Dear Curse

A Request for Simplicity

Dear Curse:

One of the features that I really, really liked about WoWMatrix was its simplicity. The application, while not the prettiest in the world, executed easily, required no installation at all, found the addons easily and updated all of them with a single click. It did not support any other game, did not stay resident in the process table, did not collect any information from my system to send back to the mothership. It performed its function reliably and quickly, and did so across all game platforms.

Your client, by contrast, is larger and requires installation. This is apparently due to the fact that the client supports several games, rather than just WoW. The extra weight in the application comes with no value to me or other former WM users.

It is not a cross-platform application, as it runs only on Windows, and on Macs with specific versions of the operating system and only on particular hardware. Depsite assurances from Curse that this will change Real Soon Now(tm), the fact is that this client, as well as all of its previous versions, have suffered from the same platform limitations, and there has been no movement discernable to the userbase toward a solution. I don't need to tell you how long that's been, nor do I need to remind you how patience wears thin.

Unlike WM, your client requires a login, which is an inconvenience, and to those of us who like to keep track of precisely where we've placed personal information, it's an added and mostly unnecessary burden... albeit a small one, admittedly.

The biggest disappointment is the planned removal of the 1-click updating feature. Your statements, both on the site and in the application itself, inform us that we're eventually going to have to start paying you for this feature. Unlike the higher-speed and more-exclusive access that the premium account is also planned to provide, the 1-click updating does not cost Curse anything. Its removal is strictly and completely a tool to goad users into coughing up cash for a premium account, users who might be perfectly content to wait a few extra minutes for their updates. I'd like to ask that you leave the feature as part of the standard-access client.

As for a direction for future development, I'd like to ask you to reconsider your position of not making available a WoW-only "thinner" client with the basic featureset the client currently has (1-click updating, auto-scanning for installed addons, search/installation of new addons), as well as the most-asked for improvement: true cross-platform capability. Such a client would go a long way in providing good service for your users.

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  • Fri, Apr 24 2009 5:11 PM ()

    don't forget that you can use WM for *some* of your addons still! =)

    and i'm looking for replacements to the ones that are hosted here and on wow interface. if there's an addon i "absolutely must have" i'll swallow the bad taste in my mouth and come here, or go to wow interface.

    i started using WM -because- i hated the curse client (and i always seemed to pop up with viruses downloading off the sites). i like WM's simplicity as well, one click updating, one click install, or uninstall.

    and for everyone out there pissing about 'bellyaching', maybe if curse made a better client, we'd actually start -liking- it... and them?

  • Thu, Apr 23 2009 11:47 AM ()

    @Ceru: If all you're seeing is "qq", then you need to open your eyes, go and read the rest of my posts, if that's not too much trouble for you. You're making a false statement, that I don't see Curse's side. I do, and have said so. The crux of my argument with them has been, *and remains*, the fact that they gave a mere 15 hours notice before pulling the plug. They state they didn't plan on doing this on patch day, and that they didn't know it was coming when they chose the date for the cutoff. Perhaps that's true. But their action compounded the negative perception of them, and that's something they could have easily avoided by giving a week's notice of the cutoff. They could have also chosen to do the cutoff on Friday instead of Monday, knowing that Tuesday is a maintenance day for Blizzard, and was therefore a risk of being patch day. They didn't do these simple things, and so they've raised the ire of people who might have been otherwise very understanding, if not supportive.

    @otakusensei: With regards to the "unhelpful" bellyaching, I've already stopped that. I'm sticking with the helpful variety now, by pointing out to Curse where the WM client outperformed their own, and why. And that's it.

    @us2006027321: I'm also, reluctantly, watching WoWI. I do not care for the people there, judging them by their comments and tone during this entire WM debacle. Unfortunately, it's the hosting site for the majority of the addons I now use, having migrated to nUI. But while they say they're working on something really cool, "they say" is just that: saying. Like Blizzard with their promises of working on something really cool for an update to the druid animal forms, the "new" WoWI updater is vaporware until I see a beta. But, I can always hope...

  • Wed, Apr 22 2009 6:45 PM ()

    Curse does have tiered membership.  If you don't think the service is worth paying for, don't pay.  If another service offers a superior service for free go with them.

    But if that service is free because it functions by essentially stealing from another service...

    Don't bitch if it disappears.

    And don't flak the service that's doing it's best to serve the community.  Curse isn't a nonprofit but they do offer great free services.  You can make those services even better by suggesting, but drop the unhelpful belly aching about Wowmatrix.

    It serves no purpose.

