World of Warcraft’s divisive change to combat addons is here to stay

Earlier this year, the release of World of Warcraft‘s latest expansion, Midnight, made drastic changes to how players enjoyed the game. Blizzard restricted the amount of combat-related information that add-ons, community-developed tools for the MMO, could access. The decision was a massive shake-up to the game. It’s been almost six months since the changes took effect and World of Warcraft‘s director is doubling down on it.

“I know this may be a controversial statement,” game director Ion Hazzikostas said in an interview with PCGamesN, “but I will say that, overall, [the new UI] has been successful so far.” He does admit the system is not perfect and there is more work to be done. Some of that work will be done in Update 12.1, which is currently in the works and will bring a “more comprehensive overhaul” of the add-on system, according to Hazzikostas.

Add-ons have been a part of World of Warcraft for almost as long as the game has been out. Third-party tools have become an intrinsic part of the player experience for many, especially for understanding how much damage is being dealt or received in encounters. Midnight‘s overhaul removed much of that information for third-party tools, rendering a number of the most popular community add-ons useless. Blizzard also overhauled the UI and added new first-party tools to make the loss less disruptive.

Hazzikostas said that “all of this has been in service of a more approachable experience and a more level playing field.” He explains that the prevalence of combat add-ons forced the team to design encounters around players using third-party tools. Hazzikostas did not like how the use of third-party tools was changing encounter and class design, as well as how it impacted the experience of new players who had little to no knowledge of add-ons. While the change remains divisive, he noted that since implementing the new system, “the vast majority of people are completing the same level of content they were before, and far more are doing it without feeling like they need to seek out external tools.”

Even with World of Warcraft‘s team continuing to manage the relevance of combat add-ons, the game is still add-on-friendly. Update 12.1 seeks to make it easier for the community to make add-ons while closing loopholes that have allowed such tools to access information Blizzard wants to keep out of reach. Don’t expect a harsh no-add-ons policy like in Final Fantasy 14 anytime soon.