Fixing WoW’s UI: EASIER Than You Think

Welcome back to MarcelianOnline! Today we’re going into fixing the WoW UI because although we had many improvements with Dragonflight, there is still a lot missing and there is always the question regarding how much wow addons we need to make sense of everything!
The wow user interface isn’t really on par with what the end game is currently offering and believe it or not, we have quite a simple solution (at least for starters).
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[@MarcelianOnline]

JOIN THE FAM! 💥 www.patreon.com/marcelianonline NO ADDONS Challenge! What happened…👀kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWSmo3esrLqpabM OH YEAH! Warrior Hero Talents ARE LIT!👀kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5OVaqmQjq2SpdE

[@tJustSoup]

I been talkin bout UI and Raid Mechanics a lot with my guildies recently! Specifically about raid mechanics, the Orb mechanic on Mythic Smolderon is a perfect example of both the failure of private auras, and bad mechanic design (other than that though, the fight is actually super fun). You have to clear those orbs with fairly precise timing, but there's no way you can plan your clears beforehand because each person chosen is random every time. The only way to handle this assignment reliably is to have one source/point of authority dictating who clears and when. Ordinarily this would be the raid lead, but the raid lead already has to do all the other mechanics + their rotation - This definitely isn't ideal, but what makes this an option not worth considering is that default raid frames don't make tracking debuffs particularly easy because they're so, so tiny. This is ordinarily where weak auras come in. The weak aura would be used by everyone in the raid, and whenever the orb mechanic goes out, it automatically assigns you a time to clear. But with the debuff being a private aura, weak auras can't track it. So what do we do? We download a weak aura that tracks a macro press, and then you press the macro when you have an orb on you... But you can also fuck up the raid if you dont have the right macro, or the right WA, or if you press the macro and you don't ACTUALLY have the orb mechanic on. And it's not to say that these issues with the WA/macro are Blizzards fault, but the design of their mechanic has pushed the raiding community to doing this if they want to play at their best. All this to say: Blizzard doesn't need to make raids "easier". They just need to design mechanics around the idea of how that mechanic OUGHT to be handled, and taking into account its punishment. If you fail a mechanic that you can plan ahead of time (Fyrakk Seeds), I think that deserves a raid wide. If you fail a mechanic that's randomized (Smolderon Orbs), this DOES NOT deserve a raid wipe - maybe a death or two, maybe a big damage event, but not a raid wipe. In summary (TL;DR): Flame is handsome as always. You can't have complicated raid mechanics AND an underperforming UI. I really wish we didn't have to use WA's, but Blizzard's encounter design often really does beg the necessity for WA's :/

[@vtxshiva]

"easy" is relative because it depends on what metric you're using to evaluate it. Raids back in the day were "easy" by today's standards sure, but today's standards are also different from back then. Add-ons is just ONE metric (albeit one of the biggest) that affects it due to its direct effect on player's mental stack. You can handle a higher number of mechanics and systems today than 20 years ago, because add-ons on their own handle more cognitive load than than there ever was in the game combined at that point. A game will inherently be easier when you off-load most decision making and thinking to a tool to do it for you, meaning you have to make the content harder to overpower and surpass the tools to maintain a similar level of difficulty. That's what used to be the beauty of old-school wow. the encounter design was EXTREMELY easy. Whether you're looking at a raid lead, an officer, a dedicated shot-caller, etc. you could do that because 1. the rotations were simple 2. the mechanics were simple and 3. the fights didn't require 90% peak performance from every player to beat (bar some minor balance/bugs mishaps here and there). Yes putting together a 25/40 man group was daunting, but you also didn't need everyone to be the BEST PLAYA' EVA'. Most 25/40man raids could easily be done with 15/20 people if they were equivalent in skill/performance to heroic players today, not even mythic. Sure, some people would have to carry other less competent players. On the other hand, you could play with friends, have a good time and look awesome in front of your friends by being a giga player.

[@AkiRa22084]

Wait, how does Plater know who is being targeted by a spell? What if the enemy is using a mouseover or focus macro?

[@Vondarkstar]

Guild wars 2 got it right. 10 buttons per spec and many have multiple uses. Horizontal gear progression and no addons allowed except a dmg meter. I never complain about their UI or bugs preventing me from managing. They really value our time and want everyone to have the same exposure and user experience.. imagine.

