One of the most requested feature / reported bug is how auras are currently displayed in agUF. We use a 2 rows x 10 columns setup in the frames, with the option to use one line if possible (left = buffs, right = debuffs, overflow to the next line), or seperate debuff and buffs on two lines.
This shouldn't be a problem at all when you are playing solo or in a party, but in raids, there are a lot of debuffs on a hostile target (16 slots are filled all the time) or friendly one (MT got > 10 buffs), and some get hidden.
The question is, how would you like agUF to display the buff / debuffs? Please keep in mind that the limit is raised in TBC to 40/40. Feel free to post mockup screenshots and .diffs, the best idea will be implemented asap.
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My quickfix suggestion: add a setting to use 2x16 layout for frames. My target frame got scaled up to 140% and extra wide anyway, size of icon is not a problem there.
In my oppinion, there should be a way to prioritize certain buffs if now all buffs are shown. Something like sraidframes buff filter, where you enter the names of buffs you always wants displayed.
In my oppinion, there should be a way to prioritize certain buffs if now all buffs are shown. Something like sraidframes buff filter, where you enter the names of buffs you always wants displayed.
In other words: keep 2x10, add buffs filtering by substring.
Pro: no layout change.
Con: buff name requires tooltip scanning or SpecialEvents-Aura-2.0 + mapping code for name -> index.
I'd like the possibility to give the user both options:
1. See all buffs/debuffs: for the pre-BC WoW this requires 16 debuff slots and 32 buff slots, in theory. I'm not sure how many of the 32 buff slots are actually used for "visible" buffs, but I guess it can be reduced by some amount.
However, in practice, it's extremely hard, maybe impossible, to find a unit that has all those buffs and debuffs at the same time. In PvE, the MT might have lots of buffs, but only a handful of debuffs, while the other way around would be true for an enemy NPC. From what I saw, in PvP the number of buffs and debuffs is much lower, so satisfying the PvE case would satisfy PvPing too.
One solution here is to have the same aura elements shared between buffs and debuffs, and in case of overflow, give priority to either buffs or debuffs (pretty much how old Minigroup's B+/D and B/D+ aura styles worked).
2. Filter the buffs/debuffs through user-defined filters. I think most people would agree that Blizzard's buff filters are not satisfactory. My main character is a warlock, I want to see Blood Pact in raids, I can't think of any good reason why Blizzard doesn't deem Blood Pact worthy of inclusion in their list of filtered buffs. Same goes for paladin auras, shaman totems, and the list could go on.
One particular aspect of aura filtering regards buffing/curing/healing classes. Take the case of a priest for example. He can cast 3 main buffs (PW:F, DS, SP), a HoT that shows as a buff (Renew) and a "heal" that shows as both a buff and a debuff (PW:S) - there can be more that I omit here for simplicity. In addition he might wanna see the druid HoTs for example. Raid frames take enough screen space even without auras, showing just the buffs above leads to potentially 7 auras slots, and that's not including debuffs.
So what about having a set of buff filters, in this case an "OOC filter" that shows castable buffs, and a "combat filter", that shows HoTs + shield? This takes only 4 aura slots, and I don't know about others, but I would like something like this when playing my priest alt. :)
I haven't seen BC yet, but I imagine a lot of problems with the new maximum counts for auras. As a warlock, I'm very interested in the target's debuffs, but I dread squinting through 40 little debuff icons to see if some curse is still on, or if my Corruption is still there. I guess debuff filters are a must in TBC. Additionally I was thinking about a small debuff count indicator, placed somewhere on the unit frame that shows how many debuff slots are taken.
Quote from Miles »
Con: buff name requires tooltip scanning or SpecialEvents-Aura-2.0 + mapping code for name -> index.
This is not always needed. The comparison can be done by texture, which as I understand is efficient. Of course, that means some buff comparisons will give false matches because they share the same texture, so those special cases need to be identified and do the extra step of scanning the tooltip and compare buff names too.
I did implement some of this in my local copy of agUF, I've been raiding with it for a few weeks so it does work for at least the combinations that I use for my frames (since I often tinker with it, it's never the same version, but most of it is the same). You can have a look at http://mist.tcc.googlepages.com/aguf, there are some explanations there, feel free to use anything you might find interesting.
As a Warlock, it's currently -very- important to be able to see at an eye-glance just how many debuffs are on a unit (Buffs are much less of a concern for me, and I don't know if they're ever going to be a big concern for me, no matter what class I'm playing).
