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All the World's a Stage: Cheating and the IC versus OOC divide
There's a single primary fundamental to roleplay. It's a dynamic that is so innate and implicit about the act of roleplaying that most roleplayers never give it any thought. Why would they? It's as universal and binding a dynamic as could possibly exist in an activity. This dynamic is not only the building block of roleplaying, it's also the very point and end-goal of most roleplaying. I want to throw in some kind of yin and yang analogy, also, but I'll get to my point. All of roleplay is based on the idea of being "In Character" instead of "Out of Character." I know that will seem so simple to most of you that the statement seems puerile. But I think both brand new players and experienced roleplays would be well served to take some time examining the dynamic. What drives in character actions? Where does the out of character begin? At which point does out of character affecting in character stop being "just the way things are" and become metagaming? It can be some pretty deep stuff.
Reader UI of the Week: Karf'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, to readerui@wow.com. Another Tuesday is upon us, dear Reader UI fans. Before we get this week's user interface discussion under way, I wanted to remind everyone about submitting to Reader UI of the Week. There are three tips to a super successful submission: big images, big descriptions and big ideas! We've been getting awesome submissions, so keep them coming. We have a very nice submission this week courtesy of Karf from the Greymane server, who sets out a very simple and back-to-basics user interface. It's light, it's minimalistic and it's utilitarian -- my three favorite things! Let's start the engines. And would someone please remind me to sing the engineering song on the podcast one week? I'm getting tired of forgetting.
Addon Spotlight: Helpers for priest healers
Addon Spotlight 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. This week, Addon Spotlight gives priest healers some suggestions for awesome healing helpers! Since there is still no beta addon news to cover and most of the user interface changes have been well documented, I continue to hang my head in shame, waiting feverishly for new word about addons in Cataclysm. Instead, I have taken to occasionally playing a human priest named Helicopter. Back in vanilla WoW, I was a raid-healing priest who basically played like the speeds of a tractor: a turtle for "slow" and a rabbit for "fast." The entirety of my existence consisted of picking one of two heals for the job, and that was that. When I popped into beta, rolled up a priest and set to work, I had no idea what I was doing. This week's Addon Spotlight is all about the things that I wish I had in beta -- an amalgamation of some awesome healing priest addons that can hopefully help out all you aspiring holy and discipline priests. Shadow, I don't hate, I promise. You'll have your day in the ... shade? You get enough tough love from your majordomo already, anyhow. Healer priests, this one's for you, with some vanilla priest stories thrown in for fun, of course.
Reader UI of the Week: Shikoba'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, to readerui@wow.com. Hands in the air, people! Just like our tree friend up top. Reader UI of the Week takes a turn for the artistic today, showcasing Shikoba's user interface. Featuring some awesome custom art and a minimalistic setup, Shikoba draws from the ability to build a new graphical UI from the ground up. Interfaces that come from the minds of artists and design professionals always intrigue me, as their abilities in the professional world translate into cool concepts in their WoW world.
Addon Spotlight: Equus Infinata
Addon Spotlight 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. This week, Addon Spotlight reaches into the addon grab bag and pulls out some delicious randomness for you. Salutations, friends. Welcome to another exciting week on Addon Spotlight, where addons reign supreme amongst the pitiful, smelly masses of other crap you could talk about related to World of Warcraft. Addons encompass it all! We are champion. This week, Addon Spotlight is heading into mount and pet territory, discussing a wonderful little addon called Equus Infinata. Equus not only caught my eye because of how simple and pretty the addon looks, but how it integrates straight into your already existing mount and pet interface pane. As a special treat, I asked Robert, the addon's author, a couple of questions about creating his first addon. Click for more!
Reader UI of the Week: Fizziks' UI Mk. II
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, to readerui@wow.com. Greetings, Reader UI of the Week fans, and welcome aboard the good ship Addons. Today, we travel back in time, way back, to March of 2010, when man still lived in a terrible age of despair and ignorance. We have come so far since that terrible time. A light, a blindingly bright light, shown through the heavens, illuminated one column. One column for you, dear readers, to submit your user interfaces to ... Fizziks was one of my first reader UI column subjects and has graciously sent in a redux of his awesome-then and awesome-now user interface. I am happy to say that this is the 25th Reader UI of the Week that I have written, and am happy to have an old friend come back for this special number.
Addon Spotlight: Grab bag
Addon Spotlight 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. This week, Addon Spotlight reaches into the addon grab bag and pulls out some delicious randomness for you. Looking over all the columns here on WoW.com must be amazing for you Cataclysm information hounds. All that cool new art, talent trees getting changed like crazy, new races and sound files ... Too bad you'll find no Cataclysm stuff in Addon Spotlight. Not yet, anyway -- addons are currently disabled in the beta. For us addon junkies, then, we can only sit back, relax, drink 30 cans of Arnold Palmer and drift the night away. Or, I can recommend some addons. Both work for me.
Addons 101: The basics of customization
Addons 101 is a four-part series for beginners dedicated to understanding what addons are, how they enhance the gameplay experience of World of Warcraft, some popular addons in certain categories, and popular venues in which to research, download and find addons. Finally, we reach the end of our beginner's journey. We have learned a lot so far, from what addons are and how they affect the WoW gameplay experience, to some of the categories of addons and some examples. For the final installment, Addons 101 will discuss the basics of user interface customization, where to find customization options, and some addons that can be very helpful when building your user interface. In addition, part 4 will be riddled with tips that I have found useful over the years working with my own UI.
