Difference between revisions of "World of Warcraft"

Revision as of 03:01, 9 April 2016

Warnings

This game requires a constant internet connection for all game modes.

Warcraft
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans	1994
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness	1995
Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans	Cancelled
Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition	1999
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos	2002
World of Warcraft	2004
Hearthstone	2014
Warcraft III: Reforged	2020

Key points

Mod friendly (Mods pertains to UI addons)

Very active community

One of the largest MMORPGs around

Updated frequently

Runs well on low end machines

Expansions must be bought to play in active endgame areas and activities

Game requires $15 per month subscription fee

General information

Official Blizzard community site for US

Official Blizzard community site for EU

Blizzard Watch "WoW" Category - A news site dedicated to all Blizzard Entertainment news.

Wowpedia - A huge wiki for everything World of Warcraft related. Also handles anything Warcraft universe related.

Thottbot - A old but expansive database on anything that can be found or used in-game. Same database as Wowhead currently.

Wowhead - An expansive database on anything that can be found or used in-game. Has a clean interface.

Statista - A ranking on the distribution of characters across EU and U.S. realms. Other statistics on World of Warcraft accessible.

Curse and WoWInterface are both great addon sources.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website		First 20 levels are free to play. Base game purchase includes the Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria expansions.

The playable characters from all expansions are available, even if the player has not bought any expansion packs.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
The Burning Crusade	Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game.
Wrath of the Lich King	Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game.
Cataclysm	Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game.
Mists of Pandaria	Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game.
Warlords of Draenor	Can be bought from the Battle.net store.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row Template:Game data/row

System	Location

Save game cloud syncing

Progress and stats are saved automatically by Battle.net

Video settings

In-game general graphics settings.

In-game advanced graphics settings.

Template:Video settings

Field of view (FOV)

Instructions

Color blind mode

Instructions

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
Russian
Brazilian Portuguese
Spanish				Both Spanish and Latin American.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Notes
LAN play
Online play

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	3724, 1119, 1120, 4000, 6112, 6113, 6114, 80, 6881-6999
UDP	3724, 1119, 1120, 4000, 6112, 6113, 6114, 80, 6881-6999

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Windowed mode (OS X)

Instructions

FPS performance issues (OS X)

Instructions

Sound issue (OS X)

Instructions

Mature Filter Options Not Saving

Instructions

Other Information

Visual enhancements

Instructions

DirectX 11 Rendering

DirectX 11 can significantly boost performance in some scenarios

Instructions

gxTextureCacheSize

Instructions

Addons

World of Warcraft's UI is developed via LUA scripting, and XML data.

AddOns are essentially mods, files to add to the installation folder that can improve interaction with the game.

AddOns are generally self-contained User Interface (UI) modification components. However, some AddOns can be dependent on other AddOns to work, and some AddOns are actually collections of other AddOns. Some are built on libraries such as Sea or Ace. There is no size restriction on AddOns; some can grow to be quite massive.

Blizzard's AddOn Policy

With the release of Patch 3.1, Blizzard Entertainment introduced a new UI AddOn development policy.^[1]

According to the policy, "failure to abide by them [these rules] may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action."^[1]

Instructions

Creating an AddOn

Instructions

Troubleshooting an AddOn

Instructions

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Windows XP / Windows Vista with the latest service pack	7 / 8 / 10 64-bit with latest service pack
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 AMD Phenom X3 8750	Intel Core i5 2400 AMD FX 4100
System memory (RAM)	1 GB (XP) 2 GB (Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10)	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT ATI Radeon HD 4850 Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 ATI Radeon HD 5870 1 GB of VRAM

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.8.x	10.9
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo	Intel Core i5
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT ATI Radeon HD 4850	Nvidia GeForce GT 750M AMD Radeon HD 6750M

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1021053914

[policy-1] 1.0 ^1.1 http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1021053914

