MMOUI Minion beta released
by Eliah Hecht 
May 29th 2009 at 11:00AM
We saw a preview of it a little while ago, and now it's here in beta form: MMOUI Minion, the addon updater from the people behind WoWInterface. It's written in Java, and runs on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows, provided you have an up-to-date Java runtime installed. For Mac OS X users, the web site might warn you about your Java version, but if you've been keeping up with software updates, you should be fine.
As this is a beta, I won't be too hard on it, but I wouldn't recommend using it in its current state. It does show promise, especially with its extensibility (other sites can write plugins to allow Minion to download content from them). I ran into all kinds of problems, from the installer making it difficult to specify a path to the updater maxing out my CPU while idle to it detecting almost all my addons as out-of-date, even ones that aren't, but again, it's beta. The whole reason for a beta phase is to get the software out into the wild for wider debugging, so bugs are to be expected.
Overall, I'd say this could develop into something nice, but isn't quite ready yet. The icon, on the other hand, is totally adorable. If you do want to try it out, you would do well to follow their suggestion of backing up your Interface and WTF folders. I am excited to see what it will look like with more polish.
Filed under: Add-Ons
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Joseph May 29th 2009 11:11AM
So what addon updater do you recommend now? WoWMatrix is total garbage after they had to stop updating from Curse.
destrin May 29th 2009 11:18AM
WOWMatrix is getting better as it goes, they have started hosting addons on their own servers and more and more are appearing in it. The only ones that aren't are the ones from the self-important developers who refuse to allow WOWMatrix to host, but that's fine, I refuse to use those addons.
Joseph May 29th 2009 11:26AM
I'll have to give it another shot when I get off of work. I just recall the last time I tried using it that at least 9/10ths of the addons couldn't be updated. Not that I care much about many of my addons being completely up to date, but things like AtlasLoot and DBM I try to keep as recent as possible.
liu May 29th 2009 11:41AM
I tried WoWmatrix after the good publicity it got here, and it just felt too mac-like - things just weren't located logically (who puts their menus at the bottom?). I hate Curse, particularly now with the crippled features, so I'm hoping that MMOUI Minion fills the gap here.
Fausts May 29th 2009 1:41PM
Well actually, the scary thing is that you may have to use all three. I have a lot of addons and this big proprietary division is kind of a pain in the butt for me. A lot of us have grown real distrustful of Curse over past year. So it's no big surprise that a few creators stay loyal to distributing on WoWMatrix. It's too bad WoWInterface cut off WoWMatrix before they even had their beta client out. It was a bit selfish and made things inconvenient.
With MMOUI finally out I don't have to check my WoWI addons the old fashion way. The fact still remains, however, that three different sources means I have to run each separate client to update all my addons. I miss the glory days of WoWMatrix, they were there when I needed them and I intend to stay loyal to the bitter end.
Rilgon May 29th 2009 6:12PM
"I tried WoWmatrix after the good publicity it got here"
You call that good publicity? o_O
Cheese Rations May 29th 2009 11:14AM
"other sites can write plugins to allow Minion to download content from them"
That's kind of ironic.
Beatphreek May 29th 2009 11:19AM
No it isn't. They are giving other sites the option to create a plugin to let the updater download from their servers. Their gripe was that WowMatrix was not asking permission and apparently not respecting their requests for them to stop.
WowInterface is doing things exactly how they probably wanted Wow Matrix to do it. Leading by example and all that...
I would imagine that this is more for the addon developers that want to host their addons on their own site for downloads more than other interface repository sites (except maybe curse).
Beli May 29th 2009 1:05PM
I have to disagree there, Beatphreek. Between Curse, WowInterface, and a few others, currently addon availability is rather wide-spread. Many addon authors don't want the costly overhead of maintaining their own servers, so they go with one of the available "bix-box" solutions. The problem is, those sites aren't going to play nice with one another.
WowMatrix attempted to solve this problem by downloading from all the major addon sites. Clearly there were issues - most importantly among them money. Bandwidth costs money, and an addon downloader avoids all of the advertisements that generate revenue.
Sure, it's nice that WowInterface is providing a plug-in development architecture, but do you honestly think sites like Curse are going to give them a plugin? You still have that same money issue - except now the advertising revenue that Curse would be losing would be going right to what is probably their biggest competitor in this space, WowInterface!
All the plugin capability gives us is an excuse to say "see, they're better because at least they're trying". If WowMatrix had gone with a plugin architecture, you can surely bet that Curse and WowInterface would never have signed on with it, and as a result wowMatrix would never have had as large a selection of addons as it did.
Eliah Hecht May 29th 2009 1:06PM
@Beli: People who write modules for Minion can put their own ads in if they want to. So if Curse did a Minion module, they could insert their own ads, thus earning some money.
Spookie May 29th 2009 1:10PM
"You still have that same money issue - except now the advertising revenue that Curse would be losing would be going right to what is probably their biggest competitor in this space, WowInterface!"
Incorrect. The module allows them to plug in their own ads and premium settings.
Darsh May 29th 2009 11:53AM
This minion pisses me off. After I updated my addons, it *installed* 2 addons I didn't have/want... something called "Chinchilla" and something called "Fubar_FarmerFu". While the interface is nice, it shouldn't install addons I don't ask for.
Rodrigo May 29th 2009 11:58AM
Happens the same with the curse client. Apparently it installs the extra dependencies and optional addons that sometimes come with normal addons and the worst part is that you can't do something to stop it from installing them.
dawnseven May 29th 2009 11:58AM
As was mentioned, it's beta. I had the same problem (it installed 6 new addons for me :D), I reported it (as did others) and the developer acknowledged the bug reports and is fixing it. The problem was apparently that it was misidentifying the addons you currently have.
ShadowEric May 29th 2009 12:22PM
You need to understand something. Addons can specify their optional and/or required dependencies on other addons. That's a feature of WoW itself. Minion is likely looking for that info and installing required dependencies. If the addon author has that screwed up (like dependencies listed as required instead of optional), then it might install stuff you don't want. Blame the author. Of course, perhaps Minion should tell you about it, but understand where it comes from.
Glaras May 29th 2009 11:56AM
Likewise, let's not be too soft on it. "Beta" software that fails to do what it was intended to do (detect out-of-date software for updating) isn't in "beta" condition. That's not even alpha-code. Add to it the other problems you mentioned, and you've got software that shouldn't have even been let out of the barn. An installer that makes it difficult to specify a path, when it's the one asking for one? Maxxing out CPU? Those are't small problems. And those should have been detected in the alpha phase.
Eternauta May 29th 2009 12:23PM
^This
Avan May 30th 2009 1:11AM
Give them your feedback on their site. Regardless if you think it's beta or alpha quality, your feedback will help make the release candidate much better.
kadield May 29th 2009 12:03PM
I just installed it and several addons that are up to date were being flagged as being out of date.
The java interface seems a little sluggish when I first opened the application, but after closing it out and reopening it, it seems to be moving right along.
So, I definatly see promise with this addon updater! Please keep us in the loop when it's up and running fully and I'll defiantly give this a whirl as it will update all of my addons (curse currently doesn't host carbonite :( )
daemonx316 May 29th 2009 12:26PM
Haven't tried the beta yet, as I'm not on my wow computer, but there's a small thing bugging me about the icon (at least as shown in the article): A casual glamce at the name suggests that it's called MMOIU Minion, based on the way the character is holding the placard. Nitpicky, yes, but there you go.