For current WoW, what I'd love to see if Debuffs split into a 2x8 alignment, so it's easy to see how many debuff slots are left when going to the second line, as a multiple of 8 is crucial. If everything shifts to 40/40, I don't know if the multiples of 8 (8, 16, 32) will be as important. I could perhaps see a 4x10 or 2x20 option for TBC. It's something that'll take getting used to, period.
I miss having a strict 2x16 debuff alignment on agUF now. I've made do by just paying attention to my HUD display for target, because it does 2x8, and I use that to judge whether or not some of my spells that I consider to be optional based on current debuff usage get used or not.
One thing I feel very strongly about, however, is that Buffs and Debuffs should never be on the same line - even if seperated by some space, justified to opposite sides, or whatever. There should at least be the OPTION to have Buffs and Debuffs living in their own disparate spaces, and never impinging on each other's visual territory. I need to be able to glance at a frame and know that such and such icon is a buff or a debuff by its position and nothing else.
As ZealotOnAStick said, have 2 seperate frames dor buffs and debuffs so you can choose to put buffs above the frame and debuffs below for example (on 1, 2 or 5 lines).
And maybe a way to group (de)buffs so you can see how many of the same (de)buff there is on the target (group by name or by type if it's easier to code)
I'm using the version from Mist and I'm very satisfied how this is done.
The filter for Healer allows me to see only the buffs I need to see in combat (Shied, HoTs) and if I want to check for buffs I just "un-fillter" and be ready.
-> I think some system that switches from Out-Of-Combat (Full view) to In-Combat (Custom Filtering (or Class Filtering) would be the perfect solution!
-> Also For Targets, make the difference between Player (Friendly) and Mob (Enemy). A mob has a max of 4 Buffs (let's say 8 for PvP), but at least in our raid you will see 14-16 debuffs within 2-3 Sek. And yes I want to see them to check if some warlock did put some DoTs on them. For Friendly targets I want to see the buffs completely because again sometimes you need to check to see if the Paladin Aura, the Blood Buff is still in range.
I think for raiding debuffs, instead of showing a separate icon for each iteration of "Deep Wounds" we use an overlay text for multiples. I can't think of any debuffs that stack and can also be applied multiple times (Deadly Poison being the ONLY exception that comes to mind). So, if out of 40 possible debuffs, there are 8 deep wounds, the texture has a [x8] over it, to differentiate from a single debuff stacked eight times (Flame buffet for example). This should save up a lot of real estate, considering you are going to find it hard to hit 40 debuffs with a raid of 25 people for any longer than ten seconds.
I'm tired as I write this, so my quick double check for readability may have been compromised.
I would prefer the default aura style most unitframes use and which i adopted in my agUF Branch.
Basicly on Friendly targets, i can show 20 Buffs, and 10 Debuffs, and vice-versa on enemys.
With BC, thats going to be alot more tho. But i would prefer to be able to show everything without any filtering or stacking the debuffs like Deep Wounds.
My probelm:
I currently use aura filter to avoid overcrowded buff frame, but I need agUF to display some crutial debuffs even when the filter is toggled on, such as weakened soul, plague in TAQ and the web wrap thingy in Maexxna encounter, etc. As a healer I need to know exactly who is afflicted even if the debuffs are not magic(for me as a priest, for example), nor curse(for mages lets say) nor any other genres. The current solution to this issue is to disable the aura filter altogether, but it's not practical, as it'd thene take up half of my screen showing everyone's 10+ buffs of various kinds in a given boss attempt in Naxx, and lead to exactly what the OP is concerning about.
My suggestions:
1. Treat buffs and debuffs separately.
So that, for example, you can toggle the buff filter on and the debuff filter off for any frame and vice versa.
2. Option to creat a new and separate buff/debuff frame for any unit. This frame can be grouped with the given unit frame or be dragged to anywhere you want it to be, and probably can be resized to fit your layout and can have enough space to display however many buffs/debuffs you'd like it to show. This could probably also work fine in TBC where you may potentially have 40 debuffs in a row.
What I ideally would want was to have the position where from auras can start from set in the layout file. So for example, there are 5 places auras can be positioned, left,right,top,bottom and inside. These positions are defined in the layout file:
top = {
  rows = 2,
  scale = 0.8,
  point = BOTTOMLEFT,
  relativePoint = TOPLEFT,
  rowDirection = up,
  growBuff = right,
growDebuff = left
}
From the options menu it should be possible to configure buffs and debuffs to follow each of these points seperatly. If you set both debuffs and buffs to the same position they will group together to the same position.
