Addons and the Learning Curve

Earlier this week Tobold asked a question about living without addons.This got me to thinking about not just the addons I use but also why I tend to avoid them.I do run a few that I consider essential but they tend to be more for general utility instead of any real advantage in actual game play.

Auctioneer
This one is a must for anyone who spends any time at the auction house.Blizzard's default interface just doesn't cut it.
DagAssist , FloTotem/FloAspect Bars
These beauties free up a ton of real estate on my action bars.Other than these extra bars I run with the standard UI.
Quartz
I play from a few different locations, some of them with terrible lag issues.This little gem allows me to compensate.The ability to reposition cast bars is an added bonus.
Recount
I run this for personal evaluation only.It allows me to dismantle a performance at my leisure so I can judge where I went wrong and what I was doing right.(Anyone who spams this in party chat should be stripped naked and dropped off the edge of Dalaran)

I have played around with other addons but they never last long.One of the reasons is I don't like screen clutter.I find most addons that make combat easier tend to pollute my screen with distracting information.The other reason I avoid too many is they make me a worse player.I find myself relying on them to call out warnings or when a proc goes off.My situational awareness drops dramatically and I tend to get tunnel vision.As a player I find that I do better with a toon in direct proportion to how much I need to pay attention.This is also true with how difficult it was to level the character.I have leveled both a hunter and druid that while fun were insanely easy to get to 80.There was very rarely a moment where things went sideways and I could run on auto pilot for most of the leveling.The downside is I learned nothing from the experience.I have a druid that is mediocre at best and a huntard I wouldn't want to inflict on any poor group.The flip side to these guys are my mage and rogue.Both of them were a struggle to level.Almost every fight involved near death experiences.Living on the edge for 80 levels forced me to better understand their abilities and weaknesses.I needed to be constantly aware of their surroundings as well as their cooldowns and health pool.The upside of course is that I am a much better player with them.I know how hard I can push and when to back off a bit.I am more aware of my surroundings with them and as a result also more aware of my party and their needs.

The bottom line is simple.Any addon that makes your life easier or improves your game play is a good thing.One that allows you to become lazy or less aware should probably be dropped.