PC players, Do you use Add-ons?

Grizzbeorn

Sarannah wrote: »

PS: It's ok to disagree with me!

Thanks for your permission!

ADarklore

Yes

I honestly would not play ESO without addons. They bring so much to the game and help further the enjoyment, that without them, the game would be a slog. I honestly feel bad for console players that don't have all the QOL features that addons bring.

Sarannah

No

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

PS: It's ok to disagree with me!

Thanks for your permission!

That was a bit uncalled for! The reason I put that there is because some players do not like discussions on the internet, afraid they may get personally insulted if they disagree with someone. Instead of actually having a real discussion about the topic.

Braffin wrote: »

Don't forget to buy every eso-player new, standardized gaming hardware as well as a proper internet connection for the sake of equality. 😆

Well, having a good functioning gaming environment(running ESO well/steady internet) is personal responsibility. Nor does that have anything to do with in-game modifications(add-ons).

Sheridan

Yes

Yes, but only a few (minimap, emotes, leads, screenshots, quest journal) and none of the UI overhaul or game process automation.

shadyjane62

Yes

Yes, I use Lazy writ crafter and skyshards, just those 2

Nestor

I use QOL addons for crafting inventory management and travel. Any comat information addons are stripped down to.just a few crucial pieces of information, boss health percentage, dps and experience gained.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Yes

I try to minimize my use of add-ons but I do use a few.

Mesite

Console player - would just like to comment

When I was on PC I used a few, including a crafting mod for instantaneous crafting, an inventory mod that only vaguely helped, and combat metrics. But when they stopped working I just put up with the error messages and didn't try to update them. I wasn't really bothered. Except the Trade Centre information maybe.

On console I don't miss the error messages and I feel relieved that I can play the way it's meant to be played without having to 'cheat'

SilverBride

Yes

Mesite wrote: »

On console I don't miss the error messages and I feel relieved that I can play the way it's meant to be played without having to 'cheat'

It has already been established that add-ons are not cheating. If they were ZoS would not allow them.

SilverBride

Yes

Look at it this way... My neighbor doesn't have a car and takes the bus everywhere. I do have a car and drive myself. Am I cheating because I use a convenience that is available to me that my neighbor doesn't have?

Tandor

No

SilverBride wrote: »

Look at it this way... My neighbor doesn't have a car and takes the bus everywhere. I do have a car and drive myself. Am I cheating because I use a convenience that is available to me that my neighbor doesn't have?

That rather depends on whether you've entered into a competitive race with him and feel that you should both compete on an even playfield.

Tyrant_Tim

Yes

I’m going to pre-face this by saying I LOVE Add-Ons, and just this year I started getting into ESO on PC having played Xbox for a decade. Having the Lorebooks and Treasure Maps pins have been a godsend.

Most UI updates to console have been a direct result of Add-On work, like the Skyshards pins, damage numbers, and buff trackers.

When the game launched it had none of those.

While the vast majority of Add-Ons have been quality of life and non-competitive, some are directly impacting the game in a competitive nature and can be borderline considered cheating against others without knowledge of them.

Trading

Tamriel Trade Centre, *before we all collectively laugh* anyone with access to it in-game will have an edge over trading and pricing compared to anyone without. Someone without that add-on will spend hours going from trader to trader to find what price they need to beat, while the add-on users would have listed their items and sold them to whatever interested party before the other player visited half of the traders due to how advantageous the add-on is.

Cyrodiil / Imperial City

There are add-ons like the one that tells you how much armor your opponents have before you even hit them and on a Nightblade I don’t have to say how broken that is.

Arena / Trial Leaderboards

Other add-ons that most players would consider a cheat, would be the ones that play end-game raiding for you, by removing all other players from your screen in trials and the one that prompts you whenever an important decision needs to be made, this wouldn’t be a problem if Leaderboard scoring was not possible when using the add-ons.

