World of Warcraft's expansion introduced restrictions on combat-related addons, with Blizzard arguing that players shouldn't require heavily customised interfaces to remain competitive. Game director Ion Hazzikostas recently defended the overhaul, stating the new base UI has performed acceptably overall and aligns with the studio's design philosophy.

The transition has produced mixed results depending on player role. Many adapted smoothly, but raid healers faced material challenges during the first season, particularly with encounters like Crown of the Cosmos that required tracking dispellable debuffs—mechanics the base UI struggled to convey. This discrepancy between Blizzard's encounter philosophy and actual interface capabilities indicates the overhaul still requires work, though leadership maintains confidence in the broader direction.