Like it or not, the add-ons in WoW set a precedent for all future MMOs: user customization is a must-have component of any game, now. If BioWare is really so concerned with add-ons / macros leading to stuff like GearScore, Deadly Boss Mods, Recount, et al....all they have to do is make an API without the ability to (a) issue character commands of any kind (including targeting commands), (b) parse the (non-existent) combat log or chat log, © move target-able frames in combat, (d) inspect other player's specs or gear, etc. Though I realize this is an oversimplification: I'm not an expert on add-on development by any means.

Provided that an addon API was sufficiently limited (for example, if it was unable to parse a combat log, issue character commands of any kind, or rearrange targettable frames while in combat), do you actually think there's a significant risk of the problems that WoW add-ons had in vanilla (petfeeder, decursive, CTRaid's emergency heal thing, etc)?

The only two addons I considered essential in WoW. Well, that and a bunch of [@mouseover] and [help] vs [harm] macros.

Honest question: are you serious, or are exaggerating here? I really don't know that much about the Hero Engine.

Sad thing is this: if Bioware had allowed even rudimentary add-ons / macros (like all the other big MMOs), all of these issues would be solved for them.

The worst thing about the game? Everything about the UI. Most of which would have been solved if Bioware just allowed rudimentary add-on / scripting / macro functionality, like WoW, Warhammer, etc do.

There's a new content patch in the next day or so, and a recent interviewed discussed adding even more content and legacy stuff... But neither of these patches addresses what is, to me, by far the worst part of this game: the awful UI. No free camera option? No macros? No movable/scalable bars? No target-of-target frame or focus frame? No movable/scalable unit frames? No ability to target by nameplate? No improvements to the chat window (tabbing through players you're whispering, better /who commands, etc)? No improvements to the raid frames? etc. There's a lot to be done for the UI: when will anything actually be done to improve it?

I tend to think of WoW-TBC, before there was an ability queue, as being the most responsive MMO ever. Sure, for PvE it did weird things (Quartz latency bars with /stopcasting macros), but in PvP it was great. Ability queues are good sometimes. Sometimes not.

On the character select screen, I would *LOVE* to be able to hit "enter" instead of having to mouseclick 'play' or doubleclick my character name.

If "innovation" means "constraining players via the UI", then I think BioWare really innovated. If you slapped WoW's UI / Mods on this game, I would be extraordinarily happy. Just basic macros, movable/resizable/customizable bars and unit frames alone would be amazing. Instead, the UI limits players from understanding how the game actually functions (via lack of a combat log), limits ability usage (via bars and the lack of even neutered macros), and limits player awareness (via awkward cameras, and poorly-designed raid frames and unit frames). PLUS, the game feels super laggy and awkward due to the ability delay, which itself seems to be caused by the totally baffling and monstrously stupid decision to marry animations to actions (something that I've never seen before in an MMO). At the end of the day, I feel like SWTOR is "close but not quite", and that's really sad. Sadder when you consider how much time all the art and content and voice acting consumed, compared to how little time seems to have been dedicated to the user interface.

Gamebreaking for me: mouseovers for healing. Almost gamebreaking for me: help vs harm and assist macros. A free camera mode that doesn't auto-rotate to behind you, which makes kiting super awkward. Movable / customizable ability bars. Give the ability to remap self-cast and focus-cast buttons.

At the risk of making a "lrn2play" post: "Stop clicking and use IJKL". Otherwise, Autohotkey.

Is there a way to make the camera not auto-rotate to follow behind you once you release the mouse button? And if not....why the hell not? It's so awkward to kite something and use abilities when the camera keeps rotating on its own to get behind you.

I like the pebbles.

I will never understood why the designers thought putting animations before actions was a good idea. It's like they never played an MMO before.

UI. By a wide margin. Basic macro functionality. Better (and moveable) ability bars. Keybinding that actually lets you bind the keys you want (e.g., self-cast to alt). An ability system that doesn't place animation first, so that you can actually have decent responsiveness from the game. Etc.

We are not, in case you didn't realize, played a game based on CAD.

I've never understood why Apple doesn't implement/license DirectX on their machines. DirectX is the only reason this game (and most games, really) are not on Mac.

I'm still blown away at the number of awful keybind / ability problems. You can't rebind self-cast to alt. You can't unbind \ key directly You can't have your companion bar shown at the same time as your secondary bottom bar. You can't create a macro to do even super basic [help]/[harm]/[mouseover]/etc functionality. You can't can't move or resize your ability bars to be in the same region of the screen etc Plus, the other bizarre UI features missing: You can't hit 'enter' to select your character You can't tab between players while whispering You can't select targets by nameplates etc It's really like no one on the UI development team ever played another MMO seriously.

On a related note: who's brilliant idea was it to make it impossible to rebind self-cast to ALT, the keybind that every other MMO ever has used as self-cast? Yes, you can use autoHotkey to remap, but...ffs did no one on the development team ever play another MMO?

It's just bad design. I, for one, am just completely baffled at some of the UI choices that were made in SWTOR. Workaround: download AutoHotkey and remap End / Home to Alt.