Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsAddOn Spotlight: TellMeWhen
by Mathew McCurley 
May 6th 2010 at 11:00AM
Welcome, friends! Since the Cataclysm friends and family hoo-hah was announced, all anyone wants to talk about is the future. "Future this" and "Deathwing that." Enough! Live your lives in the moment. What better way to live in the moment than have an addon help you know when things will be ready? TellMeWhen might be able to help you.
Continuing my theme of Power Auras-like addons until next week's audience participation Power Auras bonanza, I wanted to give you fine readers a heads up on the sister addon to last week's NeedToKnow. NTK is excellent for those of us who enjoy the bar form buff/debuff/ability tracker. For the more icon-inclined, we have TellMeWhen.
TellMeWhen is an excellent addon because of its simplicity and straightforwardness. I love using TellMeWhen on my rogue, which I will get to in a little bit with a simple demonstration of the addon. Personally, I recommend this addon for people who are more visual with their buffs and debuffs. My rogue, for instance, tracks Slice and Dice as an icon directly under my character. If the big Slice and Dice icon is not visible, it means I am failing as a rogue and need to reapply the buff.
TellMeWhen is easy to configure and is just robust enough to be very useful while still being non-threatening. Setting up a TellMeWhen icon is easy. Here's an example using my rogue's simple Slice and Dice icon. First, use the slash command /tellmewhen or /tmw to unlock the button bars and enter configuration mode. Remember, the bars and settings you enter will not activate until you lock the addon by typing /tellmewhen or /tmw again.
Next, right-click on one of the empty buttons and select "Choose spell/item/buff/etc." From here, you will enter the buff, debuff, etc., that you wish to track. It is crucial that you input the name of the spell as it is presented in game, capitalization and spacing intact. If you are unsure of how to type the ability, or the ability is a different effect than the name of the spell or trinket, use Wowhead to search for the spell and find the Spell ID. The Spell ID can be inserted in place of the name.
Finally, select your options. Enabling the icon shows the spell's icon, and selecting Show Timer animates the graphic much like how cooldowns are animated on action bars. Other options allow you to set where the buff or debuff looks to find out if a spell is active. This is particularly useful for abilities that go out to the group, but might not necessarily be showing up as cast by you or on your target.
The addon doesn't just track buffs or debuffs, as I have stated above. Users can track the cooldown on trinkets as well, making TellMeWhen a one-stop shop for visual indicators for any class. On my shaman, a TellMeWhen icon for Earth Shield is visible whenever Earth Shield is not on the tank. TellMeWhen supports my favorite addon ever, ButtonFacade -- so do not be alarmed, visual purists. Preset presence and stance support is also included.
TellMeWhen is another excellent addon in the same family as Power Auras and NeedToKnow. These addons are extremely helpful in keeping tabs on your abilities and helping maximize DPS and item management. The addon is much deeper in scope and scale than my simple example above, and with a little playing around, it's a powerful tool.
Download TellMeWhen at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
We got some more mailbag, ya'll.
Mat,
I have been looking for a certain addon for a few months now and have no idea what the name of it is! It's a health bar addon which shows health/mana (rage, etc) as well as a 3D animation graphic of your toon's head. Do you know which addon this is?
Thanks
Ebic
You are most likely thinking about Pitbull. These unit frames are extremely customizable and include an element called "portrait." Portraits can be static 2D images or a 3D model rendering of the targeted character. I am usually not a fan of the 3D model portrait, but some user interfaces make incredible use of them. The trick is to be creative with portraits to add something to your UI other than just flair.
Mat,
I was interested in an article on why users might want to install addons. I have some friends who I recently introduced to WoW. They are really enjoying it but neither have any addons installed. They've asked why someone would want to use addons over the default interface and my biggest reason was that the default interface does not provide people with certain information that can be made available through addons.
I thought this might be a good read for new users who maybe aren't interested in a new look and feel, but don't know that some addons might provide them with vital information that could improve their playstyle or make them more effective at DPSing, tanking, or healing.
Aaron
You and me both, Aaron, which is why I'm working on a top secret little project that should be up soon answering just those questions for someone new to World of Warcraft. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a new player is inundated with addon suggestions from veterans. Well-meaning veterans, of course -- they just want to impart knowledge and give these new people all the tools that they believe are necessary. However, people need to understand the basic language of addons first, like what they do and why they are needed. Once that foundation is set, you can begin to discuss the best addons for the job. Stay tuned for that one.
And, again, finally ...
Tomorrow is the final day to get in your Power Auras contest submission!
Power Auras needs you (to win this contest!)
Power Auras is a big deal for many people. It's one of those addons that fundamentally changed the way I played World of Warcraft. This addon has an amazing following, so let's do something awesome utilizing that fan fervor.
