MODS: August 2010 edition

[Azazel]

So I resubbed, and I'm enjoying myself do far after one long session.

And once again, I'm wondering which mods are the current must-haves, should-haves, and where the safe places to download them are.

Also, how do I opt-out of real-id?

[caladein]

When was the last time you played?  The usual suite of mods hasn't really changed in at least a year and a half.  Probably more important then that, what do you intend on doing?

As for where to get them, I've always been partial to WoWInterface both because of the site layout but also because their personalized RSS feed actually works.

As for "opt-ing out" of Real ID, that all depends on what you mean.  If you want to shut it off completely:

• Go to http://battle.net.
  
• Log in and click on your WoW account.
• Click Additional Services and then Parental Controls.
• Hit the Begin Setup button.  (N.B. From here on in, I'm going off this post.)
  
• Fill in your information in both the parent and child fields.
• You'll get an email. Make sure to save it.
• Use the link in the email to make sure none of the default settings are weird, but by default Real ID will be completely disabled for the account.

By default (without activating Parental Controls), the only way* for someone to see your account's name (i.e. your Real ID) linked to one of your characters is if you add each other as Real ID friends.  Their Real ID friends will see your name show up in the Friends of Friend box, and I think if you're online or not.

*Your Real ID is exposed to AddOns via an API call and that (and naturally your character names) could get out via some malicious AddOn, but I think that fear's a touch overblown if you don't just install any random AddOn someone links you to.

[Azazel]

About 2 years out now,

I used to use a few different ones, but the most consistant ones were a map mod (cartographer, etc), tomtom & lightheaded, gatherer, and a damage mod. Not sure if the first three are needed anymore after seeing the interface, but I did find them very useful.

Will be doing quests, some PVP, random (heroic) dailies. Probably no raids. - gearing up my 80 for cata, levelling up my 71 rogue a bit and possibly gearing them. And probably levelling some of my alts.

[Simond]

To be honest, I'd say just get deadly boss mod (for lfg) and call it a day. You don't really need anything else for just levelling up, and the UI is getting a bunch of stuff added to it in Cata anyway (pseudo-Grid, combat aura/pallypower, etc) so it'll probably just be better to hold fire until after the expansion hits to see what's still needed.

[Xanthippe]

I like Auctioneer, but I've always been fascinated by the market minigame (more than the combat game, I think).

If you want a "go here do this" mod for quest-helping, Carbonite is a good one.  I think WoW provides something similar these days anyway.

I have been using Dominos for a bar mod.  If the standard bars aren't to your liking, you might like that one.

Fishing Buddy is good for fishermen.

Omen is helpful (it's a threatmeter).  Recount (if you want to see how you stack up in groups). 

Once you hit 80, Gearscore is a popular mod, for knowing how bad your gear is compared to other people, or how far away you are from being able to join a pug raid (people advertise based on gearscore).

[Shrike]

Generally--at least on WW--raiding guilds require DBM, Omen, Recount (/sigh), and Ventrilo/TS3. Past that, it's conveniance.

I like to keep addons at a minimum to avoid patch day unpleasentness. Aside the above, I run Gatherer, Shock and Awe (enhance shaman specific), Scrolling Combat text with a few related things, Trinket Menu, and Acherus (DK specific). That's it. I've experiemented with a variety of things, but keep paring it back to this lot.

Oh, and don't contribute to the plague that is Gearscore. It's the equivalent to digital herpes. It's probably too late for WW, but don't let your server turn into a virtual leper colony!

[Rendakor]

Mapster's a pretty good map mod; iirc Cartographer doesn't work well anymore. Recount's still a good DPS meter.

Bagnon is a good inventory management addon; in a addition to making all of your bags one large bag, it keeps track of items that your various alts have. So, if you forget which toon has your Saronite Ore, just click on one (say, from the AH) and it will tell you on the tooltip exactly how many you have, and on which toons. It does this for each caracter's bank as well.

Shrike, can we not shit up this thread with the GS bashing? Take it back to the prot pally thread or make a new one.

[Shrike]

Quit bringing it up and I'll leave it alone.

I regard it as a distinct disadvantage in the game and will address it as such.

[Zetor]

Must-have:
- DBM (Deadly Boss Mods) is very handy even if you only plan to pvp, since it also has battleground timers; it also knows all 5-man dungeon tricks.
- Similarly, a frame mod is helpful, if only to position the self / target / target-of-target windows better. I currently use XPerl.

Nice-to-have:
- If you don't like the default blizzard bars, a bar mod helps. I currently use Bartender.
- I like Skada as a lightweight alternative to recount + omen. It doesn't do some of the fancy stuff, but it's a lot smaller and less spammy.
- Blizzard's scrolling combat text is decent enough for typical use, but I still use SCT.
- RankWatch is handy when leveling, since it reminds you if you're using too-low-ranked spells (just be sure to run the command '/rankwatch none' so you don't spam your groupmates in dungeons).