None of these would be considered cheating if they were part of the base-game, but because they are sourced outside of it, while offering an advantage, anyone that strictly plays ESO, and doesn’t consume social media for the game, would have no idea they exist and be at a disadvantage the entire time they are playing.

SilverBride

Yes

Tandor wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Look at it this way... My neighbor doesn't have a car and takes the bus everywhere. I do have a car and drive myself. Am I cheating because I use a convenience that is available to me that my neighbor doesn't have?

That rather depends on whether you've entered into a competitive race with him and feel that you should both compete on an even playfield.

I'm not racing with anyone, in game or out. I am playing my own game for my own satisfaction.

Players choose which platform to play on, knowing what is available on which.

Also, let me add that PC and Console are not on the same servers, so everyone we run into in game has the same options as everyone else on that server. PC players all have the option to use add-ons and Console players do not. So whichever we play on we are all on a level playing field with everyone else on our server.

Necrotech_Master

Yes

Sarannah wrote: »

Shara_Wynn wrote: »

ElderOfTamriel wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

No, they completely change the ESO experience into a spreadsheet/UI clutter instead of a game.

Also, I do consider some add-ons cheats, as they offer a clear advantage over other players who are not using add-ons. Like the ones that show resource nodes, treasure chests, thieves troves, and other locations. The ones that auto-repair/autocharge weapons and such. And many more. which are a clear advantage over other players without add-ons. I also consider some add-ons forms of botting, like the crafting writ add-ons. And feel ZOS should not allow that, as they are basically removing crafting as a specific part of the game for players to enjoy/specialize in. They would never allow the same automation add-ons for dungeons/trials/PvP/arena's, but somehow they allow it in this one specific part of the game.

In my opinion, which most players disagree with, ZOS should remove ALL add-ons from the game completely. At the very least ZOS should remove all add-ons that grant advantages over other players(no matter how small), and all add-ons from PvP completely.

PS: It's ok to disagree with me!
PPS: I'm not against adding some basic add-on functionality to the base game, as that would be a level playing field for everyone still.

You are free to use whatever addons you like, not my problem if you decide not to and beeing disadvantaged over other players in your opinion.

Addons just make the whole game experience much more comfortable and fun to play. Why would you spend your lifetime on useless, timeconsuming tasks like repairing your gear, doing your crafting dailies, fillet whole stacks of fishes fish by fish (ok that got added to the game lately finally), looking for hours trough guild stores to find prices for an item you want to sell and so on? If youre on PC and not using addons, your basically denying functions which make the game a lot more fun to play and less time consuming with the same outcome.

I dont understand. I never will. Its just dumb if you ask me. But its your decision. If ZOS would ever remove addons, which i dont think will ever be the case, i will stop playing the game and probably 80% of the player base would too.

I don't think they thought it was anyone's problem, that they didn't use add-ons or that others did. I also don't think it is fair to say that anything anyone chooses to do or not do is dumb, just because you happen not to agree with it.

I also think some of the add-ons are a little bit cheat-ish. "Writworthy" is one for sure, and perhaps "map pins" and "harvest map" but I do still use them as for me, I would rather spend my time questing than doing crafting, but that is just my experience and for others, some genuinely like crafting and harvesting. Each to their own.

It's ok, I knew players would disagree with me. And I respect that opinion.
I have nothing against players who do use add-ons, nor would I want players to completely stop using add-ons. The only thing I want is a fair playing field for every ESO player. So I only want add-ons gone/removed that add advantages over other players, or for the 'unfair' functionality to be added to the base game.

