Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
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Seattle, Washington USA - http://www.gimpguy.com
The Creamy GUI Center: Big bag blowout Part III
by
Matthew Porter
on Aug 2nd 2008 (4 years ago)
I'm back this week to finish our look at inventory manager addons. In the last two parts we looked at addons that helped you organize and sort your inventory. Now we know exactly where to find that nifty new doodad you just got but how do you quickly equip it when you need it? We'll solve that question this week with a look at addons that help you swap equipment around in the thick of adventuring. With so many items that have a particular use,, the addons reviewed this week will hopefully take some of the hassle out of using them. And for those classes that have different sets of gear for different occasions, these addons will help you out the most. So let's get right into it with a look at outfit and gear managers.
Filed under: Add-Ons, Features, The Creamy GUI Center
Breakfast Topic: Your online social life
by
Matthew Porter
on Jul 31st 2008 (4 years ago)
One of the best (and sometimes worst) things about online gaming are the people and the connections you make with them. Everyone who logs in has at least one thing in common with everyone else, we all play World of Warcraft. A small common interest is sometimes all it takes to bridge the gap between people and become friends. So this morning I'm interested in how you view the people you play WoW with. Are they just another member of your guild who you log in with for an hour or so a day, or something more? Does your guild or online community have real life get togethers? Have your online friends ever became close real life friends, or even perhaps a significant other? I'm interested in hearing your take on managing online friends with your offline persona.
Myself? I started online gaming back in the Quake 1 Team Fortress days, moved on to Everquest and Dark Age of Camelot, and now WoW. To this day I still game and talk with a handful of my old clan members. In WoW, I've been fortunate enough to still be in the same guild I was in on day 1. I've known some of these people as long if not longer than some of my offline friends. Managing the relationships forged online versus off can sometimes be difficult, can you truely know someone without having ever met them face to face? Let's hear your stories and thoughts!
A small common interest is sometimes all it takes to bridge the gap between people and become friends. So this morning I'm interested in how you view the people you play WoW with. Are they just another member of your guild who you log in with for an hour or so a day, or something more? Does your guild or online community have real life get togethers? Have your online friends ever became close real life friends, or even perhaps a significant other? I'm interested in hearing your take on managing online friends with your offline persona. Myself? I started online gaming back in the Quake 1 Team Fortress days, moved on to Everquest and Dark Age of Camelot, and now WoW. To this day I still game and talk with a handful of my old clan members. In WoW, I've been fortunate enough to still be in the same guild I was in on day 1. I've known some of these people as long if not longer than some of my offline friends. Managing the relationships forged online versus off can sometimes be difficult, can you truely know someone without having ever met them face to face? Let's hear your stories and thoughts!
Filed under: Virtual selves, Breakfast Topics
Breakfast Topic: Changing talent spec?
by
Matthew Porter
on Jul 29th 2008 (4 years ago)
If you're anything like me, ever since the beta talents for Wrath of the Lich King were leaked, you've been going to your favorite talent planner and seeing what new spells and abilities you're going to get. A few days ago we asked what new talents got you excited, but now that you've had more time to study the new talent trees, do you see a respec in your future?
We all know that beta means any and all talents could be shuffled around, buffed / nerfed, or even removed completely, but knowing what we do at this very moment, what's your game plan? Will you fine tune your existing spec or completely change your play style and try a new tree?
Myself, I'm eager to learn exactly what "exotic pets" are going to be, but I really like the extra pet talent points, so my Beast Master Hunter looks like he's staying put. Just incase though I've mapped out an appealing Marksmanship build that might be a nice change of pace. My Mage on the other hand might be forsaking his fellow Ice Mage brethren for an Arcane build. That tree recieved a lot of love and looks really interesting and new. Finally, my Enhancement Shaman my just be shelved if Death Knight looks as fun as it seems to be. So what are you leaning towards? New build? New class? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Talents
The Creamy GUI Center: Big bag blowout Part II
by
Matthew Porter
on Jul 19th 2008 (4 years ago)
Each week Matthew Porter contributes The Creamy GUI Center, a column aimed at helping you enhance your WoW experience by offering an in depth guide to addons, macros and other tools we use to play WoW, along with commentary on issues that affect how we all play.
