mods (WoW)
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This page should be adjusted to not specifically include individual mods that may become out of date, or simply be favorites of the writer in question |
Mod is short for modification. Mods, also called add-ons, are extra additions made to your game to adjust your user interface to better suit your needs. Mods are usually designed to do one particular thing, and you may have quite a few of them running at the same time.
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Types of Add-ons
Most mods fall into one of a few categories:
- Display mods - These change the way the interface actually shows on your screen, in case you would like to change the layout of the interface or alter the fonts used in the game.
- Information mods - These add-ons are used to display information that is either not anywhere in the default UI, or is hard to see. Healers often use a mod that allows them to better recognize who in the party is injured, for example. Most very popular mods fall under this category.
- Streamlining mods - All mods allow the player to do things more easily, but these mods actually let you *DO* things more easily. They don't just tell you what's going on, they actually help you do it. Considering many of these mods in the past have bordered on automation, Blizzard has significantly reduced the effectiveness of add-ons in this category, but some do still exist.
Please note that mods are created by people who know how to program in Lua and XML; but only use functions that are allowed within the game. In other words, the use of any particular mod should not be a bannable offense regardless of what it does. However, there is another type of modification called a hack that is against the Terms of Service. There are external programs that help influence the way the game operates or allow your character to operate without a physical presence behind the keyboard, and almost always do things that Blizzard does not allow. Use of such hacks are a great way to get yourself banned. (Otherwise, why wouldn't you just make a mod instead?)
Installation of Mods
Incorporating a mod into your WoW gaming is not especially difficult. In general, using a mod requires the following steps:
- Locate a mod on the Internet that you want to use.
- Download it to the Interface folder in your World of Warcraft folder. (It should have its own folder that will go in the Interface folder.)
- Unzip the file in your /Interfaces/Addons directory (some will put it there, others will not).
- To unzip you can use a program called FreeZip (google for it) or you can buy WinZip. Other unpacking options include 7-zip for Windows and UnRarX for Macs. Another good program for unzipping files is called WinRar, the free download lasts a long time and is extremely easy to use.
- Start World of Warcraft, and click on the "Addons" button on the character select screen.
- The new mod should be listed in the checklist that appears. Make sure that it is checked.
- Make sure the "Load Out-of-Date" option is checked. (Some mods will work even if they are not up-to-date. It is in your best interest to keep your mods current)
- Enter the world.
The mod should be functioning at that point. Note that you can use a mod for some characters and not others using a pulldown on the add-ons menu. There may be silver check marks on the checklist that indicate a mod that is being used for other characters, but not the one selected. Also, if you decide to do away with a mod, it is as simple as returning to the add-ons menu and clicking the mod off.
Some mods are very obvious when they are first used, some create an activation button around the edge of the minimap, some add options to the Addons portion of the "Interface" menu, accessed by pressing the "ESC" key, and others need to be controlled by slash commands. Most mods come with a small readme file, so if it isn't obvious how to use a mod, you should probably check the readme.
Finding Mods
There are many websites that specialize in hosting mods for various games. The following is an incomplete list of sites that house mods for World of Warcraft:
Keeping your Mods up to date
Now that you have found and installed all of the mods that you need for your World of Warcraft experience, you are going to need to take some time to make sure that they stay current. While many mods will work if they are out-of-date, it is recommended that you keep everything current to prevent unexpected bugs or glitches. Out of Date Mods can also slow down gameplay significantly. Also, from time to time Blizzard will change or disable LUA functions, which can cause game errors from out-of-date mods.
There are multiple options available to you for keeping your mods current. Most mod sites have clients you can download, which will check your installed mods and automatically update them. One of the most popular versions is the WoWAceUpdater. This program (available for both Windows and Macs) will keep any Ace-based mod installed on your system up to date.
Creating Mods/Add-ons
Different Types of Mods
Add-ons cover a lot of ground, from HUDs (Heads Up Displays) and GUIs to gathering mods for the various professions. Listed here are some of the more common or popular mods people use. As always, your mileage will vary when surfing the net for that "perfect" add-on for your client.
Action Bars
- Trinity - Unlimited Buttons for player yummyness.
- Bartender3 - Bartender3 is an Ace2 AddOn that provides more flexibility and functionality to your Action Buttons.
- Dominos - Dominos is the continuation of the extremely popular "Bongos" line of main action bar replacement AddOns. Dominos is easy to set up and understand and is extremely customizable to the user's tastes.
Combat and Raid Add-ons
- BigWigs Bossmods - BigWigs is a boss mod. It consists of many individual modules, mini add-ons designed to trigger alert messages and timer bars for specific raid bosses. The module is activated when you target or mouseover a Boss.