Not-really-important:
- If you want to get fancy, a raid monitor like Grid or Vuhdo are nice for keeping track of the group/raid's status; this doesn't just mean raids, but also handy in battlegrounds to see that someone at a certain node is taking damage). The built-in Blizz raid interface does this as well, but it's a bit clunky at times.
- Power Auras allows you to display fancy graphical effects when you gain procs / go below X hp / etcetera. Can be very nice to get maximum use out of those procs, but also takes some time to set up properly.
- I use a bunch of pvp mods (interruptbar, afflicted, gladius, snowfallkeypress), but those are not really useful unless you plan to do arena.

Class specific:
- If you have a warlock alt, "Shard" (that's the mod's name) is a godsend; it auto-deletes extra soulshards from your inventory, saving you a lot of hassle while you're levelling (drain soul is a very efficient finisher if you're affliction spec). You won't need it after Cataclysm launches, though.
- PallyPower is good for all-around paladin business.

[Xanthippe]

Quit bringing it up and I'll leave it alone.

I regard it as a distinct disadvantage in the game and will address it as such.

Whether it's a Good Thing or a Bad Thing, if people on your server use it as a measuring stick on whether or not you can attend their shitty pug raid, it's necessary if you want to attend their shitty pug.

[Rendakor]

Mik's Scrolling Battle Text is another good combat text mod like SCT; it also includes options to track specific procs and such like Power Auras.

Quartz is a nice cast-bar if you play any casters.

Postal is a good mail mod if you do a lot of auctioning, or shipping things between toons.

[WoopeeTuralyon]

TriviaBot used to be a fun mod to have  but I don't think it works anymore.

Shrike, why would a guild require Recount? Definitely don't get that one.

[Azazel]

Some of those look interesting, but when I used to play a lot, patch day was always a nightmare, so I started to keep it much simpler, which is what I'll be doing this time. I used to do Arena, but only for the gear. I disliked it for the most part, and hated the philosophy behind it. Will pass on PUG raids as well. I used to avoid dungeons because PUGs are so shitty (and my guild so useless).

Now the dungeon finder takes much of the suck out of pug dungeons, since when I've met arseholes, I've just dropped the group, and the dungeon runs are quite fast. My guild matters less than ever - being a green text chat channel with some advice in it, and yeah, fuck pug raids.

Do DBM and Omen complement one another, or does one make the other redundant? I've used Omen in the past, as well as another one that was briefly in vogue, but not DBM. Good to hear that Gatherer still exists.

Oh, is there a way in the UI to make the minimap bigger?

[Rendakor]

DBM tells you things about the boss encounters and mechanics (GET OUT OF FIRE, Interrupt Now, etc.); Omen's just a threat meter.

[Azazel]

so... I shouldn't stand in fire? 

[WoopeeTuralyon]

so... I shouldn't stand in fire? 

No, but do stand in Defile.

[Merusk]

Don't engage the packs before they aggro or you'll bug the event and never get past Rend.   

[Sjofn]

I use BigWigs over Deadly Boss Mods, personally, but I also didn't bother installing a boss mod until Ulduar (and even then it was only because I was copying Ingmar's WoW files over onto my new computer to avoid having to patch), so take my opinion on that with a grain of salt, I suppose. It DOES make learning a fight much easier, though, so I like it when I'm tanking a fight I've only done once and everyone else has done it 50 thousand times.

Recount is nice just so you have some vague idea how you're doing DPS-wise.

[caladein]

You don't really need anything past Quartz and TomTom because the default cast bar is dreadful and the game doesn't show coordinates.  Maybe OmniCC as well but I've used that for so long it may as well be part of the default interface.

Since you're going to level alts, I'll recommend Altoholic to help you keep everything straight.

For a Minimap mod, I use BasicMinimap.

[Selby]

Don't engage the packs before they aggro or you'll bug the event and never get past Rend.   

I don't even want to mention how many times I had to reset or re-group a UBRS run because some numbskull couldn't understand that.

[WoopeeTuralyon]

Selby, announcing "Do not do this!" automatically means someone will do it. It's like a hot pan to a toddler except, unlike the toddler, these guys will likely not just do it once.

[proudft]

Don't engage the packs before they aggro or you'll bug the event and never get past Rend.  

Hey, this is totally fixed!  I often stand inside the portcullis just to finish it faster.  (Yes I have some characters who still don't have their stupid torso piece from General Drak).  What you CAN screw up now though is kill the dragon too fast so Rend doesn't hop off in time and that is indeed a pisser.  

