Hacking World of Warcraft (ExtremeTech) Reviews

• Not about "hacking", just an out-of-date catalog

  
  By A9JA0MI0GFQ39 on 2007-09-09
  
  I'm so disappointed in this title that I'm returning it to Amazon for a refund.
  
  The book's title and description are misleading. The book isn't about "hacking" anything; it's just a catalog of popular add-ons to the game. After an introductory chapter about how add-ons and macros differ, how add-ons can be installed and managed, each add-on is described and reviewed. Unfortunately, the authors don't describe their criteria for deciding which add-ons to include.
  
  Undoubtedly, the term "hacking" was included in the title to make the book appear sexier; the book is really about expanding WoW functionality using available add-ons, not "hacking" in any sense of the word. Perhaps more frustratingly, the authors don't explain why most of the described add-ons are useful. Sure, I can get an add-on that tallies the damage done to me by various monsters, and by myself to the monsters. But why do I Want that? How does the use of such an add-on, for example, help me have a more enjoyable or productive gameplay experience?
  
  Point is, though, that finding add-ons online isn't hard at all. A book cataloging them is practically worthless, as it is out of date just as soon as it is printed. You're better off finding interesting add-ons by searching your favorite World of Warcraft forum and asking other players.
  
  The book's treatment of writing add-ons is superficial at best. Since this book is not a programming tutorial, any reader who wants to write their own add-ons needs to have some software development background. And anyone with some software development background would be able to examine existing add ons to "borrow" code, or learn how to write add-ons by reading the product documentation.
  
  
  

• A great guide for newer Warcraft players

  
  By A2YOGE3CF7BQR1 on 2007-06-06
  Ok, lets get something straight right off the bat. I am not a total newb when it comes to gaming, programming or tech. But I am new to WoW, and trust me its pretty overwhelming when you first get in.
  
  This book is really good at 2 things:
  
  1. Its a gentle introduction to the whole addon scene for players who either dont use them yet, or who use them only a little bit. It teaches readers how to find addons, how to install them, how to configure them, and how to use them. Addons are divided by their function: Combat, Maps, Loot, Chat, Raid, Class-Specific, Compilations and Misc and each one is covered the same way so thats nice. Can you find all these yourself by scouring the websites? Sure you can. But this book takes some of the pain out of figuring out which ones are best for the job, and how to use them. This is where the book shines in my opinion and is the bulk of the book.
  
  2. It introduces you to the concepts of writing addons and macros in a way that most readers can follow. If you already have some experience in scripting with something like JavaScript or some actual programming experience this section makes more sense.
  
  This book is not an in-depth guide to writing addons, or a complete guide to WoW programming. Addons are written in a language called Lua, but this book is not an in-depth guide to Lua either. If you are looking for that, then you should look elsewhere.
  
  However the book does walk you through 2 examples, and if you can follow that you will probably want to look for something more to develop addons. Follow it up with a good Lua book, and learn about XML.
  
  My only complaint about the book so far is the images are a little small, and I wish they were in color. Still, that doesnt ruin the book and you can still see what they are talking about.
  
  All in all the book does a good job at what it's trying to do. So if you are newer to WoW or Addons this is a great guide. And even if you are already using some addons the book might point you to some new ones or even get you started writing your own.
  
  
  
  

• A Review from Chris Davies, Creator of the AtlasLoot Addon

  
  By A1NYSSQLY6RRI6 on 2007-06-15
  If you are seeing this book in a shop somewhere, pay close attention to the 'Whom this book is for' section in the introduction. It is not for the advanced user who is already creating mods or maintains a large library of addons for themselves. It is for the person who had a couple of addons, but wants to involve themselves further in the modding scene. It is for the user that has plenty of mods, but wants to know what some of the contents means so that they can start tinkering. It is for the person who e-mails people like Dan and myself saying 'Hi. I have downloaded your mod, what do I do now?'.
  
  The book is of a fair length, enough to cover a lot of ground, but short enough to be to the point. It is laid out really well, with the first half more or less dedicated to various mods, what they do and where to get them and the second half dedicated to how to make addons, a simple example and a more complex secure frame example. There is also a really good section explaining the macro system implemented with the Burning Crusade in some depth.
  