- Deadly Boss Mods - A great little add-on for boss fights, raids and instancing. For example, tells you when to look out for that cave in at Gruul's Lair or when to collapse on the Eagle Boss in Zul'Aman. They even have a new website!
- DrDamage - DrDamage displays the calculated, average damage or healing of abilities with talents, gear and buffs included on your actionbar buttons.
- KLHThreatMeter - Similar to Omen, this threat meter was in heavy use prior to TBC and, according to Curse, "KLHThreatMeter is like a damage meter, except it records your threat. By monitoring all the abilities you use and checking your talents, armour set bonuses and buffs, the addon can recreate the threat list of a mob. This makes tank transitions simple, and allows DPS to maximise their damage without pulling aggro..."
- Omen Threat Meter - Omen is a threat meter. Basically, mobs decide who to attack by deciding who is the most threatening based on the abilities you use. What Omen attempts to do is provide reasonably accurate estimates of your group's relative threat level on individual enemies, so that you can see when you're in danger of pulling aggro.
- Recount - Recount is a damage meter designed as a raid analysis tool and it tends to provide better information so you can improve performance. This is achieved via using graphs to better convey information than normal to show time based data or pie charts to get a better sense of proportions.
- TauntMaster - TauntMaster is a threat management addon designed for tanks. It displays a button/healthbar for each party or raid member that shows their current aggro level. Simply click the button of a party member to taunt their target off of them. Works for Paladins, Warriors, Druids, and Death Knights.
General Use Add-ons
- Auctioneer - The Auctioneer Suite is a full service sales and purchasing powerhouse, while still remaining light weight, due to its modular design. Auctioneer helps you to determine an item's "Market Price" when you are buying or selling items on the Auction House, displays the prices NPC vendors will pay for items - even when not at the vendor, helps you find items that are posted under their "going rate", so that you can purchase and resell them, clearly shows which items are used in each quest, and much, much more. The main site offers tips, tricks, and advice when buying and selling items in-game and volunteers provide support for those with questions about the Auctioneer Suite. The complete source code is also available. For more, visit AuctioneerAddOn.Com.
- Cartographer - Cartographer is a modular, lightweight framework for the world map, amongst other things.
- Chinchilla - Chinchilla - the Minimap addon of chewy awesomeness.
- ClosetGnome - A gnome helper that keeps your wardrobe organized. Or at least the little guy tries to.
- Group Calendar - Group Calendar allows guilds or groups of friends to share an in-game event calendar. The guild can post raid events and members can post events for dungeons they need to do quests for.
- ItemRack - This is a mod to make swapping equipment easier through popout slot menus, equip slot buttons, gear sets and automated swaps.
- LightHeaded - LightHeaded is a very simple addon that displays quest information and comments from WoW Head in game, eliminating the need to Alt-Tab when you get stuck on quest.
- Outfitter - Outfitter allows you to create multiple outfits and equip them with a click of your mouse. You can layer outfits, create outfits optimized for a particular attribute (ie, fire resist or maximum defense), and have outfits which automatically equip based on events like mounting up, stealthing or changing stances and forms.
- RatingBuster - RatingBuster started out as an addon that converts combat ratings in your tooltips into percentages, so that you have more meaningful information when comparing different items.
- Titan Panel - Titan Panel adds a control panel bar on the top and/or bottom of the screen and allows a framework for extensive plugin support.
Profession Related Add-ons
- LilSparky's Workshop - LilSparky's Workshop (LSW) adds pricing information for trade skills into the actual "Trade Skill" frame. This not only provides prices derived from the venerable Auctioneer AddOn for items on the Auction House, it also provides the pricing for items available from NPC vendors. LSW then puts that information together to show you whether an item is worth making for a profit on the Auction House, by using the disenchanting skill to sell the base materials, or from selling an item to an NPC vendor.
- Fishing Buddy - There are two actual add-ons -- the second one, OutfitDisplayFrame, handles the pretty pane to set up your fishing outfit. The OutfitDisplayFrame addon can be safely left out if you already have a preferred equipment manager.
- Recipe Book - RecipeBook is a mod that allows you to browse tradeskill recipes with one alt and see whether your other alts know it. Be advised, this is still in Beta Status so you may get some odd behavior.
Unit Frames
- Fubar 3.0 - A panel that modules can plug into. And boy are there a LOT of mudules for this one. Fishing, fighting, gui, you name it and fubar probably has it. In fact, we have 3 pages over at MMOInterface.com on just this add-on alone.
- Grid - Grid is a modular, lightweight and screen-estate saving grid of party/raid unit frames.
- X-Perl Unit Frames - A much enchanced version of Nymbia's Perl UnitFrames, and a complete replacement for Blizzard's default unit frames, including raid frames and raid tools, with many additions and improvements over the original Nymbia code.
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