Each week Matthew Porter contributes The Creamy GUI Center, a column aimed at helping you enhance your WoW experience by offering an in depth guide to addons, macros and other tools we use to play WoW, along with commentary on issues that affect how we all play.
Welcome folks to this week's The Creamy GUI Center. This week I tackle one of the great suggestions left by you the reader in the comment's section. We're gunna examine bag replacements and inventory managers in a special two part series. This week we'll see how to organize your inventory with bag replacement addons. And in the following week we'll look at which addons help you change gear around for different situations. But let's not put the cart ahead of the horse, first we have to organize all that equipment, so let's get to it!
Each week Matthew Porter contributes The Creamy GUI Center, a column aimed at helping you enhance your WoW experience by offering an in depth guide to addons, macros and other tools we use to play WoW, along with commentary on issues that affect how we all play.
Howdy folks, and welcome to this week's The Creamy GUI Center. Before we get neck deep in addons this week I'd like to say thank you all for the encouraging words and warm welcome back left in the comments last week. Also in the coming weeks look for some of your suggested topics to be covered. But I digress, let's get back to this week's topic, the combat log and its addons. There's something for everyone this week as I show you alternative and supplimental addons to the combat log, and for the minimalists out there I'll show you how to add some bling to your combat log without needing any third party additions. Let's get started!
Each week Matthew Porter contributes The Creamy GUI Center, a column aimed at helping you enhance your WoW experience by offering an in depth guide to addons, macros and other tools we use to play WoW, along with commentary on issues that affect how we all play.
No you're not seeing things, The Creamy GUI Center is back! As my first column back after such a long time I thought it would be a good idea to get reacquainted, and take a look at what all has changed in WoW's user interface while I was gone. Also, find out where I've been all this time, and where we're going as we take a sneak peak at what's in store for future editions. So grab a drink and get comfy as we once again take the plunge into the world of WoW's user interface and addons.
CEO and founder of Curse.com Hubert Thieblot revealed this week that Curse plans to launch a premium subscription service later this year. The service would cost $4 per month and is slated for release some time in July 2008. Thieblot mentioned the new service last Tuesday at a social media conference hosted by Under the Radar. Curse hopes to get 35,000 subscribers to the new paid service by the end of 2008, working up to a total of 100,000 members by the end of 2009. The conference presentation is available on YouTube, but unless you're a masochist or a business conference groupie, you should only watch the video if you have insomnia.
We have no idea what this premium content entails -- what you see in the presentation slide is all we've got to go on -- but it's a good bet that it will be out-of-game services. Maybe something like Armory data, player profiles, or even some kind of addon profiling system. Will it be worth another $4 a month on top of what we already pay for WoW? We'll have to wait and see.
Update: Mr. Thieblot has commented below and said that whatever the service offers will be "nothing that has been hinted at so far."
Some of you may remember me gushing over MazzleUI back in the day, when it first came out of private beta. In short, it's an extremely coherent and well-designed UI compilation, that aims to be lightweight and efficient while still being complete and feature-filled. However, its long-suffering author, Mazzlefizz, quit WoW at a certain point, and MazzleUI started to become plagued with incompatibilities as WoW went through its normal patching process. No more! Docevl has come and rescued this lovely UI from the dust, and it's now all patched-up and ready for 2.4.2. I just installed it myself and it worked pretty faultlessly.
Of course, I did have to bring over a few AddOns from my previous UI (13 of them, in fact), since Mazz isn't meant to be all things to all people, and I have several that I've gotten very used too that aren't included (like MetaHud and TBag). And there are a few things you'll probably want to change from the default configuration:
Set the text size to Large or Mr Magoo, unless you keep a magnifying glass by your monitor (or it has fewer pixels per inch than mine).
Be sure and prevent it from yelling garbage about "mazzlegasms" (seriously) by setting the appropriate menu to "Bite your lip and keep it in" at the end of configuration. Those around you will thank you.
I actually ended up going back to my cobbled-together UI after not too long with Mazz, because I prefer something that uses minimal screen space and I don't need all the machinery that Mazz brings. I've also gotten very used to my setup. But if you want an all-in-one package, this is one of the best ones out there.
Ever wanted to make your mark in the WoW community? Want to see your handiwork featured in our Reader UI of the Week? Or maybe you've always dreamed of an frameset with a Hello Kitty theme?
Well, WoWInterface's new raffle might just give you that chance. WoWInterface is an addon download site, brought to you by the parent company that runs Allakhazam, Thottbot, and Wowhead. They announced yesterday in their forums that every Sunday for the next five weeks they'll be raffling off two copies of World of Warcraft Programming: A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Addons.