  The selection of mods in the first half is quite good, covering how to install and configure the most popular mods around as well as a few really handy mods that might not be so well known. Of particular interest to me and what really impressed me the most was how up-to-date the book was. For example, it deals with the issue in Patch 2.1 of error messages being hidden by default and how to re-enable them if you want to. It also describes what I believe to be the proper procedure for tracking down addon bugs and when and how to report them to the author concerned.
  
  My only criticism I guess is that Chapter 15 probably could have been expanded a little bit. It wasn't immediately obvious early in the chapter (to me anyway, only ever having played a DPS class seriously) where the FocusFrame example mod was going, but once you get into the code a little it is an excellent example of the power of secure frames. The chapter covers quite a tricky area that a number of experience addon devs struggle with, and I think the explanation of the concepts is good. The fact that you come out of it with a non-trival, useful mod is a huge bonus.
  
  In summary, the book is a great overview of the state of play with WoW addons. Most advanced users would know a lot of it already from their own tinkering or collection of mods, this book isn't really for you. For the mainstream WoW player though, it is excellent.
  
  Reposted with permission.
  
  

• NOT a book about writing add-ons

  
  By A2HN5AMWG02F1 on 2007-06-04
  Over half of this book lists and briefly describes add-ons that are available on the web. This may be a reasonable introduction for players who have never used add-ons, but it's no substitute for web sites like ui(dot)worldofwar(dot)net that have more content that's organized better and is more up-to-date. Still, there are those who won't know what to look for and a catalog like this one may be what they need to see what they're missing.
  
  The section on writing macros is a good way to get started and it's fairly up-to-date (for now). This section is why the book rates 3 stars and not 2.
  
  The section on writing add-ons takes up about a third of the book and is an unqualified disaster and a meaningless sacrifice of innocent trees. It goes on at length to haphazardly say almost nothing and is littered with advice like "if you want to do X, download an add-on that already does X and read its source code." Thanks, bub. Glad I paid $20 for that gem.
  
  The good news for prospective authors is that the niche of "How to Write World of Warcraft Add-Ons" books is still vacant and ready to be exploited. A reasonable book on that topic would include well-written tutorials and clear sample add-ons that cover, even if only superficially, the many things a player may want to do. It would also include a well-organized reference for the APIs (both lua and GUI), along with short snippets illustrating the use of each function. Such a book, if it existed, would undoubtedly sell very well.
  
  

• The resource I've been looking for.

  
  By AHBRG4BI1YUAE on 2007-06-28
  I've followed many online tutorials but since most of them were disjointed, being written by various different people the writing styles & techniques used could kind of become confusing at times.
  
  The first half of the book gets you started in using addons and introduces you to some of the better know higher quality addons available and takes you through configuring them. If you are new to WoW then this is the part of the book you will be interested in.
  
  The second half is all about how addons work, and then takes you through the creation of a very simple to some fairly robust addons. For those that learn by doing and find it easier with a book than online this is the book for you.
  It doesn't assume knowledge on your part which makes it very easy for the novice with little to no programming knowledge to pick it up, follow the examples and write your very own addon. It may take 2 or 3 passes before you fully grasp the concepts however.
  Those of you who are already familiar with other programming languages like Javascript, PHP, C or anything of the like, you will find this a great primer.
  
  The best part is the addons you create with the book are genuinely useful, in fact the first one, a coordinates system is something I've been looking for myself, and it handles the function better than other addons I've found.
  
  
• A good introduction
  By AZ3UAO1Z7A2HT on 2007-06-12
  This book is a good book to get if you want an easy to understand introduction to some of the addon's and macro commands that are available in World of Warcraft.
  
  The 2 examples they give for writing your own addon's are very easy to follow and explain what each piece of code does which is helpful. I would recommend getting this book for anyone just learning to program or interested in starting. The title is a bit misleading as to what the book is really about. Overall this book was worth the money in my opinion.
  
  
• For what the book is its not bad.
  By A3548UPM1UAUY2 on 2007-06-09
  I'm going to rate this book for what it is, not for what it is not. This book is primarily about using addons with a sidebar on the basics of making them. And for what it is it was done pretty well.
  
  A few things I would have liked to have seen is a more robust rolling your own addons section and reference. As an addon developer I think it needs a better overall progression and it assumes a little too much at times.
  
