Hi Rythal,
First, a big thank you to Faatal and Havok for opening up the project. I believe this is the right step for them to do as they no longer play the game and have their own lives that take priority for them. I am sure everyone appreciate's the hard work you are about to undertake in this huge addon.
Now, my suggestions for this beast:
1. Map.
Before using Carbonite full time, I used
Cartographer 3. Even though it never left the development stage, this minimap addon was almost perfect and allowed the "Google" style of maps. The part that made it awesome to me was that it did not add the zoomed out maps that Blizzard uses for default. It just used the detailed maps all the time. This is not really practical when the map is opened up for full display though. My understanding of the map right now is that there is no difference between the minimap and map other than display size. This is a good idea as it sort of combines the two into one. I would just like to keep the main maps out of the minimap display and just leave the detailed maps permanently. When in map view, then the artwork maps can display just like they do now. I don't really know if this can be done, but it's just a suggestion and an opinion.
2. Quests.
I actually like the quest watch frame along with it's look. I have not been able to find a suitable replacement for it anywhere, although
Questhelper 2 had a pretty cool setup (I think this addon is dead, but not quite sure) and integration. I also like the quest log. So other than fixing the database and pathing(?), this is good to go.
3. Nodes.
I do use this feature, but not all the time. I don't know how important this part is to the whole addon, but I think it could probably be dropped because there are other addons which actually do a better job (
Gatherer,
GatherMate2). I think allowing the integration of these into Carbonite would save you time. Again, only an opinion.
4. Enhanced Social Window.
I do not use any of these features and turn them off. If you wish to streamline the addon, this would probably be a good place to start.
5. User Interface.
I use
Aurora for everything in my interface (I used to use Skinner). To allow better integration with custom interfaces, you could allow for third party addons to change the look of the UI. Just another suggestion.
6. Options Menu.
I agree with
tinyu for an options menu overhaul. Right now, the addon saves settings for each individual character. Why not make it a universal setting for all characters. Everytime I make a change in my interface, I have to log into each character I have and import settings from the saved character. This is a cumbersome method and more suited for action bars and unit frames. Make it universal across the board. Or, you could simplify this by using the same profiles method that most addon authors use.
7. Tracking Hud.
I like the look of this over TomTom, but adding additional options to turn on/off parts of it as
tinyu mentioned would be cool. Not necessary though.
That's my list.
Ok. So this is a long list. It's all suggestions and I am sure many folks will have more to input and disagree with what I have written. I like the changes that you have already made and I am sure you will make choices that the majority of the community will enjoy. Thank you again for taking over and keeping this great addon alive.
-Mardread