[@AngelUribe18]

Did they allow the damage meter? I stopped playing a long long time ago, even before the first expansion came out, but in that time there were no damage meters

[@Vondarkstar]

@@AngelUribe18 Meter confirmed. Just KZbin how to add it.

[@AngelUribe18]

@@Vondarkstar ahh thanks! I'm not currently playing, but If I do, I'll check it out

[@ALC0LITE]

​@@AngelUribe18 Yeah they did, eventually. Took them a few years to even produce a raid

[@MrSherhi]

10 buttons for regular gameplay, like 3 minute encounter would be just fine (maybe 6 buttons for basic rotation and 4 for big DPS, big defensive and utility)

[@Kai-10-]

Nice video guys keep it up 🤜

[@chriseggroll]

The UI changes with dragonflight were a nice step, I don't feel the need to use ElvUI anymore but all the other stuff yep. Hardest thing for me is to know which mobs to interrupt etc since it is impossible to remember all the mob names in all the various dungeons and whatnot, need to tweak my threatplates setup or something. I use Hekili/Hero Rotation to lessen the need to track uptimes of abilities but using it AND a weak aura is a bit much on screen. the personal resource thing being consistent would be a huge improvement.

[@thisismychannel607]

I think the pace of the game has to be slowed down by atleast 100% The playerbase will hate it at first but if you were to raise the stakes of each attack and spell, you wouldn't feel a slowdown in the excitement of the gameplay, it would just be easier to track

[@Biffbifflin]

This is similar to how FFXIV handles its combat, although I find their game physics to be too rigid and delayed to feel that impact. I think the core of WoW may benefit from a more weighty and slow combat, but I think there needs to be nuance. Let some classes have that slower style, while others keep the high momentum, button mashing, cooldown track fantasy alive.

[@hamadalthani8314]

Wished this had more views the video deserves it..if they add to the ui and fix it. it would fix all the problems I have with wow I can get my friends to play the game

[@jeremydriggers308]

Savage video. Best I've seen yet on this channel. Great work.

[@dabeachbum3210]

I use the default ui with wa’s and some addons. I wish I didn’t have to use them, wish the game provided everything it needs to be accomplished. Also there are too many buttons of spells/abilities. I like you pointed some of that out.

[@syxqid3818]

One positiv thing i have to say to the defs. Since the rework of the interface i need way less addons, no bartender or z-perl but i need a dps meter, dbm, plater, weakauras & vuhdo to perfom the best of me 😅 i hope they will add a lot more so more addons can be deleted, i mean they can look at the addons and what they do and do a own one for ingame

[@shadow6133]

Tried WoW for the first time during SL and this video is spot on, as a new player this game is a nightmare and the concept of addons is so alien and weird to me and the excuse people give is "it's always been like this" as if that makes it okay, the game should do all these things not a bunch of 3rd party bs

[@SquishyEggo]

Fantastic video! Deserves more views!

[@MrSherhi]

Default UI options are now very solid and I am using them as my own template on all characters I play, still lacking a lot customization that weakauras offer. If I could hide bars outside of combat and make some buffs to be shown on personal resource display (whatever its called below your feet which freaking MOVES when you move camera and you need special addon or some specific command line to make it fixed below your feet /rant over) it would mostly be okay to use. Regarding some buffs tracking on default and some not...most people working in huge corporates know that things like these are a result of individual passion of person responsible. I can imagine that some hunter developer, who also likes and plays hunter, goes to his colleague across the building and tells him, in person, to add this and that buff to personal resource display and bam, we have it! On the other hand mage developer is tasked with creating some new cool talent proc, he does his job but doesnt care much further so its not added into that buff tracking area. And yes, both of these developers have the same boss and no the boss doesnt notice because he is overwhelmed (most likely) with some HR woke nonse on daily basis and doesnt have time to play every single spec with default UI for atleast one dungeon before a patch is released. Btw try to report these buffs missing as a bug. Blizzard actually fixes many bugs but since its not a personal ticket they never let anyone know ;)

[@Deeps__]

Blind slash and the adapted console port expand the capability of blizzards own TTS built in to wow to cover the whole UI and beyond, total keyboard navigation of the UI is brought instead of controller navigation, again something blizz haven’t bothered with. The dev of the classic addon, called SKU, is a software engineer and says implementation of these features code wise is pretty easy, it’s more of a blizz pulling their finger out thing.