Reader UI of the Week: Foofy'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. My condolences to those of you on 24-hour downtime. I've been there, and I feel your pain. Hopefully, some Reader UI of the Week can cheer you up a little bit. We are taking a look at Foofy's UI, which is anything but, emphasizing good color contrast and an interface that is heavy on information, but not so busy that it's distracting. Everyone sit around the campfire, join hands and let me break out the ol' guitar for a little camp song I like to sing called Reader UI.
Addon Spotlight: Tidy Plates
Addon Spotlight 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. This week, Tidy Plates makes its long-awaited spotlight. You can stop emailing me about Tidy Plates now. Addon Spotlight truly is fueled by users just like you, considering how many emails I get about Tidy Plates. "Why haven't you talked about Tidy Plates yet? It's absolutely amazing." There's a reason I haven't talked about this particular mod before, and I'll get to that explanation, but for now know that I am happy to introduce Tidy Plates to those who don't know of its existence and reintroduce the 'plates to the already faithful.
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.
Addon Spotlight: More broker addons
Addon Spotlight 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. This week, LDB! LDB! LDB! Brooooooker addons! Again. Wow, you guys love broker addons. The amount of emails I received from readers about their favorite broker addons was astounding, and worthy of a second go. You guys are all about the LBD, so who am I to deny you the satisfaction of more broker plugins for your little bars? Let's clutter up those ChocolateBars just a little bit more, shall we? Check out part one first, of course.
Addons 101: Interface elements
Addons 101 is a four-part series for beginners dedicated to understanding what an addon is, how addons enhance the gameplay experience of World of Warcraft, popular addons in certain categories and popular venues in which to research, download and find addons. If you missed Addons 101 part one, check it out here. Addons 101 continues this week with part two, a cursory look at the default user interface, what can be configured and changed, and the most popular categories of addons and descriptions. Hopefully, if you're new to addons, you've read through part one to get a good idea of why you'd want to use them in World of Warcraft. In part two, we will discuss implementation more than theory.
Reader UI of the Week: Amrytale'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. Hello, hello, hello. It feels like forever since I've written Reader UI. I really don't know why. Maybe it's the long weekend ... Nonetheless, here we are, another week and another reader's user interface to pore over. This week's submission comes from Amrytale of Silver Hand, boasting symmetry and simplicity for a complete raiding warrior's user interface. Shall we take a look?
Addon Spotlight: Four data broker plugins
Addon Spotlight 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. This week, LDB! LDB! LDB! Brooooooker addons! Welcome, again, to the Spotlight, readers. I have got a treat for you today -- four of my favorite broker addons that you can plug into your Data Broker Display bar of choice! I love data broker addons, mostly because of the space-saving functionality and compactness of it all. If you are also denizens of Reader UI of the Week town, then you know Mayor Mathew likes some serious space-savers.
Reader UI of the Week: Ve'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. Twenty-four-hour downtime is upon us again! Oh, the humanity. Well, settle down, because you've got some words to read about user interfaces and ... stuff. Look, I'm going stir crazy over the downtime, too. Maybe we can make the best of this together by checking out Ve's user interface and helping him out with some suggestions.
Addon Spotlight: Community Choice 2
Addon Spotlight 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! This week, the community's voice has been heard again, and addon suggestions are raining from the sky. Welcome to another exciting addition of Addon Spotlight! This week, we head back to the inbox to check out what the community thinks the WoW community at large should know about, if you already weren't aware of some of these excellent addons. We run the gamut today, from action bar and encounter mod replacements to helping you get you and your army of alts ready for the coming Cataclysm. Let's take a look at what your peers wanted you to see.
Reader UI of the Week: Luis' 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. Welcome to another exciting installment of Reader UI of the Week, the greatest user submitted user interface column on WoW.com! This week, a gorgeous compartmentalized UI invaded my inbox, and I had to share. As frequent readers of this column are well aware, I am also a huge fan of using portraits in off-kilter, non-traditional ways. What do you know, Luis' UI does both of these things. Read on, friends!
Addon Spotlight: Satrina Buff Frames
Addon Spotlight 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! This week, Satrina Buff Frames takes your buff and debuff frames to a whole new level. A lot has changed since the early days of buff and debuff presentation. Back in the early days, we were limited by very basic buff and debuff trackers. These days, however, one addon truly stands tall and proud, a giant among men. I speak of the impeccable Satrina Buff Frames, a wonderfully customizable and skinnable buff and debuff frame that can give any user interface awesome amounts of flexibility.
Reader UI of the Week: Ymïr'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. Welcome friends! I hope your weeks are all off to wonderful starts. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the servers are back up, life is dandy and Dalaran hasn't crashed to pieces on you. Once you log in to your server of choice and choose your character, gaze and marvel upon the user interface before you, for it could one day be here in this very column. Another Reader UI of the Week is upon us! This week, I chose to feature Ymïr's user interface. His UI is tailored to his shaman, and as I have recently had a renewed interest in my own orc shaman I might be a little bit biased in the selection. For this UI, I wanted to focus more on functionality and spatial concerns, especially with respect to where buffs and debuffs are placed, as well as the tooltip.
