I have over 60 addos - is it worth combining them?

[Barleduq]

I run WoW on an older machine, and cpu cycles are precious. It takes me a *loooongggg* time for WoW to start up, and moving from zone to zone gets really painful at times. I've asked, before, if having many addons would be a cause of this, and told 'no, I run lots more with no problems'. Still, this is one of the main differences between my husband and I - we're running on the same age machines (both scavenged from his work when there was a hardware upgrade), and his transitions are much faster.

I've been thinking, for a while, about seeing if there are common files - libraries, for example - that are included in multiple addons, and how removing extraneous copies would change any of this behavior. Before I start, tho, I am hoping someone can give me a basic 'yes, it's likely to help' or 'no, you'll break everything' or some other helpful advice about the value of doing this, and possibly pointers to any information that would make it smoother and/or more likely to succeed. No, getting a new machine is not a viable option.

I use my 'favorites' list to keep track of addons I might be interested in, see where they're going when they're not quite useful to me. Addons I am currently using: (Ones I only use on some toons are *)

ACP, All Your Base, Altoholic, Analyst, Archy, Armory, Auctioneer Suite, AutoRepair (from Curse), Awwwww!, BadBoy, BadBoy_CCleaner, BelowAverageItems, BetterTooltips, BIndsWhen, BodyguardFocusAlert*, BOPCraftConfirm, BulkOrder*, Compass, CritterEmote (from Curse), DarkmoonProfessional, DragEmAll, Dresser, Elephant, Engravings, Exonumist, FactionAddict, FishingBuddy, FlightMapEnhanced, GarrisonMissionManager*, Gatherer, GemHelper, GoFish, Grail, GuildRosterButtons, InFlight, KeepingTabs, LagBar, LegacyQuest, LightHeaded, Linkerize, Livestock, MasterPlan*, MerchantFilterButtons, MetaMap, MicroMenu, Overachiever, Pawn, Petleash, Postal, QuestPlates, QuickQuestItem, RangeDisplay, SanityCheck, SilverDragon, SimpleDing, SimpleGold, Squirrels, StoreBeGone, TabardAddict, TinyPad, TomTom, TrackOMatic, TradeSkillDW, TrainAll, Who Framed Watcher Wabbit?, Wholly, Wowhead Garrison Timer*, ZoneAchievementTracker.


Addons I have installed to use sometimes:

AddonUsage, BattlePetAbilityTooltips, CandyBuckets, WarcraftPetsExpress

Yes, I realize that doing this will mean I have to keep track of each addon as I update it.

Advice will be greatly appreciated.

-Barleduq

[Dorwido]

Removing extra copies of those shared libs wont help at all, they are loaded only once even multiple addons include it.

And if it is only the loading screens taking longer but there is not a fps while playing itself I wouldnt bother at all to find an addon doing that.

My one taking 10-15s on a login/reload prolly would be faster without addons, but can play on very high settings with 100fps without problems and thats what matters :-P

If there is a fps problem in certain situation then something like AddonUsage is usefull, wipe the data produce the situation in which you get a fps drop and look what addon use abnormal high cpu, bad written addons can make you lag hard, remember long time back after every kill a 1-2s freeze which were produced by an addon.

[Phanx]

De-duplicating libraries will help a little bit, but not much; however, you don't need to manually go through all your addons and pull out the libraries, and you definitely shouldn't just delete the duplicates. If you want to see how much difference it makes, I'd suggest using the Curse Client, and enabling the "Install libraries separately" option, then click the "Reset All" button next to that option, then "updating" all of your addons to reinstall the latest version of each one with the libraries installed as separate addons. You may find that some addons still have libraries inside (even ones from Curse) -- those addons may not be configured properly to use standalone libraries, so you should just leave them alone. I don't anticipate that this will make much difference though. The last time I experimented, I was using about 200 addons, and switching to standalone libraries only reduced loading time by about 10-15%.

However, based on your list, I'd guess that the majority of the time you spend staring at loading screens is taken up by just a few of your addons. I can personally attest to Grail/Wholly and TomTom being very slow loaders (Grail/Wholly due to the massive amount of data it loads, and TomTom because of the Astrolabe library), and I'd guess several of your other addons with large databases (Altoholic, Engravings, Gatherer, LightHeaded, maybe some others) are probably also fairly slow.

You can use Warmup to see how long each addon is taking to load, but keep in mind that (a) running Warmup makes everything load 2-4x slower, and (b) load times for addons loading libraries will be somewhat inaccurate, especially for the first addon loading a given library, but you should be able to get a general idea of which addons are taking the most time to load. Don't forget to disable it when you're done, as it drastically increases loading times across the board.

