Recently, more raid mechanics were made into private auras on the Beta. I get the point of private auras, but they just don’t work.
Abilities that have private auras either are so trivial it wouldn’t matter if a WA tracked them, or the mechanic is vital to success so you have a macro that tells a WA that you have the mechanic. This invariably ends up with your raid group progging a weak aura and not the boss, making sure people’s macros and such are working and learning when to press them. It feels bad to be progging a weak aura / macro over the boss itself.
What are your thoughts on private auras?
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Not going to lie I thought this thread was something along the lines of how each team in world first has custom made private addons, that are like weak aura or whatever so i thought they were called auras, that they use for the race. These custom things though… how are we sure they’re not like discreet cheat programs at this point. Sadly…hey i was wrong I’ll see myself out before I start ranting. Have a nice day
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A step in the right direction and at least cause a reflection to what can be done to make mechanics better without addons. We have had a few mechanics each raid that were solved with weakauras/addons which are mostly in mythic, private auras have removed some of them like the fyrakk soaks so I still think it’s a win.
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They are quite literally pointless.
Either they affect nothing, and no one cares, so why even have the mechanic be hidden.
Or they’re so encounter warping that Blizzard’s nerf quite literally includes adjusting the mechanic to no longer be private.
Anything that is too difficult, yet private, WILL be solved via another method of code. So, what are we even doing?
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18 years too late to change their mind about addons, only to do it halfway anyway. That’s my thoughts.
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Actually so lame to show up to a boss and hear “so does everybody have the weakaura”
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Every time I see this kind of topic I just start wondering what else would be affected if they neutered the API Weakauras uses. Because the addon is very blatantly a problem. Every content drop it’s a problem. It has too much freedom to do basically whatever it wants.
Blizzard obviously sees it as a problem too if they’re actively designing in such a way as to hide mechanics from it. So why is Blizzard the one tiptoeing around instead of the addon dev? Is it just not possible to limit what it can do without nuking a dozen unrelated addons?
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I don’t really understand private auras? Can’t people just make a WA that shouts out “Girlie I HAVE it!” when the aura is applied to them? And then other WAs reading chat input
The whole point of the private auras is to get you to look at your debuff tray.
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What does private Aura mean?
Is it aura’s that aren’t made available to the interface or modding API?
If so… sigh.
Big part of the problem with game play is effects clutter and insanely inconsistent telegraphs. And to some extent splitting the players attention between the game environment and where and whatever you have for aura trackers.
Let’s kill them and not let them know why…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0X0ZYbnHxA
Worst thing they are doing, raiders are just going to keep using the macro WA to circumvent the limitation, if the mechanic is an important one people will take the time to just make it a WA to have more consistency.
That is pretty much what the WA people use on private auras does, you press a macro that tells the WA you have the mechanic and it shows up on a list or does something extra.
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I just remember downloading some lust reminder weakaura that had a chat output “X has lust available. Pew pew!” when the debuff is off and a boss is pulled, and then read for some reason that chat emote as the way to pop up the thing on the screen, can people even automate it further with chat commands?
Or is it critical that the boss is pulled when the debuff is off? Is there some trigger that will just work when an aura/debuff is applied?
It’s a bit complex but there would certainly be repercussions outside of only weakauras and combat addons if you started to try to shut what weakauras uses. The next step would probably be to break down macros or communication between player’s addons in instanced content / not letting addons read chat. But both of those would have really big impact.
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Hi Val,
Thank you for raising this topic about private auras in raid mechanics. This is an important issue that deserves a comprehensive discussion. Like many in the community, I have been following the changes in the Beta with great interest and some trepidation. Your points highlight a significant challenge we face as a player base: balancing the game’s difficulty and mechanics while maintaining an enjoyable and engaging raid experience. Let’s delve deeper into this topic.
Understanding Private Auras
Private auras are a relatively new approach to raid mechanics where certain abilities or debuffs are only visible to the affected player. This is intended to add a layer of individual responsibility and prevent over-reliance on raid-wide tracking tools like WeakAuras. The goal is to encourage players to pay closer attention to their personal status and improve overall raid awareness.
The Intent Behind Private Auras
From a design perspective, private auras aim to achieve several key objectives:
**1. Personal Responsibility:
Private auras place the onus on individual players to manage their debuffs and mechanics. This can lead to a higher level of personal accountability and skill development. When a player knows they cannot rely on external alerts, they are more likely to develop a keener sense of situational awareness.
**2. Reducing Addon Dependency:
There has been a growing concern that addons like WeakAuras have become too integral to raid success. By making certain mechanics private, Blizzard aims to reduce dependency on these tools and ensure that the game remains challenging without requiring third-party assistance.
**3. Enhancing Immersion:
Private auras can enhance the immersive experience of the game. When players have to react based on their in-game cues rather than external alerts, it can create a more engaging and realistic encounter.
The Challenges with Private Auras
While the intentions behind private auras are commendable, the implementation has not been without issues. Your points highlight several critical challenges:
**1. Trivial vs. Vital Mechanics:
As you noted, abilities with private auras tend to fall into two categories: trivial mechanics that do not significantly impact the raid if mishandled, and vital mechanics where a single mistake can lead to a wipe. For the latter, players have devised workarounds such as macros that communicate the mechanic to the raid, essentially circumventing the intended purpose of private auras.
**2. Progging WeakAuras Over the Boss:
One of the most significant issues is the shift in focus from the boss fight to managing WeakAuras and macros. This detracts from the gameplay experience, as players are more concerned with ensuring their addons and macros function correctly than mastering the encounter mechanics.
