PTR Patch 3.2.0 User Interface Notes

[AsheruWolf]

Macros and scripts will no longer be able to target totems by name.

W00T!!!

[Cralor]

Originally Posted by rvalarian the default UI already does this, ya? or am i mistaking shift-clicking an item link in chat?

I believe that means that it will show a "comparison" of the stats rather than just the two items together. I think it will be more along the lines of -20 Stam +15 Crit Rating things. That is how I understand that.

[contramundi]

Originally Posted by rvalarian the default UI already does this, ya? or am i mistaking shift-clicking an item link in chat?

i think what they implement is what the addon "Ratingbuster" (is that the right one? always forget names) does.

It shows you when you hover an item, exactly wich stats would decrease and wich would increase compared to what you have equipped.

so lets say you are lvl 75+ and have a blue lvl 68 ish tbc axe, and loot a lvl 75 green one somewhere, when you hover the green one, it would exactly show you on wich stats it's better or worse, and in one glance you can therefore see if you should replace the blue with the green (or not).

This saves tremendous amounts of BoE you got soulbound just to see if it would really increase some of your stats ^^

[Cralor]

Originally Posted by contramundi i think what they implement is what the addon "Ratingbuster" (is that the right one? always forget names) does. It shows you when you hover an item, exactly wich stats would decrease and wich would increase compared to what you have equipped. so lets say you are lvl 75+ and have a blue lvl 68 ish tbc axe, and loot a lvl 75 green one somewhere, when you hover the green one, it would exactly show you on wich stats it's better or worse, and in one glance you can therefore see if you should replace the blue with the green (or not). This saves tremendous amounts of BoE you got soulbound just to see if it would really increase some of your stats ^^

Thanks for explaining it better. I should have used an example, like Ratingbuster.

[Layrajha]

Originally Posted by Akryn The big one for me is raid frames...the original CT_RA had to pass player information between clients via a custom channel because there was no other way to get it if you weren't in a player's group. A very large part of the default UI changes since even before 2.0 have been based on addons. Not that I actually think that that is bad. Obviously Bliz didn't use addon code (and you could easily see if they had); so unless you're a supporter of software patents (which I at least am not), they are and *should* be allowed to implement those ideas on their own.

I totally agree, this is for me the first thing that Blizzard "copied". Other notable things I can think of are :
- Other unit frames (target of target, focus, even if focus was quite obviously gonna be added at some points even if addon authors hadn't done it)
- Cast bars on other unit frames
- Bar swapping
- Showing only own debuffs on target or such filters on buffs/debuffs

But about CTRA, what I remember with addon communication was especially that everything was done on channels for which incoming messages were hooked by CTRA, but if you ever uninstalled it and forgot to leave the channel, or if it bugged, you would probably receive an insane amount of spam at some point SendAddonMessage was a really good addition, even if it could have been better.

[ffxiedyn]

Blizzard created World of Warcraft, then allowed people to add to World of Warcraft, via addons, for personal play style happiness.

These people decided, hey, this really enhances my play style, I bet others would enjoy this as well, and shared their enhancements of World of Warcraft with everyone.

Blizzard did not mind this sharing, and continued to allow enhancement of Wolrd of Warcraft.

Blizzard saw that tons of people enjoy these enhancements to World of Warcraft, and added some of the popular enhancements in the default game and continue to update World of Warcraft to cater to the players.

In my opinon, Blizzard allowed players to use addons in Wolrd of Warcraft to get a feel of the way the majority of World of Warcraft players would like to play, so they could continue to provide a game to people that they would enjoy for a very long time.

Thank you, each and every addon author, for contributing to this game, for it has indeed evolved World of Warcraft to a level that millions of people (including yourselves, I would hope!) enjoy playing for hours on end each day of their lives.

And thank you Blizzard, for allowing your player base to tinker with your extremely addictive and fun World of Warcraft, for it has brought the mmo genre an added dimension of personal involvement and enjoyment, a trend I personally hope other mmo's will employ in future games.

That being said, arent Wolrd of Warcraft addon's entirely optional? Why would anyone be upset if Blizzard implements an idea that someone freely shared with the player base of World of Warcraft?

[voodoodad]

Originally Posted by ffxiedyn Blizzard created World of Warcraft, then allowed people to add to World of Warcraft, via addons, for personal play style happiness. These people decided, hey, this really enhances my play style, I bet others would enjoy this as well, and shared their enhancements of World of Warcraft with everyone. Blizzard did not mind this sharing, and continued to allow enhancement of Wolrd of Warcraft. Blizzard saw that tons of people enjoy these enhancements to World of Warcraft, and added some of the popular enhancements in the default game and continue to update World of Warcraft to cater to the players. In my opinon, Blizzard allowed players to use addons in Wolrd of Warcraft to get a feel of the way the majority of World of Warcraft players would like to play, so they could continue to provide a game to people that they would enjoy for a very long time. Thank you, each and every addon author, for contributing to this game, for it has indeed evolved World of Warcraft to a level that millions of people (including yourselves, I would hope!) enjoy playing for hours on end each day of their lives. And thank you Blizzard, for allowing your player base to tinker with your extremely addictive and fun World of Warcraft, for it has brought the mmo genre an added dimension of personal involvement and enjoyment, a trend I personally hope other mmo's will employ in future games. That being said, arent Wolrd of Warcraft addon's entirely optional? Why would anyone be upset if Blizzard implements an idea that someone freely shared with the player base of World of Warcraft?