[Petrah]

Also check your Log folder for a file called FrameXML.log. If you see any addons listing load errors report the errors to the addon author.

[Rilgamon]

Originally Posted by Petrah Also check your Log folder for a file called FrameXML.log. If you see any addons listing load errors report the errors to the addon author.

Wish blizz would check the file, too

3/16 05:44:25.645  FrameXML is modified or corrupt
3/16 05:44:25.645  ** Loading table of contents Interface\FrameXML\FrameXML.toc
3/16 05:44:25.645  ++ Loading file Interface\FrameXML\ContainerFrame.xml
3/16 05:44:25.645  BagItemSearchBox: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:25.645  ++ Loading file Interface\FrameXML\BankFrame.xml
3/16 05:44:25.645  BankItemSearchBox: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:25.645  Frame ReagentBankFrameUnlockInfo: Unknown function 0 in element OnShow
3/16 05:44:25.645  ++ Loading file Interface\FrameXML\WorldMapFrame.xml
3/16 05:44:25.645  WorldMapFrameTexture13: Couldn't find relative frame: $parentTexture9
3/16 05:44:25.645  WorldMapFrameTexture14: Couldn't find relative frame: $parentTexture11
3/16 05:44:25.645  WorldMapFrameTexture15: Couldn't find relative frame: $parentTexture12
3/16 05:44:25.645  WorldMapFrameTexture16: Couldn't find relative frame: $parentTexture3
3/16 05:44:25.645  WorldMapFrameTexture17: Couldn't find relative frame: $parentTexture4
3/16 05:44:25.645  WorldMapFrameTexture18: Couldn't find relative frame: $parentTexture9
3/16 05:44:25.645  ++ Loading file Interface\FrameXML\LFDFrame.xml
3/16 05:44:25.645  Frame LFDRoleCheckPopupDescription: Unknown function 0 in element OnEnter
3/16 05:44:25.645  ++ Loading file Interface\FrameXML\LFGList.xml
3/16 05:44:25.645  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:25.645  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:25.645  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:25.645  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:25.645  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:25.645  Loading add-on Blizzard_PetBattleUI
3/16 05:44:25.645  ** Loading table of contents Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_PetBattleUI\Blizzard_PetBattleUI.toc
3/16 05:44:25.645  ++ Loading file Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_PetBattleUI\Blizzard_PetBattleUI.xml
3/16 05:44:25.645  Frame PetBattlePrimaryUnitTooltip: Unknown script element OnClick
3/16 05:44:25.645  Loading add-on Panda
3/16 05:44:25.645  ** Loading table of contents Interface\AddOns\Panda\Panda.toc
3/16 05:44:25.645  Error loading Interface\AddOns\Panda\tekIDmemo.lua
3/16 05:44:36.131  Loading add-on Blizzard_AuctionUI
3/16 05:44:36.131  ** Loading table of contents Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_AuctionUI\Blizzard_AuctionUI.toc
3/16 05:44:36.131  ++ Loading file Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_AuctionUI\Blizzard_AuctionUI.xml
3/16 05:44:36.131  BrowseName: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:36.131  BrowseName: FontString element overriding font GameFontHighlightSmall
3/16 05:44:36.344  Loading add-on Blizzard_GarrisonUI
3/16 05:44:36.344  ** Loading table of contents Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_GarrisonUI\Blizzard_GarrisonUI.toc
3/16 05:44:36.344  ++ Loading file Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_GarrisonUI\Blizzard_GarrisonMissionUI.xml
3/16 05:44:36.344  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:36.344  Unknown: anchored to itself: LocBack
3/16 05:44:36.344  Unknown: anchored to itself: LocBack
3/16 05:44:36.344  Unknown: anchored to itself: LocBack
3/16 05:44:36.344  Unknown: anchored to itself: LocBack
3/16 05:44:36.344  Unknown: anchored to itself: LocBack
3/16 05:44:36.344  Unknown: anchored to itself: LocBack
3/16 05:44:36.344  Frame GarrisonMissionMechanicTooltip: Unknown script element OnTooltipSetDefaultAnchor
3/16 05:44:36.344  Frame GarrisonMissionMechanicTooltip: Unknown script element OnTooltipAddMoney
3/16 05:44:36.344  Frame GarrisonMissionMechanicTooltip: Unknown script element OnTooltipCleared
3/16 05:44:36.344  Frame GarrisonMissionMechanicFollowerCounterTooltip: Unknown script element OnTooltipSetDefaultAnchor
3/16 05:44:36.344  Frame GarrisonMissionMechanicFollowerCounterTooltip: Unknown script element OnTooltipAddMoney
3/16 05:44:36.344  Frame GarrisonMissionMechanicFollowerCounterTooltip: Unknown script element OnTooltipCleared
3/16 05:44:36.344  ++ Loading file Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_GarrisonUI\Blizzard_GarrisonLandingPage.xml
3/16 05:44:36.344  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal
3/16 05:44:36.344  ++ Loading file Interface\AddOns\Blizzard_GarrisonUI\Blizzard_GarrisonRecruiterUI.xml
3/16 05:44:36.344  <unnamed>: FontString element overriding font ChatFontNormal

[semlar]

Phanx is right, you should disable every addon that uses Astrolabe (tomtom, archy, gatherer) and see how much of a difference that makes, then disable the addons with giant databases like Lightheaded and Grail.