  The sections about using addons seem only to cover the absolutely most popular addons or subjective favorites in their respective categories. And this is good for most people but I personally would have liked to have seen a more objective view and more options. This wouldn't have required very much work or time.
  
  Bottom line if your new to WoW and want to get into the whole UI customization stuff then check this book out. It'll get you started and definitely enough to get your feet wet. If you know nothing about coding addons then you might find some of it useful but you'll definitely need to reference online materials such as the wowwiki, wowace's site, and probably a few chat rooms.
  
  If your an experienced developer who has made a few addons this book probably doesn't hold much for you. Its pretty lacking as a reference material and won't add much to your overall knowledge.
  
  I hope you find this useful. And please ignore the trolls.
  
  
• Exactly what I was looking for
  By A1B6RNU7RUD8SL on 2007-06-21
  I recently decided that I wanted to learn how to write my own addons for World of Warcraft so I started looking around on the internet.
  Most websites I found had incomplete or poorly written explanations of how things worked.
  
  When I heard about this book I was a bit unsure about it at first but after reading through it I found it to be exactly what I needed to give me a start.
  All the explanations of how things are done were very well written and when I needed help with something, all I had to do was send an email to the author and he was glad to explain anything I didn't understand.
  
  If you just want a guide to popular addons, how they work, and where to find them then this is the book to buy.
  For the more advanced users, this book will give you a great start on your way to making your own addons for whatever purpose you can imagine.
  
  Overall I am very happy with this book and it was well worth the money.
  
  
• Should have titled it "WoW for Dummies"
  By A16VLKNZXM8JZ0 on 2007-10-15
  I agree with many of the other reviewers who felt this book's title was somewhat misleading, or at least not descriptive of its true content. However, I do understand why prospective buyers would probably prefer not to think of themselves as dummies.
  
  In addition, this book was dated as soon as hit the shelves. As other reviewers have noted, some of the addons recommended by the authors no longer function correctly in the current version of World of Warcraft. Other recommended addons still work, but have largely fallen out of favor as newer addons with improved features have taken their places. Nevertheless, the descriptions of what the addons do and how they can be used is still a useful introduction to many concepts in WoW.
  
  In short, I would only recommend this book to people who are:
  1. afraid of talking to other players,
  2. uncomfortable reading online forums and asking questions, or
  3. unwilling to learn how things work by trial, error, and experience.
  
  For any serious potential addon authors out there, you will probably learn more from looking at existing addons' code and by actually speaking with other authors.
  
  
• Guide to Making Full use of World of Warcraft features.
  By A3L4ZHYFD4RBW0 on 2007-07-27
  Whether your a noob or a l33t player of World of Warcraft, there is always a way to improve your ability of play and this guide is the way to go. Want to make your own macros, but don't know how, then this guide gives you a brief and decent guide to do that. Curious about add-ons, but not sure whether they will work or if they will get you in trouble with Blizzard, this guide gives you a starting place and information to help you.
  
  The 'Hacking World of Warcraft Guide' is a book for anyone who plays WoW, that wants to improve their ability to play, but either doesn't know how or is unable to figure out where to start. Having been in the predicament in which it seems that one-more second could decide the difference between victory or defeat, I know this book helps lay out the ways to improve game-play.
  
  Now despite the name of the book, it doesn't let you hack World of Warcraft. It gives a player a description of features both available at first glance and those hidden just below the surface of the game. Ever wonder how to chain actions, spells, or abilities with one button, this book helps setting that up. Every see screenshots with maps or gadgets and want to know what those are, the book gives an overview of add-ons and options that are available either already in the game or where to find them online. It even warns about programs that Blizzard allows and doesn't based upon past problems. The book even gives you, the reader, fair warning about the dangers of using programs, both on your computer and with Blizzard, so you can't claim you didn't know.
  
  Overall the book gives an overview of features, options, and other such things that can add to your gaming experience. While not as straight forward as Brady Guides, it gives a decent grasp of things for playing World of Warcraft.
  
  
• Great Book to learn of about WoW mods
  By A3HLXAM17Q4TFK on 2007-07-05
  I myself had been using mods for some time, but Dan explained a lot I never knew, and right from the beginning he quoted Blizzards opinion on using mods in World of Warcraft.I recommend this book to anyone at any stage of using mods.
  And if you want to make your own mods to use in WoW, there is many chapters that cover that.....along with making two of your own mods.
  
