"Play the way you want to play, just not that way."

No player should be forced to download addons just because they want to remain competitive.

Technically, that is exactly what all games are. The catch is that it is the games that decide what you can and cannot do. 3rd party stuff should never define such things in an MMO.

keep trying to justify yourself.

Very good post, OP. Logically explains their decisions in an easy to understand manner.

Technically speaking then VoIP programs such as TS, Vent, Mumble, etc need to be downloaded and most guilds require them to be competitive. Guilds and players that communicate over a VoIP program have a tremendous advantage over those that have to stop to type out commands.

So should those programs be banned from the game also? They give advantages over those that don't use them.

It's kind of disingenuous, to be honest.

What people will hear: "we have stopped bots!"

What the truth is: The functionality he's talking about simply made it a little easier to setup a macro to automatically respond to a debuff. As long as the UI tells you in some way, any way (such as glow around your health bar, for example), a macro can be made to act automatically. It's a bit more difficult, but still pretty easy.

Well my clan didn't use VoIP I was cheap and beat many clans using it.

Of course you'll say that, but overall it is in fact an advantage not just in team-based PVP but PVE raiding as well.

that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. That's like saying somebody should be a competitive bodybuilder without putting into the work that it requires just because you don't want to and yet you should still be competitive. That logic is completely flawed.

"I wanna be a pro baseball player and compete yet put no effort into being competitive waaaaaaah."

programs such as Ventrilo or mumble or teamspeak give you a clear advantage in any PvP situation because you have players that can actively communicate with each other and that increases your response time by a huge factor. So are you saying that those programs should be banned as well because you don't want to take the time to download the program and make friends that want to use it as well? Your argument is invalid

It's everyone's argument now. After 15 years of MMO gaming, now people don't want to have to download anything to remain competitive.

Pretty ridiculous isn't it.

You mean, the work you should be doing instead of the addons?

MMO gamers are the laziest people in the world. =)

very true, they let addons play the game for them...

It comes to skill.... Can be crap and use Comms or be skilled and don't.

VoIP don't = win 100%

I mean anyone that uses an addon to actually let the game play for them deserves to be banned. I'm just talking about functionality in an MMO. =)

I guess the millions of MMO gamers that use VoIP are crap PVPers. But your clan that types everything out is amazing? =)

Also, you completely missed the point. The point was that it's an advantage to not have to type commands out but rather just speak it over a microphone.

Actually it's more akin to one bodybuilder using steroids where another does not.

^^ This person gets it.

No. They are just forced to buy 12 mice and gaming keyboards and work out a set of clever macros. You don't have all of those things then newsflash - you are not competitive. Not even close.

VOiP is a communication tool.

Its a far sight different to ( as an example) printing symbols on targets in-game, although that is also a communication tool, but it also highlights targets constantly, so no work must be done visually to distinguish targets or keep track of them. Ofc, this isn;t a big deal for me personally, but it serves as an example.

Other addons that provide information that really should not be seen ( or would be impossible to see) are a completely different issue IMO.

Now if addons gathered data from whats already displayed, and displaying it in a more digestible manner for people....then thats fine. The problem comes when they start adding more information on top of that, which isn't readily displayed in the game.

Sure...other MMO's do it, but as this isn't Skyrim, its also not other MMO's.

Pretty much. I mean even if some of these addons aren't supported, people will just make macros with their devices and do the same thing. So honestly, it's all moot anyways. =)

I'll reiterate my point:

3PP like Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, and Mumble give a *clear* advantage in any online game as opposed to those who do not use them, because it lets them communicate in real time as akin to being in the same room as one another. CLEAR advantage. Anyone who disagrees = wrong, pure and simple.

So, should those be banned? Should ESO not allow Ventrilo to run in the background because it gives a clear advantage to those who use it opposed to those who "just don't wanna do it bro".

Such an idiotic argument. This is the exact same thing as an addon that tells you things about your opponent. If you allow one, you must allow the other, because both are simply advantage giving programs/mods.

One has to draw a "line in the sand" somewhere. ZOS has very limited control what 3rd party programs that people run in the background, but they have complete control over addons. That is the "line in the sand."

You must not have heard anything Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi have had to say on any subject ever, and as such you are a very, very lucky person.