Imo, this is partially why it’s so hard to get into, and likely won’t “come back” without some major improvements.
DF was the start of this- UI updates and a baseline version of IO, as well as bag updates. It’s a step in the right direction.
To be competitive in PvE requires Deadly Boss Mod, and likely Raider IO at the minimum.
PvP requires more, DBM PvP version, Capping timer addon, Healers Have To Die, Nameplate Cooldowns, Gladius for Arenas and SS, Improved Tab Target (won’t tab-target pets, only players) and a good amount more, I can’t recall them all now. There’s a Gladius-like addon you need for battlegrounds as well.
That’s not mentioning Discord which is pretty much needed too. Not an addon, but still required.
World Content you don’t need addons for, but TomTom for coordinates, and HandyNotes certainly makes it easier.
All of this stuff should be baseline already, especially DBM. That one’s been required for yeeeaaarrrsss.
And weakauras, an addon so powerful it basically lets you make your own addon in a few minutes. If Blizz partnered with WeakAuras to integrate it into the game, that would be wonderful!
I think the key think to keep in mind are that addons give players flexibility.
If you don’t like DBM you have other more/less intrusive addons.
For Castle Nathria on my old account pretty much only used WAs because a certain sequence worked better for my raid group (we didn’t do NSF). Some fights we didn’t use DBM and preferred WAs.
I don’t there needs to be a game helper addon built into WoW as it leaves players with the choice to pick them and many casual players will never need them.
On the flip side someone who is ‘casualing hardcore’ may benefit from a major event and weekly task tracking addon.
Is WoW reliant on addons, yes.
Does it make WoW a better game? A million times yes. And the current way is best as it gives the best level of self-catering.
Nah, the best addons are the convenience/UI ones, not the combat ones:
Z-perl, Altoholic, Titan Bar etc.
If anything, there is only one Addon I find mandatory: Clique, when playing healers.
It’s either that or wasting a lot of time setting up mouseover macros.
NAH you dont really need a whole a lot of addons for bgs , arenas sure but thats only a small bit . imo you shouldn’t really need healers have to die thats sad . its pretty obvious when healers are healing you shouldn’t need an addon to tell you that imo . all you really need b4 was bgtargets back in the day but now with the ui changes you really dont even need addons anymore that much . There really isnt a need to install timers , other ppl on your team will have them . TBh you really dont neeeeeed a whole lot of bg addons to be able to win bgs .
I don’t use addons at all. I raided mythic without them. I was invited to the AWC without them.
You don’t need’em. You get better at the game like you get better at anything.
Practice.
It’s not broken without Add-ons - they’re just the quick and easy way to get good. Even then they don’t do all the work for you.
This, I think this one of the first raid tiers where I haven’t had to download a WA for something, well outside of Sark anyways. But yeah everything has been really well telegraphed. Traps, bombs and golems on Zskarn are really easy to find and deal with. Debuff stacks on the second experiment are as easy as “If you have the debuff when you get to 10+ go to X”. And just about everything else puts a red or purple arrow over your head telling you you’re about to get hit with a mechanic you should already know how to handle.
Not required, just very helpful. Everything it tells you is already communicated in-game, DBM just makes it more obvious.
The only advantage to using this anymore is that it shows last season’s score too, otherwise the built-in M+ score is perfectly sufficient.
Should be removed from the game entirely imo. I have no idea how important PvP addons are, nor do I care.
Discord is only needed if your Guild / Community uses it, though admittedly most do. The in-game calendar, in-game voice chat, and WoW Companion app could be used as an alternative if a Guild / Community chose to.
When I play FFXIV often times I find myself going “I wish I could change X about my UI” or “I wish I had something to better manage my inventory” or “I wish something existed to better keep track of stuff in encounters”
The nice thing about wow is that exists and that if there is something I look at with the base game that can be improved add-ons usually fill that slot.
Truthfully, it’s nice that the community can solve problems the dev team will most likely never acknowledge and that it can be personalized on a player by player basis.
No one is forced to use any add-ons or they can use as many as they want.
Part of the problem is the game keeps on changing and there is no consistent design guidelines to the encounter design, abilities, or artwork that conveys all this information.
We have slower paced strategic class design with 24+ abilities, and a fast action RPG encounter design for big attack, small attach, block.
Add ons bridges the gap between those two things and makes it bearable.
I had no idea PvE players no longer needed DBM. Admittedly it’s been a while since I’ve raided seriously (MoP) but back then we pretty much needed it.
PvP, yeah it’s pretty awful without addons.
People use addons that will sound a bullhorn for stuff like when a Rogue uses Deathmark or for major DPS cooldowns so you know when to use defensives.
One of the main reasons I don’t touch Arenas and prefer Battlegrounds (aside from objectives/maps) is because of kick-bot addons, which will automatically kick certain spells when they are used. The top players would use these. Always felt like cheating to me.
I wish they’d either break addons for WoW PvP (PvE, addons are seemingly harmless) just to even the field for those that don’t have them.
Or, another PvP MMORPG comes along that is just as decent as WoW’s PvP. As bad as it may be, it’s still the best MMORPG PvP.