To achieve, or not to achieve?

World of Warcraft was not the first game to have achievements, but achievements did come to World of Warcraft with the launch of Wrath of the Lich King in November of 2008. Achievements (or achievement points) are awarded for completing a task in a game a certain way. They are sometimes awarded for completing absolutely simple tasks (perhaps there for younger audiences), and some achievements are awarded for the insanely complex or time-consuming.

Achievement points are not a currency, they cannot be traded in for anything, and usually do not help your character directly. However, some players do look at and use achievements as a measuring stick to the amount of experience a person might have in the game. I have to introduce two ideas simultaneously here so bear with me. In World of Warcraft there are players who do not raid with their guild or have one, but these players still like to raid. These players will usually run what is called a “PUG” or “Pick-Up-Group.” A PUG consists of strangers typically and they get together to accomplish the same goals as a raid group, to defeat a raid boss and get the loot from it. While forming a PUG group, a responsible raid leader does not take just anyone. Because of the level of difficulty of Icecrown Citadel, a raid leader usually looks for a few things. Achievements are usually sufficient proof to show the raid leader that the person in question has completed a boss before. People link achievements to the raid leader such as:

(The Fall of The Lich King) as this proof to get in. The achievement alone will not get an individual into a raid group; the raid leader also looks at a person’s gear for their character. This is where a raid group must put a certain amount of faith into their raid leader. If the raid leader has a vast amount of knowledge of World of Warcraft, in general he should know what is good for certain characters and classes, and what is not. If the raid leader catches a person who wants to be invited to the raid group using gear that is bad for their character or gear that is low level, they will not get an invite into the group. PUGing can be a cruel and harsh world, but it is the result of people wanting to attain a certain level of performance in their raids.


There are some addons in World of Warcraft that can add to the achievement experience. For example there is an addon called “Overachiever” that changes the default Achievement Pane to show detailed achievement information. The addon also has a suggestion tab that can give a player ideas on what achievements to work on based on the area they are in. For example, if a player is in an area near a lake, Overachiever may suggest some of the fishing achievements.

There are also some addons that have come as a clever result to raid leaders having overly strict achievement standards for their PUG raid groups. The addon, “Underachiever” (a play on the previously mentioned addon), is able to create fake achievement links to dupe raid leaders. This only works if the raid leader is lazy because when they suspect this sort of thing, they can go to the WoW Armory (wowarmory.com) and look at the character in question directly.

I use Overachiever for ideas and I typically seek-and-hunt for achievements to do when I am bored. Some achievements are much more fun than others, but a few achievements I would recommend are:


The Keymaster (http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=1187). Keymaster is an unusual achievement that asks for you to obtain various keys. The achievement may sound dopey, but there are some keys that take a little bit or work or research to obtain. This achievement is not absolutely useless either, I’ve often been the sole-keyholder in groups where people have wanted to go into a locked dungeon.


Turtles All the Way Down (http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=3218). This achievement is tough. Though ultimately fishing is not hard in World of Warcraft, but beating the odds and catching this turtle is the problem. Due to probability and random number generation, the odds of catching this turtle are low, which is what makes it difficult. However the turtle is advantageous to ride in the water, because it is the only mount that you can ride that increases your speed in water.


Better off Dread (http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=2039). This achievement is done inside the Drak’Tharon Keep instance and requires your group to slay 6 additional raptors in addition to the main boss. This is a fun achievement to try, and it requires a good tank that can hold all of the raptors on themselves, and a good healer who can keep up with the damage and keep everyone healed.

These are just a few examples of fun achievements, and there are much more boring, time consuming, and other fun ones at http://www.wowhead.com/achievements or checking out the Achievement Pane in World of Warcraft.

Some people obsess over achievements, and some people do not care about them at all. It depends on the player’s mindset. I am a video game “completionist” and I usually play games long after accomplishing the main objective to unlock other secrets, etc. in the game. The same applies to World of Warcraft, and I continue to work on achievements as a way to learn more back-story, or just experience parts of the game in a unique way.

Addons, how do they work?