Players do seem to only look at the good side of add-ons, namely the advantages/QoL they grant. But there is also a major darkside to add-ons:
-1: Hacking: if someone plants a virus in an add-on, or the program that updates add-ons, their account can be heavily impacted. Doesn't even have to be the add-on maker, it could also be the website that hosts the add-ons.
-2: If one of the add-on creators, strangers basically, decides to add a function that whenever you log in it automatically mails all your gold/materials to them. There would be nothing anyone could do.
-3: Bugs/errors: On this forum players often post bugs/errors which aren't base game, and blame ZOS for the issue. While the issue is with a certain add-on.
-4: Functionality: Some players have no clue what add-ons even do, before installing them. For example when ZOS added a new color recall, and players were complaining ZOS didn't change the blue beam too. Which was actually a function done by an add-on. And this is just one example.
-5: Having to keep add-ons up-to-date every time ZOS releases a patch/content.
-6: Asking for QoL updates to ESO is often negatively impacted, as some players do not realize the base game needs a certain QoL, due to that feature already being available in an add-on. This also impacts non-PC players/non add-on players, and totally removes any sense of urgency to ZOS for that QoL to be implemented. For example: any master writ QoL(not the daily writs), add-on users can do hundreds at a time.
-7: The UI becomes more bloated/bigger, and numbers are more focussed on. To me this removes the element of fun from the game, as the focus becomes too much on those numbers and on those UI functions. Instead of on the on-screen goals one is trying to achieve in the game.

Just my thoughts.

while i understand the opinion, some of those are true for any piece of software

your point 1 (hacking): as far as im aware addons can only do stuff within the API, which is they cant do anything until you log in and actually load a character, so there is absolutely no way they could get any account information (the only addons that could potentially be like that are ones that can run a 3rd party script, such in the case of harvest map if you want to pre-populate resource node locations, but if that bothered you then dont use it), this point is like general computer common sense as it could affect anything your installing on your computer (a new web browser or application), but generally not something that addons can really do when running inside of ESO as far as im aware (as they are very limited to what they can do from there)

point 2 (malicious addon): again kind of a general RL principle, though if it were malicious those types of addons are usually swiftly removed from the website and the user banned (and can be reported in game and potentially banned there too), it would not be fun but likely something that support could help with in extreme cases

there is always the option to write your own addons, then you can be sure nothing malicious would happen lol

point 3 (bugs): thats why the zos supports first step is to always disable addons to rule them out lol, i think this is partially on the user for not doing basic troubleshooting themselves though

point 4 (functionality): also 100% entirely on the user for not understanding what they are installing, people do that in RL too and just install apps and junk without knowing what they do in full, and i believe that is a bad user practice, not a bad thing on the addon itself

point 5 (updates): i mean technically speaking if you didnt run the eso launcher to update the game, you couldnt play either when a new update came out, really not any different, though in the addons case they have to be manually updated by the person that created them (or the person maintaining them)

point 6 (QOL requests): those are still asked for in game because of people that dont use them (or cant in the case of console users), though sometimes when zos does add in a feature from an addon, it may still not be implemented in a way that the person wanted and still end up using the addon over the zos solution

point 7 (bloat): thats entirely dependent on what addons you want to use, and what you want to see, not all addons add stuff to the UI, it doesnt have to be a numbers game if you dont want it to be, and still use addons to enhance your own QoL

for me personally i like seeing the numbers, i hate ambiguity when im trying to plan out a build or run tests on how something functions lol

again, not saying your view is incorrect, just that i think its a little too paranoid on some aspects, and if you dont want to use any addons, then dont, as it only affects your own gaming experience

ElderOfTamriel

Yes

Jeez is there a way to just turn off notifications for that post? its flooding my Notifications tab, i dont even see the ones which im actually interested in anymore

SilverBride

Yes

ElderOfTamriel wrote: »

Jeez is there a way to just turn off notifications for that post? its flooding my Notifications tab, i dont even see the ones which im actually interested in anymore

Open your Profile.
Go to Edit Profile.
Choose Notification Preferences and uncheck any you do not want to see.

I have all of mine unchecked.

ElderOfTamriel

Yes

SilverBride wrote: »

ElderOfTamriel wrote: »

Jeez is there a way to just turn off notifications for that post? its flooding my Notifications tab, i dont even see the ones which im actually interested in anymore

Open your Profile.
Go to Edit Profile.
Choose Notification Preferences and uncheck any you do not want to see.

I have all of mine unchecked.

i want to see notifications for new posts where i commented but thats usually posts with very few answers. So i cant just uncheck notifications for just this post?