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{cleanup}}
 {{Infobox game
 |cover        = World of Warcraft cover.jpg
@@ Line 295: / Line 294: @@
 ==Other Information==
 ===Visual enhancements===
-*To increase the various graphical settings further than the sliders allows, use these commands:
+{{Fixbox|1=
-**<code>/console farclip 1300</code>
+{{Fixbox/fix|Increase graphical settings further than the sliders allow}}
-**<code>/console horizonfarclip 2112</code>
+*<code>/console farclip 1300</code>
-**<code>/console groundeffectdensity 256</code>
+*<code>/console horizonfarclip 2112</code>
-**<code>/console groundeffectdist 140</code>
+*<code>/console groundeffectdensity 256</code>
-**<code>/console smallcull 0</code>
+*<code>/console groundeffectdist 140</code>
-**<code>/console skycloudlod 3</code>
+*<code>/console smallcull 0</code>
+*<code>/console skycloudlod 3</code>
 {{ii}}A comparison of each setting is shown in this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrJjwY59jts video].
+}}
 ====DirectX 11 Rendering====
@@ Line 325: / Line 326: @@
 # Restart the game for change to take affect.
-Alternatively
+Alternatively,
 # Edit <code>World of Warcraft\WTF\Config.wtf</code>
 # Add <code>SET gxTextureCacheSize <VALUE in MB></code>
 }}
-===SSD===
-If World of Warcraft is installed on an SSD, this will drastically decrease the load times for zoning.
 ===Addons===
-World of Warcraft's UI is developed via LUA scripting, and XML data.
+{{ii}} World of Warcraft's UI is developed via LUA scripting, and XML data.
+{{ii}} '''AddOns''' are essentially mods, files to add to the installation folder that can improve interaction with the game.
+{{ii}} AddOns are generally self-contained User Interface (UI) modification components. However, some AddOns can be dependent on other AddOns to work, and some AddOns are actually collections of other AddOns. Some are built on libraries such as Sea or Ace. There is no size restriction on AddOns; some can grow to be quite massive.
-'''AddOns''' are generally self-contained User Interface (UI) modification components. However, some AddOns can be dependent on other AddOns to work, and some AddOns are actually collections of other AddOns. There is no size restriction on AddOns, some can grow to be quite massive.
+====Blizzard's AddOn Policy====
+{{ii}} With the release of Patch 3.1, Blizzard Entertainment introduced a new UI AddOn development policy.<ref name="policy">http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1021053914</ref>
-In plain English, an AddOn is just some files you can put in the installation folder that can (theoretically) improve your interaction with the World of Warcraft game (i.e. make it easier to play, or give you more information about what's going on in the game).
+{{ii}} According to the policy, "failure to abide by them [these rules] may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action."<ref name="policy"/>
+{{Fixbox|1=
-Often the name '''modification''' (or "mod" for short) is used interchangeably with AddOn. More specifically, a mod is a third-party AddOn that alters or enhances some aspect of World of Warcraft's interface. Mods can perform a wide variety of tasks, including adding new buttons to the screen, altering the built-in player and party frames. In extreme cases, mods completely supplant the standard WoW interface, usually offering more advanced functionality.
+{{Fixbox/fix|AddOn Policy}}
-Some mods are standalone, able to run without any additional software. Others are built on libraries such as Sea or Ace. Still others are compilations of many individually-developed mods.
-====Blizzard's AddOn policy====
-With the release of Patch 3.1, Blizzard Entertainment introduced a new UI AddOn development policy.<ref name="policy">http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1021053914</ref> Here is a summary below:
 # AddOns must be free of charge.
 # AddOn code must be completely visible.
@@ Line 354: / Line 350: @@
 # AddOns must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA.
 # Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable AddOn functionality as it sees fit.
+}}
-It isn't exactly clear how Blizzard plans to enforce this policy, but developers should follow the policy or risk some sort of exclusion of their AddOns from the game. The following sentence ends the introductory paragraph of the policy: "failure to abide by them may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action."<ref name="policy"/>
 ====Creating an AddOn====
-First of all, you need to create a new folder in Interface\AddOns. The name of this folder is kind of important, as it is what other AddOns use to refer to your AddOn (in dependencies).  Therefore, using version numbers in your AddOn folder name can be a bad idea; you will run the risk of having other AddOns "break" when you change the version.  This will probably lead to people either not depending on your AddOn or, worse, that they'll keep using an old version.
+{{Fixbox|1=
+{{Fixbox/fix|Creating an AddOn}}
-Major version numbers as part of AddOn folder names might work, though.