I try to run with minimal mods just to reduce patch day pain - the main ones I have are Skada in the Recount place (though it doesn't have Friendly Fire stats which is always amusing), Grid, and TellMeWhen.  TellMeWhen is awesome for any class with a lot of crap to keep track of, like shadow priest or cat druid.  And I would not heal without Grid or my neck would be permanently crooked to the left from watching health bars.

[apocrypha]

If you want to avoid patch day mod problems I can recommend the Curse Client. Keeps track of all your addons, runs in the background with a decently small footprint (3Mb on my system with 20+ mods) and changes it's taskbar icon when one or more of your mods needs updating.

It's got ads on it unless you pay for premium but they're small and unobtrusive.

If you end up with several mods then MinimapButtonFrames is nice for getting all the icons off of your minimap.

If you're a healer then a party/raid frame like Grid (with Clique) or Healbot might be something you like. Way better than having to select party members and watch those party health bars all the way up on the left hand side of the screen.

I've also become a big fan of TidyPlates + ThreatPlates for easy agro management without having to look away from where the action is.

[WoopeeTuralyon]

Curse Client can be used by a hacker to gain access to your computer. Wouldn't recommend it.

Unless the Blizzard reps told my guildie wrong, but they're always right, aren't they?

[apocrypha]

Curse Client can be used by a hacker to gain access to your computer. Wouldn't recommend it.

Unless the Blizzard reps told my guildie wrong, but they're always right, aren't they?

Bullshit.

If the Curse client was ever the source of a hack it'd be big, big news. Curse.com is an official Blizzard fan site, the Curse client is the most popular addon manager (they claim 600k+ users), the WoW forums would be full of noise about it if this had ever happened. When you say "Blizzard reps" do you mean a GM in-game or a forum post or an email, or what?

[WoopeeTuralyon]

Curse Client can be used by a hacker to gain access to your computer. Wouldn't recommend it.

Unless the Blizzard reps told my guildie wrong, but they're always right, aren't they?

Bullshit.

If the Curse client was ever the source of a hack it'd be big, big news. Curse.com is an official Blizzard fan site, the Curse client is the most popular addon manager (they claim 600k+ users), the WoW forums would be full of noise about it if this had ever happened. When you say "Blizzard reps" do you mean a GM in-game or a forum post or an email, or what?

A member of my guild was hacked, and the GM told her the hacker had gotten in through a corrupted Curse Client...

[Rendakor]

I actually have an RL friend who was also told that; he had downloaded the Curse Client for less than a week when he got hacked, and that's the response he got from the GMs as well.

[Merusk]

Yeah the client makes it easy to update mods, but I never, ever would leave it running when I started up WoW.   I'm super paranoid about account security, though.

[Threash]

Where's a good place to get mods?

[caladein]

Your two best bets are:

http://wow.curse.com/
http://www.wowinterface.com/

Sometimes I'll need to head over to WowAce or CurseForge to pick up a library update if something broke on patch day, but that's a once-in-a-few-months kind of thing.

[Azazel]

Both those sites are pretty safe then, as far as keyloggers and scripts and so forth?

Also - yes! Coordinates were the main reason I had map mods. Does TomTom/Lightheaded still exist? Either they or Cartographer used to make other group membrs stand out like dog's balls on your map and mini-map screens. It was also nice to be able to move and turn when I had the mpa screen up.

Also, how do I turn the Omen window back on? Looks like it's defaulted to "off" for some of my characters. Possibly because of an older setting from an older install.
Does /bejewelled still work?

[caladein]

Yeah, TomTom and LightHeaded are both still around.

I haven't kept up with map mods since they redid the map interface a year ago, and haven't really felt the need to.  You can now make the map a window by default, just click the arrow button in the top right corner.  You lose out on the integrated quest log ala LotRO, but I think having the map and the game world up is a lot better than not having that option at all.

[Rendakor]

I've been using Mapster as a nice map addon.

[apocrypha]

GM's are being ultra retarded saying things like that about the Curse client IMO. The Curse client does serve ads, and they may *possibly* be a very rare source of malware, but only if you're not running decent security software or an authenticator. Still smells of utter, utter BS to me though.

Anyone worried about account hacking, why are you not using an authenticator? It's moronic not to.

Azazel - have a look in the Omen interface options (escape - interface - addons) and adjust the settings for when Omen shows. I think by default it hides out of combat or out of party, something like that. Turn off auto-hide etc.

[Ironwood]

OK, I'm utterly sick of this ;  Does anyone know of a Mod that'll deal with the enormous amount of Druid abilities and stances ?

I'm sick of having my catform stuff all over the shop.