Ideally the rows would expand to be the width of the unit frame no matter what width the user sets the theme to. This system would also allow people to have auras displayed inside of frames, the way that CTRA does.
First of all I would like to have an option to only show debuffs on certain frames (target of target).
Buffs and debuffs should have seperate frame alignments, as Supernico said. (2 rows with 10 buffs)
If the user choose to show both buffs and debuffs at the same location (eg. below the frame), the display should depend on whether it's a friendly or hostile unit:
This would mean no option to choose between 1 or 2 rows, it's always 3 rows and the third row is only used if needed (more than 10 buffs/debuffs).
As long as the option remains to keep it as it is. Something I like very much about agUF is the ability to show buffs and debuffs on one line if there aren't enough for more than one line.
First of all I would like to have an option to only show debuffs on certain frames (target of target).
Buffs and debuffs should have seperate frame alignments, as Supernico said. (2 rows with 10 buffs)
If the user choose to show both buffs and debuffs at the same location (eg. below the frame), the display should depend on whether it's a friendly or hostile unit:
This would mean no option to choose between 1 or 2 rows, it's always 3 rows and the third row is only used if needed (more than 10 buffs/debuffs).
PERFECT! That is what I want to be able to see with agUF. Having this implemented as soon as possible would be a great!
top = {
rows = 2,
scale = 0.8,
point = BOTTOMLEFT,
relativePoint = TOPLEFT,
rowDirection = up,
growBuff = right,
growDebuff = left
}
Sounds good, but I'd like to make a couple of suggestions :):
1. add a columns field, so auras can be placed in rows of 8 or 16, for example.
2. add a maxAuras field, it's very useful in raids when you want to see for example only 4 auras. But it might happen that in some fight, after filtering, you get 5, 6 or more, it's ugly to have them overlap on other frames if they are placed tightly together. maxAuras would make sure only 4 are displayed.
3. add a growth precedence field like in Buffalo, to allow auras to grow in zigzag, for example Aura2 below Aura1, Aura3 on the right side of Aura1, Aura4 below Aura3 etc. I found this very nice to show filtered buffs in raids to save screen space, and it's how the RightAlternate style in my version works. A picture is worth a million words, so this is what I mean (filtered buffs so only BP/SS shown, saves an aura width on the right side):
How about...allow a user defined filter with three settings:
High Priority-The (de)buff is always shown individually.
Normal-The (de)buff is classified by a type and all (de)buffs of that classification are placed under a single icon. Mousing over the icon opens a tooltip with a list of the relevant (de)buffs. Clicking on the icon leaves the tooltip to allow the user to mouse over an individual buff for a tooltip description.
Hide-The (de)buff is not shown.
Then predefine by class, of course can be later customized by the user: each class automatically places castable (de)buffs and curable (de)buffs on high, all other (de)buffs on normal.
as a warlock the only thing that has kept me from using agUF is the buff debuff system.
What would be wonderful is 2 blocks of 2x8 one for buffs one for debuffs, each independantly movable to ANY side of the frams (even left and right) and that when put on the same side they would of course dock to eachother.
First of all I would like to have an option to only show debuffs on certain frames (target of target).
Buffs and debuffs should have seperate frame alignments, as Supernico said. (2 rows with 10 buffs)
If the user choose to show both buffs and debuffs at the same location (eg. below the frame), the display should depend on whether it's a friendly or hostile unit:
This would mean no option to choose between 1 or 2 rows, it's always 3 rows and the third row is only used if needed (more than 10 buffs/debuffs).
id love to see this system
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This shouldn't be a problem at all when you are playing solo or in a party, but in raids, there are a lot of debuffs on a hostile target (16 slots are filled all the time) or friendly one (MT got > 10 buffs), and some get hidden.
The question is, how would you like agUF to display the buff / debuffs? Please keep in mind that the limit is raised in TBC to 40/40. Feel free to post mockup screenshots and .diffs, the best idea will be implemented asap.
--
My quickfix suggestion: add a setting to use 2x16 layout for frames. My target frame got scaled up to 140% and extra wide anyway, size of icon is not a problem there.
In other words: keep 2x10, add buffs filtering by substring.