  So, not only has he and his co-author made some wonderful mods for a great game, but they have also made a fine book together!
  
  
• Waste of Money
  By A2TWUO36VNVW4T on 2007-06-05
  If only you could rate a book below 1 stars. Completely dissapointed in this book. The first 10 Chapters talk about add-ons that can be gotten from the most popular sites, like Curse-Gaming and such. After 10 chapters of pointless "Fluff" the author "Attempts" to give a tutorial on how to write a add-on from scratch. Not a single line of Lua in the book(Other then the Macros) work. I tried for days and got nothing to show for my time but a headache.
  
  If your looking for a book that gives insight into the world of modding for World of Warcraft, this book isn't for you. If your looking for a nice paper weight, or maybe some paper to start a fire in the chimney....then this will be the best 30 bucks you have spent.
  
  
• Great Book
  By A38GJAXCL4G8OD on 2007-07-04
  This is an excellent book for beginner or advanced gamers, with many valuable tips and ideas. Well written and easy to understand and use. I did find a few of the addons listed which were not compatible with the current versions of WOW
  
  
  
• A good start for anyone wanting to learn and use plugins
  By A2ICNFGRA71BNZ on 2007-07-05
  It surprised me, I was expecting from this publisher something less than a 2 star. The title's not what you expect. I should be "Customize WOW" not "Hacking World of Warcraft"
  Hate to say it, so far this is the only book on the subject, so its better than nothing.
  
  
• Great help
  By A2PG1QYGSFYJU5 on 2007-09-05
  First of all, I didn't buy this book, my wife bought it, which could easily entail an entire discussion about how the impossible can, in fact, REALLY happen...but that must wait for another time! Quick take away regarding this book: I liked it a lot!
  
  I am a software developer turned business man, so I have a background in programming (but haven't had to write code for about 7 years now). So, from that perspective, the code sections weren't much of a problem, but getting an understanding about how WoW addons function was very helpful. I wasn't quite as interested in the early sections of the book (although it was good to know about some of the existing addons)...my interest was on creating my own addons from scratch. In that regard, the book was great, and the steps were clearly laid out on how to create the Whereabouts addon.
  
  This book is not intended to be a complete primer on EVERYTHING you need to know about writing WoW addons, nor is is meant to be a review of every single existing addon (they change)...rather, it is a nice balance that starts with what existing addons do, and leads into what to do if you'd like to try writing one of your own. In that regard, I think the book did a very decent job!
  
  
• Great tool for any WoW gamer
  By A2RFMOVGTE08EK on 2007-11-19
  "First let me say this is an extremely well written and useful book. I
  am very happy I purchased it.
  
  My primary interest was in understanding and creating addons. I am a
  programmer of nearly 50 years experience (yeah, punched cards all the
  way to C++ and Java) so what I was primarily after was a good intro to
  AddOn development. The explanations of XML and lua were well done and
  useful. and the character position development teaching project
  well-conceived."
  
  I wrote that to the author when asking him a question about the example I was building. I got a quick and courteous reply, and was able to fix my problem.
  
  About the last third of the book is devoted to AddOn development. It covers the subject well without talking down to an experienced programmer, and seemed to me to also lead the novice in a comprehensible way. A tough line to walk, but they did it well.
  
  As for the rest of the book, I found the list and explanations for the AddOns mentioned well thought out. Admittedly I didn't need it much (I have been playing WoW way too long and knew most of them already) but they would have been very useful when I was first starting to get interested in AddOns.
  
  My only real criticism of this book is its title. The first two thirds are devoted to existing AddOns, not the development of AddOns, and that makes the title more than a little misleading. For me, that two thirds came as an unexpected bonus to the AddOn development section, which met my needs and expectations well.
  
  
• Example Addons *Do* Work
  By A27SQWYHGUON4F on 2007-07-30
  It's a good overall view of some of the basic addons for those of us who sit in front of the computer enough playing Wow and don't want to sit in front of the computer reading about addons. (:
  
  I did have a problem getting the first addon to work; then I realized from reading this site that I had to enable script errors -- the message pops up as a script error.
  
  
• Not worth it!
  By A8YFSC7MSJ0KC on 2007-09-20
  Unless you are wanting to learn how to create your own macros, don't buy it. The book is out of date with World of Warcraft. I learned how to do everything online (regarding add ons). I guess it would be ok for the basics for writing your own add ons for the game.
  