I know you don't want to play without any of your addons, but for now you'll have to decide whether you prefer them or faster load times.

[JDoubleU00]

Originally Posted by Petrah Also check your Log folder for a file called FrameXML.log. If you see any addons listing load errors report the errors to the addon author.

This is something I did not know. Thanks!

Originally Posted by semlar Phanx is right, you should disable every addon that uses Astrolabe (tomtom, archy, gatherer) and see how much of a difference that makes, then disable the addons with giant databases like Lightheaded and Grail. I know you don't want to play without any of your addons, but for now you'll have to decide whether you prefer them or faster load times.

I love TomTom and Lightheaded. Are there better alternatives?

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Rilgamon Wish blizz would check the file, too

Originally Posted by Rilgamon

If you asked them to clean it up their response would be... Soon©®™.

Soon: Copyright 2004-2015 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. "Soon" does not imply any particular date, time, decade, century, or millennia in the past, present, and certainly not the future. "Soon" shall make no contract or warranty between Blizzard Entertainment and the end user. "Soon" will arrive some day, Blizzard does guarantee that "soon" will be here before the end of time. Maybe. Do not make plans based on "soon" as Blizzard will not be liable for any misuse, use, or even casual glancing at "soon."

[Barleduq]

a) Re: Using curse client: If I wanted to fuss with the curse client under Wine, I wouldn't be here on WoW Interface at all.

b) I have both AddonUsage and Warmup installed but disabled. The directory I used to generate that list doesn't have them in it. Not sure why, as it's supposedly it has the most recent copy of all my installed addons. Apparently I didn't catch something in my MoP expac directory.

c) I will try disabling the Astrolabe addons, but my goal in this effort is to find out what I can do *other* than disabling daily/all-toon-useful addons.

d) Long loading screens are annoying. But what's more annoying is that every time I /reload, I get disconnected. And if I'm (for example) flying, even on system taxi, and change zones (Stormwind to Elwynn Forest, to Duskwood, to Deadwind Pass (ran through Kara last night), running Lunarfall to anywhere) my screen freezes for 10-30 seconds, sometimes longer. That usually does *not* disconnect me, but on rare occasions has done so. (Going to Eventide Landing is VERY annoying, cause it's possible to hit the edge of the Lunarfall zone and wedge 5 times in 20 steps.)

e) I rarely have FPS higher than 20, and usually more in the 10-15 range, and lower in places such as Stormwind Trade District. As that is consistent with my husband's experience, I assume that's the age of our machines. Yes, we have upgraded the graphics cards to the best we can afford, and have the best drivers we can find for them. (A few months ago we were getting errors from Blizz about our graphics card drivers, and upgraded as required.) One of the primary reasons I don't even try to raid is that all the flashing spells/lights/etc can bring me down to 2-5 fps, which makes me pretty much useless - it limits how fast I can activate spells/abilities, so mostly I'm running on autoattack. It's also the main reason I do ranged dps, since being able to find and keep close to a given mob is difficult, at best, and often well-nigh impossible especially in dungeons.

I don't *think* that our internet connection - a DSL line - is responsible here. Husband doesn't get disconnected. When the 2 kids were still playing wow, they have modern laptops (windows 7 and 8, i believe) and they didn't get disconnected, and apparently didn't have problems raiding. One kid had installed Auctioneer, and had dropped it cause it was lagging her every time an item dropped. (or perhaps she moused over the item, I'm not sure)

Sometime in the next few days I'll dl the latest version of both AddonUsage and Warmup and see what they tell me.

One more thing: is there a difference between having an addon installed but disabled, and removing the addon altogether? For example, I have Enchantrix enabled only on my auction/bank alt (to know what's useful for what), my enchanter, my alchemist and my JC. I have it disabled for others. I have all the garrison addons disabled for the toons that aren't in Draenor. I have a profile on Archy for the toons that do not have archaeology trained, which I *think* has things turned off. I've noticed, lately, that Wholly/Grail only activate on the first quest I turn in. (First thing when I login, running solo dungeons that I've done before, for example - no quests to turn in; finish dungeon, go back to questing, notice the grail 'retrieving' messages in chat.)