Pro: no layout change.
Con: buff name requires tooltip scanning or SpecialEvents-Aura-2.0 + mapping code for name -> index.
1. See all buffs/debuffs: for the pre-BC WoW this requires 16 debuff slots and 32 buff slots, in theory. I'm not sure how many of the 32 buff slots are actually used for "visible" buffs, but I guess it can be reduced by some amount.
However, in practice, it's extremely hard, maybe impossible, to find a unit that has all those buffs and debuffs at the same time. In PvE, the MT might have lots of buffs, but only a handful of debuffs, while the other way around would be true for an enemy NPC. From what I saw, in PvP the number of buffs and debuffs is much lower, so satisfying the PvE case would satisfy PvPing too.
One solution here is to have the same aura elements shared between buffs and debuffs, and in case of overflow, give priority to either buffs or debuffs (pretty much how old Minigroup's B+/D and B/D+ aura styles worked).
2. Filter the buffs/debuffs through user-defined filters. I think most people would agree that Blizzard's buff filters are not satisfactory. My main character is a warlock, I want to see Blood Pact in raids, I can't think of any good reason why Blizzard doesn't deem Blood Pact worthy of inclusion in their list of filtered buffs. Same goes for paladin auras, shaman totems, and the list could go on.
One particular aspect of aura filtering regards buffing/curing/healing classes. Take the case of a priest for example. He can cast 3 main buffs (PW:F, DS, SP), a HoT that shows as a buff (Renew) and a "heal" that shows as both a buff and a debuff (PW:S) - there can be more that I omit here for simplicity. In addition he might wanna see the druid HoTs for example. Raid frames take enough screen space even without auras, showing just the buffs above leads to potentially 7 auras slots, and that's not including debuffs.
So what about having a set of buff filters, in this case an "OOC filter" that shows castable buffs, and a "combat filter", that shows HoTs + shield? This takes only 4 aura slots, and I don't know about others, but I would like something like this when playing my priest alt. :)
I haven't seen BC yet, but I imagine a lot of problems with the new maximum counts for auras. As a warlock, I'm very interested in the target's debuffs, but I dread squinting through 40 little debuff icons to see if some curse is still on, or if my Corruption is still there. I guess debuff filters are a must in TBC. Additionally I was thinking about a small debuff count indicator, placed somewhere on the unit frame that shows how many debuff slots are taken.
This is not always needed. The comparison can be done by texture, which as I understand is efficient. Of course, that means some buff comparisons will give false matches because they share the same texture, so those special cases need to be identified and do the extra step of scanning the tooltip and compare buff names too.
I did implement some of this in my local copy of agUF, I've been raiding with it for a few weeks so it does work for at least the combinations that I use for my frames (since I often tinker with it, it's never the same version, but most of it is the same). You can have a look at http://mist.tcc.googlepages.com/aguf, there are some explanations there, feel free to use anything you might find interesting.
For current WoW, what I'd love to see if Debuffs split into a 2x8 alignment, so it's easy to see how many debuff slots are left when going to the second line, as a multiple of 8 is crucial. If everything shifts to 40/40, I don't know if the multiples of 8 (8, 16, 32) will be as important. I could perhaps see a 4x10 or 2x20 option for TBC. It's something that'll take getting used to, period.
I miss having a strict 2x16 debuff alignment on agUF now. I've made do by just paying attention to my HUD display for target, because it does 2x8, and I use that to judge whether or not some of my spells that I consider to be optional based on current debuff usage get used or not.
One thing I feel very strongly about, however, is that Buffs and Debuffs should never be on the same line - even if seperated by some space, justified to opposite sides, or whatever. There should at least be the OPTION to have Buffs and Debuffs living in their own disparate spaces, and never impinging on each other's visual territory. I need to be able to glance at a frame and know that such and such icon is a buff or a debuff by its position and nothing else.
And maybe a way to group (de)buffs so you can see how many of the same (de)buff there is on the target (group by name or by type if it's easier to code)
The filter for Healer allows me to see only the buffs I need to see in combat (Shied, HoTs) and if I want to check for buffs I just "un-fillter" and be ready.
-> I think some system that switches from Out-Of-Combat (Full view) to In-Combat (Custom Filtering (or Class Filtering) would be the perfect solution!