  • Ceru said 
    Wed, Apr 22 2009 5:43 PM ()

    I do not support payment so they dont limit the bandwidth for "free users". But I also dont support people intentionally trying to screw up a great service for the rest of us. If it gets too bad, someone else will likely step up and host addons and become the new curse. I'm sure curse understands this and wont do anything too drastic; however, I personally do not see much wrong with the adds. Unlike most sites i've been to, these adds are not annoying, I dont recall seeing adds here that pop out annoyingly at you, cover up links by popping out, i havent seen things flash too much. I also dont recall gold selling/powerleveling (or other illegal services) ads being displayed either.

    @setb: I dont recall hearing anything about a pay client for Curse either, back up your proof with evidence or go home.

    @maccormaic: All I see is qqqqqqqqqq. You choose to cry instead of seeing their side of the issue. As far as I can see, Curse has yet to do anything really wrong (on the issue of payclient or pay to download or whatever). The ads as i previously mentioned arent annoying, and if you have even half a brain, you can navigate the site quite quickly and easily to find the add-ons you want. And another thing, nothing in life is going to be handed to you. So quit complaining and hoping someone will do everything for you or change things just so it suits you. Its life, deal with it.

  • Wed, Apr 22 2009 4:48 PM ()

    @Ceru: No. I chose not to do as you suggest. Instead, I chose to make my desires known to the company that provides the software I'm using to auto-update, in the hopes that my actions will influence them to produce future software more in line with what I want. It's a sensible course of action, and one that Curse encourages.

    Enjoy the ads.

  • setb said 
    Wed, Apr 22 2009 4:25 PM ()

    Well said, and ceru you seriously need to put a sock in it. Seriously. While yeah, they had have the right to shut down wowm, curse clearly has an ulterior motive (hmm introducing their own pay client, I wonder?)Limiting bandwidth on the "free" version is one thing, but removing much loved features that do not cost much to have just to force people to buy the membership, shady. I for one will not be getting the client, for shame curse.

  • Ceru said 
    Wed, Apr 22 2009 4:07 PM ()

    Why people feel the need to cry over Curse and wowui killing WowMatrix is beyond me. You ingrates are forgetting the key concept behind the whole thing. *COST*. It costs them a LOT of money for bandwidth (especially for a week or 2 after every major patch) and a LOT of money for storage for any and every addon that they host. The only way curse can afford to keep this SERVICE to us gamers going is by us viewing the adds on the pages. WM goes around this and STEALS money from the sites. 1 Click updates would still go around the viewing of the adds necessary to keep this SERVICE to us maintained. So do us all a favor and quit crying. I use roughly 20-30 addons (maybe less, i lose count) and I do so without WoWMatrix, i do it without curse client. I hand update every one of my addons, and I do so happily (mostly because i dont trust either automatic updater). Any way I look at it, its a long flight between Place A where I'm standing and Destination B where i'm flying to. In that time I can get most if not all of my addons downloaded and installed. You people need to just learn to be grateful for what curse and wowui do for us by hosting all of this stuff and making it easy for us to see and compare different addons. You people need to find ways to make it less of a hassle to update (manually or otherwise) because obviously there are times when you're waiting on others or waiting on something in game to happen that you can afk for and update out of game.

  • Wed, Apr 22 2009 9:03 AM ()

    Maybe I just missed the boat on what was apparently the holy grail of addon managers, but I appreciate the curse client and what it does.

    I'm a fan of the developer and realize that he has a life in addition to a stable of great addons that he supports.  Curse provides the client for free and the above poster can apparently use it despite their gripe it doesn't work on older macs.

    Sure it's a big unwieldy with the inclusion of other games.  I can only assume that was intended to serve the folks who play those games.  I'm sure Curse didn't want to bother with developing a separate application for each game and waste resources that could be spent on client upgrades, site improvements and expansions to the service in general.

    On the subject of upgrades the client is coming along nicely, the latest version being a big improvement over the older one.

    That's not mentioning the reason why WoWMatrix had to go.  It wasn't because of some secret pact, it was because WM was abusing the community and frankly stealing from other sites.  Yes, it was easy and convenient.  But so is child labor.  Don't bitch about doing the right thing, but good for the original poster in speaking out and bring concerns up with the developer.

    Welcome to the community.

  • Wed, Apr 22 2009 12:07 AM ()

    A Request for Simplicity...very well said Sir & I completely AGREE...

    I also would still be using it if not for Curse...why do they have to make things so complicated?!!?

  • Tue, Apr 21 2009 2:47 PM ()

    i'd still be using WM now if it wasn't for Curse and wowui's pact to keep the good down...

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