A fairly recent screen shot of my user interface in action (click for full size).
In the first installment of my User Interface posts, I’m going to talk about about the general theory behind how I have designed my UI, talk about a few specific modifications, and provide a list of the addons I think are most essential.
There are WoW players out there who are User Interface purists; who insist that they play fine with the default UI, and will even insinuate that those who modify their UI are inferior players that require addons as a crutch. In my experience, these are usually people who have never used addons, often because they believe they don’t have the technical competence to set them up, or are simply lazy. That being said, I don’t think you have to modify every aspect of your UI, the extent and types of modifications that will let you play your best will vary depending on your class, spec and personal preference as to how you like to see information displayed.
I like addons; I like figuring out how they’re configured and seeing what I can do with them. I also enjoy trying to find a balance between optimal function and aesthetics. It wasn’t long after I started playing WoW that I began using addons, and since then I’ve changed virtually every aspect of my interface many times over. As of the time of writing, the screenshot above is quite recent, but there are things I’ve changed since, and other things I’m likely to change.