Filed under: Add-Ons, Features, The Creamy GUI Center
The Creamy GUI Center: Big bag blowout
by
Matthew Porter
on Jul 5th 2008 (4 years ago)
Each week Matthew Porter contributes The Creamy GUI Center, a column aimed at helping you enhance your WoW experience by offering an in depth guide to addons, macros and other tools we use to play WoW, along with commentary on issues that affect how we all play.
Welcome folks to this week's The Creamy GUI Center. This week I tackle one of the great suggestions left by you the reader in the comment's section. We're gunna examine bag replacements and inventory managers in a special two part series. This week we'll see how to organize your inventory with bag replacement addons. And in the following week we'll look at which addons help you change gear around for different situations. But let's not put the cart ahead of the horse, first we have to organize all that equipment, so let's get to it!
Filed under: Add-Ons, Features, The Creamy GUI Center
Breakfast topic: Keeping track of WoW
by
Matthew Porter
on Jun 30th 2008 (4 years ago)
Let's face it, World of Warcraft is a big game. Nine classes with a new one on the way, ten races, each with all unique spells and abilities, over fifty zones to explore and soon a new continent, each with more quests, baddies, and precious loot than we can count. With so many details a virtual world like WoW has, just how the heck do you keep track of everything? Everyone has certain goals in mind for their characters.
Do you go for the casual approach and just store it in your noggin? Or maybe you've lined your monitor with so many sticky notes you can barely see your character. Perhaps you're the obsessively anal type and keep a notebook binder or excel document handy at all times? Myself, I'm guilty of using an online application called Backpack to keep my profession notes and wish lists in order. Share with us in the comments how you keep track of all your WoW information!
ch with all unique spells and abilities, over fifty zones to explore and soon a new continent, each with more quests, baddies, and precious loot than we can count. With so many details a virtual world like WoW has, just how the heck do you keep track of everything? Everyone has certain goals in mind for their characters.- Be a master of a certain profession
- Be exalted reputation with certain factions
- Quests you want to go back and do (I'm with you completionists!)
- A wish list of goodies to be gotten and exactly what you need to get'em.
Do you go for the casual approach and just store it in your noggin? Or maybe you've lined your monitor with so many sticky notes you can barely see your character. Perhaps you're the obsessively anal type and keep a notebook binder or excel document handy at all times? Myself, I'm guilty of using an online application called Backpack to keep my profession notes and wish lists in order. Share with us in the comments how you keep track of all your WoW information!
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader UI of the Week: Babyshotta of Alexstrazsa
by
Matthew Porter
on Jun 29th 2008 (4 years ago)
World of Warcraft allows all of us an unprecedented ability to modify our user interface to meet our needs. Each week WoW Insider will bring you a fresh and detailed look at reader submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send it, along with your character name and server, to readerui@gmail.com.
Babyshotta of Alexstrazsa (charming name, no really...) brings us this week's reader UI. I'd classify this kind of UI as "the working man's interface". Sure it's a little rough around the edges, but it gets the job done. He wrote us saying he plays on a 17 inch monitor so his screen real estate is cramped, but that his layout tries to make the most of the limited space. He said he probably has over 50 different addons installed but listed are the few, the proud, the brave(?) he just can't live without!
Bigwigs -The raid warning addon of pros!
Bartender - For handling the action bars.
cyCircled - To spice them up a little.
X-Pearl UnitFrames - For all his unit frame needs.
Fubar and its many plugins - To show relevant information.
MonkeyQuest - To keep track of all his quests
Lightheaded - To show where to go and what to do.
Quartz - For showing cast times and shot rotations.
