Got AddOns?
In my opinion, one of the best elements to playing WoW is the capability of using addons. In my limited MMO gaming experience, addons or hacks were just that, hacks. You did it to change the game to your benefit. Often consider a illegal.
I learned about AddOns in a sort of backhanded approach. My original install of Warcraft came from a dump of the folder from a friends machine. Sure, I paid $40 for the license, but the media came on a flash drive from his PC, addons and all. It wasn't until BC, that I learned how tweeked my view of the GUI truely was. I remember the day, saying "I CAN'T PLAY RAW!" Buttons were all in the wrong place, I only had 2 rows of bars, and my mini-map didn't show herb possibilities any longer; it was devastating.
A few years ago, I started using WowMatrix and have not been surprised again. WowMatrix downloads addons from a variety of locations, and doesn't ask for money (like some other addon updaters I've used). Unfortunately, it is unable to update addons that are hosted on Curse.com or WowInterface.com, but as more developers may self-post, this may become more available. Now I've gotten into the habit, I try to run WowMatrix to get into Warcraft, instead of the Wow icon on my desktop. My gaming runs better because of it.
I learned about AddOns in a sort of backhanded approach. My original install of Warcraft came from a dump of the folder from a friends machine. Sure, I paid $40 for the license, but the media came on a flash drive from his PC, addons and all. It wasn't until BC, that I learned how tweeked my view of the GUI truely was. I remember the day, saying "I CAN'T PLAY RAW!" Buttons were all in the wrong place, I only had 2 rows of bars, and my mini-map didn't show herb possibilities any longer; it was devastating.
A few years ago, I started using WowMatrix and have not been surprised again. WowMatrix downloads addons from a variety of locations, and doesn't ask for money (like some other addon updaters I've used). Unfortunately, it is unable to update addons that are hosted on Curse.com or WowInterface.com, but as more developers may self-post, this may become more available. Now I've gotten into the habit, I try to run WowMatrix to get into Warcraft, instead of the Wow icon on my desktop. My gaming runs better because of it.
You might try the curse downloader if you like the wowmatrix one. Curse has access to more addons than wowmatrix. All you need to do is create a login. You can download one at a time (it's not one-click) with a free membership, but it will still tell you which ones are out of date and need updating.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I run that one too, but I don't care for the subscription required model. Unfortunately Curse has the corner on a few addons that I rely on, like the WoWPro-Guide and LilSparky's.
ReplyDeleteJust started reading your due to a link from another to a post I liked. Just so you know, as an addon author (although nothing I've publicized), I subscribe to what seems to be the opinion of most addon authors about WoWMatrix -- to whit, it's bad and actively harmful to addon authors.
ReplyDeleteThere were long discussions of it in the old UI & Macro forums, but the long and the short of it is that it's a drain on other people's resources -- generally addon authors and those who provide development resources for them -- due to crappy coding on the part of WoWMatrix (which is why WoWI & Curse both deliberately took steps to shut it out after WoWMatrix rebuffed their offers to integrate), and introduces support headaches for addon authors.
So, if you really do appreciate the work that addon authors do to improve your gaming experience, you may want to consider using a different method to keep your addons up to date than WoWMatrix.
(Not trying to be, like, dogmatic or anything -- just giving you a head's up about something non-addon authors frequently aren't aware of. If you choose to continue using WoWMatrix after being made aware of the issues, that's between you and whatever god or gods may have jurisdiction over the matter :) )
Xbalanque, I have to claim ignorance. I had no idea that WowMatrix had destructive methods. While they are not hosting the addons, like Curse or WowInterface, I had never thought about it the other way around.
ReplyDeleteCurse is just so painful to update 75 add-ons unless you pay for the monthly. I understand their need to pay for their servers and bandwidth. OK, maybe the $30/annually isn't that bad (considering what I pay out weekly for my espresso addiction).
Thanks for the info.
Fortunately wowinterface has started up a downloader that is one-click as well. No fee! However, make sure curse downloader is completely closed before booting up the wowinterface one. The two do not play nice.
ReplyDelete