Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Are peripheral tools common?

Finally, I'm posting again! Sorry about the long hiatus. That's why I try to post everyday... if I give myself one free day, it quickly turns into two, then three, then a week, and so on.


I've always played games as is -- no mods, no minor tweaks, no tools running in the background. You know... gaming as God intended. ;)

Yet the use of those extra tools, alternate UI, and such seems pretty common.

So now I'm wondering just how common. Am I the exception? Do most PC gamers use such things these days? Or is it still mainly the tech-savvy gamers and online gaming veterans who seek to augment their gameplay?

3 comments:

  1. I pretty much CAN'T play WoW without mods. Everything else out there I have played without them with the exception of EQ.

    I think it's possible for them to add such incredible value to the game that to not use them would be to be losing out. I have never used anything that would be considered a cheat, and I wouldn't. But whatever the rules allow and simplify or enhance my enjoyment of the game I want to use.

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  2. I didn't enjoy using mods in WoW. However, once my guild started requiring them to raid I used them and became dependent on them. It took away from the game.

    My stance on them now is simply to avoid them at all costs. If the UI dev team can't create a UI functional enough to satisfy the community then they have failed at their job.

    I also feel that UIs should constantly be evolving. When the game releases if it makes sense to add a particular function then it should be added for everyone.

    As for additional tools I don't use them much. Back in DAOC when I first started playing a Savage I was getting nasty carpal tunnel from swaping between so many hotbars. A nostromo speed pad allowed for me to press 1 button and have to hit Shift+1 for me. Other than that I'm pretty much a purist myself.

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  3. In WoW I used a couple of add-ons, some which Blizzard added similar functionality later in the game. In EQ2 I used an alternate GUI, since it provided a more effective use of screen space and visibly better indicators.

    In both these cases the developers provided the means to do that on purpose and I think that is pretty good that they provided that option.

    For City of Heroes/Villains I use HeroStats when I play some characters, typically dominators, comtrollers and defenders to help with buff and crowd control timers and also to have an on-screen clock. The tool provides much more info than that if you want it, but that is my use for it.

    For other MMOGs, I do not recall having used any external tools at all.

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