Let me ask this - can someone effectively PvP in 2019 without this addon? They’d be insanely crippled. It is such a crucial addon that if allowed it should just be part of the regular UI. What would you think of that - blizzard making it part of the game files and the regular UI?
And what do you think of a player who wants an authentic experience and doesn’t use this addon and gets stomped on when he tries to stealth and skillfully 1v2 players in world PvP, but the moment he stealths and sneaks up on them, the players charge and aoe and find him… and he’s left dead in the graveyard wondering how they knew he was there when he stealthed 195 yards away behind a tree where they couldn’t have possibly actually seen him?
In the meantime I do have the SVN repository for WitchHunt and the commits start at April 10, 2006. There were files before; that was simply the first import of the project to source control. That’s not to say I have been using it since then, but it absolutely existed for a couple patches. The TOC would suggest that this first commit targeted patch 1.10.
I wish I could muster sympathy, really I do. But as a former rogue victim and a healer targeted by similar addons in the past, I just can’t find any. Try healing in pvp when you are marked by an addon, focused down and it shows when you cast so you can be interrupted. It renders you utterly useless.
That’s a lot of work to say you don’t understand my argument.
The operative word you missed was “can”
Even simple cosmetic UI changes can skew balance. Some cosmetic UI updates make the entire UI very cluttered, pretty, but cluttered, giving you less room for useful inputs and even blocking your view. Others are so minimalist that you end up seeing far more than you usually would, offering a small advantage.
Read more carefully.
The existence with Blizzard’s knowledge and blessing is a very strong argument. Actually, it is the strongest argument since Blizzard has the final say. Not all mic-drop rebuttals need to be long-winded diatribes or ultra nuanced and particular technical points. Often the easiest solution is a sentence or two.
You’ve claimed existence is weak, but you haven’t supported why. Tsk tsk.
Your incredulity was in response to your disbelief anyone ever pulled out their Combat Log.
Fun fact: if you look at the original Spell Alert addon, Curse didn’t even manage to migrate the original files over, yet still managed to get all the original comments discussing it. I’d take download numbers from a 14yr old file with a massive grain of salt. Nevertheless, your popularity point doesn’t matter.
No, I was more referencing the healer must die addon and others like it. It’s crippling to be able to do your job in pvp with stuff like that. I don’t even know what’s available in classic that serves that purpose. I’m just speaking as somone who has experienced similiar situations as the OP with a different role.
Edit: I’m not arguing in favor of or against the addon. I don’t need it. I rolled on a PVE server this time so I could just avoid the hassle completely.
They didn’t give their blessing, lmfao. They didn’t know about it besides the information they themselves put in the combat log. I’m sure they didn’t intend for a fully automated version of this that detects, pings, and puts said names in a box for you to target off of.
You need to know what it means when someone gives their blessing. Give me a blue post, bud.
First created, 7/12/2004, the last update to this version was 7/27/2006, and the addon went through dozens of versions as different authors picked it up from its original state.
It uses the same individual call outs as Gizmo in the form of:
CHAT_MSG_SPELL_X
But rather than use RegisterEvent to just get a log, it filters this all through a really long set of embedded if/then loops.
Sure they did, they even specifically made posts towards modders when they updated the Combat Log in Patch 2.4 to show off all the new things you could do with it, notably the filters.
They actively enjoyed and participated with the modding community to work through unique uses and even bug-fix odd results. That forum was a coding nerd’s heaven.
That’s literally how DBM works. It detects Combat Log events, it plays a sound, and can even provide a target window based upon that information. Do you realize how absolutely simple those three things are?
It did exactly what Spy does, just with clunkier/crappier code.
DBM doesn’t affect other players gameplay, nor does it assist to this extreme in PvP. We now have a fully automated detector at our fingertips, and it can detect all stealth too. That’s a bit insane, you only want it because it helps you. You’re comparing something that’s PvE oriented to something that has a huge impact on how PvP is performed in our current version of the game.
Dope, they didn’t give their blessing on this type of automation in classic PvP. Like I said, you can get banned for jumping on a building to kill a player if you’re avoiding guards. That didn’t take any form of automation, yet your argument can be used to defend exploits galore in this game.
That nowhere near as many people used. So where’s your #nochanges? This changed the entire PvP aspect of Classic.
Easy fix we discussed was removal of stealth, prowl, vanish and shadowmeld from the combat log.
Could even get more specific and change it to only remove hostile versions, so that those who track raid information, etc, still know when a friendly stealthed.
Doesn’t change the fact that the Combat Log parsing, event flag for audio cues, and customized target frames are all very standard features of DBM and hundreds of other mods. These are some of the most basic addon commands we’ve had since forever, it is simply a matter of time until someone puts them together for specific purposes that become really popular.
You do so well until you go full tinfoil hat. I care about preserving the API access we have, unchanged, because it is through that API we create some of the coolest mods to date, and cooler still in the future.
They explicitly gave their blessing for modders to go buck-wild with the Combat Log and even made sure to regularly provide the most up to date complete working code of the Combat Log for exactly that.
They full intended for people to parse the data for all purposes, PvP included. Again, your entire argument falls flat when you consider the sheer number of PvP focused addons that do what Spy does and more. Gladius was often complained about in Arenas and it worked so well because the Developers made sure to include unique Combat Log IDs you could acquire that were restricted to Arena play. Gladius tracked the entire enemy team without even seeing them, including CDs, health, mana, casts, the whole bit, the moment the doors opened. You could keybind to Gladius to auto-target people and you could sort the lists based upon particular preferences.
But you think a generic ping radar is going to far? /giggle
This is precisely #nochanges. The API functionality of the past is still being used today in Classic. Just like how we can’t lobotomize ourselves of strategies, theorycrafting, memory, or experience, the same is true of addon development. 15 years of addon development is a long time, and that community is absolutely ridiculous compared to what it was then.
This requires new tags that don’t exist in the Combat Log that would only apply to these spells because no other event in the game has such a restriction.
It isn’t about just altering the spells, you have to add additional parameters to the Combat Log.
…You think that blizzard, when making the stealthy and subtle rogue class, intended that - every time the rogue uses stealth, even when totally out of sight and sound from the enemy - a loud warning buzzer sounded for 200+ yards?
…or, isn’t it instead easier to accept that putting stealth in a 200 yard combat log was quite simply an oversight by vanilla blizzard, just like safespotting in gadgetzan was an oversight?
Do you contend that, if Spy was used during vanilla as much as it is now in 2019, blizzard would not have removed stealth from the combat log to fix the class?
And, before you say “lol no changes sorry can’t fix any classes,” note this: blizzard HAS fixed things that modern day players exploit. For example, DM buffs actually did stack during vanilla, but blizzard changed that to avoid exploiting; the range on the guards in gadgetzan have been significantly increased to avoid safe spot exploiting, and the LFG autoninvite feature (simply a modern 2019 use of chat parses) has been broken. “Hey, it just simply parses logs For you, and was usable in vanilla, so don’t break LFG autoninvite!” Argument sound familiar?
This sets a precedent that, if an old-school mechanic can be abused and exploited by modern-day player behavior, blizzard can and will fix said issue(s). If players find an old vanilla feature and widely abuse it, via addon or otherwise, it is subject to being changed.
Vanilla blizzard never possibly envisioned widespread taking advantage of stealth being in the combat log via a loud buzzer and shareable information. This modern-day exploit must be fixed.
