Mend Pet

With Cataclysm looming, we all know that there will be serious addon issues that arise.  Every few months I take an afternoon or so to do a complete UI refresh on my system.  It helps to keep the game from getting bogged down, keeps things up to date and gives me a chance to experiment with some new ideas I’ve had for the game’s look and feel.

I thought I would share my recommended process as it might be something you find useful to prepare yourself for the coming chaos.

Step 1: Take screenshots of your current UI.

Multiple characters, in combat, out of combat, under whatever conditions you think are important.  This will be helpful later when you’re trying to set up addons to look a certain way and so you don’t forget about anything!

Step 2: Move/rename your addon related folders.

You want to start from scratch, eliminating any settings or saved variables that might be left around. The folders you are looking for are your Interface/Addon folder and your WTF/{AccountName} folder.

Step 3: Play WoW.  Naked. (The game, not you… that part is up to you!)

Play around with the in-game Interface settings.  The idea here is to step back and decide what the Blizzard UI is really lacking for you.  I wouldn’t recommend jumping into a raid, but maybe a dungeon or some farming and dailies.  Make a list of what you find annoying or unusable without addons.

Step 4: Set up your action bars so they are usable from the Blizzard UI. (Optional, but highly recommended)

If you’ve been using a bar mod for a long time, your action buttons probably aren’t logically set up to be used with Blizzard’s UI.  I recommend changing that, in case you happen to play at someone else’s place or in case your addon breaks for some reason.  (This is called “degrading gracefully”) Later, when you reinstall your new bar mod, set up your bars around your action buttons, not the other way around!

Step 5: Research your addons.

Maybe you’ve got an addon you’ve been using for a while, but it’s no longer being maintained.  That’s a disaster waiting to happen!  Try to find out if there is a supported addon with equivalent functionality.

Step 6: Install the addons you find necessary.

Enable them ONE AT A TIME and configure it to your liking.  This way you don’t end up with random UI components that you can’t find the source of.  Repeat until all your addons are set up.  If you simply can’t get something to work or look how it did before, you may want to explore your previously saved screenshots and saved settings files.

Let me start off by clarifying a couple of terms.  User Interface is the look and feel of the game, what you see and how you interact with it.  Addons are scripts written to extend the game, including addons to modify your User Interface, but also addons to add new features and display information that is not easily available otherwise.  Now, let me tell you what I mean by User Interface Elitism…

You may have not noticed, but I don’t show a lot of images of my User Interface.  I’ve written about the addons I’ve used in the past, and I even write for a User Interface blog.  But very rarely will you see a screenshot with my interface.

Why?

Because a lot of people judge you by how your interface looks.  I once read a post on a blog that I don’t normally read where the author mentioned seeing someone play on their laptop in public.  He said they were obviously a noob, because they were playing with the default UI.

My user interface has gone through many iterations.  Like everyone else, I started out with no addons to speak of.  Then I found Cosmos, then I found CT… this is where I got my start.  I quickly found action bar mods – because back in the day, Blizzard didn’t have native multi-action bar support.

But nowadays – I run with almost completely default looking UI.

With the use of handy macros, I’ve managed to fit all my used abilities into 5-6 bars.  One or two of them are ‘non-combat’ bars, full of things I want easy access to but don’t need to see all the time (fun macros, professions, rarely used abilities like Tame Beast or Aspect of the Wild).

Do you know how many bars the Blizzard UI has?  6.  I keep 4 up on display, and the 5th and 6th are just a short shift-scroll away on my main action bar.  It’s hidden, but it’s easily accessed, thus is not taking up extra space on my screen.

I do use a unit frame addon.  I use Xperl, but not to make things pretty.  I originally began using it so I could see my focus target.  That’s built in now, but I do like that xperl shows specs/types on target frames, and that’s pretty much the only reason I use them on my hunter.

My unit frames are all relatively in the default places.  I don’t move them around to the middle of my screen or anything like that.

Of course, this is different when I’m on a healer.  I do in fact move my frames to a slightly more central area (although they are still at the top), and I use Decursive to see conditions.

I don’t use any mod to modify the display of my buffs, they are in the default location showing default numbers.

I don’t use a mod to move or change the shape of my minimap.

I don’t use a HUD.

Now here is the question: Does this make me a bad player?

User Interface Elitist says yes!

I say no.

I can have just as many keybindings as someone using an action bar mod.  So why are the default action bars so frowned upon?

Yes, I’m aware that adding special action bars, unit frames, HUDs and minimap mods can let me make my UI more appealing to someone’s eye.

But you know what?  When servers came up after 3.1 went live… I got to play the game.  So many people I know spent a few hours fixing their addons and getting things to look right again.  Trying to relearn how to play when their favourite action bar mod wasn’t properly updated.  You know how long it took me?  No time at all.  I disabled all non-essential mods (pretty much everything except Bagnon for me) and I went on my merry way to visit the Argent Tournament and try the fishing daily.

