WoW has declared ‘war’ on one of the MMORPG’s most useful extras, but Blizzard knows it’s up against an almost unbeatable titan. The company already has a plan to gradually remove community-made add-ons in favor of official Blizzard-designed alternatives.

If you’ve ever played World of Warcraft, you’ve probably installed an add-on – whether to streamline your gameplay, customize the interface, or unlock features that make exploring Azeroth smoother. For many players, these community creations are such an integral part of WoW that imagining the MMO without them seems impossible. But Blizzard is determined to shift the game’s direction: their vision is to ultimately replace nearly all add-ons with new, in-house systems.

It’s not happening overnight. In fact, Blizzard, the minds behind Diablo and StarCraft, have been discussing this for years. “You’ve got quest helpers, gathering add-ons, roleplay add-ons. Those don’t concern us,” game director Ion Hazzikostas told PC Gamer. “The real focus is on raid and PvP add-ons—especially those that predict what your opponent is about to do.”

Obviously, these add-ons give users a clear advantage, which is exactly why Blizzard is targeting them first; but there’s no need to worry about mods that just tell you which mob you’re fighting. The initial crackdown is on tools that display cooldowns and other info that help players anticipate certain actions. Ultimately, Blizzard wants players to feel that add-ons just aren’t necessary.

“The goal is that, at some point, if someone asks you, ‘Do I need add-ons to play the game?’ we can honestly say, ‘They offer a ton of customization, but no—you don’t have to use them.’ Right now, though, that just isn’t true,” Hazzikostas admits. This, he adds, will be the toughest battle Blizzard faces: convincing millions of longtime players that they no longer need tools they’ve relied on for years.

The WoW Community Fires Back

Getting rid of add-ons is a long-term “philosophical” project, and World of Warcraft’s vocal fanbase will have a lot to say about it. “Add-ons have been part of the game since the very beginning. If we just ripped off the band-aid one day, it’d be shocking,” Hazzikostas says. So why is Blizzard pushing for this change? The reason is simple: success in the hardest raids and dungeons now depends on using a suite of add-ons.

“Add-ons have been part of the game since the very beginning. If we just ripped off the band-aid one day, it’d be shocking.”

Players testing The War Within expansion have already seen some of these new systems in action, like Blizzard’s new Cooldown Manager—though it’s drawn plenty of criticism for its simplicity and lack of customization. “We know we’re not replacing a fully customizable add-on you’ve used for years with something basic out of the gate,” Hazzikostas explains. “But we’re getting tons of feedback on how to improve it. We need to offer more customization and make it a real alternative for serious players.”

The Blizzard director also points out that most add-ons won’t be impacted by these changes and welcomes collaboration with add-on devs: “Anything is possible. I don’t want to close any doors,” he says. “We’re always listening. The hope is that the things we build can be tweaked and enhanced by those same developers.”

What Is Blizzard’s Endgame Here?

Ultimately, Blizzard isn’t trying to wipe out add-ons just for the sake of it—they want WoW to offer all the info and features that dedicated players need, right out of the box. “The goal is to bring the default UI closer to what competitive players expect from their add-ons. But there will always be features that we honestly don’t think are healthy for the game.”

Some add-ons, the devs say, can ruin the fun of iconic boss fights—like the Blood Queen Lana’thel encounter, which used to be chaotic and thrilling until tools like WeakAura made everything predictable. “No stress, no confusion, no need to communicate or ask for backup. What was once frantic and exciting in 2009 became pretty dull by 2010,” Hazzikostas recalls.

Blizzard isn’t anti-add-on across the board. Instead, they want to revive the spirit of problem-solving. “The goal of our mechanics is to create problems that need solutions, and overcoming a real challenge is genuinely satisfying.” Players should be solving these themselves, not letting a downloaded algorithm do it for them, he adds. “We want players to rely on their own skills—not just automation.”

Since The War Within got even the most hardcore veterans back on board, Blizzard is forging ahead with the Worldsoul Saga trilogy, with more details coming soon during summer gaming events. After delving into the earth in The War Within, what awaits in Midnight and The Last Titan? WoW fans are counting down the days to find out.

Source: 3djuegos