  
• Perfect for the experienced proffesional
  By A2SGTM771Y48NU on 2007-11-13
  This book is perfect for the experienced programmer who wants to start
  adding his own MODS to the WOW UI immediately but does not have time for
  beginners programming 101, an Introduction to WOW, or the time to do in
  depth research.
  
  My son recently asked for a program to help with the management of his guild
  and of course I volunteered. How can you say no?
  
  After browsing the somewhat nonexistent documentation that was available I
  found this title. In ONE DAY you are up and running your first hook.
  
  By reviewing the front section, the add-ons, one acquires a comprehensive
  list of example add-ons. This list provides one the resources he needs to
  mine the information he needs to "Get-R-Done." It is very helpful to NOT
  have to wade through hundreds of web pages, tutorials, and a million lines
  of code for the right "example" to handle a particular process. It also covers addons in a manner that even non programmers will find VERY usefull.
  
  In the last section, Dan and James do not waste much paper on beginners
  programming but set you on a path straight to heart of the matter. Though
  this book will give the novice programmer the tools he needs to get started,
  it is much more valuable to the experienced professional who wants to get
  in, get the job done, and get out.
  
  This book provides you the information resources and links to the tools you
  need to get started in a timely manner. Way to go Guys.
  
  
  
  
• good...but bad
  By ASVQ2NTKHZQ7G on 2008-03-27
  The book's good at what it is tryign to do, but that thing is useless.
  play for a month and it will all come together, this is a waste of money
  
  
  and if you cant install an addon, just ask someone in your guild or something..its the easiest thing to do.
  
  if you dont know...
  
  find the addon you want download it, and click open [not save] on the pop up window. when it opens a screen with the addon file[s] you need to open my computer, then open drive C, then open program files, then open 'Wolrd of Warcraft' files, then open the interface folder. your should see an 'add ons' folder in the interface folder, simply go to the window with the addon files, hold down Ctrl [control] and left click each of the files in the folder. when they are are highlighted, drag them into the addons folder.
  
  when you launch WoW make sure the addon is checked in the addons list [where your character selection screen is] from there you can enable/disable an addon if you decide you dont like it.
  
  if you have lots of extra $$ then go for it, i'd just learn from playing
  
  
• Great Book
  By A28BOC8NXQQ7IJ on 2007-10-11
  This book is wonderful. I tried for months on end to try and self teach off of various websites on how to properly write .lua code and XML for addons. I finally broke down and purchased this book and it has helped leaps and bounds over anything I learned on various websites because it teaches from the ground level up. The first section of the book is perfect for someone who is just starting WoW or just starting to explore various WoW Addons. The second section is geared more towards people like me who are just starting to or want to learn how to create their own addons for the game. If you are new to programming or even new to writing .lua and XML scripts I recommend you purchasing this book.
  
  
• Hacking the World of Warcraft
  By A2XW6VPIR979KN on 2007-12-25
  Very helpful book. Lots of information on existing addons and how to create your own.
  
  
• Hackers anonymous
  By A3GMXB8ZQ2MB1W on 2007-07-23
  This is a good book if you are into writing programs. There are some useful websites in this book and they tell Wow gamers places the enhance there online gaming. If you want to make up your own gaming with a UI, or another helping add-on then this is the book for you. It shows you how to do it and where to put it. Since I am not a geek, this helped me only to find the addon sites from other folks which helped me greatly.
  
  
• Warlock
  By AY2WUW0CT2DM on 2008-01-12
  Pretty simple guide really, just needs one line of text:
  
  Roll a Warlock
  
  am i rite?
  
  
• Good guide for the lazy!
  By A3GQD13Z0N73XF on 2008-05-30
  Wasn't the best book, but for the price it didn't hurt. Best part about it is it had a list of addons for a few different categorys, and their descriptions, which was nice because he doesn't include any of the poor quality addons that litter addon sites. But for the not-so-lazy group, you can get all this information off addon sites quite easily.
  
  

• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack

• World of Warcraft Programming: A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Addons
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack
• World of WarCraft Dungeon Companion, Volume 2 (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames))
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Stragey Guide)
• World of Warcraft Master Guide, Second Edition