The interface addons of World of Warcraft are gaining power again. The original goal seems to be drifting further away.
With the launch of World of Warcraft Midnight, Blizzard aimed to take a stand against interface addons. Many features were supposed to be restricted, and for things considered “necessary,” WoW’s own internal addons were meant to address the issue.
The battle doesn’t appear to be going well. We now know: Even features that should definitely not be available are back.
Addons in WoW rename abilities again – this is a problem
What feature is being discussed? It’s about the display of the names of a boss ability. In the official boss mods of WoW, you can see on a timeline when each ability is triggered – along with the name and an icon of the ability. However, addons also had to adhere strictly to this. The name of the ability could not be changed.
As the YouTuber and analyst Bellular explains in one of his latest videos, addons like Bigwigs now have the function to simply rename individual boss abilities again (starting at 8:23):
Why shouldn’t spells and abilities be allowed to be renamed? Blizzard justified this by stating that it removes a part of the cognitive load that is supposed to be exerted in combat. Players should think for themselves and remember what an ability means and connect it with the name.
If you can simply rename an ability, that step is eliminated. Moreover, with addons, you can name the ability in a way that provides clear instructions. Instead of “Shadowy Devastation,” the screen might say “Bring the circle to the boss” – and any mental effort becomes unnecessary.
That addons could rename abilities and provide instructions has already led to problems in the past. This significantly shortened reaction times – to the detriment of those who do not use addons. A vicious cycle from which there was no escape.
Cortyn says: I am a bit skeptical about where World of Warcraft really wants to go with addons.
What is at least true: The majority of the people I play with now refrain from using many addons, because Blizzard offers its own (albeit not optimal) solutions. Therefore, the mission has at least been partially successful. However, this will gradually be undone as addon creators find more ways to restore the old functionalities.
A clear message from Blizzard and a hard line on what is allowed and what is not is needed. Currently, this line seems so blurred and broad that we are getting closer to the state prior to “Midnight.” And in the end, nobody really wants that, that Blizzard has completely failed.
What are your thoughts on the current addon situation in World of Warcraft? Do you think it is well handled at the moment? Or should the developers take a harder stance? Or do you think we should restore the old state and be able to play WoW with WeakAuras and similar modifications again?
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