Play

Play is a modern UI overhaul for World of Warcraft.

It makes the interface calmer, cleaner and easier to read. Important things move closer to the center of your attention, while less important UI parts become quieter until you need them.

What Play Changes

A calmer interface

Play can fade parts of the UI when you do not need them.

Action bars, chat, quest tracker and other UI parts can become softer.
When you move your mouse over them, they become clear again.
When you type in chat, the chat stays readable.
In combat, important things stay visible.

Think of it like a desk lamp: the addon shines more light on what you are using right now.

A smarter quest experience

Play makes quests easier to understand at a glance.

Different quest types get different colors and icons.
Important quests stand out more.
Quest progress can be shown with clean progress bars.
The active quest can appear in a small 'Focus HUD' near the top of the screen.
Quest tracker hover effects make it easier to see what you are pointing at.

Focus HUD

The Focus HUD is a small central display for the quest or message that matters most.

It can show:

your current focus quest
quest goals
help tips
friend-online notices
item upgrade hints

It feels like a small "now look here" area, instead of spreading important information all over the screen.

Modern minimap buttons

Play can collect addon buttons around the minimap and show them in cleaner ways.

Available styles include:

buttons open like a small fan
buttons move around the minimap
buttons fly outward in a more dramatic animation
buttons slide into position one after another

You can also hold Ctrl over the minimap to show small mode buttons and switch the style quickly.

Inventory and account item info

Play helps answer a very common question:

"Do I already have this item somewhere?"

It can show:

which character owns an item
where the item is stored
how many you have in total

This makes bags, banks and alts easier to manage.

Better item tooltips

Item tooltips can become more useful and more readable.

Item quality tints the tooltip.
Important stats are highlighted.
Item upgrade tracks get special colors.
Bag item tooltips can follow the cursor more smoothly.

New money display

Play can replace the normal gold/silver/copper display with a larger coin system for very big amounts of money.

It is designed to make large numbers easier to read.

It also respects colorblind mode.

Nameplate improvements

Nameplates can become more meaningful.

Play can improve:

quest enemies
rare enemies
low-health warnings
friendly player names
role-based visibility
city/resting area behavior

The idea is that nameplates should show what matters, not just float everywhere equally.

Cursor and mouse gestures

Play has many small quality-of-life features around the mouse.

Shake the mouse quickly to make the cursor pop larger for a moment.
In combat, the cursor can become easier to see.
Holding Ctrl can show extra UI hints.
Holding Ctrl over action bars shows the keybind for that button.
A small inspect icon can follow the cursor during Ctrl mode.

These are small features, but they make the UI feel much more alive.

Action bar keybind helper

Hold Ctrl and move over an action bar button.

Instead of a large spell tooltip, Play shows the key you press for that button.

This is useful when you are learning or checking your bars.

Movable Blizzard windows

Many Blizzard windows can be moved and remembered.

Drag a supported window to move it.
Ctrl + right click can reset a panel.
Combat-safe rules avoid touching protected UI at unsafe times.

Quest dialogs and world text

Play also changes smaller world UI moments.

Quest dialogs appear larger and more comfortably placed.
Quest dialogs animate in and out.
Zone text intros become more modern.
Combat text is shown more centrally.
Language flags can help identify player regions.

Setup import

Play can import character setups.

It's handling:

action bars
keybindings
macros
UI layout presets

This is useful for people who like presets.

Settings

The settings menu (found in spellbook) groups features by topic, such as:

quests and Focus HUD
inventory and item information
minimap and transparency
nameplates
world UI and cursor behavior
setup and development tools

Important Notes

Play is a large feature project.

Some parts are polished player features. Some parts are meant to be refined.

The goal is not to make WoW look completely different for no reason. The goal is to make the UI easier to understand, easier to read and more pleasant to use.

Also the deadline of an ongoing sets the boundaries how much is possible. New features, Tuning, Bugfixing, Performance reviewing will be done extensively in the following weeks.

TL;DR

Play makes your UI smarter.

It helps with quests, inventory, minimap buttons, nameplates, cursor visibility, item ownership, money displays, setup import/export and many small mouse interactions.

It is made for players who want the game interface to feel calmer, clearer and more modern.

The description is work-in-progress and will be reworked and refined when more features have been released, which are currently in development.