-> Also For Targets, make the difference between Player (Friendly) and Mob (Enemy). A mob has a max of 4 Buffs (let's say 8 for PvP), but at least in our raid you will see 14-16 debuffs within 2-3 Sek. And yes I want to see them to check if some warlock did put some DoTs on them. For Friendly targets I want to see the buffs completely because again sometimes you need to check to see if the Paladin Aura, the Blood Buff is still in range.
I'm tired as I write this, so my quick double check for readability may have been compromised.
Basicly on Friendly targets, i can show 20 Buffs, and 10 Debuffs, and vice-versa on enemys.
With BC, thats going to be alot more tho. But i would prefer to be able to show everything without any filtering or stacking the debuffs like Deep Wounds.
I currently use aura filter to avoid overcrowded buff frame, but I need agUF to display some crutial debuffs even when the filter is toggled on, such as weakened soul, plague in TAQ and the web wrap thingy in Maexxna encounter, etc. As a healer I need to know exactly who is afflicted even if the debuffs are not magic(for me as a priest, for example), nor curse(for mages lets say) nor any other genres. The current solution to this issue is to disable the aura filter altogether, but it's not practical, as it'd thene take up half of my screen showing everyone's 10+ buffs of various kinds in a given boss attempt in Naxx, and lead to exactly what the OP is concerning about.
My suggestions:
1. Treat buffs and debuffs separately.
So that, for example, you can toggle the buff filter on and the debuff filter off for any frame and vice versa.
2. Option to creat a new and separate buff/debuff frame for any unit. This frame can be grouped with the given unit frame or be dragged to anywhere you want it to be, and probably can be resized to fit your layout and can have enough space to display however many buffs/debuffs you'd like it to show. This could probably also work fine in TBC where you may potentially have 40 debuffs in a row.
top = {
  rows = 2,
  scale = 0.8,
  point = BOTTOMLEFT,
  relativePoint = TOPLEFT,
  rowDirection = up,
  growBuff = right,
growDebuff = left
}
From the options menu it should be possible to configure buffs and debuffs to follow each of these points seperatly. If you set both debuffs and buffs to the same position they will group together to the same position.
Ideally the rows would expand to be the width of the unit frame no matter what width the user sets the theme to. This system would also allow people to have auras displayed inside of frames, the way that CTRA does.
Buffs and debuffs should have seperate frame alignments, as Supernico said. (2 rows with 10 buffs)
If the user choose to show both buffs and debuffs at the same location (eg. below the frame), the display should depend on whether it's a friendly or hostile unit:
This would mean no option to choose between 1 or 2 rows, it's always 3 rows and the third row is only used if needed (more than 10 buffs/debuffs).
I'm generally easy to please.
PERFECT! That is what I want to be able to see with agUF. Having this implemented as soon as possible would be a great!
Sounds good, but I'd like to make a couple of suggestions :):
1. add a columns field, so auras can be placed in rows of 8 or 16, for example.
2. add a maxAuras field, it's very useful in raids when you want to see for example only 4 auras. But it might happen that in some fight, after filtering, you get 5, 6 or more, it's ugly to have them overlap on other frames if they are placed tightly together. maxAuras would make sure only 4 are displayed.
3. add a growth precedence field like in Buffalo, to allow auras to grow in zigzag, for example Aura2 below Aura1, Aura3 on the right side of Aura1, Aura4 below Aura3 etc. I found this very nice to show filtered buffs in raids to save screen space, and it's how the RightAlternate style in my version works. A picture is worth a million words, so this is what I mean (filtered buffs so only BP/SS shown, saves an aura width on the right side):
http://img71.imageshack.us/my.php?image=buffsdm9.png
4. buff or debuff precedence when they share same aura slots.
I hope those are sensible things, I'm looking forward to the new aura system. :)
High Priority-The (de)buff is always shown individually.
Normal-The (de)buff is classified by a type and all (de)buffs of that classification are placed under a single icon. Mousing over the icon opens a tooltip with a list of the relevant (de)buffs. Clicking on the icon leaves the tooltip to allow the user to mouse over an individual buff for a tooltip description.
Hide-The (de)buff is not shown.
Then predefine by class, of course can be later customized by the user: each class automatically places castable (de)buffs and curable (de)buffs on high, all other (de)buffs on normal.
What would be wonderful is 2 blocks of 2x8 one for buffs one for debuffs, each independantly movable to ANY side of the frams (even left and right) and that when put on the same side they would of course dock to eachother.
id love to see this system