+# Create a new directory in <code>Interface\AddOns</code>. The name of this directory is important, as it is what other AddOns use to refer to this AddOn in dependencies. Using version numbers in this directory name is not recommended, as other AddOns may "break" when the version is changed.
+# Create a <code>.toc</code> file. <code>.toc</code> is short for "table of contents". A functioning AddOn will need a file named <code>&lt;YourAddOnDirectoryName&gt;.toc</code> in "<code>Interface\AddOns\YourAddOnDirectoryName\</code>".
-====Toc files====
+# Add the following required elements to the file: an interface keyword with a correct interface number and the name(s) of one or more files to load.
-'''.toc''' is short for "table of contents".
+{{ii}} Blizzard requests that at least these five client-recognized tag lines must be included.
-A functioning AddOn will need a file named <code>&lt;YourAddOnDirectoryName&gt;.toc</code> in "<code>Interface\AddOns\YourAddOnDirectoryName\</code>".
-This file needs to have two things - an interface keyword with a correct interface number, and the name(s) of one or more files to load. However, Blizzard asks that you include at least these five client recognized tag lines:
   ## Interface: <API_LatestInterface>
   ## Title: My Add On
@@ Line 375: / Line 365: @@
   ## Author: Your name or memorable descriptor (e.g. LuckyLuke)
-* Tip: Make sure you do not have any extra spaces at the end of the line with the filename specified. If you do, the extra space is taken as part of the filename and will cause your AddOn to silently fail to load.
+{{ii}} <code><API_LatestInterface></code> is the current interface number.
+{{ii}} Do not have any extra spaces at the end of the line with the filename specified. The extra space is taken as part of the filename and will cause the AddOn to fail to load silently.
+{{ii}} The <code>.toc</code> file is not reloaded when the UI is reloaded; if changes are made to it, the game must be closed to the desktop before those changes can take effect.
+{{ii}} The interface number in the <code>.toc</code> file must match the current build or the AddOn will not be loaded/active, unless the user has explicitly told the game to load out-of-date Addons. If the <code>.toc</code> file declares an interface number prior to 2.0.0 (i.e. pre-The Burning Crusade), the AddOn can not be loaded, regardless of the load-out-of-date AddOns setting.
-* Tip: The .toc file is not reloaded when you reload the user interface; if you make changes to it, you will need to quit all the way to the desktop before they take effect.
+{{ii}} If a Bindings.xml file is included, it does not have to be included in the <code>.toc</code> list of files to load, as the game loads this file automatically. This file is used to set key bindings specific to the AddOn.
-To get the latest interface number, see [[#Getting the current interface number]]. The number in the .toc file must match the current build or the add on will not be loaded/active, unless the user has explicitly told WoW to load out-of-date Addons. If the .toc file declares an interface number prior to 2.0.0 (i.e. pre-The Burning Crusade), the AddOn can not be loaded, regardless of the load out of date AddOns setting.
+{{ii}} Please check out The TOC Format for a more detailed list of other keywords in the <code>.toc</code> file.
+}}
-* '''<API_LatestInterface> is the current interface number.'''
+====Troubleshooting an AddOn====
+{{Fixbox|1=
+{{Fixbox/fix|"Interface action failed" error}}
+{{ii}} As of Patch 2.3, if the message "Interface action failed because of an AddOn" appears, an AddOn interfered with the Blizzard UI in some way.
-====Bindings.xml====
+# Enter the following into chat: <code>/console taintLog 1</code>.
-If you include a Bindings.xml file, it does not have to be included in your .toc list of files to load - WoW loads this file automatically. This file is used to set key bindings specific to the AddOn.
+# Restart the game and try to reproduce it.
+# If the issue is reproduced, quit the game and search through the file <code>Logs\taint.log</code> for the word <code>blocked</code> and mail the log to the author of the AddOn listed there.
-====Other keywords in the toc file====
+# Turn off logging by entering the following into chat: <code>/console taintLog 0</code>.
-Please check out The TOC Format for a more detailed list.
+}}
-====Troubleshooting an AddOn====
-As of Patch 2.3, if you get a message "Interface action failed because of an AddOn", this means that an AddOn interfered with the Blizzard UI in some way. To diagnose this, enter the following into chat "<tt>/console taintLog 1</tt>" and restart the game and try to reproduce it. If you reproduce it, you can quit the game and search through the file <tt>Logs\taint.log</tt> for the word "<tt>blocked</tt>" and mail the log to the author of the AddOn listed there. Once you have done this you can turn off logging by entering the following into chat "<tt>/console taintLog 0</tt>"
 ==System requirements==

Developers

	Blizzard Entertainment
Release dates
Windows	November 23, 2004
macOS (OS X)	November 23, 2004