I understand completely what you're saying, but I think a lot of us would really prefer for Blizzard to concentrate on content and leave the interface tweeks to addon authors.

[ffxiedyn]

Originally Posted by voodoodad I understand completely what you're saying, but I think a lot of us would really prefer for Blizzard to concentrate on content and leave the interface tweeks to addon authors.

Hypothetically, what if Blizzard stopped the use of addon's completely? What would the authors then be upset about?

[voodoodad]

I can't answer for addon authors, but I personally would probably quit playing. The best thing about WoW, to me anyway, is it's almost infinite flexibility. Take that away, and well, it's just another game.

[byo]

Originally Posted by voodoodad I understand completely what you're saying, but I think a lot of us would really prefer for Blizzard to concentrate on content and leave the interface tweeks to addon authors.

Not all changes are equal. While it would be nice to get more battlegrounds, instances, zones, quests, ect you can't have a guy writing some UI code go over and build an instance. Its a completely different set of skills. They probably spend 1/100th of the time on UI additions/changes that they do on balance or 'new crap' but you can't completely ignore the ui. If the default UI was stuck at 5 years ago when wow came out it would be the worst default UI of any game. Its nice to update your UI with addons but I doubt most people want to spend a bunch of time finding 30+ addons just to raid, ect.

[Xrystal]

Originally Posted by ffxiedyn Hypothetically, what if Blizzard stopped the use of addon's completely? What would the authors then be upset about?

Rofl, if they stopped addons I wouldn't be able to play the game. I have grown so used to my interface being at the bottom half of the screen instead of in every corner that I can't play without them.

But then thats me personally.

[Verissi]

Originally Posted by byo Not all changes are equal. While it would be nice to get more battlegrounds, instances, zones, quests, ect you can't have a guy writing some UI code go over and build an instance. Its a completely different set of skills.

Definitely this. Crossover does happen at most large shops, but not as much as many people seem to think, especially when you consider skill sets available and existing workload of the employees. My last job was working for a very large company and, while we did sometimes do things outside of our job description, it was fairly rare. As I used to joke, "I can do their job, but they can't do mine." If I wasn't busy with my own duties (VERY infrequent), I would help out other projects/divisions, but only because I had the skills to do so.

Build 10048 has dropped on PTR...time to go combing through the changes!

[Neef]

Anyone else catch it?

We are planning to implement rated Battlegrounds in a future patch

Sounds like the old PvP Ranks may be making a come-back.


But as for the addons, I'm a bit torn. I love to see things I use addons for implemented into the game. Means less time updating on patch day and more functionality when i make a new toon and haven't situation the ui yet.

Yet, I hate it when people's work is stolen. Independent programmers work hard to provide a free service to the community, their work is so good that people lavish praise upon them. The Blizzard steps in and takes it for their own.

If I had to choose I'd say leave the UI tweaking to the community. we'll decide what we want to use or implement; and after we develop it, let us keep it as our own.

[Cralor]

Originally Posted by Neef Anyone else catch it? Sounds like the old PvP Ranks may be making a come-back. But as for the addons, I'm a bit torn. I love to see things I use addons for implemented into the game. Means less time updating on patch day and more functionality when i make a new toon and haven't situation the ui yet. Yet, I hate it when people's work is stolen. Independent programmers work hard to provide a free service to the community, their work is so good that people lavish praise upon them. The Blizzard steps in and takes it for their own. If I had to choose I'd say leave the UI tweaking to the community. we'll decide what we want to use or implement; and after we develop it, let us keep it as our own.

I think the majority of the authors that get their work implemented into the default Blizzard UI are in no way maddened or saddened by it. It's one less thing they have to maintain and it means that you had something that was really useful and helpful to the game.

[jaliborc]

Originally Posted by Cralor It's one less thing they have to maintain and it means that you had something that was really useful and helpful to the game.

Unless you like to maintain your addons.

[Bluspacecow]

Originally Posted by Verissi Build 10048 has dropped on PTR...time to go combing through the changes!

A 10026->10048 diff file's been posted up at

http://www.wowace.com/announcements/wow-3-2-ptr-diff/

[Farm Fresh]

You have to think about people who don't know how to use addons or simply don't want to. The more fortunate of us can continue using our addons like we always have if we like the look or function better. It also levels the playing field a bit in some cases.

[Cralor]

Originally Posted by jaliborc Unless you like to maintain your addons.

I'm pretty sure everyone has to enjoy maintaining their addons if they created them in the first place.

[tinyu]

I could be wrong here but wasnt the extra action bars (The ones you can enable in the interface options) originally a addon?

[Seerah]

yep. CTMod