When one starts to systematically use DBM, Blizzard needs to make the encounters harder and more complicated, to counter the facilitation brought by combat addons. In return, more and more players will download them to make fights easier. It brings nothing good but an endless artificial inflation and arms race.
When players are using UI addons, Blizzard can ignore its default settings. It takes Blizzard almost 20 years to make its crappy UI to be customisable. Why? Because they know players will just use addons to solve the problem. Why make the effort to improve when you can just let 3rd party to do your job?
When players are using WA, DBM to make in game timer and warning more visible, there is no motivation for Blizzard to improve. Why improve the visuals, indications and clarity of a combat design, when players will just use addons to counter them anyway?
When some players are using addons. It will affect the whole playerbase, people will artificially raise the bars in LFD/LFG group content pugs etc and getting more toxic.
And when new players needs to download and set up tons of addons before they can properly playing the game, the community will become more and more elitist and it will be harder and harder to attract newcomers.
Addons affect every aspect of the game, and affect Everyone (players, blizzard devs, addon creators, etc.). And they bring much more negatives than positives.
It is already late for this action. But still, ban all addons, combat ones or non-combat ones, with no exception.
Yeah, the thing is addons are highly customisable and there’s a whole spectrum of how one’s handicapped… unlike the restrictive ones set within WoW itself.
Plus you seem to ignore the fact a ton of integral features within WoW all started off as Addons that you seem to take granted for, so be careful what you wish for. Addons allowed what Blizz didn’t think of.
Yeah, ofc they will never do it. Do you really believe they will waste their development time overhauling the base ui and trying to modernize as many options as they can when we have addons to do that?
That was sarcasm by the way, because blizzard spent countless development hours introducing, fixing, designing, and modernizing their UI in the past 2 expansions, while we already had addons.
Any such argument falls apart, because it is based on what SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED. The problem is that blizzard hasn’t done it yet.
And thus they CANNOT disable addons, because they still are not done with adding all the features they want/need for their game to actually be playable.
WHEN they are done adding features into the game and believe that they introduced any addon functionality that they want, THEN they will think about disabling addons.
Until then, they know that they have no choice but to allow them. And in the meantime, IF an addon comes along that they have a big problem with, THEN they can ban it (like they did with many of them).
This is exactly what blizz has been doing though. Like the frontal on 2nd boss Siege had no visual back in BFA. Now it has. And there are a lot of other examples like this.
Blizz has stated after shadowlands season 3 they aren’t going on the ratrace with addons anymore. They are improving the main default UI and visuals or audio anouncerers of mechanics on fights.
DBM has been a thing since Classic. For the difficulty problem we now have 4 different modes, there is something for everyone.
What’s your point? Let players suffer with a bad UI until Blizzard makes a better one, instead of making players happy by allowing them to use a UI addon until Blizzard makes a better one?
If you want a better UI, great, but no need to punish the players for it.
Your solution to punish players, therefore make them angry, so Blizzard is forced to make changes, is unnecessary. IF Blizzard wants to improve it, they can without punishing us.
When the solution is killing the patient (wow) then you should consider just how awful your idea is.
The customisation / QoL that addons offer is entrenched. If Blizz took it away people would walk away from the game because it won’t feel the same to them anymore.
Blizzard has proven they are absolutely horrible when it comes to designing UIs and any of its functions. Even if they tried to copy an addon they made such a pee poor version that people still used the addon alternative due to the Blizzard version being absolute trash.
If sometihng goes out of control then Blizzard disabled the addon or a function that the addon requires. This has already been done in the past. Including with Weakaura (only followed by Blizzard adding a mechanic that REQUIRED a weakaura to deal with it unless you had some wet dream fantasy setup that not a single guild except maybe the top 10 could ever dream of having)
I rather have people that know what they are doing (addon devs) keep doing what they are doing than having them replaced by students making a school project (Blizzard)
At this point these threads should be deleted on sight and the OPs be sent on vacation. You whine about it for 20 years and its crystal clear Blizzard will never get rid of them (not to mention addons being a big marketing thing for them)
I’d estimate over 90% of the player base use add-ons in some kind of capacity.
It’s like other developers now build their games to make it easier for modders to change it up, if they want to. Who wouldn’t do something like this if it gave a chance for their work to last longer?
The problem isn’t the add-ons. It’s the people who just can’t see clearly enough to work out it’s a benefit having the option to use them, and think games should go back to being basic experiences. You’ll be crying out for them to ban multiplayer next as it adds unpredictable encounters to your game.
Blizzard shouldn’t ban addon’s. Be easier - and more popular - if they just got rid of people like you.
