Mage UI: First Step - Nostromo Game Pad

I've been thinking about what I can do to free up space on my screen. I'm just not happy with the way everything is currently laid out, and I know I can do better. Will it increase my DPS by insane amounts? Will it make me out heal the uberest of uber-geared folks? Of course not, but it's really something I'd like to do.

So.... since I've had a Nostromo game pad since Christmas... of 2007, I figure that I should finally put it to use. Phaelia over at Resto4Life had posted about how she uses (or used as the case may be) the game pad here. For a mage, it's basically a starting point. At least for me it was. I can't really get all of my spells to fit in the 29 slots that she's suggesting. Nonetheless, it gave me some great idea for both my mage and my shaman (which I'll go over at a later date).

I know all of you mages are sitting on the edge of your sit wanting to know how I'm going to set up my keys, so here goes:

Row	Column	Normal	Alt
1	1	Invisibility	Evocation
1	2	Icy Veins / Combustion	Mirror Image
1	3	Use Mana Gem	Spellsteal
1	4	Dragon's Breath	Arcane Missiles
1	5	Blizzard	Flamestrike
2	1	Fire Blast	Ice Lance
2	2	Counterspell	Remove Curse
2	3	Polymorph
2	4	Living Bomb	Scorch
2	5	Frostfire Bolt	Pyroblast
3	1	Fire Ward	Frost Ward
3	2	Arcane Intellect	Arcane Brilliance
3	3	Dampen Magic	Amplify Magic
3	4	Mana Shield	Arcane Explosion
3	5	Blink	Frost Nova

This still means that I have a pool of spells I don't have bars for (Arcane Blast, Fireball, Frostbolt, Mage Armor (I'll let SmartBuff take care of that one, could probably remove Arcane Int/Brilliance as well), Ice Armor, and Cone of Cold). There's also set of spells that I'll have off on the side somewhere such as Professions, Portals, and other non-combat essential items. (I suppose Slow Fall is debatable on that list, but it's in there nonetheless.) I also have potions on that list. I know, I know... they would be combat "essential" but with everything being freed up for non-clicking, I figured those two items wouldn't be a big deal. So, I'm off to install Bartender to see if this setup will work for me.

My UI Sucks

That's the funny thing about inspiration: you never really know when it's going to hit.

I was playing Wizard101 with my kids last night. (I think I've mentioned that I play that on occasion before.) It's a very whimsical game. The combat speed is good for my 5 and 7 year olds. At any rate, it's a very minimalistic UI. As you can see from the Screen Shot here on the right, there's really not much to it. You have your basic health and mana in the lower left corner. You have your xp bar in the bottom center. Chat and interaction buttons are found in the upper left. A compass and the options button (that also opens up all spellbooks and gear and such) is in the bottom right. (This picture is actually a little old since they've added your various "hearthstones" near the compass.) And I have no idea what it is in the upper right corner; mine is a link to go buy the game or get a membership. (We've always just bought areas when we're ready to go to the next area.)

So, it may not be fair because the combat system is completely different, but after putting the kids to bed, I logged on Wow and started to compare. Holy crap I have a lot of buttons! With 12 standard ones, then another 24 laid across the entire screen just above those, and then another 24 on the right side... And with my shaman (as with my mage for that matter) every single one of those is taken up with something important. Which is actually quite humerous since I know I'm not casting 60 spells!

So, let's focus on the shaman for a second. 3.2 will take care of a lot of these problems since I have a lot of extra buttons just in case I need some random totem. Then, I'm not really sure I need all 3 shock spells. (Well, technically there are 4.) Especially when I'm in Resto (which is only when I'm in a group in an instance).

I know I've put off completely redoing my UI because on my standard screen (non-wide) there's just not a lot of real estate, but really... that's exactly the reason why I should do this.

I really need to go look up my blogging friends' posts. I know I've seen a couple people that have had some great approaches to fixing the UI. Then again... maybe I can put it off so that 3.2 doesn't break all my add-ons. lol.

Fast Friday

Bah.. like 15 posts in my head and many written and ready to go just need pictures to help explain. And here I am with 40 minutes before going home with a report that will take me about an hour. So... you lucky readers... you get nothing today. lol.

Besides... I have to spend too much time working out my new UI. Too bad I can't do that at work.

Fixing Your UI

I had another sort of follow-up to BlizzCon stuff, but with the amount of time I spent putting my UI back together last night, I thought I'd mention that more. So, first off... Altitis has a great post on some tips to putting your UI back together. I wish I had seen it yesterday.

Secondly, I'm not really happy at how my UI turned out. I would love to see some other UI's with what mods you use. But before I hand out and post an e-mail address for you, I have a couple restrictions.

1. I want to see your screenshots in a full 25-man raid. As the GM, I want to be able to see who's alive and what amount of mana they have, etc.
2. The screenshots must be recent and the mods compatible with Wrath. I don't want to see the best UI ever with mods that have been retired for 2 years.

Also, in the e-mail, let me know if you are willing to have me post your UI. I may or may not do it. It sounds kind of too close to WowInsider's column, but there's never (or rarely) show full raid screens. Just some toon out in some random area or something. So, go ahead and send them to Leiandra AT Primogeniture DOT org. Dazzle me with your creativity, and let me know how I can contact you to configure it all. If it helps, and you aren't aware, I do play a Mage. (Not that that would necessarily be the best UI or anything.)