Nameplates aren’t visible behind walls. If the target is out of LoS, then the nameplate is not visible.
Currently, nameplates pop up at around 15 yards. If a bear can walk up 15 yards near me without me seeing it (aka, without a nameplate popping up MUCH earlier), I’d consider seeing an eye doctor in the unlikely event that I survive the encounter.
I understand your frustration as a rogue that wants to stay invisible all the time until they get an opener (I’m a main rogue myself), but claiming nameplates shouldn’t be visible unless in combat with the target is just silly (it’s mainly rogues that support this idea).
When you just tryna farm those Geologist in STV for quest items but they have green outfits and they’re so small they completely blend in to the jungle. You only notice em when you walk face first into lightning bolt cast.
However, what I do find is annoying is when there’s enemies behind trees and walls and you don’t see their nameplates from behind scenery before they aggro you from behind a big tree and hill in dustwallow marsh.
And if you try to LOS some random ranged mobs, they just shoot you through walls but there’s no way you can shoot them back.
It’s just that they are. And always were. Perhaps you’re confusing this with a different game, but nameplates are most definitely visible behind walls. Just check on Gamon from the outside or something similar to check.
In general, the nameplate distance is most definitly a major pain. Of course mostly, if not only for ranged dps and healers, but it still is something that’s bothering quite a few players. which is a fact.
Now the real question of course being “Was it this way in vanilla?”, because to be honest, I can’t remember. I know for certain that in BC I’ve had something similar, that’s shown me nameplates from quite far, so if the option to increase nameplate range was in classic, I personally believe we should get it back. If it wasn’t, well it’s “no changes, except a few exploits and layering” so sticking to it is alright.
I just logged to check your words. They’re partially correct. Nameplates are visible if you’re close to the LoS (around 5 yards). Anything further than that and the nameplate disappears.
Edit: so for example I go behind a wall and I still see the nameplate - if I keep moving further behind the wall, the nameplate will disappear as soon as I’ve made 5 steps. The logic (I guess): if a gnome is hiding behind a tree, I don’t need to be a medium to know he’s there.
They say it was only 20 yards in vanilla, but did they also make it impossible to change it through macros or addons back then? If you COULD change it someway then today’s iteration of this function is not really true to form.
You moved over 20 yards out of range. The maximum range that nameplates can be shown in classic WoW. If we were able to increase that maximum range, nameplates would be visible from even further away, through walls. I don’t remember a time where it wasn’t like that. LoS was never a requirement for nameplates to be shown.
You got it entirely backwards. Precisely it’s the opposite: visible nameplates put people without stealth in a disadvantage. If I’m out of line of sight, I can just go out of combat and back to stealth, even if they know I’m there.
There is a certain leeway of around 5 steps behind LoS, in which you can see nameplates, but beyond that the nameplates are hidden. Camera distance also seems to affect this, with nameplates hiding earlier the closer your camera is zoomed.
If you don’t believe this, just log in and see for yourself, like I just did while posting this reply.
What a great and eloquent answer. I take it you’ve done your research by binding an ability that has exactly 20 yards range and checking whether or not those “5 steps” (which is almost as bad as the imperial units for measurement) you’ve taken put you outside that 20 yards range or not.
To further this conversation I will write “no” a few times as well.
No
no
nO
It seems you haven’t played WoW in a long time or have never noticed how nameplates behave.
I don’t know, it might be a requirement in retail (which I highly doubt but can’t check as I am not home and wouldn’t know since it’s been quite some time since I’ve played it), but it isn’t and never was in older versions. And you not believing facts doesn’t change the fact that nameplates have always been visible through walls. But I’m sure your belief won’t change due to measely facts such as forum posts over 10 years old that talk about nameplates being visible through the ground or similar, which can easily be found by googling “nameplates visible through walls WoW”
Check my reply above, with screenshot links, and delete yours because it’s a waste of space in this thread. Thank you.
Edit: The reason why I replied with three simple "no"s is because what you stated was three factual errors. I never moved further than 10 yards out of range. You will not be able to see nameplates behind walls, even if nameplates were visible from farther away. LoS is in fact a requirement for nameplates to be shown, albeit with a small leway.
So basically no, no, and no.
The screenshots were taken right now, as we speak.
I stand corrected. I was sure it wasn’t working like that because I had just been doing quests on the ships outside Booty Bay and I could perfectly see mobs around me, but I see now it just doesn’t work consistently across floors and certain types of walls. In general it’s as you say. It seems it lets you see the nameplate in situations where you would see it by turning the camera.
If you mean the approach towards the shrine, then refer to what Kyph said - if you can turn the camera around and see the mob (and you are within 15 range of the mob), then you can see its nameplate.
If you mean the literal end of the dungeon (at Aku’mai), then there is no fish there and there is nothing under the floor there.
Speaking of Aku’mai, I know this is a different topic, but that boss is a disgrace, with Twilight Lord Kelris and the waves after him presenting more of a challenge. Aku’mai only has two abilities - an enrage that makes her attack faster but for less damage, and a poison cloud which doesn’t do anything because of her huge hitbox (it doesn’t even reach the tank).
