Addon discussion

[raelgun]

Q: Could you tell us what you can about the progress of add-ons?

A: I apologize that this is taking a while.

Since there have been a lot of discussions about DPS meters, we have been putting it aside.

We had been working on add-ons originally with the goal of implementing it half a year after the launch of A Realm Reborn; however, we were looking at features that would not create any inequalities between PC and PlayStation users and one of the reasons why we are behind on this is due to the lack of room to do certain things on the PlayStation, which was more than we had envisioned. Because of this, we have been prioritizing the implementation of other expanded features.

Seriously SE, really?

At least tell us what stage you are at with this and exactly what issues has the playstations or Sony have been giving you, this is crap, a proper answer is needed yet you will answer fluff questions in full.

[RyuSaarva]

why do people want them so badly, the thing I would really like is new chocobo stables which do not look like they were made by a drunk dad.

[Transmigration]

why do people want them so badly, the thing I would really like is new chocobo stables which do not look like they were made by a drunk dad.

As an often drunk dad, I just realized I have quite a few structures on my property that may advertise my um.. frequent enjoyment of beverages.

[Khalithar]

why do people want them so badly

I can understand this statement from folks that don't know just how awesome addons can be and how much the right ones can improve your experience with a game. I will give you a few examples of addons and why they want them:

1. DPS meters- these are very useful for raid groups to see if they have the dps to beat a certain encounter. While yes, there are players that think meters are the end all be all, good players know that a dps meter's results should be interpreted based on the fight and having an accurate readout of where you stand can really motivate someone to get better.

2. Chat addons- I don't know how bad the RMT situation is on your server, but on my server you will get dozens of tells every minute from RMT. WoW for example has a few addons that add extra filters to your chat and automatically block whispers based on words you set, the level of the person, and any other number of parameters you indicate. It blocks these whispers without even telling you and really improves the experience for a game that has a lot of spammers, like this one for example.

3. Combat addons- The UI editor this game has right now isn't horrible, but there are those who really like to go crazy and mod their UI in some crazy ways to make life easier or just for fun. I'll give you an example of a UI addon that WoW has, it's called Healbot, it adds a special raid frame that shows your party and allows you to just click that person's name to cast a spell on them without needing to actually target them. So if multiple people are taking damage, you can click their name and cast the spell rather than needing to target them THEN cast a spell. It's a small difference but it's really noticeable in practice, you can target the boss and heal without ever targeting anything else but the boss.

4. Gathering addons- This is another thing that could be done with this game that also has similar style of addons in other games, basically what it would do is show you the spawn time (in minutes/seconds) of when something was going to spawn. Imagine having that instead of having to look at the clock as a gatherer. Instead of saying "oh it's 1am eorzea time that node spawns at 5am" the addon would say "5am unspoiled node spawns X minutes Y seconds).

The whole point of addons is to improve quality of life and help get rid of those little nitpicks people have about the game or it's UI or just for fun. A friend of mine for example, downloaded an addon that played comic book style sound boxes and made cartoon sound effects whenever he got a critical hit or used a cooldown. He showed me it and it was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen. Addons are a fantastic thing that can really improve your gaming experience.

Edit:

why would you ever want to open a new window and play other games?

I had an addon that let me play Bejeweled while in another MMO. It was a fantastic way to pass the time while waiting on a dps queue, it also popped up automatically if you died to give you something to do while waiting for a rez or a respawn timer to finish, you could of course toggle it off at any time.

[Priya]

Since there have been a lot of discussions about DPS meters, we have been putting it aside.

What does this even mean?

[Kaurie]

What does this even mean?

A different translation I read said

First off, sorry for the delay. If they are going to be added, they will not play too much with the functionality too much. It will be mostly for aesthetic.
We do not want players to be required to use addons such as DPS meters. If we allow those everyone will require them most likely.
If they add addons it will likely be in 4.0.

[Colorful]

If they add addons it will likely be in 4.0.

I have very little reason to believe they'll add them in 4.0. It was the same in 3.0 and they claimed that Heavensward UI elements took priority, why would it be any different for 4.0? At this point it feels like nothing but a carrot on a stick that we're chasing endlessly, if they have no interest in getting it done in a timely manner, don't keep promising "likely" dates.

[raelgun]

A different translation I read said

First off, sorry for the delay. If they are going to be added, they will not play too much with the functionality too much. It will be mostly for aesthetic.
We do not want players to be required to use addons such as DPS meters. If we allow those everyone will require them most likely.
If they add addons it will likely be in 4.0.

Yet following this, they still claimed that playstion or sony are holding them back, no mmo has had everyone require dps addons, this is just bullshit and looking for excuses to gloss over the restriction that sony has given them.

[MrSmiley]

Yet following this, they still claimed that playstion or sony are holding them back, no mmo has had everyone require dps addons, this is just bullshit and looking for excuses to gloss over the restriction that sony has given them.

I have endlessly seen the players requiring everyone else to use "X addon" in other mmos, kicking people over it, making weird addons to track statistics on each person. Simply ignoring them is not an option as over itme it grows and eventually takes over. I am glad to not see them, the games ui is functional and good, though I do hope they continue to improve on it as there are curiously basic things missing, I do not think addons will be worth it in the *long* run.

[raelgun]

I have endlessly seen the players requiring everyone else to use "X addon" in other mmos, kicking people over it, making weird addons to track statistics on each person. Simply ignoring them is not an option as over itme it grows and eventually takes over. I am glad to not see them, the games ui is functional and good, though I do hope they continue to improve on it as there are curiously basic things missing, I do not think addons will be worth it in the *long* run.

The only people who will ask people to use certain addons are serious raiding guilds, which you should have to start with when applying, I have never seen random groups ever kick someone for not having addons, you can't track others having addons which means you are lieing and just trying to scare monger people.