[@jmbrady1]

umm... I just have to mention I actually benefitted from being able to see armor recently in TW and realized I needed more armor for it rather than health

[@christmasham4312]

I am telling you I love outlaw I really do it’s a sweatlord spec but it definitely needs addons/WA 😅

[@AkiRa22084]

Why Weakaura for buffs, when you can use Raven?

[@nickgman3592]

Im so glad i only use 2 addons. The edit mode was a great addition

[@houseofholy]

"going into a gazillion mobs and popping their fantasy nukes" Burning Crusade heroics rolling over in their graves. WoW dungeons slowly turned into Diablo epilepsy

[@MarcelianOnline]

Classic is fun boyo, but it ain't for the future, I love classic and will always love it, but wow's forte is the fast responsive and smooth gameplay

[@Sinstralis]

I think even wow devs are using addons at mythic raid or 20+ keys

[@MarcelianOnline]

wouldn't be surprised

[@Furtivexx]

3:42 shots fired

[@MarcelianOnline]

been playing outlaw

[@L0rks]

Sensation... rudiments... summary. Submitting... database... searching. Thank you for the sturdy dwarf! :)

[@bigbigu8671]

I've never used WA and still manage to do my 2.5k+ io each season

[@chrisredmond3093]

I recall raiding and being able to enjoy bit Crits watching my dps numbers

[@vtxshiva]

Great video again. Really hammers down the problem with add-ons. I love add-ons as much as the next person but they really shouldn't be the optimal way to play the game. They need to improve the base game experience so that add-ons go back to being a personal choice for self-expression only. It's also one of the most basic issues that drives new players away. Too much complexity, too much bloat. It's hard to keep someone interested when nothing on their screen makes sense unless you play the game for 100+ hours first, only to be met with EVEN MORE BLOAT, once you think you finally got the hang of it.

[@Hagendazed]

great video and thx for making me discorver Narcissus :o :D

[@MarcelianOnline]

No problem!

[@joch3085]

Feels a little like what happen with Everquest, how people where pushing to keep the level of complexity and others wanted it easier. It personally feels more of an achievement when you have to do some research to clear content but I can see how uninviting it makes it for new players.

[@iwrathg1122]

I play WoW with only Bagnon and Details. No DBM or weakauras. I don’t even know how to set up WA or Plater 😂 I’m also a skill clicker and I can do medium keys and heroic raiding with ease 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Ytconsumer56]

Good video. I've played other mmos like Albion where there are no add-ons and it's a big relief to not worry about configuring stuff. The game is less complex however there ARE things that you have to track such as boss skill shots (the game provides indicators for these) and player spells (the game also provides animations for these that are easy to spot). Nobody in Albion complains about no add-ons because there are other aspects of the game worth worrying about because the main stressors of the game are not UI related (wealth building, dying with full loot pvp, guild warfare and zvz tactics). I kind of wish Blizzard made different design choices from the beginning but oh well.

[@AkiRa22084]

Configuring is fun.

[@jakobirake4859]

Banning addons is not a solution at all, games thrive with player mods, if u played wow since start.. imagine how long you would have played it without mods. Blizzard just needs to keep updating the game so that mods feel less mandatory, the cosmetic side of mods it is huge and welcomed.

[@AngelUribe18]

I think this is the real answer, banning the addons without fixing the underlying issues will not make the game instantly better, if anything it'll make it even worse, at least for a while until things clear up. The game should be designed in a way where addons are not necessary but are optional if you want it, I love the way elvui looks and the customization so I used to use it a lot. Now I use the standard UI without addons (except for details) to see if they're truly mandatory as seemingly everyone is saying they are, and honestly for my level of gameplay, they are not mandatory at all. Keep in mind that I'm an AOTC, KSM, KSH player, no PVP and no mythic raiding and I've successfully done that with a ret pally, an spriest and a devoker. Idk how mandatory addons are for tanking or healing

[@lerakuro]

The only way you will get me on board with banning addons is if blizzard makes it possible to edit the aesthetics of the ui elements not just their position. I do not really use DBM or anything like it because in most modern riads they are not needed imo, as for WA I use them to track some class things but tbh not as much as most other people do, my wa's only track the most crucial things for example how many charges of renewing mist I have and if I am in my f. stomp to get the buff. MOST of my addons are to change the visual appearance of the UI, bar textures and colors, changing frames to a cleaner all black appearance, things like that. Until those things are modifiable I won't be happy with a addon ban, which is annoying because I feel like people like me are the people getting ignored the most in this whole addon debate.

