Reader UI of the Week: Going from laptop to desktop

The move from laptop to desktop can be a startling change of pace for many players. Usually players go from a desktop to the more mobile laptop, considering that laptops are so powerful these days that they're not being thought of anymore as second-rate gaming machines. Jumping from laptop to desktop would be a pretty jarring experience.

Reader Blackoccamy has made this jarring move and has sent in her UI to show off a simple and lived-in DPS user interface. After going from a healer role to a DPS role, the requirements for a user interface drop a bit, since you don't need to have as much concern for your fellow raiders. Many pieces of DPS UIs don't need as much functionality as their healing equivalents, so you might find yourself with some extra space left over.

Thanks for the submission and email, Blackoccamy. DPS user interfaces are a weird mix of function and style because of the different concerns that DPS players have with regards to the game world. I've known Blackoccamy for a long time, and the iterations of her UI have gone in many different directions. In fact, I remember the days in ICC before Sindragosa pulls talking about how her UI was going to change and what she wanted out of her setup.

No action bars, again

One of the fundamental differences between the UIs that I create and many UIs that come in to Reader UI of the Week is that many of them do not show action buttons, whereas my UIs are built around the bars, as if they were the centerpiece at my user interface Thanksgiving party. The action bars are some of the easiest to move and symmetrical UI elements that exist on the screen, so I take advantage of that fact by putting them front and center. Plus, I have a mental block on remembering where all my skills are despite their all being keybound, and I like using OmniCC to watch my cooldown timers.

So what do you put in the middle of the screen to promote symmetry and cohesiveness if the action bars are being hidden? Well, if you're Blackoccamy, you don't put anything. Just ditch symmetry all together. I had never even thought of that. Why do UIs need to be symmetrical? Is it because we view symmetry as appealing and beautiful or just that we are used to symmetry and order? At the end of the day, what works for you works for you because that is how your brain operates. Diversity in creation is a good thing!