Ghostcrawler answered some feedback given about the Healer’s Column article in the World of Warcraft Magazine.

Our intent isn’t to discourage the use of add-ons. Our intent is to allow players who don’t want to use add-ons to be able to get by without. The advances we made to the default UI with things like Equipment Manager and the new Quest Map are with that direction in mind. Some players just like add-ons or are very particular about specific functionality. That’s cool. They can continue to use what they enjoy.

I’ve healed a lot with and without Grid and similar mods. The default raid UI is adequate for healing, but only adequate. This is definitely a chunk of the UI that we’d next like to improve. Being able to show both buffs and debuffs at the same time feels like a necessity. Some healers will continue to want to use additional mods and that’s their prerogative.

Do you think this is the right approach for Blizzard to take toward third party programs?