While gw1 was great for the ability to move and scale almost every aspect of the UI, it was missing a very important feature - third party addons. I'm sure everyone remembers the discovery of Texmod and how explosively it took off, with .tpf files popping up left and right.
Wouldn't it be great if support for such things was built right into the game? Here's three examples of UI's I've thrown together with the use of addons:
Spoiler
Aside from changing many things aesthetically, there are also many addons available for people who like information overload, like myself.
(Admittedly I've never even used these two parts of Recount, but they're neat nonetheless):
Quite an improvement from the Master of Damage, and the Damage Log on gw1.
From what I"ve seen, the UI of gw2 looks great as it is, but that's no reason not to include an API for people to create niche UI elements which may not be included in the default. With all the great information being released lately like the mobile apps and not-sucky pve, it would be a shame to overlook such an important part of an MMO.|||The only way I'd say ok is if they had a method in place to prevent people making addons that function as hacks.
Otherwise, I'm not sure if I like the idea or not. I'd have to think about it.|||Addons like the Recount one are perfectly fine for obvious reasons.
The problem is that it creates an unprecedent. If you allow UI-modification addons, then you also will be allowing something like animation changing that can inbalance the competitive aspect.
This already happened in GW1 with texmod. Some guilds changed the skill animations to allow way easier reaction of when and what skills to interrupt by changing the animation to a big textbox that said INTERRUPT ME!!
The only way for this to work is if Anet has some sort of Approval system, where they look through the created addons and only allow those approved by them to get incorporated into the game, but that required moderators, and moderators don't work for free.
Information for after-battle reviewing, good. Awesome even.
Possibility of umbalanced behaviour due to addon, bad. Terribly bad even.|||Hacks? An addon "app store"? ..That's not how this stuff works... lol..
First of all, addons [and this is all in relation to Blizz of course] have to conform to the policy, which states:
Quote:
AddOns must be free of charge.
AddOn code must be completely visible.
AddOns must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.
AddOns may not include advertisements.
AddOns may not solicit donations.
AddOns must not contain offensive or objectionable material.
AddOns must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA.
Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable AddOn functionality as it sees fit.
The last one has already happened a few times, when an addon was created which allowed people to draw diagrams right into the game world for anyone in the party. So they could show where void zones would be, and what their exact radius is, whether you were in range of totems, showed you which way to run, etc etc. Blizzard saw this addon and felt that this went too far, and broke its functionality in the next patch. Addons such as Deadly Boss Mods were allowed to continue, as they merely say that a boss is casting a given ability soon, not where you should go to avoid it.
When you write an addon you use the Lua programming language, and the WoW API. Therefore it's impossible to create an addon which is a "hack" or in Nemeon's example, replaces textures, as these would go outside of both the policy and the boundaries/capabilities of the API.
Further reading:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Addon
http://www.wowwiki.com/Getting_start...writing_addons
http://www.wowwiki.com/World_of_Warcraft_API
http://www.wowwiki.com/Lua_functions
http://www.wowwiki.com/XML_elements|||I don't play WoW, never have, and never will, so I didn't know about all these restrictions. If they have all those restrictions, then fine. Here is the big question though, if you develop something, is there a waiting period before you can use it while Blizzard looks it over? Or can you use it immediately until Blizzard spots it and removes it (in the case of a "hack"). The ONLY way I would want user-made add-ons to be allowed is if there was a waiting period, where your add-on was inspected to make sure no illegalities were made, BEFORE the add-on is available for use.
I'd hate to see something happen where a guild gets together and makes an add-on that would help give them a huge advantage over the other guilds in GvG, shoot up the ladder because of it, and then after the fact, have Anet remove it due to being illegal. Sure, Anet could probably send them the whole way back down the ladder, but would it reset the W-L record of every guild that lost to them? It's little things like that that need to be considered.
As long as Anet would be proactive in scanning over the add-ons before they become available for use, then I see no problems with add-ons. Any other way is unacceptable, IMO.