[@Sargaxiist2022]

Notification bell gang lets go.

[@dgsunny23]

First for the first time ❤

[@Vondarkstar]

Not.

[@tomconeful]

3:25 :D:D:D:D::DD

[@godded]

Perfectly cut.

[@AkiRa22084]

Addons are the main reason I stuck with WoW and left the dozen of other MMOs I tried. I love customizing and modding games. Most people do, since devs can never predict every use case. Why are streamers suddenly going after the livelihood of addon programmers?

[@callmemc6]

Playing with ADDONS is not the problem. Playing with COMBAT WEAKAURAS is the problem. If I couldn't customize my UI to make it look how I wanted down to the tiny details, I would genuinely quit. If I couldn't customize my experience with addons that provide utility that Blizzard's team would waste their time implementing (and therefore won't), I would quit. We really need to shape the narrative here. I'd bet the majority of people actually saying ADDONS are bad for WoW rather than COMBAT WEAKAURAS are either 1. Classic Andys or 2. Retail players that quit and don't play anymore.

[@Sargaxiist2022]

Yeah combat WAs are cancer. Id much prefer visual and auditory cues to do mechanics.

[@AngelUribe18]

very true, this narrative of banning all addons is borderline dumb because there's no nuance to it, and pretending that blizzard implements a solution that'll make everyone happy is just impossible.

[@H4zz10]

I think people are saying ban all addons to force Blizzards hand/change in the game. You're 100% right about combat addons though. *if* Mythic+ and/or Arena need addons to be understandable or even if you can be classed as having a huge disadvantage for not using them, the game has a problem. Imo, if deleting all addons forces Blizz to fix their game, i'm all for it. I just don't see Blizz doing it as it means they have more work to do. I want to be clear though, I wouldn't advocate for the removal of addons with the necessary work be put into making everything about the base game better.

[@That_kind_of_orc]

Bro I only have damage meter addon because I'm "noob" but I'm still clearing 22 keys and prolly will clear higher too and yesterday I was lowest il dps in my group and i did 27mil more damage than the second dps lol

[@MarcelianOnline]

based king

[@pallieterwow]

I think that I'm one of the only players in my guild that doesn't use WeakAura. I just don't like it. I only use DBM, Details, Platter & a mount randomizer. I like to keep things simple

[@justtrolin]

one word. tree druid heals.

[@MarcelianOnline]

that's how i count my taxes

[@AkiRa22084]

I hate colorcoding healthplates by class.

[@steveblease]

If the game wasn't a complete ballache we wouldn't need adons.

[@ziggy2976]

You mention a fix to ground effects with an existing UI feature. Then you go on to talk about the character panel without ever telling us what the ground effect fix is.

[@alexandersnider734]

If the devs played FF14 for like an hour, they would know how to fix all this shit. And I dont even play FF14, I just did for an hour and already saw the solutions to all of this. Its all fixable, and there is a blueprint someone has already layed out for them.

[@Vondarkstar]

Game is a buggy Frankenstein mess and we will always need addons to make it playable.

[@MarcelianOnline]

100% disagree, is buggy, but the crunches are not necessary

[@MasonC2K]

I will never support banning addons. The day that happens I am done with this game.

[@Soulessdeeds]

Are addons making content easier. Or is it just that Blizzard is dogshit at delivering the information you need as a player. So people made addons to fill the gaps. This is a Blizzard design problem, not a addons problem.

[@mgaming7]

FF14 made a game without addons and it works perfectly without them. all Addons do, it make it where people who try the game and can't figure out the addons, they simply can't play the game. addons prevent new players. they need to redesign all dungeons and raids and ban addons. Spell effects in wow are so ridiculous, most people can't tell what to stand in, and what Not to stand in. everything is the same color. wow needs to start over. we need wow 2.0 without addons and with WAY better design from the ground up

[@deadbird808]

chill out flame, your asking WAYYY to much of a TRILLION dollar company. Cut them some slack

[@Irudium1]

People Hype hate trainign addons for no reason at all. Jokers. Get a life.

[@markoilic8375]

Wow is so bad.