Yes, I was missing some functions and information.  But everything was where I expected it, and I didn’t have to do any rebinding or anything.

I can also play on other machines with no issues.  I can hop on my boyfriend’s computer and I don’t have to worry about not knowing where anything is.

This isn’t to say I don’t play with addons – I most certainly do.

But for me, addons do one thing.

They add to my experience, rather than change it.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with changing the look of your interface.  I’m saying that it’s a choice, not a requirement.

I have Recount and Omen to display information not otherwise displayed.  I have OmniCC, GhostPulse, Class Timer and Power Auras to remind me to do things and help me keep track of my cooldowns and DoTs.

I have AuctionLite to ease my auctioning process, and to tell me which quest rewards vendor for the most.  I even use Quest Helper on some of my alts!

So please, UI Elitists, explain to me why my default User Interface makes me a worse player than you.  Tell me how it affects my DPS.  Tell me why your 3D portrait is important, and why knowing I have 23:41 left on my flask is better than just rounding it to 24 m.

Tell me why it matters where they are placed on my screen if they’re all keybound anyway, and why it makes a difference if I have 3 rows on the bottom and 2 on the side, instead of 6 rows in the middle of my screen.

No Stock UI is a brand new World of Warcraft magazine-style Addon and User Interface blog, originally sparked by an idea of the great Matticus of World of Matticus!  He’s invited me and a few other great writers to help out with this great undertaking to bring the World of Warcraft more information on the Addons and User Interface design you want to know about.

You can get a better idea about the site by reading Matticus’ post about it, or heck… just go to the new site and see it for yourself!

My first post is already up, it’s about how to use Recount to help improve yourself and your raid.

Check it out, subscribe, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: This post was accurate as of patch 3.0.9.

How can I write a guide about an achievement like [World Explorer]?  It’s a pretty simple concept, just ride/fly around and discover all the areas.

Well, this isn’t so much a guide as it is a hand pointing you to a pretty helpful resource, in case you haven’t found it yourself already:

http://wow.gamepressure.com/

This site has maps of every zone including the subzones which are required for the achievements!  It also has both a compiled “satellite view” map along with the regular in-game maps.

I found it when I was doing my own Explorer achievements, when I simply couldn’t figure out where some small zone was.

So, if you haven’t done this achievement yet and you don’t feel like running around a zone searching aimlessly for that last scintilla of the zone you have yet to discover… check this site out!

Edit:  A few addons which highlight unexplored areas of your map have been pointed out to me.  If you’re the type to rather keep all your stuff in your game and not have to deal with a browser while you play, these addons might be for you:

• MozzFullWorldMap
• MetaMaps

Disclaimer: This post was accurate as of patch 3.0.9.

So, there’s this addon called Power Auras.  I started using it when I briefly tested out Survival, but I’ve found that it’s extremely useful for just about every class.

What it lets you do is put up some sort of icon when certain conditions are met.  There is a wide range of options available, you can have an icon appear when a certain buff is missing from the target, or have it display when it is active on you, or any combination of many things.

I’m going to show you how I’ve got it set up, but I’m always looking for new uses for this mod.  Right now, I use it on my Hunter, Priest and Mage.

(In combat only)  This is the icon that displays when I don’t have Serpent Sting ticking on the target.  It’s green and looks kind of nature-y.

(In combat only)  This is the display when the target does not have Hunter’s Mark on it.  As long as someone has put Hunter’s Mark on the target (not necessarily me) this will go away.  The Hunter’s Mark and Serpent Sting filters can both be displayed at the same time without overlapping, so I can see both conditions.

This is the icon that displays when my mana dips below 10%, and basically tells me to go into Aspect of the Viper ASAP.  I’ve also got this one active on my other mana using characters, telling me to Evocate/drink if I can on my mage, or pop one of my mana regen abilities on my priest.

(In combat only) This notifies me that my mana is above 95% on my Hunter.  Basically, this is to help me learn to quash my habit of leaving Aspect of the Viper up when my mana is full.

This is the icon that displays when I have Aspect of the Viper active.  Pretty simple – blue for mana!

These are the 2 Mage-specific icons I’ve got.  The red glowy circle is to indicate when Hot Streak procs.  I also have Class Timers displayed directly below my character to keep me aware of the duration.

The white spot in the middle is to let me know that Clearcasting is active.  This will help me to plan my next spell, since it’s mana-less, I usually try to go for one of the expensive ones.  It’s extra nice to have both procs up at the same time (like in the screenshot) because that means my next Pyroblast is instant and costs no mana!

I also have the same white spot filter on my Priest, which indicates when Surge of Light is active so I can give a free insta-heal (or smite, if I’m soloing).

Do you use Power Auras? While this might not be a ‘meme’, I’d really like to see some other ways people have put this great addon to good use!