Ilumia

Yes

Addons makes the game a lot better in my opinion.
They are so essential for me that I am not interested in playing without them.
When updates makes some of my essential addons screw-up, I usually don't play until the mod-author works it out.
Good QoL is one of the things that a good game needs to keep me playing, and esos addons help a lot with that.
Thanks to all the dedicated modders that improve the gaming experience, you have saved many player a great deal of frustration and time

FayJolyn

Yes

Yes, I think I have too many Addons even and I've been trying to bring down my list as it is slowing down my game. I personally feel that ESO could use some quality of life upgrades for daily writs crafting, auto repair, auto sell junk. and other ui improvements for raiding/trading/socializing. Looking at my huge Addon list so many are still a must have for me that it's a sign for me that the current base UI can use some love.

ElderSmitter

Yes

SilverBride wrote: »

I counted to see just now many and I use 14 total.

Is there a Auto Update Add On? To update Add On's as new add on updates come out?

Danikat

Yes

Sarannah wrote: »

Players do seem to only look at the good side of add-ons, namely the advantages/QoL they grant. But there is also a major darkside to add-ons:
-1: Hacking: if someone plants a virus in an add-on, or the program that updates add-ons, their account can be heavily impacted. Doesn't even have to be the add-on maker, it could also be the website that hosts the add-ons.
-2: If one of the add-on creators, strangers basically, decides to add a function that whenever you log in it automatically mails all your gold/materials to them. There would be nothing anyone could do.
-3: Bugs/errors: On this forum players often post bugs/errors which aren't base game, and blame ZOS for the issue. While the issue is with a certain add-on.
-4: Functionality: Some players have no clue what add-ons even do, before installing them. For example when ZOS added a new color recall, and players were complaining ZOS didn't change the blue beam too. Which was actually a function done by an add-on. And this is just one example.
-5: Having to keep add-ons up-to-date every time ZOS releases a patch/content.
-6: Asking for QoL updates to ESO is often negatively impacted, as some players do not realize the base game needs a certain QoL, due to that feature already being available in an add-on. This also impacts non-PC players/non add-on players, and totally removes any sense of urgency to ZOS for that QoL to be implemented. For example: any master writ QoL(not the daily writs), add-on users can do hundreds at a time.
-7: The UI becomes more bloated/bigger, and numbers are more focussed on. To me this removes the element of fun from the game, as the focus becomes too much on those numbers and on those UI functions. Instead of on the on-screen goals one is trying to achieve in the game.

Points 1 and 2 are not a problem in this game. Addons are only able to function through an API which means they only have access to the data and functions ZOS chooses to allow them. That's why there's never been addons to do things like add new models for player characters or enemies, even though it's frequently requested (stopping the twilight from flapping constantly for example) - it's not possible to make an addon that can change models. Likewise they can't hack your account or the game as a whole, and can't do things like mail all your gold to someone else, because the API doesn't allow them that functionality.

Someone could hide a virus that affects other stuff on your PC in an addon (or just advertise a virus as an addon), but that's why most players will only get addons from reputable sources like ESOUI and Minion and don't trust addons that aren't available through those sites - they check submissions to make sure it is what it claims to be before allowing them. (Although if you download anything from the internet you should have some sort of antivirus software on your PC.)

3 and 4 are the player's problem, and 4 can be a problem even for people who don't use addons - more than once someone on the forum has asked ZOS to add something which is already in the game and they just haven't found the setting.

5 is a non-issue, especially if you use Minion. I run it periodically, click to update any addons marked as having a newer version and it's done, it takes less than a minute.

6 shouldn't be a problem with 2/3 of the playerbase unable to use addons, also several players do ask for ZOS to add things they're already using addons to do. ZOS have added several things which were already being done by addons. Some of the ones I remember are: inventory sub-categories (Advanced Filters), on screen buff/debuff tracking (S'rendarr), and favourite/randomised collectibles (IsJusta Favorite Collectibles & Random Mount).