And, no, it's not some dusty old tome they are trying to unload because Mom wants them to clean up their rooms. The book was published May 5, 2008, less than a month ago. It normally lists for $39.99, so this is a great way to get started on your new addon-writing career and save some money at the same time. Or just get something for free and make some stuff.
The best part is, even though the book's authors are addon pros James Whitehead II, Matthew Orlando and Bryan McLemore, this book is written in such a way that you need no programming knowledge to get started writing your own WoW addons. To enter the raffle, all you need to do is register for a WoW Interface account and make sure your real email address is on your account. They'll be pulling the winners from the list of members. For more details, see the raffle rules.
Good luck and write some good addons for us to review!
Wowhead announced today that it has released a download client for Mac OS X. Now the denizens of the cult of Mac can contribute to the collective WoW knowledge base that so deliciously feeds our need for data on lewtz. Just like the Windows version, the new OS X client installs Wowhead Looter, an addon which tallies up information in the background as you play and populates the Wowhead database with stats the game's items, drop rates, quests, and all sorts of other goodness.
Just remember that you need a Wowhead account before the Looter can upload information back to the database. Otherwise, you've just got yourself an addon that's all dressed up with no place to go.
Lileah on Livejournal was looking for some help with an addon the other day, and her request gave me an idea. For this morning's Breakfast Topic, we're going all out with the addon requests. If you've got a need for an addon (like custom timers, an addon for keeping track of food, or any other weird needs you might have), ask in the comments below, and if you're an addon expert, show off your expertise by letting the requester know if there's an addon that will fill their needs.
And if there's isn't an addon that can do what they're asking, maybe this comments section will be the impetus for someone out there to create one of their own. Think we can find a need out there for an addon that doesn't yet exist? Of course, there are some things that addons can't do (choose targets or spells for you is a big one), but otherwise, consider this thread your clearinghouse for addon service requests.
If you can't get an answer here, feel free to tip us, too -- we at WoW Insider always love finding out and writing about new addons. Whether you need help finding an addon that does what you want or you know of a great addon that could use some coverage, let us know and we'll be thrilled to take a look at it.
PvP in its purest form is a beautiful thing. Amanda Dean, always obsessed with the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat brings you news you can use in the Arena. When last seen, former Blood Sport columnist V'Ming Chew had defeated a pack of angry Gnome Warlocks and had decided to take up retirement in a lovely chateau overlooking the Ring of Trials in Nagrand.
So thanks to the new point requirements for Battleground gear in Arena Season Four, many people who are not as familiar with the arena will be forced to queue up.When I first started playing arenas, I didn't see it as tremendously different from battlegrounds.After several hard-learned lessons I found that I had to be much more flexible.I've also picked up a few tricks along the way.
You have to count on all of your opponents using every tool available.If you're not already doing these things, give some of them a shot.
If you're a machinimist or just someone who likes to poke around the game files trying to see what The Ultimate Druid would look like (yeah, I'm guilty), good news; Wow Model Viewer has been updated for patch 2.4.2. I haven't used it since the patch hit, but according to the mod's site a few twitchy issues popped up that have since been fixed.
The developer warns that this version will not work with any version of Wow pre-2.4.2, so if you haven't downloaded and installed the patch yet, don't install this update until you do.
If you haven't had the chance to use WoW Model Viewer previously, give it a shot -- it's a wonderfully addictive little mod and a great way to get a closer look at the detail that goes into the game.
World of Warcraft allows all of us an unprecedented ability to modify our user interface to meet our needs. Each week WoW Insider will bring you a fresh and detailed look at reader submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send it, along with your character name and server, to readerui@gmail.com.
Draxyl from the Turalyon U.S. server submits to us his Warlock UI. It's actually very reminiscent of the UI that I had for quite some time until I upgraded my graphics card and started using a lot of alpha-blending (transparency). He uses Fubar across the top with several key pieces of information and quick to reach options, and then has the bottom of the screen filled with status indicators, chat, and action buttons.
I think it's a common theme amongst most UI enthusiasts to focus the information in one or two places. This has several benefits, from limiting eye movement when trying to pickup information, to allowing more space to see what's going on in the rest of the environment.
I'm a rather avid raider, putting in a solid 20 hours a week on my Warrior. One of the major things about the time spent raiding is that it can be very precious. There is only so much time that 24 other people, plus appropriate class substitutions, can be available each week. It's critical that the time spent raiding is used well.
