I don't really know what to say about Zarhym's particularly blunt "style" of response, since Drysc and Neth have repeatedly acted like total assholes to other posters before, and they never faced the consequences that Tseric did.

I will say, though, that his word choice puts him at serious risk in several places of becoming just as bad as the flamers in that thread. "Then why are you still posting?" comes to mind.

What happened to Tseric for those of us that don't know?

http://www.wowwiki.com/Tseric

That should provide you with most, if not all, of the details.

Recently, someone asked Drysc if Tseric quit or was fired. Personally, judging from how fed up he was with how shitty Forum members treated each other, I wouldn't be surprised if he quit. Drysc, however - who, speaking from my (thankfully) limited experience with the "official" Forums, has repeatedly talked to players like they're idiots - will not elaborate on the exact details.

I like this guy. Talking down to people or playing the corporate politician is getting old. I like this no-nonsense approach. Also any guy with a Tom Waits quote in his signature can't be too bad.

Really for high level raiding you only need a couple of pretty simple and easy mods.

--Threat meter
--Ora (if your raid leader requires)
--Boss mod

Sure, threat meters really should be a part of the UI, I think the nice thing about boss mods is they share with you visually (on the screen where you are looking) and verbally or through audio what your combat log/general log is already telling you. To me these are like HUD's for fighters. I don't know if that needs to be in the UI or not.

ORA or something similar is just an easy way for the raid leadership to make sure folks are doing well in the health/armor etc areas.

They mentioned at last year's Blizzcon that they are incorporating a threat meter in to the base UI with Wrath. Mods are not essential, they are just convenient, for the most part.

However, the mod that the OP was complaining about was an ILLEGAL mod, one that changes character models in game.

All mod users know that every patch will require updates to any mods run and have no problem with that. Many mod authors also work with their mods on the PTR to make sure than any updates needed are available when the patch goes live.

With the above statement, the only thing that is absolutley necessary 100% is Boss Mods. Blizzard used to que spells and abiltiies in many encounters by what the Boss said, now that is not so as much. There are many encounters where its blatant (shade of Aran is best example), but there are a bunch where its not (malacrass).

For example, being able to time a PoH so it heals your group to full during Malacrass 500 dps spirit bolts is wonderful. For zul'jin, being able to prep Mass Dispell when you know a petrify is coming is great.

All other mods gimp you, but not as much as Boss Mods. And honestly, most are visual things that don't make an effect on your performance. Cooldown timers for professions, bag mods, action bar mods, buff mods, damage meters, minimap mods, "bar" mods (fu/titan), all those things arent necessary in terms of performance, but if they make the game less tedious and more enjoyable to play, then im all for it.

IMO the old valid arguments against mods are 1) keyloggers, and 2) memory. And if your only running the 3 for raiding (ora/ct, threat, boss), those three only take up at max 2 mbs of ram, which is nothing compared to the gig wow takes up.

For me, personally, add-ons are required for me to play. I use all of the goodies that modify the default interface to make it look better and function more efficiently. The mods that provide information in an easy to view format are also essential for my enjoyment.

You don't need any mods to play, really. The default interface is well thought out. Having mods, however, increases my enjoyment and keeps me in the game.

I don't in any way see how the use of mods can hurt the game or the gamer's experience. The game is about having the most fun for your buck. It's not about your mad skillz in using the default interface. Well, unless that's what you get off on, of course.

The game is designed to be modded. They've given the players the ability to customize their experience. It's purpose built. I find all of the arguments against mods and the deriding of the folks who use them to be rather lame.

built in threat meter and damage meters to recount your damage, healing, etc. Maybe if we wish on falling stars and all that jazz...

"Imo WoW should be played without addons, then you could port it to consoles as well."

Oh, dear God, it's not like we don't already have half a billion "Halo 3"-inspired PvPers in this game.

Well, all the good consoles have built-in hard drives where addons could be placed and can also easily have a USB keyboard and mouse attached to provide good enough control interface that WoW requires. I don't see much obstacle to WoW going to PS3 for example. You just would have to use a keyboard and mouse to control it (wireless or not) and enjoy best possible WoW graphics at 100 fps in the most intensive boss fight.

Speaking as DPS myself, I'm not entirely sure what the point of having DPS meters is. The DPS I put out as a rogue is almost always determined mostly by the threat of the tanks on my target. I can, and do, use vanish to clear the meter and add some unresticted damage, but with the long cooldown it's not goingto alter a DPS meter noticeably.

Threat meters are certainly necessary in any raiding situation (there are too many numbers coming too fast with too many modifiers to keep track of threat by hand, and taking aggro from a tank means death once you get into heroics, let alone raids), but DPS meters seem more like a vanity item.

Aigarius: I totally did not think of that. I forgot about keyboards and mice for consoles. Good call!

... But how would they handle the Patch process?

Ah.....yet more people who think that consoles are the "best possible experience".

People seem to forget that consoles are extremely specialized pieces of hardware. To fully take advantage of what the system can handle would require coding specifically for that system, which takes quite a bit of manpower and time.

Even if Blizzard were to make the effort and port the game to consoles, I seriously doubt you would, "enjoy best possible WoW graphics at 100 fps in the most intensive boss fight." for 1. the fact that your network connection come into play for latency and updates and 2. the fact that most HDTV's in the US today refresh at a whole 60Hz (i.e. 60 fps) and the console will only display a picture as fast as the TV can refresh it. (note that with the new 120Hz TV's that will likely change depending on what happens between the TV and the console.)

For that matter, if you are already adding a mouse and keyboard to your console, why not just connect your current DVI output from your computer to your HDTV's DVI, HDMI, or VGA input and play WoW that way? (sound output would go to a sound input on the TV or receiver of course)

and if you are thinking of WoW on a normal TV, don't bother. Even the consoles display at such a low resolution that you will scream in frustration before you even take 10 steps on your character.

Some things just aren't a good idea to port.