Midnight’s Addon Changes Spark Controversy Among Players

Any new expansion to the behemoth of MMOs, World of Warcraft, is always going to come with big changes, but Midnight is truly changing the game in ways that many players are not happy with. Numerous fans of the game who have loved their journeys through Azeroth since 2004 are now saying they may not continue, and it’s all because of Blizzard’s choice to change their stance on third-party addons.

As many players already know, Blizzard has previously announced it would be discontinuing access to the game’s combat API, which, therefore, will force an end to many combat-based addons. Reportedly, the purpose behind these changes is to level the playing field and stop combat addons that give some players an unfair competitive advantage against those who are using the base UI. But many players are feeling like it’s changing too much.

Players Are Feeling A Loss Of Customization Options After Years Of Solving Issues With Addons

Blizzard’s Shifting Its Policies On The Use Of Addons In World Of Warcraft

After 20 years, many players have gotten comfortable using their customized UIs, which are now going to disappear as addons are removed. This doesn’t simply include combat-specific addons either, as many of the addons are shutting down due to the changes, including the non-combat addon purposes of WeakAuras.

Of course, currently we don’t know exactly what the final outcome of all these changes will be. Just a couple of days ago, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas wrote on Reddit (as per Wowhead) that they are aware a lot of refinement is still needed, and they have several UX designers and UI engineers still working on the process.

Ion Hazzikostas, Game Director: “Our goal has never been to get people who enjoy the customization that addons offer to stop using them entirely.

We want to keep improving the base UI such that fewer people feel addons are necessary to enjoy the game, but there’s a reason last week’s blog was about “Addon Disarmament” and not “Addon Removal.”

The focus has always been on limiting combat performance advantages, and anything else that has been affected was collateral damage that we are working on repairing.”

The harsh reality is, there could never be enough options provided in-game to make up for the loss of so many customizations available through third-party addons. If, somehow, developers did include infinite changes and options, it could become too overwhelming and difficult to master.

That said, Hazzikostas does go on to add, “We want there to be as many possible addon options to allow you to change the size, shape, color, texture, and location of every element (as long as those changes aren’t driven by real-time combat logic) in Midnight and beyond.”

Major Addons Like WeakAuras And ElvUI Are Not Continuing

Even Those Used For Non-Combat Purposes Are Going Away

Several of the most popular addons have issued statements that they will not be continuing once WoW: Midnight launches. WeakAuras said that Blizzard had given them access to the alpha to test out technical details and discuss design philosophies, but the changes Blizzard is making are currently more extensive than they are able to work with. Similarly, the development for ElvUI for Midnight is officially on hold due to the extensive changes to the API.

There are a lot of incredible things coming in Midnight, but sadly, these changes with addons may make it so that many longtime players will not stick around to see them. Spending 20 years perfecting your UI to be exactly how you want it to be, only to have it suddenly taken away, can be a heavy blow.

While the basic concept of leveling the playing field by not allowing some to have an unfair combat advantage sounds good, the number of things affected seems to be going far beyond that premise.

There is not yet any official release date for World of Warcraft: Midnight, with the only launch window being that it will come on or before June 30, 2026. Beta tests are now live for the game, but Blizzard still has time to repair some of that “collateral damage” that Hazzikostas mentioned regarding addons.