The Griffin's Crier

Ok, so I've been out of it for a while. What are the big add-ons for WoW nowadays? I recall Gatherer being very useful the last time I played, but I can't remember any of the others.

I'm sure Lance can give you the skinny on the ones he uses, but as for me, I go completely stock UI with absolutely no add-ons at all. In my opinion, they've made great strides in incorporating most of the cool add-on features into the game itself over the last few expansions and patches. But that's just me.

I use some, but also try to keep it to a minimum.

Curse Gaming is a good site to get your addons from . I'd recommend using their Curse Addon Manager program. It automatically downloads the addons for you, puts them where they should go, and then updates them when changes are made. Vastly simplifies managing your addons.

Gatherer - if you're a miner or herbalist, still a great resource.
Bunny's Quest Level - tells you the specific level of a quest in your log
SellFish - tells you what items sell for to NPC vendors. Good way to know which quest reward to pick if none of them are useful to your char.
Fishing Buddy - makes the fishing interface more convenient.
Rating Buster - Translates confusing weapon stats into convenient numbers. ("35 Hit Rating" becomes "+1% to hit", etc.)
MapCoords - adds map coordinates to your char portrait and map.
Pawn - rates pieces of gear per their usefulness to your specific class and talent build. Helps you identify whether one piece of gear is better than another. (You must supply the rating criteria - I can help you with that.)

Those are a few general ones I find very useful. There will be other class-specific ones I don't know about for toons I don't play.

Also, make sure you get the Ventrilo program so we can talk as we play.

Jonkga wrote:Also, make sure you get the Ventrilo program so we can talk as we play.

I'll have to download that again. I don't think I have it on my MacBook Pro.

Ken

FYI, re Ventrilo, I discovered that you need to use a USB mic for Macs. The Mac audio input jack is just that, and expects an amplified signal. Standard PC mics w/ a 3.5mm plug aren't amplified and are SUPER quiet, if audible at all.

So I'm at the point where I could use a second set of command boxes on the interface. Can I add more in? I remember it being an addon in the past.

Go to the game setting menu by hitting [esc]. The top option, I think, is Settings. One of the options in there is Interface, and then choose Action Bars. There are lots of extra button bars you can activate.

I would recommend against 2nd-party button bar addons. I've used them in the past, and liked them a lot - they are very flexible.

The down side is: at some point Blizz will release a patch that temporarily borks the bar addon (at least until the author fixes it). In the mean time, your interface is completely fucked. Don't use 'em, IMO. Too much of a liability.

I've learned through experience that addons are great, and enhance your experience. If you completely rely on one to play the game however, it will leave you in flaming wreckage at some point.

You had mentioned they had added a ton of stuff to the interface, so I'll have to check the button bars out. Sounds like what I'm looking for. I only spoke about addon's because way back when I was first playing that was the only way to change your interface. I was hoping I wouldn't have to deal with them

The stock interface includes:
* the main action bar (linked to keys [1] through [=])
* optional "left" and "right" bars on top of the main action bar
* two optional vertical bars on the right hand side of the screen

Plenty of room, and really no need for addons.

Exactly what I was looking for. I just couldn't find it in the options yesterday (though frankly I didn't look very long).

erilar wrote:Plenty of room, and really no need for addons.

Yeah, I found those the other day, but couldn't remember how, and thus, couldn't advise Cory. I've got Gatherer running on my Mac, and it's as excellent as it ever was. And just in time for spring! Yummmm... ground/chopped/pureed flowery goodness...

Several times last night Duklar died as I was fumbling from my normal page to my secondary page where I had my tanking abilities. I figure that's a tell-tale sign that I need more buttons

Yeah, I switch back and forth between 3 or 4 rows of ability keys normally. I've got to come up with a better solution, so I'm going to check out this info also.