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Addon Spotlight's top 5 addons of 2011
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Addons and the WoW interface had a big year in 2011. Many famous addon authors and developers left World of Warcraft for different games or exited the genre altogether. Some addons were incorporated into WoW itself, like the oft-requested bag search and a really cool new altitude notification system for tracking on the minimap, making exploration in 3D environments that much easier. Transmogrification and void storage were introduced, and new interface elements like the new Extra Button and PlayerPowerBarAlt confused and amazed us as we scrambled to get our action bars working before raid night. Here are my top five favorite addons of 2011. Remember, these are not addons that came out in 2011, but rather the five addons that I just could not live without this year. These are the five addons that I will never be able to live without, and you probably have some choice words about this list. Let's hear your own top five lists in the comments.
Addon Spotlight: Customizing PlayerPowerBarAlt
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. With the Raid Finder coming in patch 4.3, many new players will be storming their way through the halls of Blackwing Descent, the Bastion of Twilight, and the fiery plains of Ragnaros' domain. Cataclysm raid encounters have bestowed upon players a new mechanic that will show up during some of the encounters, most notably Atramedes' sound bar, Cho'gall's corruption bar, feathers on Alysrazor, Rhyolith's turning bar, and the concentration bar on the heroic Majordomo Staghelm fight. This new interface element can function in many different ways based on the fight it is being used, but all fall under the same category: PlayerPowerBarAlt. PlayerPowerBarAlt has been a thorn in many player's sides, especially since the default settings for this raid-centric UI element falls squarely in the wrong place -- usually underneath your action bars, unit frames, or whatever you've put right above the default action bar location. Players have been asking me since Cataclysm's launch how to move and manipulate that bar, so here's a dedicated column to just that topic.
Reader UI of the Week: Skippah's UI
Each week, WoW.com brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send your screenshots, along with info on what mods you're using and some background information, to readerui@wow.com. Happy Tuesday, readers! Reader UI of the Week is here to brighten your day. It's been hectic here at Addon Central -- there are a lot of cool things in the works. The positive responses to the column over the past months have been wonderful, and the amount of people we've helped is staggering. Thank you all so much for your contributions. Reader UI of the Week sets its sights on Skippah's UI, a no-nonsense, bold user interface that effectively uses screen real estate as well as keeping a clean theme. The user interface feels bare-bones, but in a good way -- the kind of feeling you have after you clean the living room and things are where they should be, with a lot less dust. Jump on in, this week's UI is totally double rainbow.