Two weeks from today, I want to do a big spotlight on Power Auras. We have done a Power Auras spotlight in the past, but this time around we are going to get not only my insight into my favorite uses for Power Auras, but the community's as well. And here's the best part -- when you submit an entry for our little Power Auras expose, it's your entry into winning a WoW TCG loot card! The powers that be have given me both a Tiny and Party G.R.E.N.A.D.E. cards, so two random contributors will get a card.
Here's the deal. Submit your favorite uses for Power Auras, including the actual code if you would like (it helps), by Friday, May 7, 2010. Sending in multiples doesn't get you a better chance -- just one entry per person. Let's see if we can pool lots of community resources together and make a really awesome repository of Power Auras for all the people our there who don't know how incredibly awesome this addon is.
Send your Power Auras ideas/submissions/code to mat@wow.com, with Power Auras in the subject. See you all next week!
Addons are what we do on Addon Spotlight. Last week, we took a look at sister-to-TellMeWhen, NeedToKnow. Both work really well together, or apart, or side by side! Like good sisters. Maybe? I never had a sister. And remember, Addon Spotlight is fueled by viewers like you, so if you have a mod you think we should take a look at, email Mat at mat@wow.com. Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Lokradu May 6th 2010 12:03PM
It's not about having it play for you. It's about dealing with information overload. I play better when I can easily see that this buff or that debuff is active without having to sift through 20 icons next to my minimap. This mod will only benefit those players who already know their class well and just want to play better.
Spencer Gardner May 6th 2010 12:48PM
I respectfully disagree, Cynea and Lokradu. Addons like these, and yes I have used them, remove an important skillset from the player base. Situational awareness is already low, and only goes down further with this type of automation. You could train a monkey to dps with these addons. "Press 5 when you see red, Mr Peaches."
lieandswell May 6th 2010 1:13PM
Personally, I prefer a game where most of the skill is in responding to boss and class mechanics to decide what abilities to use when. Blizzard clearly wants a large part of playing your class to be about keeping the right buffs up on yourself, the right debuffs up on your enemy, and reacting appropriately to procs. Playing a complicated version of "Where's Waldo: UI edition" is not my idea of fun.
Cyanea May 6th 2010 1:17PM
Really? What is that skillset exactly? The ability to sift through thirty debuffs in a split second? The ability to distinguish a 10x10 pixel from two dozen other 10x10 pixels that are constantly changing/moving as buffs and debuffs drop off and are applied? I'm sorry...but that doesn't count as a skillset to me...that's an annoyance. PowerAuras and the like let me, and others ignore that annoying task and focus on the skillsets that actually matter: healing, DPSing, or tanking the raid.
AltairAntares May 6th 2010 1:20PM
For me the game isn't about how difficult I can make it, it's about killing raid bosses together with my guildies, it's about having a fun time with them. Peering at little pictures to try to figure out of ES is down isn't really part of that for me.
Pirim May 6th 2010 1:48PM
I didn't see anything against Cyanea's arguments. Looking for some or other buff or debuff on this or that frame is not situational awareness, it is poor UI design. Cyanea was talking about healing, in this part default UI is simply unusable.
DPS can get away with the default UI, but try telling raiding affliction warlock or shadow priest to get rid of Event Horizon or whatever addon they (without doubt) using. They'll laugh at you.
Maybe you are one of those people who didn't want mounts on level 20. The game became too easy, didn't it? And in Cataclysm UI will be rebuilt — this is bad too, because we just started to like breaking our eyes with the default silent player frames and combet text right in the middle.
lieandswell May 6th 2010 12:13PM
It's like WoW.com is raining love.
lieandswell May 6th 2010 12:15PM
Heart all the authors (Kitjan, Bilt, orbenn, Oooze) who took up my poor addons when i neglected them, then made them better.
Elvalon May 6th 2010 12:32PM
Funny, I had just started using this on my DK a few days again when I switched to frost. It makes it extremely obviously when your proc's are up, and I love it for that. But I set it up to work with diseases too so I could track when they're about to fall off, was working fine when questing and doing dungeons, although theirs problems if in raids with multiple DK's.
When I apply diseases, the addon tracks the debuff on the mobs, but If there are multiple DK's it doesn't track MY specific diseases, making it pretty worthless. Not sure if there's an addon that can do this properly, though.
Just a heads up.
Brian May 6th 2010 12:42PM
Pitbull has options that pertain only to the buffs and debuffs you applied.
Lokradu May 6th 2010 12:47PM
@evalon According to one of the screenshots above, it's got an option that says "show only if cast by self". Perhaps that's what you're looking for?
Elvalon May 6th 2010 12:56PM
Wow, I feel dumb. I didn't even see that. Thanks, Lokradu! Yep, this worked perfectly.