First and foremost, you may be wondering what an addon is. The closest comparison to World of Warcraft addons would be Smartphone applications. An addon is a user-written user-interface (UI) modification for World of Warcraft. Programmers or crafty World of Warcraft players take it upon themselves to create these UIs that show crucial information, or make the game more aesthetically appealing. So just like the Smartphone, there are applications that are used for aesthetic reasons such as changing wallpapers, ringtones, and sounds, and there are also applications that are useful tools, such as maps, calculators, and weather trackers. In World of Warcraft, addons can change the looks of your unit frames, add custom sounds to certain events, change how your text looks, provide crafting lists (of materials), they can track the markets on the auction house, and relay important information for raid boss fights. There are just a few examples of the thousands of addons. The go-to place for addons is typically Curse Gaming , although there are also other hosts for addons, as well as privatized websites for specific addons.

People may write addons for any number of reasons, but typically people write addons because they feel that the game would benefit from their change. Some authors of addons even receive donations for their addons if they have a website set up to receive them. I believe they cannot technically be paid because their work is ultimately licensed to Blizzard Entertainment (the creators of World of Warcraft).

Addons are good, but in moderation. Here is an example of an addon addict, who has taken it too far: (Rediculous UI ). As you can see, this is what I call “information diarrhea” because there is way too much information, or information delivered very poorly. Addons can also cause problems. Some people do not know that addons take up system resources (RAM), and can slow down your computer the same way that having a multitude of programs and windows open. Some addons even experience invisible errors to the user and cause them to mysteriously disconnect. But don’t let this turn you off from addons, like everything, addons are good in moderation. If you have problems, you can usually turn off the last installed addon to remove the problem. You can also go through and turn all of your addons off, and enable them one by one until you find the problematic addon. Every couple of months I clean out my crummy addons by asking myself, “When was the last time I used this?”

Here is a rundown of addons I usually use and have been very helpful.


Atlasloot is an addon that is a huge list of all of the items that can be crafted, dropped by bosses, and other items. This addon is very handy, especially when a player needs the help of others. Rather than bothering people asking what a recipe for certain armor calls for, you can have the materials ready.

Auctioneer is an amazing addon for anyone interested in World of Warcraft economy. By doing regular scans of the auction house, you create a database of average prices for items. This allows the user to find auctions that are priced under value. It has various other options as well.



Bagnon is an addon that combines all of the bags that make up a players inventory. It turns the annoying 5 separate bags into one large bag, usually making it easier to see things, if you have sorted it well. It also draws faint highlights around items, so that the user can determine the quality of the item.



Bartender4 is my addon of choice for my bars. Bartender allows me to create custom hotkeys, change the size and location of my bar, and hide bars as well. It’s very handy and very lightweight.

Deadly Boss Mods is a required addon by most raiding guilds. This addon displays crucial boss information, and alerts the user when they need to do something. This may sound ominous, but for example in the Lich King fight, it will play trumpeting sounds for the player that is afflicted by Necrotic Plague, or Raging Spirit. It also alerts the user to phase changes as well.

Grid is an essential addon, although some people do not use it. Grid is so customizable that it is hard to describe. I use grid to show my entire raid’s health, status, and whether or not they are afflicted by a curse, disease, or something of that nature. This addon is the best way to show raid frames hands down.


Mik’s Scrolling Battle Text is an aesthetic addon that allows the user to change how the combat text is displayed. You can change fonts, styles, sizes, animations of numbers, and many other things. You can also set up a useful sound or chime when your health or mana drop below a certain percentage.


Ratingsbuster is an informative addon that shows detailed information on “invisible stats.” For example, with dodge rating being subject to diminishing returns, I can see how much actual dodge I will gain from 55 dodge rating. It is presented to me by the decimal as to how much dodge it will actually add.


Recount is an information collecting addon that tracks all the statistic and information of everyone in the raid. Recount is useful for seeing what attacks people used, damage per second, healing per second, and damage taken, etc. This addon is great for detailed information.

This is the gist of what I use. Every person is different, and places different priorities on their UI. A tank’s UI is very different from a healer’s or even a damage-dealer. Use what works for you, and if you take anything from this post, please remember to use addons in moderation.