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11/05/16, 11:17 AM   #1
Geraintmawr
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 2
Constant Catchup

Why do you guys have to constantly update your addons to keep up with ZOS' moving goal posts? Changes in content I agree a need to update. New functionality of an addon again I agree.

In the bad old days of the 1970s, when I was a young COBOL programmer, there was a central module in every suite of programs, that sat above all the others. It was the font of all knowledge and sequencing for the rest of the suite. General stuff to do with how my code behaved in an updated environment sat there. I did not have to worry about my modules going out of date, unless I was the guy maintaining the PCM. Similar things came in as IT moved to OO (Object Oriented) code.

Is there some way that we could all (players and authors) have a similar, single, over arching addon that one author updates for the API stuff at each new release? Many addon updates I see are just because the API updated.

Perhaps my lack of addon tech is in the way here but it seems a waste of time for writers, some of who have one over the hill and left amazing addons, such as alphagear, LUI and others sat there to grow old like me!
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11/05/16, 11:29 AM   #2
Ayantir
 
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Join Date: Jul 2014
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What you need to consider is the number of qualified people able to do this and the time needed for your request against the advantages we'll have for doing this.

We are clearly too few for your wishes.

I would also add that there is too many redoundant addons, even few new ones do features like some others already did.
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11/05/16, 01:25 PM   #3
sirinsidiator
 
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We do have libraries which do offer some features that are not easily available. LibAddonMenu for example is used in over 400 addons and offers a common interface to offer settings for players. But as Ayantir said, there is far too few addon authors to do this for every single part of the game's API and it would in my opinion be a waste of time to reimplement the whole API. Why should we build a second one on top of the existing one when most methods are stable anyways?

It's also not as if ZOS just removes or renames or changes the methods all the time. They even offer addoncompatibilityaliases.lua which helps old addons to stay compatible with the newest API when something does get moved. But there are some changes which simply cannot be abstracted away by a library or aliases. For example the removal of veteran ranks. There is simply no way you can handle such a big change without updating addons which use that information.

Besides, broken addons are not caused soley due to changes made by ZOS. Quite often it's because the addon author did something like overwriting a part of the UI, relying on a certain structure in the UI controls, using some undefined behavior of a feature in the API or incorrectly calls some method. (I am guilty of at least two of these things )
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11/07/16, 12:04 PM   #4
Geraintmawr
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 2
Ok!

Thanks for the background stuff guys! I think I get the picture! I guess the only answer to my sadness about some of my favourite addons dying, is to first see what can replace them, and then perhaps roll my sleeves up and get busy myself!
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11/07/16, 12:27 PM   #5
sirinsidiator
 
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If you decide to try fix some, you should take a look at our wiki. We have a lot of great resources there, which will help you get started.
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ESOUI » Developer Discussions » General Authoring Discussion » Constant Catchup

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