The Difficulty in porting WoW to Xbox is *not* the number of buttons. It is the UI

Community General Discussion
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There more than enough inputs on a Controller to accommodate every class in the game.

You can literally play WoW with a controller, right now. I do.

The Controller is NOT the problem with making a console port.

It is the UI, and for one very good, specific reason.

add-ons.

Console games don’t get addons, and Whoever designs a Console UI for WoW has to account for usability expectations and issues that PC players can just use Addons to provide and/or circumvent.

For example, as I said above, you can play WoW with a controller right now. the built-in support is there, and it works. HOWEVER, WoW does not have a controller-friendly UI. for that I have to use the ConsolePort addon, which provides the Controller UI. Console players would, of course, not have access to this, which means a built-from scratch UI.

then you got things like Weakauras and Boss Mods and Auctionator and Titan Panel and stuff like that, that Console players simply won’t have access to, which would automatically put them at a disadvantage, especially if cross-platform.

and as much as I would love to play WoW on my 4k tv, I don’t carry much hope of that happening, Blizzard likely just determines that the cost of building a Controller UI from scratch is not worth it in the long-term.

I know I’m not saying anything new here. I’m just hoping in the future the discussion around this particular topic might move towards the actual problem, and not just “there’s too many buttons.”

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Can you provide footage? I’d like to see it.

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The best thing to come out of FFXIV was their controller setup and controller UI and it’s so strange that it has not been adopted by other MMOs.

The controller setup there is actually the only reason i can play any dps classes over there. They have more buttons than is comfortable for me on a keyboard setup.

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I knows there’s other mmos like elder scrolls and final fantasy on console. But I believe the biggest problem of porting WoW to console is not the controls or the UI. It’s the addons. I didnt use any addons in ESO or FF, but in WoW they are a neccessity.

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You can play WoW with a controller but that doesn’t make it a good idea to do so. Just like you can drive your car with your feet. It just doesn’t end well

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Seems like that’s kinda the point of the OP. It’s not built for it, but if modified with an addon or if blizz updated the UI to accommodate controllers, it would work fine.

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You never played FFXIV on console n it shows. Neither with controller nor even mouse n keyboard lol.

If you rely desperately on addons that’s a you issue.

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What do you mean? They’re not wrong. You could easily and comfortably map all of your buttons on a controller on any class here.

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Shoot I wouldn’t play wow if I was stuck just using the stock frames, they look horrible.

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No, they really aren’t.

New players don’t even realize addons are a thing. They can play without issues. And while everyone and their mother will tell you that you need DBM, I can promise you there are plenty of folks jumping into LFR that DON’T use DBM.

I won’t go as far to say that DBM plays the game for you as that is highly ignorant talk. You still have to move and react accordingly after all, but it does streamline the process of communication in a raid setting. However, there is not a single raid in this game that cannot be cleared without the aid of something like DBM as good old fashioned voice communication and ACTUALLY PAYING ATTENTION can do the job as well.

Addons as a preference, not a necessity. I’ve been using ElvUI since Wrath. If it disappeared tomorrow, Id be annoyed, but I’d eventually adapt. WoW itself would not be broken if I played without it.

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I’m a Tank Main in FFXIV. I play all 4 tanks. I also have at least one of each other role at level 90, I have 2 healers at 90, 2 magic dps at 90, 2 ranged dps at 90, and 1 melee dps at 90.

I played on PS3 when ARR launched, moved to PS4 when it came out, and I’ll be playing on Xbox later this month when the Beta launches.

and I play with a controller there as well. I’ve never actually played M/KB in FFXIV ever.

You’ve missed the point entirely.

The point isn’t that Consoles don’t get addons, the point is that Blizzard would have to design an entirely new UI for Consoles which they don’t have to do for controller players on PC because of Consoleport, and Blizzard is probably just not going to do that.

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Another issue would be that PUGS will only accept PC players. The forums would be filled with complaints about console players not getting into raids or mythic plus.

Consoles are a slippery slope to porting WoW on mobile.

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I can’t post videos/links here, my trust level isn’t high enough or whatever.

but I’ll do what I can.

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You’re assuming it would be cross platform.

While I couldn’t fathom NOT doing that, it is entirely possible that the console players could be in their own ecosystem. They could also have the option to either play with only console players, or play with both.

Choosing to play with only other console players would likely negate most issues that would pop up from PC players being their usual friendly, helpful, and understanding selves.
/sarcasm

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this is legit.

but also solved by just not playing cross platform.

I would think with the addon ecosystem on PC, they kind would have to just not be crossplatform. Console players would be at a distinct disadvantage, no matter what people here tell you.

because addons may not technically be “necessary”, we can guarantee that 95% of the population doing anything important in the game uses certain ones.

nah, this is just fearmongering.

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You are not going to play a class / spec to its fullest with a controller.

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Honestly, I think targeting the correct enemy is the greatest weakness of the controller. With how quick interrupts/kicks/silences are needed, controller just doesn’t seem viable where those are necessary. For open-world and low level content sure, but anywhere high-end would likely have them start falling off.

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not without a UI specifically built and designed for it.

Which is my entire point here.

I can dig this.

WoW’s controller support is not set up in a way that allows for quick cycling through targets. It’s set up to be used side-by-side with Action Combat mode. and if you are not using both at the same time, you’re doing it wrong. But that also makes precisely targeting a specific mob an issue.

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I’d actually say that target swapping is a bigger hurdle than the UI. What differentiates FFXIV and WoW is that mobs need special attention, and on controller you are locked to tab targeting. In Arena, you can just use frame macros and be fine, but that doesn’t exist in M+.

It would require cutting a big piece from the pie to make it on par

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Sure they do - they’re just built in rather than being “added on”.

Also, you do not need addons for controller level of play. DBM is nice at the start of seasons, but after awhile it becomes background noise as you get use to the encounters. Outside of that, you don’t really need anything.