Prissa May 6th 2010 12:56PM
I think you'll find that in the option for each (de)buff that there is a checkbox for "only show if applied by self"
This means that for something like my fire mage, I can untick this option for the scorch debuff where it doesn't matter who has applied it, as long as it is there, as opposed to my spriest where I have it checked for all my dots to appear only if I have cast them, and not other people.
Namdrof May 6th 2010 1:36PM
I would also think that, like PowerAuras, there is an option to only check for buffs / debuffs that are applied by you. I use PowerAuras for this very same thing.
You said you used it to see when they are about to fall off... does it let you set a time-left notification or does it just show once they actually fall off?
Prissa May 6th 2010 3:19PM
@ Namdrof
Yes I'm an avid user of TMW, I use it on all my toons, I find that I just don't need anything else because it IS that versatile. The example given in the article is a very basic one showing only a very small part of what it can do.
You can select a buff or debuff to monitor on yourself, your target, your focus, target's target, focus's target etc. To show when it is present, not present, a timer on it, that spell is on cd, is just procced, anything you could want to monitor, I can almost guarantee it can do. It all just depends on how you set it up, and if a tech nub like myself can do it, I guarantee anyone else can as well.
My current project is trying to have it read if weakened soul is up on my focus's target (current boss tank) so I don't have to set one tank as my focus in a tank switching fight. This hasn't worked for me yet, but I see no reason for it not to, if anyone has any ideas...
Spencer Gardner May 6th 2010 1:28PM
Situational Awareness is the skillset I was referring to, it's right there in my post, but I guess there isn't an addon that reads comments for you and picks out the important details.
It's not about where your icons are, There are addons that do not automate the game, Xperl for instance, that allow the player to filter what buffs show up. I'm fine with improving the look of the UI and the information it presents, but this takes it too far, in my opinion. Rather than simply "TellYou" this addon will "TellYouWhen," meaning that instead of paying attention to all aspects of the fight, you are simply waiting for a chime and a light to tell you when to push a button. If you like a game telling you how to play, then more power to you, I prefer to play a game with my own skills and experience taking the lead, not a stimulus->reaction experiment.
lieandswell May 6th 2010 1:51PM
For what it's worth, TellMeWhen comes with no presets. It's up to the player to decide what they want the addon to tell them, and how. If it's a stimulus/reaction experiment, then the player is both subject and scientist.
sherekhan88 May 6th 2010 1:54PM
Cat DPS rotation required so much debuff/buff notification that Blizz themselves acknowledged that the default interface was simply inadequate and that addons were required because the default debuff/buff placement and setup simply didn't tell the player enough.
Skilled feral cat dps would know that they DO have to watch out for a ton of their debuffs/buffs, and that they DO have to use addons like this to perform at their peak.
TellMeWhen tells me if Killing Machine has procced or Rime has procced. It's up to my decision to a) decide if I have enough Runic Power b) Wait for a KM proc instead of using up Rime straight away and c) it's far better than just staring at the small debuff icons on my target window.
Right now, all you're nitpicking about is the size and placement of a debuff/buff icon. That's it. If you want to squint, that's your prerogative. Me, I like the ability to actually know what's happening around me without the need for tunnel vision (especially when I switch to Tanking).
JC_Icefox May 6th 2010 2:20PM
Before I pick you apart for being such a self- important ignoramus, I'd like to point out that I have never run with more than 5 addons at any given time, one of which is Peggle. You don't have to preach to me about self-awareness.
To put it bluntly, it is none of your god damn business what add ons people choose to download and implement. As was already stated, Feral cats have the JOHNEFFINMADDEN syndrome, and Blizzard has publicly stated that the flat Default UI is insufficient for them and other specs to get maximum output. Regardless of that, people can put any addon to work that they want, even if it just becomes an exercise in external stimuli reaction. As a rogue alt, I am FAR more incensed with the default UI than my shaman because of all the little boggling details you have to be aware of. I don't want hand holding, I want simplicity.
That said, please, don't let me stop toyon your noble crusade. My suggestion, call a boycott on running with people that use DBM for example, see how many dungeon runs you end up in.
Finally, I feel obliged to point out in all it's 'lolirony' your utter failure at replying. Looks like those 'awareness skills' are utmost, champ. Might I suggest an addon that helps you find the right button?
Cyanea May 6th 2010 3:05PM
Yet they're still tiny, in a place that's inconvenient to look at, and I STILL have to target the tank to find out buff status, regardless of how they're filtered. More UI bullshit that I shouldn't have to deal with, distracting me from HEALING MY RAID. In today's twitchy raid environment, precious seconds with my eyes away from Grid and what's directly in front of my character can mean tank death.
Next argument please.