Unfortunately, using raiding time well is about as much of a challenge as is downing Illidan. In preparation for this article, I've spent the past three weeks keeping track of the down time in raids. We raid Sunday through Thursday nights, from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. We experience a downtime of about 51 minutes for each raid, which is about 20% of the time. Down time is defined as the time that my character is standing still, not attacking, not moving, and not being MDed to.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not really sure.
Tip #1: Chain pulling
Personally, I do my best at the main tank to chain pull and push the trash through as fast as possible. This works out 99% of the time, however the 1% of the time it doesn't work out can grind the raid to a halt. Case and point: The trash to Supremus isn't too bad, and is a lot of packs where the MT, OT, and Pally tank each have some mobs to tank. There are also some ranged dragons that the Warlocks tank. These pulls can go very fast, and are very predictable. Pulling slowly we can do this in about 40 minutes, while chain pulling each group, we can push through in 15.
Tip #2: Fully self buffed, all the time
It doesn't take much to buff yourself. Every class has some buff they can apply to themselves, be it food buffs, spell buffs, or shouts. The key here is that you can find a minute or two to always buff at least yourself, if not others. Although, it might not always be possible to buff others as you're going along - and that's okay with most raid leaders for trash pulls.
Rushter of Incgamers.com explained to us on the comments of the previous article that the problem was with a seperate attack on a different hosted site (which was quickly dealt with, and unrelated to worldofwar.net, says Rushster), but Google marked the whole site as bad. The worldofwar.net UI database was unaffected, he says, and after some back and forth, Google has now dropped the warning.
Of course, it's still always a good idea to check your computer for viruses, trojans, and keyloggers regularly, and realize that no website is completely safe (though having a good defense always helps). That said, at the moment it looks like wowui.incgamers.com, also known as wowui.worldofwar.net, is a safe spot to grab your addons from.
Here at WoW Insider, we've noticed an unusual and disturbing glut of people having trouble with being keylogged or otherwise hacked soon after installing new addons lately (which wouldn't be a surprise -- lots of people were grabbing addons after patch 2.4, so that makes them a likely route for attackers). While it's too early to make any definite connections, It seems like there's one new lead that's just popped up: popular addon site wowui.incgamers.com (not linked for obvious reasons) is apparently passing off bad files, according to reports from Stopbadware.org and other anonymous sources.
If you've been using the site for your addons, especially in the past week or so, it might be a good idea to exercise some caution and run your favorite anti-virus or anti-malware program. The site has already been in trouble recently with reports that their UICentral addon updater (now discontinued) was using copyrighted code, and now it looks like there's more trouble abrewing for them.
Update: Wowui.incgamers not infested with malware. Full story here.
Void Reaver, after 2.4, is apparently, "wrecking fools," according to Korin on the Silver Hand. We all called him Loot Reaver before 2.4 -- if your guild could finish off Karazhan, and survive VR's trash, he was basically a pushover. But a whole combination of factors, including addon problems (with DeadlyBossMods and VoidReaverAlarm) that killed the addons that made it cake, as well as a few bugs and other problems with the fight after the patch, means Loot Reaver is getting his revenge. He's back to being a real challenge in Tempest Keep.
The hardest part of the encounter is avoiding these orbs he shoots out at random spots where a guild member is standing. When he shoots one out, everyone in the guild has to move away from that spot and each other, since getting hit with one is instant death. Those addons were meant to tell you when an orb had been fired, as well as let you keep an eye on the proximity of where it was hitting (so you could easily dodge it). But without the addons, people are back to judging where the orbs might land, and guilds that haven't practiced the fight much aren't that great at judging. Not to mention that there are some bugs, apparently -- some of the orbs are invisible, and others may even be moving through walls and underground.
The fight is still doable, but apparently Blizzard wasn't happy with how easy it was to waltz in there with some addons and collect your loot. Whether it's bugs or addon changes, Void Reaver is currently back to "wrecking fools."
Wowhead
Lileah on Livejournal was 
PvP in its purest form is a beautiful thing. Amanda Dean, always obsessed with the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat brings you news you can use in the Arena. When last seen, former Blood Sport columnist V'Ming Chew had defeated a pack of angry Gnome Warlocks and had decided to take up retirement in a lovely chateau overlooking the Ring of Trials in Nagrand.
If you're a machinimist or just someone who likes to poke around the game files trying to see what The Ultimate Druid would look like (yeah, I'm guilty), good news; 
I'm a rather avid 
Void Reaver, after 2.4, is apparently, 
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