Of course I'll be using any UI mod that improves gameplay, why on earth would I not? The basic UI is horribly minimalistic, and for those that like that, fine, but for the rest of us that are used to modern MMOs typical customization options, and features, I'm sure most will be using some kind of mod.

When did that last happen to anyone? Mods are not cheats, if the API gives out the info, then it is not a cheat to use that info, if it was a cheat, the programmers would not make this information available for mods.

Probably someone will write something similar to the WOW addons that marks your map with every location you have gathered at, if this is possible to mod that is. Would be a nice addition to the map function for sure.

Its like jogging down the position of the resource nodes on paper. except this paper is in the game. Its basically just a map of every 'potential location' for resources. Keen eye is the skill that makes it noticeable via some particle effect.

Itherael on Addons - Taken from MMORPG.com

After reading a few posts, I have decided to write down an extensive breakdown of my point of view regarding this entire situation.

Premise: Some add-ons, in their current state, allow the user to obtain information that would otherwise be impossible with the default UI. This creates a necessity for such add-ons as it provides an advantage in competitive play. This in turn leads players that want to remain competitive to have to use add-ons that may completely go against what the Elder Scrolls series is all about.

Counterargument #1: If ESO does not have add-ons, if won't be Elder Scrolls-y.

Retort: First of all, my premise does not say "every add-on", only ones that allow users to obtain information that would otherwise be impossible to acquire. I believe ESO should have add-ons, just not ones that provide a significant advantage in competitive play which generates a necessity. Namely, certain add-ons that allow users to see the enemy's exact amount of Health, Magicka, and Stamina, the enemy's buffs/debuffs, and the cast bar and name of the spell/ability being used by the enemy are the focus of this discussion. These are things which simply are not shown with the default UI.

In fact, the add-ons in question have no resemblance to any of the mods for Skyrim or Oblivion; they are much more akin to World of Warcraft or other games of the sort. However, ESO is an Elder Scrolls game, and the minute you generate a necessity for such add-ons to remain competitive, you absolutely hinder the Elder Scrolls portion of the game. Why? Because the series is all about immersion, it is about placing the player's focus on the world and on the action and not on the UI. This is largely achieved by having an extremely minimalistic UI, something ESO's default UI very much accomplishes. Yet, the developer's vision and work is absolutely put to waste the minute you introduce these add-ons, which are necessary to remain competitive. ESO goes from an Elder Scrolls-like game, where you watch the world and action, to a generic MMO-like game, where you watch UI bars go up and down. The add-ons in question absolutely clutter the screen with UI elements that have not even a remote similarity to what you see in any of the Elder Scrolls games, modded or not.

Counterargument #2: If you think it makes your screen ugly and not immersive, don't use it.

Retort: The problem with this mentality is that it does not address the entire competitive nature of an online game. In a game where players play with and against each other, competition and player interaction is everything. As such, the add-ons in question provide a clear advantage to its users, becoming a necessity for competitive play. They do this by providing information that would otherwise be inaccessible; information which is invaluable for maximizing combat efficiency. This is a problem because if you want to remain competitive, yet you want an Elder Scrolls-like experience, these two things conflict each other.

Counterargument #3: If these add-ons, which give us all the information about our enemies, exist, it is because the developers allowed it.

Retort: It is true that the developers are entirely responsible for this, for they allowed such add-ons to do these things. However, developers are also prone to making mistakes and taking bad calls. As such, if the developers are in a position to do something about it, then players have every right to voice their opinion and send forth their criticism in hopes of getting a response on the issue. In fact, I believe we as customers have an obligation to send them feedback to make this the best game possible. This has happened before, with first-person mode and collision detection, both which were not part of the first iterations of the game, but then later were made available due to the community's reaction. Therefore, we need to once again tell them how we feel and hope they have sound judgement to tackle the issue accordingly.

My Proposal: With all that being said, I believe ZeniMax Online should seriously reconsider what can or can't be done with add-ons. All in all, I feel having add-ons in the game is important and should definitely happen, but they need to be restricted to showing only what the default UI can show. Meaning, any detailed information about the enemy, like how much magicka they have or their spell's cast time, should not be shown, for the default UI does not show this. Add-ons should not have an effect on game play balance, should not provide an advantage to users, and should most definitely not influence the competitive nature of the game.