And this is coming from someone with a background in FPS where all kinds of hacks run rampant, pretty much ruining any fun you could have.|||I played warhammer online, which allowed addons, it was used mainly for making the issues of the game less of an issue. However, it gave those using addons a significant advantage over those who did not to the point where it was basically necessary to use to play the game. I do not want to feel like I must use addons to play gw2, as the functionality can vary greatly from one to another and they can become something you watch constantly, which bugs me.
I know, gw2 will not be as buggy or grindy a game as warhammer online so less addons will be used to help with that. I know why you want addons, and I can respect why you do... however there will be some that would ruin the game for me, of this I can be almost absolutely sure... so I don't like the idea, sorry.|||I agree completely with your reasoning shawn, you would know that from what I've previously argued for adding to gw2.
I would though still like things like these to just be in the game.|||This is awesomest part of WoW (that's not saying much coming from me, but their addon system really is great). Hell yes I'd want it in GW2.|||Quote:
if you develop something, is there a waiting period before you can use it while Blizzard looks it over? Or can you use it immediately until Blizzard spots it and removes it (in the case of a "hack"). The ONLY way I would want user-made add-ons to be allowed is if there was a waiting period, where your add-on was inspected to make sure no illegalities were made, BEFORE the add-on is available for use.
I'd hate to see something happen where a guild gets together and makes an add-on that would help give them a huge advantage over the other guilds in GvG, shoot up the ladder because of it, and then after the fact, have Anet remove it due to being illegal. Sure, Anet could probably send them the whole way back down the ladder, but would it reset the W-L record of every guild that lost to them? It's little things like that that need to be considered.
As long as Anet would be proactive in scanning over the add-ons before they become available for use, then I see no problems with add-ons. Any other way is unacceptable, IMO.
And this is coming from someone with a background in FPS where all kinds of hacks run rampant, pretty much ruining any fun you could have.
I think you're really, REALLY, overestimating what an addon can do. This is not like developing a mobile app for Android or iOS, where you have a software developing kit and Apple's ****ing ridiculous review board to get through (but my hatred of the app store is another story entirely) - addons have to work within the constraints of the addon API.
Quote:
API - An application programming interface is an interface implemented by a software program that enables it to interact with other software. It facilitates interaction between different software programs similar to the way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers.
An API is implemented by applications, libraries, and operating systems to determine their vocabularies and calling conventions, and is used to access their services. It may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and protocols used to communicate between the consumer and the implementer of the API.
So no - there is no "addon review panel." No one submits their addons to Blizzard to go over, because there's no need. Blizzard has already created the limitations within the API. Your addon can talk to the API, which then talks to the game. So you can say "hey, when I talk to this merchant, tell the game to auto-sell all the grey items in my inventory" and the API says "ok, I see here that's an acceptable request, can do."
But obviously there'd be no option for "hey, I'm going to sit here and pretend to be a mini-map modification but really I'm going to run in the background and keylog your username and password" because the API would not recognize such commands, and in turn, the game wouldn't be able to act on them.
Further, addons are all .xml and .lua files - similar to a text file or html file, not executable files - so you'd be unable to run a malicious program that way, either.
I've played my fair share of FPS games as well - don't get addons confused with mods and hacks. Similar to the above Apple app store example, you can download a software developer's kit for game modifications straight off Steam for free. (On the Tools tab it's the "Source SDK"). That involves a whole hell of a lot more work then simple UI addon scripts, however. A friend and I tried once.. then we realized we'd have to create models, textures, maps, sounds, and a bunch of other crap that was way over our heads. That idea didn't last much longer than a week.
So anyway, I don't really think I can explain it any better, nor do I want to, really. 95% of the forum probably had their eyes glaze over before the second paragraph anyway.|||Stats are fun. I like stats.
In fact, I'd like to go beyond personal stats and see, for example, what percentage of players have a warrior as their main, or what the top 10 skillbars for PvP have been over the last week.
A friend of mine who plays WoW was babbling about his character a couple days ago, and mentioned that he has a macro that automatically activates a random minipet when he moves if one isn't already out. Convenient little macros like that in GW would make my day.
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