Should HUD Add-Ons Be Allowed By Square Enix?

There will be no addon or API release as long as this game is on consoles.
And no matter how much and how many of you b*tch about it. It will remain on consoles.

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Originally Posted by Ashgarth

There will be no addon or API release as long as this game is on consoles.
And no matter how much and how many of you b*tch about it. It will remain on consoles.

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B*tch about it? Are you sure you are in the right thread?

This discussion has been civil.

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Originally Posted by Ashgarth

There will be no addon or API release as long as this game is on consoles.
And no matter how much and how many of you b*tch about it. It will remain on consoles.

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Congratulation, spoke like a true peasant.

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Originally Posted by Kacho_Nacho

Please share! I feel a lot of players could use this.

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Open your HuD Layout.
Select your buff bar and hit the cog icon on the right of the dropdown box listing the Currently Selected UI Element.
In that new window, check the box marked [Split Element into 3 Groups]. https://gyazo.com/fac8eec576f5d95fa6abd34d0be43b5d
Then just adjust the settings for each group by scrolling the window down. Then when you save it and return to the main menu, you'll see new Status Info boxes, which you can move somewhere handy.

The most useful setting IMO, is [Display others Enhancements in Group 3]. This makes only your own buffs appear in the normal buff window and all buffs applied externally appear in another window.
This shot will show you what I mean. https://gyazo.com/306be0ec2ab175ea05e33b8e817683fb
On my left, you can see [Status Info: Enhancements], which is my own buffs. The box to its left, [Status Info: Others] will show externally applied buffs only and my debuffs are down next to my parameter bar as [Status Info: Enfeeblements]

Hope it helps.

I'd like to have one for crafting that rings a bell whenever an Excellent pops up. Half the time I only find out when I miss it, and see the resulting Poor one that follows :( (In WoW, Weakauras would handle this nicely.)

my experience in other MMOs is ... addon make the teamplay worse, really worse, they start as something "optional" and become "You must use those addon to play with us" ... so no. love have the actual system without those

Whenever I feel like I want an add-on, it's really just because the built-in UI has something very lacking.

For example, I have a 3440x1440 yet I'm forced to use the same small area to display inventory in tabs as everyone else. I'm sure my CPU can handle something a lot more complex. Sometimes I also wish I had access to a list-form inventory. These can all be done easily via add-ons without impacting the baseline gameplay, as the official UI is always limited by the lowest spec the game is targeted to serve.

Other things like a list of daily/weekly to-do that is customizable. For example I do the weekly custom deliveries, but I don't bother myself with the beast tribe dailies nor the GC turn-ins. Or another player may only have GSM leveled and only care about the daily GC turn-in for GSM. A customizable to-do list will be able to display this information concisely, and maybe even create interactions that streamline the to-do process, such as clicking on the "Today's GSM turn-in is such-and-such item" to open up the crafting log at that specific item, ready to craft.

A lot of these small QoL improvements are being considered too insignificant and thus ignored by the developer. This is where the add-on community comes in.

So if I have to take a side, I'm on the side of allowing add-ons for these kind of features unrelated to combat. Either that, or expand the macro system a lot more to make such QoL improvements possible.

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Originally Posted by Kacho_Nacho

As they say, the devil is in the details.

I don't know how add-ons work. My last computer science class was a programing with Fortran in the mid-80's. Things have moved along since then. /laugh

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Most games do it by binding Lua to the game through the Lua.dll
Then they need to expose the functions they want Addons to be able to use through their API as classes/objects.
Addons then can simply call these functions and interact with the game.


That's basically the gist of it

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Originally Posted by Saintly

Congratulation, spoke like a true peasant.

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Be nice. /doubt

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Originally Posted by Sylve

Open your HuD Layout.
Select your buff bar and hit the cog icon on the right of the dropdown box listing the Currently Selected UI Element.
In that new window, check the box marked [Split Element into 3 Groups]. https://gyazo.com/fac8eec576f5d95fa6abd34d0be43b5d
Then just adjust the settings for each group by scrolling the window down. Then when you save it and return to the main menu, you'll see new Status Info boxes, which you can move somewhere handy.

