Warcraft Development Team Statement to WoWUIDevs on Future Addon Changes

Posted 2025/06/03 at 5:23 PM by Archimtiros

announcementrestrict some addon functionalitywith a statementWeakAuras Twitter account

No target date for the changes, but there will be several months of advanced notice before the time comes.

They want to give addon devs as much time as possible to test changes, report issues, and provide feedback.

There is no intent to ban addons outright.

They aim to minimize impact on accessibility addons as much as possible. Functionality that is no longer possible after the changes should be incorporated into the base game.

There will be a number of significant updates and additions to the UI, including a built-in damage meter, nameplate improvements, and a "good portion" of the most important combat information addons currently provide.

Most of this functionality should ship at the same time as the addon restrictions, if not sooner.

Mythic raiding has become increasingly reliant on addons, but these changes are not being made specifically because of Race to World First guilds.

Addons are currently being used to analyze and solve combat and coordination mechanics better and faster than an unassisted player, resulting in a major disadvantage and exclusion for players unwilling to install, setup, and maintain them.

Blizzard's intent is to "level the playing field" and make the game more approachable for all players by reining in these capabilities, while building up baseline functionality of the default UI.

There will be substantial changes to combat and encounter design to accompany these addon changes.

The goal is to make class mechanics more approachable and easier to understand without addons.

They want WoW to remain challenging, but less about managing the subtleties of class mechanics and more about communication with players and interacting with encounters.

Warcraft Devs, via WoWUIDiscord

Hello to the members of the WoWUIDev Discord server from the WoW Team at Blizzard!

First of all, thank you all for your feedback so far about the upcoming addon changes. We've been reading it all and discussing it internally, and we'll continue to do so. Also, a special thanks to the mods for setting up the addon-restrictions-feedback channel. Consolidating your most important feedback about this project in one place not only makes reading the feedback easier for us but also reduces the likelihood that the feedback will get lost amongst other chat.

Reading through your feedback so far it is clear that there's a lot of confusion about the timing, goals and nature of these changes. While our communication on these changes so far has been intended more for the press and general player base, we also understand that it would greatly benefit you as addon developers to have a little more clarity. We also hope this clarity better informs your feedback going forward. Please understand that this project is in heavy development right now, so we won't be able to give specific technical details just yet (exactly which things will be locked down, etc). We'll be releasing this more detailed information in the future though, well before this project goes live, so stay tuned for those details in the coming months. Although we haven't finalized a target release date for these changes, what we can say is that we'll be giving many months of advance notice before we flip the switch. We want to allow addon devs as much time as possible to test the changes, report issues and provide feedback. We will be announcing the landing place for these changes well ahead of time and taking steps to maximize the amount of hands-on feedback from addon developers before the changes go live.,

Addons provide a huge amount of value to our players, and we have no intention of banning them or anything like that. We are aiming to cause the least amount of collateral damage possible to addons when these changes go live. We know there will be some unintended fallout for addons that are not directly targeted by these changes, but we will be actively taking steps to minimize that damage as much as possible. Your feedback here is vital, since you obviously know best which APIs you currently use and for what purpose., Likewise, we aim to minimize the impact on accessibility addons as much as possible. Functionality in this space which is no longer possible after these changes are things we will aim to incorporate into our base game.,

We have seen speculation that we are primarily targeting RWF guilds with these changes. While it is true that Mythic raiding has become increasingly reliant on addons, that is not the primary goal of this project. We are embarking on this project with the aim of leveling the playing field and making the game more approachable for all players. Currently, addons are able to analyze and "solve" combat and coordination mechanics perfectly, and faster than would be possible for an unassisted human player. While many players will naturally seek out any advantage, this also means that players who don't use these addons are at a huge disadvantage. Many players end up feeling excluded from competitive content unless they install, set up, and maintain a number of addons. This is a significant barrier to entry, and we have heard growing feedback over the years from players who resent feeling like they need addons to play the game properly. This project is about doing everything we can to shrink that gap, by building up the baseline functionality of the default UI, while also reining in the "optimal problem-solving" capabilities of the addon API., We will also be making substantial changes to how we design our combat and encounters to accompany these addon changes. Removing the ability for addons to "solve" most encounter mechanics means that we can also take a different approach to the design of our encounters going forward. The same goes for certain class mechanics. The goal is to make our class mechanics more approachable and easier to understand without addon solutions. If everything goes to plan, WoW will remain challenging, but the nature of that challenge will be less about managing subtleties of class mechanics and more about collaborating with allies and interacting with encounters.,

There are a number of significant additions and updates to our UI that will go along with these changes. We have already announced that we will be adding a built-in damage meter and making improvements to our nameplates, but that is by no means the extent of our planned changes. The goal is for our base UI to provide players with a good portion of the most important combat information addons currently provide. Most of this functionality will ship at the same time as these addon restrictions, if not sooner. Furthermore, this is an ongoing process: we intend to keep this line of communication open after the restrictions are put in place, and we will continue to listen, iterate, and improve our offerings in subsequent patches.

