sad is 9 years later people are still banging the "you don't need addons" drum. Most new mmos released in the past few years have allowed the community to modify the default UI. Yet again, its perfectly fine.

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So instead of bossmods you have one guy call everything on vent. Such a meaningful difference.

And something the addon snobs fail to consider is having someone call out these things on vent takes personal accountability from the other raiders. They don't have to pay attention to anything and can tunnel vision until they are told to do something else. It is funny how people claim mods play the game for you and yet have their raid leader basically do the exact same thing as a mod just in vent rather than within the game in an addon. If anything addons especially boss modes help make players more aware of what is going on and that they may need to do something different without a raid leader holding their hand. I will never understand why a raid leader calling things out on vent is "better" or more "legitimate" than using boss modes.

[|Dexter|]

Only bad players need addons everything is clearly showed in the game! The game is easy as it is... you not need a ton of data of the addons!

[xanzul]

Why do you assume there is an issue? Blizzard made the game so that you could have addons, therefore people use addons.. There is no flaw in using them.

Are you new? On these forums by default, everything is Blizzard's fault and everything they do is wrong even when they do what players ask them to do.

[Frizzlewits]

i do not know how many addons i have.
but i got addons for
my bags.mailbox. auction house
raids
profs

uhm pretty mch big list :P

but for raiding i use only a few. when healing i use a bit more.

[Akakishin]

Only bad players need addons everything is clearly showed in the game! The game is easy as it is... you not need a ton of data of the addons!

oh a word from a good player. Ok mr bad-ass-player, did you know lots of addons are there to make UI look different and by different sometimes better than default(for some)? sorry to waste your precious professional raiding time with asking such noob questions (dumb ass).

[Hyve]

As a Healer I refuse to play without VuhDo. I hate playing without it and I pay to enjoy myself, not torture myself on some horrible default User Interface.

I love WeakAuras as it really helps track some of my abilities, cooldowns and spells, but I could play without it.

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Only bad players need addons everything is clearly showed in the game! The game is easy as it is... you not need a ton of data of the addons!

Chances are I have far better raiding progression then yourself, and I use my Addons to make my entertainment time more enjoyable. Being good or bad doesn't come into it.

[Pyromelter]

No one ever said that there's a flaw with using them. I've talked to people who have told me, word for word, "I cannot play without addons." That is what I don't understand, unless they're just exaggerating their dependence on them.

Anyway, as for my own usage, I'm on the light side.

I could play without addons, but I do not want to. I used the 3rd party external dps meter in rift. So so so much worse than skada/recount. It's not that I couldn't play without addons, it's that the game is so much more freakin ugly in it's default state, versus my beautiful setup. Also, there are so many quality-of-life addons that you don't even notice. I again note OmniCC. This addon simply puts the number of time remaining over your cooldown abilities on your action bars. There is NO REASON this should need to be done by a 3rd party addon. This functionality is actually in Warcraft 3!!! If you don't believe me, go play it yourself.

It's things like that that are real deal breakers for me.

Fortunately, wow has had a very open policy about addons. This has shown to be a very smart move, considering the amount of people using addons, and the types of artwork we have created in our UI's.

Your UI is like your house. Maybe some people like dumpy ill-organized terribly decorated places, with layouts that make absolutely no sense. For many of us tho, we like a clean, neat, pretty place in which to reside.

[Baracuda]

It's because of Blizzard's laziness to improve the baseline UI and people defending them saying it's OK how it's the worst MMO UI out there atm, just because there's addons that can get the job done. Having to look up talents/hit rating on the internet = bad, having to download addons = GOOD?

[Hyve]

It's because of Blizzard's laziness to improve the baseline UI and people defending them saying it's OK how it's the worst MMO UI out there atm, just because there's addons that can get the job done. Having to look up talents/hit rating on the internet = bad, having to download addons = GOOD?

Sorry, but being able to customise your game to suit your needs is the sign of a good developer.

It would be impossible to develop a User Interface that keeps everyone happy, so why not develop a basic version that operates smoothly, and then let people bolt on whatever they like to make it suit their personal needs?

How is that bad at all?

Oh, and by the way. Before you spew something like; "Oh, but they COULD make a better U.I.", I suggest you actually study Game Technology & Development, as it really isn't as simple as it sounds.

[Djuntas]

OP addons is what makes the game better. Its not my faulth the defaulth UI looks ugly for once.

[Hyve]

8 million people with probably around a million different UI's. It's called customization!

Remember kids, when you customise your User Interface, you're promoting Communism and you'll go straight to hell!

[Deleted]

But some people I am aware of are pushing the 50+ addons which I find crazy because at what point do your stop being a good player and become just a tool to press a button when the addon says so.

According to Curse am I using 120 addons, but many are just split in multiple parts, so I guess, I'm at ~ 70 addons.

So tell me, why I'm a bad player, because I have

addons, that improve my tradeskill window, so it's easier to find a recipe and see, where I have the mats for the item (I have 11 chars on one account, that I'm currently leveling) or what recipes I'm missing

addons, like altoholic that help me keep an overview over my alts and lets me search their professions, so I don't always have to log them , if I want to know what item they use or if they can craft an item

ArkInventory, that lets me customize my bags and prevents me from searching and sorting my bags all the time (and let's me search for items on all my chars)

addons like Titan Panel that shows me on my UI how much gold I have, bag space, gives easy access to my factions, my current fps and connection, fast access to my professions ...

