Once again, clever players have tried to outsmart World of Warcraft to defeat bosses more easily.
In World of Warcraft, an eternal battle rages on. No, not the one between Horde and Alliance, but a different one – the one between players and developers. While players always find more creative and sophisticated ways to make the game easier or more manageable with addons, developers try to intervene whenever addon functionalities become too powerful. Boss fights can often be simplified or even trivialized by a boss mod or a ‘Weak Aura’.
A new method threatened to overshadow the next season of WoW: Dragonflight. But Blizzard intervenes in time.
What kind of method are we talking about? Blizzard improved the ‘Advanced Combat Log’ some time ago. This is a file that records what happens in fights in the background in the WoW folder. The pros from Warcraft Logs have created a tool that reads this file in real-time.
This theoretically allows for some interesting things. You can display an overlay in WoW using software that functions as a ‘Damage Meter’ – but is much more customizable and also accurately calculates the damage of enhancement summoners. This is something that has not been possible in-game until now.
However, it didn’t take long for some to notice: There is much more possible with this. Because not only can the damage be read, but also detailed information about other things in the fight – such as the position of all players.
With this information, you can create what are essentially ‘Weak Auras on Crack’ – an overlay that nearly automates boss fights and gives each player exact instructions on where to stand and how to move.
What does Blizzard say about it? They seem to be little impressed. Community Manager Kaivax has already pointed out after some discussions in the official forum that there will still be several changes to the expanded combat log before the launch of Season 3 of Dragonflight (i.e., Patch 10.2).
This should nip such tools in the bud.
Is this even allowed? No, it is not. Just because it is theoretically possible does not mean it is generally permitted. Blizzard itself refers to the user agreements that everyone must agree to when starting the game. It clearly states that such software is not allowed and its use can lead to penalties, including the complete closure of the account.
What do you think of Blizzard’s decision? Good that they are taking a hard stance here? Or are they preventing useful features?