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Comment by TOMRUSThey should stop with these changes before it's too late.

All they should do is make encounters that do not require addons and leave addons functionality alone (or even expand it further). This way they could achieve stated goal and don't break or limit addons functionality at same time.

TLDR: addons are not a problem, encounter/class design is...Comment by Randos"Most of this functionality should ship at the same time as the addon restrictions, if not sooner."

thats a bad sign very very bad signComment by vodrin12.0 thenComment by Bon3zz1001Can't wait for Ripcord 2.0Comment by AngrymamaGood changes. I like it.Comment by TruthguardAddon's, Weak auras have been part and parcel of the game for years. It is completely unnecessary to remove them. The people who make them invest a lot of time making these packages and they are a huge benefit to all. If people don't want to download them to be in a raiding guild then there is always LFR. We have a social element in the game and we find tools to assist for the more difficult encounters, even with these addons, end game at the highest difficult remains a challenge and there is minimal benefit to restricting them.Comment by Kaosthe1st...resulting in a major disadvantage and exclusion for players unwilling to install, setup, and maintain them.Comment by KodokuTenshi"Most of this functionality should ship at the same time as the addon restrictions, if not sooner."

thats a bad sign very very bad signComment by AnstonMany players end up feeling excluded from competitive content unless they install, set up, and maintain a number of addons. This is a significant barrier to entry,Comment by ClickehYes, the announcement where they said they weren't making it so Addons could still be used and everyone decided that meant "they are moving the ability to use addons."Comment by Tefeldont you think the 5 remaining ppl working on wow should fix on the trillion bugs, the balance, the tons of dead talents, a world without a set in stone meta or go home, to remove all the bull@#$% from mythic raiding including lockout so normal ppl might play the content, decent loot from m+, patches that work, remove the timegate inside the timegate inside a timegate released patch, remove these tons of roleplays in old raids and dungeons, add skips to all endbosses in all old raids including icc, bring back mage tower weapons and making the game fun? before you spend one single second on trying to fix something that isnt broken while the entire world outside these 5 ppl know it will take multiple years to come up with something even close to current addons?Comment by KrakenLatteWhat about Weak Auras that are purely aesthetic choices? Like using a custom mana bar because it's sparkly and glowy versus the base in game one? Is Weak Auras going to be removed outright? I hope not. I like my UI as it is and I'm a solo player, not one who raids anymore.Comment by Randos

Why? it's actually the correct way to approach it. Imagine if they ban addons but fights are still tuned around them and boom, you don't have all the important combat info. The transition should be seemless with fights readily tuned for it.Comment by CravensPeople will always find a way to hack their way for a slight advantage. I remember in Wrath, fire mages could benefit from a weird interaction, by freezing the computer for 0.5s in order to gain 250dps. So restrict addons or not, people will find workarounds.Comment by KikiStarPersonally, I don't see any issue with what is going to be implemented. It's a good thing for the game, even though I can understand the frustration of some players. I'm okay with sharing again in the game what many either missed or have forgotten.
However, while we're asking for more communication, this could be a real issue for mute players. I just hope they'll handle it properly and let us test everything thoroughly before making a final decision.Comment by LunarathThey should stop with these changes before it's too late.

All they should do is make encounters that do not require addons and leave addons functionality alone (or even expand it further). This way they could achieve stated goal and don't break or limit addons functionality at same time.

TLDR: addons are not a problem, encounter/class design is...Comment by ssithl"Most of this functionality should ship at the same time as the addon restrictions, if not sooner."

thats a bad sign very very bad signComment by nerfhuntersThis will be disastrous, especially with how terrible their Q&A has been and the sheer amount of bugs in TWW. I predict that within 3-6 months after implementing it, they will be forced to rollback the changes due to community outcry.Comment by tottie1227They better keep their hands off the healer addonsComment by Unholylyfe92"Most of this functionality should ship at the same time as the addon restrictions, if not sooner."

thats a bad sign very very bad sign

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