AH addons, that make it easier to search the AH and post auctions (they are actually doing the opposite from what you say - I have to press way less buttons to post and cancel my auctions ...)

Bartender - I prefer smaller bars, want some that only show up when I hover over them and the keybinding is easier - same reason why I use geist. And I wanted to get rid of the default stuff, like the menu, that I don't need because I have keybindings.

Unit Frame addons - I just dislike the default look - it's ugly and I want to have it in the center of my screen, same reason why I use Grid - I don't like the look and position of the default UI, but where does it tell me, what to do? Just because I can decide where my HOTs are shown?

SexyMap - the normal Map looks just boring and I don't like the position of it.

BuffAddon - Again, I want the information I need on a place that I want them to have - on the default UI everything is spread out over the whole screen - I prefer to have it in one spot.

Recount - Hmm, ofc, damage meters play for me ...

Smart Buff - ok, this might go in the direction, but I don't see a problem to be reminded while leveling, that I should get my buff food up again

PetBattle Addons - beeing able to see, if I've already collected a pet, how many I have and the quality, makes life just easier, same with beeing able to set up several teams, saves lots of time - I hated it, when I was collecting pets in Azeroth, that I had to switch my pets manually all the time to have a team at the approbiate level

Archaeology Addon - this profession still sucks and I have 11 toons to level it on, so yes, it might make the game "easier", but I don't see any skill required in leveling archaeology ...

Decursive - where is the difference, if I see debuffs on the default UI and remove them via macro or if I use this addon, so my raid frames are not overloaded with information?

DBM - Where does it play for me, just because I know when something is going to happen? I still have to know, what I have to do and still have to react in time. Besides many things are already implemented by Blizzard - I just prefer to have it at the right position and in a color I like.

Eaves Drop - smaller version of the combat log - I love it, saves space and is easier to browse

ForteXorcist - shows me information about my hots and dots

GTFO - moving out of stuff doesn't really require skill, but with all the spells going on, it's in my opinion sometimes almost impossible to tell, if you're standing in some colored shit ... As soon as Blizzard solves this problem, I'm removing this addon again, because I think it's quite annoying.

NugComboBar - With my unitframe addon I disabled all combo points, charges, runes ... and with this addon I place them in a spot that I like (and with some nice colors and animations )

Omen - not really needed, but it's interesting

OmniCC - I don't get why Blizzard hasn't implemented it in the default UI - seeing the time of CDs run off on your bar is really useful

Postal - Collecting Mail if you're using the AH a lot is just annoying

Prat - the default Chatframe just sucks

Progress - I'm an altoholic, so I like the info how much closer to the next level I got with a kill / quest ...

Quartz - CastBar addon - this way my castbar is at the position I want and in the color I want

Scrap - junkseller - another addon that should already be implemented by Blizzard

Tide Plates - the default name plates are just ugly

TipTac - default tooltips are ugly and don't have all the info I want

TomTom - I love the arrow on my UI to see where I have to go for a quest, instead of all the time opening the world map

Lootaddon - I still hate what Blizzard did with the new lootsystem in dungeons and the rolls

Weak auras - Instead of getting auras from the default UI that I don't want, can I design my own ones

And then I have very few addons dor certain classes, like a BalanceDruid addon that lets me customize my Eclipse Bar (for looks, position and size).

So, know please tell me, which addon makes me a bad player and tells me when to press a button?

I've talked to people who have told me, word for word, "I cannot play without addons." That is what I don't understand, unless they're just exaggerating their dependence on them.

Maybe they just mean, that they don't want to play without addons. I would for sure quit WoW if I'd have to play with the default one. I'm playing WoW since Vanilla and if I imagine that I'd have to still look at the same (ugly) UI all the time, I'd be so bored ... now I currently have my girly UI wih lots of pink and I enjoy it.
That's one reason why I usually don't enjoy Betas this much - I really dislike the default UI.

But ofc, if in a raid my addons would suddenly break, I'd have problems to continue ... not because I can't play without them, but because my keybindings would for example no longer work.

[Glaziola]

I play with:
-Xpearl unit frames
-lootfilter
-DBM
-auctioneer
-postal
-oqueue
-questomatic
-ensidia fails

[De Lupe]

Hmmm...

DBM
Recount
MLC
TidyPlates
MogIt
Atlas
NPCScan
Omni
MikScroll
Altaholic

Damn...I do have a lot. Guess I should have counted them all before voting.

[TJ]

Yeah, pretty much. People think they NEED all of the addons they have which is simply untrue. I used to raid with the default UI and about 3 addons (Omnicc (could raid without it), Tellmewhen, Bigwigs), that was all that was "needed". People depend waaay too much on addons.

[Racthoh]

i need addons for buff and debuff tracking.

honestly don't give a shit about boss timers. can't think of any raid mechanics impossible to handle without a timer.

addons i'm using 100% of the time:


addon control panel
auctionlite
dbm pvp
elvui
fortexorcist 2
msbt
oqueue
postal
zygor guides for leveling/mining/herbing toons

[Merador]

... when your HP and Resources (and those of the Enemy) are top Left of your screen...

You can move those Frames without addons. Just choose the option with rightclick

[Deleted]

I'm just gonna state the obvious here. If you have played with ElvUI then going back to default UI is not an option. Period. It is literally (yes literally) game changing. An entirely new and much more enjoyable experience with ElvUI compared to without it.