**3. Inconsistency and Complexity:
The inconsistency in how private auras are implemented across different encounters adds to the complexity. Players need to learn and adapt to each mechanic individually, which can be frustrating and overwhelming, especially for less experienced raiders.
Community Feedback and Developer Response
Community feedback has been mixed, with some players appreciating the increased personal responsibility and others expressing frustration at the added complexity. Blizzard has acknowledged these concerns and has been actively monitoring feedback to make necessary adjustments.
Proposed Solutions and Improvements
Based on the issues raised, here are some potential solutions and improvements that could address the concerns with private auras:
**1. Selective Implementation:
Private auras should be reserved for mechanics that are manageable on an individual level and do not require precise coordination with the rest of the raid. For more complex mechanics, maintaining visibility to the entire raid may be more practical.
**2. Enhanced In-Game Indicators:
Improving in-game visual and audio indicators for private auras can help players manage these mechanics without relying on addons. Clear, distinct cues that draw attention to the mechanic can make it easier for players to react appropriately.
**3. Consistent Design Philosophy:
Establishing a consistent design philosophy for private auras can help reduce the learning curve for players. If private auras follow a predictable pattern, players can develop a better understanding of how to handle them across different encounters.
**4. Community Engagement:
Continued engagement with the community through forums, surveys, and PTR testing can provide valuable feedback to developers. This collaborative approach ensures that player experiences and concerns are considered in the design process.
Personal Experiences and Perspectives
Allow me to share some personal experiences and perspectives on private auras. As a long-time raider, I have seen the evolution of raid mechanics and the growing influence of addons like WeakAuras. While these tools have undoubtedly made raiding more accessible and manageable, they have also created a dependency that can diminish the sense of achievement and personal growth.
**1. Learning Curve:
When private auras were first introduced, my raid group struggled with adapting to the new mechanics. It was challenging to break the habit of relying on raid-wide alerts and trust our instincts and reactions. However, over time, we found that this forced us to become better players. We paid more attention to the game environment, communicated more effectively, and developed stronger individual skills.
**2. Team Coordination:
The necessity of creating macros to communicate private auras has been a double-edged sword. While it allows us to manage mechanics effectively, it also adds a layer of complexity that can detract from the enjoyment of the fight. Balancing this need for coordination with the desire for a streamlined experience is crucial.
**3. Encouraging Player Growth:
Despite the challenges, private auras have encouraged personal growth and responsibility within our raid team. Players who might have previously relied heavily on external alerts have become more self-reliant and confident in their abilities. This shift has fostered a sense of camaraderie and mutual support as we work together to overcome difficult encounters.
Looking Forward
As we move forward, it is essential for the community and developers to continue working together to refine the implementation of private auras. Striking the right balance between challenge and accessibility is a delicate task, but it is achievable through ongoing dialogue and iteration.
Conclusion
In conclusion, private auras are a well-intentioned feature aimed at enhancing individual responsibility and reducing addon dependency in World of Warcraft. However, their implementation has revealed several challenges that need to be addressed to ensure a positive player experience. By refining the design, improving in-game indicators, and maintaining open communication with the community, we can work towards a more balanced and enjoyable raid experience.
Thank you for bringing this important issue to light. I look forward to hearing more thoughts and experiences from the community as we continue this discussion.
Best regards,
Paris
World of Warcraft Player and Enthusiast
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The biggest issue with Private Auras isn’t that they exist, but rather the mechanics they exist on.
I really do think that mechanics like Rending Charge and Firestorm are great mechanics to enforce private auras for the simple fact that they force us to just play the mechanic vs introducing a, frankly unnecessary, weakaura to assign positions.
When they are used on mechanics that require hyper coordinated positioning in a very short time, they are terrible. Nothing illustrates this more than on Mythic Echo during prog everyone was using the Map Weakaura to tell them how to position for hearts while leveraging a list. This could have been fixed by either reducing the radius of the hearts/total number that go out, or not tuning the debuff players get after breaking walls such that breaking more than a single wall was impossible to heal, thus giving us more room to play with.
In fact, in Awakened Abberus, the list weakaura is broken, but it’s not necessary because of how they changed the mechanic.
Intelligent use of private auras is good.
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The funny thing with echo soak is the mechanic was just badly done for it, Rygelion had the same type of soak but it didn’t do damage when you got in so people had time to position themselves and as far as I know most people never used any minimap/weakaura for Rygelon.
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Yeah, over-reliance on addons is kinda why I just stopped raiding after a while. Last time I seriously did was like Cata or MoP.
I never used weakauras, and likely never will.
So, I just feel out of the loop when you need more than just DBM.
Raiding’s just left me behind lol. Mostly due to my unwillingness to install more addons.
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Private auras are buffs and debuffs that are undetectable by the WoW API function UnitAura(). They’re still visible to players in the debuff tray.
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I wonder if Blizzard is fine with people just using the Wa with a macro, is that something they think is good for the game instead of just using a regular WA?
Or are they going to break that somehow, the same way they removed the radar, friendly name plates and whatever that addon was that would let you color the in game world.
We are living in the worst of both worlds right now, private auras just make it so the WA is more important that the mechanic.
Well as long as it’s properly telegraphed in some way other than “You’re supposed to stare at the collection of boxes in the corner of your screen” I guess, what ever.
But I think the core problem is there is SOOOOOOOOOOOO much going on with you’re own spec, cds and auras, dance dance, everyone else’s flashy effects, boss mechanics, that you need tools that simplify things to the critical information.
And I’m a big believer that it’s easier to learn the fights then it is to manage tools like DBM. But this seems like it’s attacking symptoms and not core issues.