The most useful setting IMO, is [Display others Enhancements in Group 3]. This makes only your own buffs appear in the normal buff window and all buffs applied externally appear in another window.
This shot will show you what I mean. https://gyazo.com/306be0ec2ab175ea05e33b8e817683fb
On my left, you can see [Status Info: Enhancements], which is my own buffs. The box to its left, [Status Info: Others] will show externally applied buffs only and my debuffs are down next to my parameter bar as [Status Info: Enfeeblements]

Hope it helps.

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Sylve! You rock so hard! :cool::cool::cool:

Thank you for sharing. :D

**nominates Sylve for forum poster of the month**

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Originally Posted by ArashiStormbreaker

my experience in other MMOs is ... addon make the teamplay worse, really worse, they start as something "optional" and become "You must use those addon to play with us" ... so no. love have the actual system without those

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That's been my experience in WoW with add-ons like DBM. But, I'm talking about add-ons which are quality of life improvements.

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Originally Posted by Zfz

Whenever I feel like I want an add-on, it's really just because the built-in UI has something very lacking.

For example, I have a 3440x1440 yet I'm forced to use the same small area to display inventory in tabs as everyone else. I'm sure my CPU can handle something a lot more complex. Sometimes I also wish I had access to a list-form inventory. These can all be done easily via add-ons without impacting the baseline gameplay, as the official UI is always limited by the lowest spec the game is targeted to serve.

Other things like a list of daily/weekly to-do that is customizable. For example I do the weekly custom deliveries, but I don't bother myself with the beast tribe dailies nor the GC turn-ins. Or another player may only have GSM leveled and only care about the daily GC turn-in for GSM. A customizable to-do list will be able to display this information concisely, and maybe even create interactions that streamline the to-do process, such as clicking on the "Today's GSM turn-in is such-and-such item" to open up the crafting log at that specific item, ready to craft.

A lot of these small QoL improvements are being considered too insignificant and thus ignored by the developer. This is where the add-on community comes in.

So if I have to take a side, I'm on the side of allowing add-ons for these kind of features unrelated to combat. Either that, or expand the macro system a lot more to make such QoL improvements possible.

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Exactly. I feel the community can really help the developers in this regard. Macros are an interesting idea.

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Originally Posted by Kacho_Nacho

That's been my experience in WoW with add-ons like DBM.

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In all fairness, I don't see that as so different from groups here with "must have seen to X" or "must have cleared" or "must watch video x/y"

In both cases, those 'requirements' exist largely because those running the group find it easier to manage when people do those things. Also, in both cases, if you don't like it, you're not required to join those groups, and can even make your own without said requirements.

I've led groups in WoW, and while I've never made it a requirement for people to have certain addons (outside of one that made managing loot easier for a regular raid team in WoW)...I've also found that 99.999% of people who have a problem with said addons tend to drag the whole group down. Exceptions exist, of course, but they are just that: exceptions.

I've also helped lead groups in this game, and repeatedly seen players who didn't have a clear yet cause problems (again, not always), and sometimes that's not what a group is going for.

Further, this may be selection bias to a degree, but I've noticed far more people interested in and doing high-end content since these addons have become mainstream in WoW, and have found it significantly faster to find people interested in high-end content there as well (still find people here, just takes a bit longer). It's arguable that this might be due to said addons making the content easier (or at least appear such) to unlock the idea of such to a wider base of people.

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Originally Posted by galbsadi

In both cases, those 'requirements' exist largely because those running the group find it easier to manage when people do those things. Also, in both cases, if you don't like it, you're not required to join those groups, and can even make your own without said requirements.

