World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas, was joined by Max, Team Liquid's raid leader and content creator Dratnos, to discuss the upcoming UI improvements and the role and future of add-ons.
In the video, they discussed the upcoming additions, like Rotation Assist, which can help all players, but it's also helpful as an accessibility feature. There will also be an optional one button mode that will let you use recommended abilities, although this will come with a short global cooldown. This is once again designed for accessibility and casual players to have options.
In addition to being the latest moves from the WoW team that could make the game more accessible, these can also help someone return to the game who has been away for a while, or even a new player or someone who's just trying to learn or relearn a class.
The conversation also turned to third party add-ons, and this was at the heart of the conversation. Add-ons have been a part of the World of Warcraft player experience for some time now and the different types can enrich the experience, as well as offer helpful guidance.
Hazzikostas was sure to emphasize that there are no plans to go after the very existence of add-ons for World of Warcraft. However, they are discussing how they can improve the game in ways that reduce dependence on outside add-ons. Things like the cooldown manager and improvements to damage meters to make sure these reliable bits of info are readily available.
Overall, they want the core game to be accessible to a variety of players, but they still want to preserve challenge while giving people options and info at the ready. The full discussion runs for over 40 minutes and touches on topics like add-on reliance, audio and visual aids, add-ons in raids, and even whether they're worried about ‘an arms race between add-ons and encounter design”.
Season of Discovery Hotfixes - 16 May
Season of Discovery Hotfixes - May 16