7 is a misunderstanding of how addons work. They don't all add to the UI or 'numbers'. There's many addons which are invisible or even do the opposite, I have 4 which I use specifically to make the UI less cluttered and for others I always look for ones which are as subtle as possible and blend into the base game's UI.

I posted this earlier in the thread but this is my UI with 19 addons running:

Warhawke_80

No

I did...now I think it's silly and unnecessary.

KlauthWarthog

Yes

ElderSmitter wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I counted to see just now many and I use 14 total.

Is there a Auto Update Add On? To update Add On's as new add on updates come out?

If you install the addons through Minion, you can use Minion to update them.

Danikat

Yes

KlauthWarthog wrote: »

ElderSmitter wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I counted to see just now many and I use 14 total.

Is there a Auto Update Add On? To update Add On's as new add on updates come out?

If you install the addons through Minion, you can use Minion to update them.

You don't even need to have installed them through Minion. I download addons from ESOUI and install them manually but then use Minion to update them, because it can check all of them automatically.

Jack-0

Yes

Literally cannot play eso without addons. The minimum being a minimap, ui mod like AUI (which has the best minimap as a module), dressing room, lazy writ crafter, raid notifier, how to xyz, code’s combat alerts, ADR (still better than the crappy zos version), combat metrics. The unmodded base game is an utter mess.

ElderOfTamriel

Yes

Warhawke_80 wrote: »

I did...now I think it's silly and unnecessary.

you never use TTC?

Twig_Garlicshine

Yes

I mostly use addons that automate multi button processes into single clicks --scripting macros that are approved by Zos.--
The Lazy-addons for crafting that turn multi-button processes into a single click.
Several banking, mail, vendor, sorting addons that also turn multi-button processes into single click. One even automates CP changes while gathering. etc
Basically any add-on that automates processes in areas of the game I would not otherwise participate in:
I have no interest in Crafting - an automatic alt crafting daily farm is a convenient source of income from materials I don't have to gather from single nodes. I get normal and high end mats from the dailies plus surveys which are also a source of mass mats.
I also have no interest in Trading so I use addons that automate many of the processes to do with that aspect of the game. Searching, deal comparisons, historical data, mass listings etc.
My above add-on usage isn't for Quality of Life. My life would not suffer if I did not participate in those areas of the game. Nor did it ever suffer in any past MMos where I did not participate in every aspect of the game.
My above add-on usage is strictly for PvP, these addons give me an advantage in more PvP
ie they let me PvP my friends as well as my enemies in the BG known as "The Economy".


Other than automation I only have:
Minimap
A Cyro one that shows timers how long places under attack.
A key binder that lets me avoid the Q-deathwheels.

SilverBride

Yes

ElderOfTamriel wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

ElderOfTamriel wrote: »

Jeez is there a way to just turn off notifications for that post? its flooding my Notifications tab, i dont even see the ones which im actually interested in anymore

Open your Profile.
Go to Edit Profile.
Choose Notification Preferences and uncheck any you do not want to see.

I have all of mine unchecked.

i want to see notifications for new posts where i commented but thats usually posts with very few answers. So i cant just uncheck notifications for just this post?

I am not sure if we can turn off notifications for individual threads but there is a way to keep track of threads we have posted on.

To the right of our profile at the top of the page there is a gear icon that brings up some options when we single click it. One option is Participated that brings up a page of all the threads we've posted in. That's how I keep track of those.

Narvuntien

Yes

Yes but only the trading ones.
I know I am supposed to have the trail ones and sometimes I end up in a trail that expects you to have the add ons and doesn't warn you of some mechanics and just expect you to know.
I like hunting for things like skyshards and collectables from just the in game clues.

Kendaric

Yes

ElderOfTamriel wrote: »

Warhawke_80 wrote: »

I did...now I think it's silly and unnecessary.

you never use TTC?

Why is that so surprising for you? I don't use TTC either as I don't see any point in it (I'm guildless by choice)