Working with such a small resolution can be difficult, particularly if you're an addonaholic like myself. He might try playing with the UI scale to trim down the space some of his addons take up. That way you can fit more on the bottom area keeping the middle of your screen less cluttered. If the font gets too small to read, try using Clearfont to adjust the typeface and size to something readable yet taking up less space.
Have a cool UI you want to submit? Take at least 3 screenshots of it in action in various situations, and send it, along with your character name and server, to readerui@gmail.com.
Babyshotta of Alexstrazsa (charming name, no really...) brings us this week's reader UI. I'd classify this kind of UI as "the working man's interface". Sure it's a little rough around the edges, but it gets the job done. He wrote us saying he plays on a 17 inch monitor so his screen real estate is cramped, but that his layout tries to make the most of the limited space. He said he probably has over 50 different addons installed but listed are the few, the proud, the brave(?) he just can't live without!
Bigwigs -The raid warning addon of pros!
Bartender - For handling the action bars.
cyCircled - To spice them up a little.
X-Pearl UnitFrames - For all his unit frame needs.
Fubar and its many plugins - To show relevant information.
MonkeyQuest - To keep track of all his quests
Lightheaded - To show where to go and what to do.
Quartz - For showing cast times and shot rotations.
Working with such a small resolution can be difficult, particularly if you're an addonaholic like myself. He might try playing with the UI scale to trim down the space some of his addons take up. That way you can fit more on the bottom area keeping the middle of your screen less cluttered. If the font gets too small to read, try using Clearfont to adjust the typeface and size to something readable yet taking up less space.
Have a cool UI you want to submit? Take at least 3 screenshots of it in action in various situations, and send it, along with your character name and server, to readerui@gmail.com.
The Creamy GUI Center: Combat Log-o-rama
by
Matthew Porter
on Jun 28th 2008 (4 years ago)
Howdy folks, and welcome to this week's The Creamy GUI Center. Before we get neck deep in addons this week I'd like to say thank you all for the encouraging words and warm welcome back left in the comments last week. Also in the coming weeks look for some of your suggested topics to be covered. But I digress, let's get back to this week's topic, the combat log and its addons. There's something for everyone this week as I show you alternative and supplimental addons to the combat log, and for the minimalists out there I'll show you how to add some bling to your combat log without needing any third party additions. Let's get started!
Filed under: How-tos, Add-Ons, Features, The Creamy GUI Center
The Creamy GUI Center: Resurrected and back in action
by
Matthew Porter
on Jun 20th 2008 (4 years ago)
No you're not seeing things, The Creamy GUI Center is back! As my first column back after such a long time I thought it would be a good idea to get reacquainted, and take a look at what all has changed in WoW's user interface while I was gone. Also, find out where I've been all this time, and where we're going as we take a sneak peak at what's in store for future editions. So grab a drink and get comfy as we once again take the plunge into the world of WoW's user interface and addons.
Filed under: Add-Ons, The Creamy GUI Center
The Creamy GUI Center: HUDs
by
Matthew Porter
on Aug 3rd 2007 (5 years ago)
Each week Matthew Porter contributes The Creamy GUI Center, a column aimed at helping you enhance your WoW experience by offering an in depth guide to addons, macros and other tools we use to play WoW, along with commentary on issues that affect how we all play.
This week we'll look at Heads Up Display's or HUDs for short. These addons are an alternative to unit frames that show a variety of information about you and your target. They're displayed right in the middle of your playing field so your eye doesn't have to wander to get vital information. They accomplish this using non-traditional graphical elements like slices of rings representing health and mana bars. HUDs are used in real life jets to show the pilot information in such a way that their eyes don't have to wander to far from their field of vision. Many games use HUDs of varying types as well. In WoW, HUDs employ transparency effects so they can fade in and out so as not to obstruct the playing field. Let's get the show on the road with a look at Archud, MetaHud, and IceHud.
Filed under: Add-Ons, Features, The Creamy GUI Center