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That's the main point I don't get. People whine because they got kicked from groups, or are not allowed to join. So why don't they just make their own party, without any "elitist jerks" and their requirements? Simple answer: They know that they need these elitist jerks to get a clear clear, bc in a party full of people who perform like they do,l they'll never clear. So around three corners all the complain threads are basically just subpar players trying to enforce rules that force better players to carry them by a) either hiding their bad performance or b) making it so that calling them out or removing them is a bannable offense, so you'd rather keep your mouth shut and drag their dead weight to a clear.

If i'm honest, it doesn't seem necessary.

As much as i loved Weak auras and Tellmewhen in wow to customise my UI, it is also something that put a player at an advantage compared to other players.

I think the game already gives you plenty of UI options. I don't see more customisation as necessary.

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Originally Posted by Nemmar

it is also something that put a player at an advantage compared to other players.

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Irrelevant, honestly.

I mean...

I'm potentially at an advantage over other players because I have a better internet connection (thanks Google Fiber!)...meaning I often have higher throughput and lower ping rates.

I'm potentially at an advantage over other players because I have a solid state drive in my PC...meaning I can literally load the game faster.

I'm potentially at an advantage over other players because I have a PC with two monitors...meaning I can literally have guides, etc. up while doing content.

I'm potentially at an advantage over other players because I have VoIP communication software (Discord)...meaning I can communicate things more quickly than they might otherwise be able to.

I'm potentially at an advantage over other players because I can afford to buy specific devices for my PC (such as a gaming keypad) that allow me to have a key layout that's easier to work with vs. a traditional keyboard.

I'm potentially at an advantage over other players because my mouse has more than 3 buttons...or potentially at a disadvantage vs. other players because it doesn't have 30.

I'm potentially an advantage over other players because my primary monitor is an ultrawide display (meaning I have about 30% more in-game screen real estate).

Note that all of these things are perfectly fine and valid per SE, as well. In fact, the most questionable of the entire bunch is likely the keypad at first glance...until you realize that SE themselves sells one (https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...d2ae26066c9412).

TL;DR: the 'advantage' line is, quite frankly...garbage.

I personally believe they just have no idea how to manage technical issues related to an API for players and that they're using the DPS meters as an excuse, there will never be add-ons for most likely more inept reasons. They promised to have add-ons with 2.x in the future, no way they'd have just stopped that just for a dps plugin which I'm sure if every last member of SE's FFXIV dev teams knows exists with or without their efforts.

So it's pointless to argue the little bits when it'll probably never happen.

I would rather have SE flesh out the HUD layouts more. So that I could do things like placing hp, mp, and buffs above peoples heads instead of dedicating a spot for them on my screen at all times.. This way, it would look like FFXII crossed with an actual mmo..
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...72/unknown.png

Im not a big fan of the party menu. Its annoying having to look at a 2d window in the middle of a fight. its unnatural. Its tucked away to the side of the screen out of focus. Putting it in the middle near my character looks awful. I want to watch animations and such. I want less active UI elements at a time.

Of course this is just a general concept. Im aware its hideous as is. Imagine if it had been drawn out by SE instead. lol.

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Originally Posted by Zsplash

I personally believe they just have no idea how to manage technical issues related to an API for players and that they're using the DPS meters as an excuse, there will never be add-ons for most likely more inept reasons. They promised to have add-ons with 2.x in the future, no way they'd have just stopped that just for a dps plugin which I'm sure if every last member of SE's FFXIV dev teams knows exists with or without their efforts.

So it's pointless to argue the little bits when it'll probably never happen.

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This is fair, and I do agree that it's not likely to happen due to API reasons, especially at this stage in the game.

That said, there is an advantage to the 'no API for it' factor...specifically being that we have more leeway to try and request the developers make the changes that we'd use addons for in other games to achieve.

For example, if I could get a nicer way to track my cooldowns and/or DOTs and/or buffs (rather than a tiny fraction of the screen), etc....I'd prefer it to be built-in rather than needing to hope an addon might cover that functionality.

Addons are, and always will be...a stopgap where the default UI doesn't cover what players are looking for.