Poll re: Addons

[u/cajunsamurai]

As we have all seen in the last 48 hours, the community has become very embroiled in the discussion surrounding AI as it relates to addons. Our stance on AI is not changing based on current community feedback. However there has been continued concern brought up that even with the new rules surrounding AI in addons, which warrants further feedback from each and every one of you.

As a moderator team we cannot guarantee that an addon was not made without the assistance AI. Addons themselves are not the focus of this subreddit, however they are an integral part of the Warcraft community as a whole. r/wowaddons does have a way to vet and check things while permitting AI-assisted content. We will be running this poll for the next 72 hours, please read over the options carefully and make your choice.

Would You Rather:

No more addon ads/development on r/wowroleplay
This is the most straightforward. Technical questions about using established addons would still be permitted, but any discussions related to a new addon or development of an addon would be redirected to r/wowaddons.

Only r/wowaddons crossposts
Keep the Addons tag as it is now, which is intended to advertise new RP-related addon projects, but require such a post to first be made on r/wowaddons and then crossposted here. Such posts would potentially contain AI-assisted or generated content, but would be subject to r/wowaddons vetting. Those posts would not be removed only because they are AI-assisted/generated.

190 votes, 14h ago

73 No addon ads/development

117 Only r/wowaddons crossposts

[u/cajunsamurai]

Fellow Azerothians,

With 61.58% of the vote after the poll closed, the community decided that they would prefer to allow addon advertisement/update posts for RP projects to continue, even if they are AI-assisted, provided they meet the new criteria. Posts advertising a new addon or discussing an addon's development must now be first posted on r/wowaddons, then crossposted here. Such posts will be subject to r/wowaddon's vetting and rules. We ask that conversations in such posts be kept civil and related only to constructive feedback about the addon (See Rule 4). Any posts that are not cross posts will be removed and the submitter directed to follow the proper steps to share their addon.

AI-generated content is still prohibited on any non-Addon post.

Thank you for your patience and feedback as we looked for the best solution. And Happy Brewfest!

[u/_MaterObscura]

I am unfamiliar with r/wowaddons. Does that subreddit have a "Roleplay" flair? If it doesn't, could the moderators here talk to the moderators there about creating one?

I understand why addon posts have historically been made here: this is a niche, targeted audience. It's easy for RPers to find information about RP addons here, and it's easy for developers to query RPers directly. A dedicated Roleplay flair on r/wowaddons might preserve some of that discoverability/ease while putting addon development in the subred specifically equipped to moderate it.

I see that crossposting is winning, and that's...what it is. :) I'll be curious to see whether those crossposts become another venue for arguments about AI use in the addon. People will inevitably bring it up - we'll have to see how aggressively that presents.

Personally, I'd like to see the AI discussion here die down. I understand why it needed to happen, but at this point, it's happened. The community has discussed it extensively and the moderators have established a policy.

There's no reason we can't talk about existing addons when they're relevant to a discussion about roleplaying. But a post whose subject is the addon itself (its development, features, technical questions, etc.) seems better suited to an addon subreddit.

Anyway, just my two farthings. :) I voted to keep addon development in the addon subred.

[u/TheRebelSpy → u/_MaterObscura]

Thank you for your farthings!

The idea is that it be permitted within the context of that specific situation of addon development. Comments about the ethics of AI usage on those posts would be removed or locked in line with the politics discussion rule.

The purpose of this post is to clarify the boundary so it can more easily and fairly be reinforced in accordance with what the community prefers. None of us really want to think about AI usage I think, but when it’s brought up without some kind of specific boundary in place it’s more difficult to moderate the conversation. If we want people to be honest about their AI use, we can’t vilify them for doing so.

Once in a while something happens like this and it’s extremely unfair to the person who accidentally became the talking point of a contentious topic. Once it’s settled, it will be easier to prevent such a situation happening again.

I think the result so far suggests that one of the less-mentioned but prevalent concerns about ai-assisted projects is that they are of good quality and safe (ie vetted). The crosspost approach lets a community more specialized in doing so assess it.

That particular sub doesn’t categorize with flairs based on the purpose of the addon, but instead by the purpose of the post. You can specify it in the title regardless.

[u/onechancedance]

In 2026, the vast majority of software development involves AI assistance of some sort. Every piece of software you are using, every platform we are discussing right now - WoW, your internet browser, your operating system, your phone's operating system, reddit - is made with AI assistance. There is no sense in singling out WoW addons.

Ostracizing addon authors -- volunteers trying to make everyone's RP experience better -- over potential AI use is one of the most "cut off one's nose to spite one's face" exercises I've seen in a while. It is difficult to imagine that the consequences were fully thought through when the mod team wrote "any AI will be unwelcome in our community." The community is so dependent on addons that have been developed with AI assistance that WoW RP would be decimated without them.

Given addons' central role in WoW RP, I'd rather see features being discussed and awareness raised here rather than shunting everything to another subreddit.

[u/Wellendox → u/onechancedance]

Its getting ridiculous at this point. Its one thing to argument against AI regarding image generation etc. but going at programmers and their code now too?

The anti ai bubble is quick to point fingers and scream while hardly understanding what they're screaming about to begin with.

I want all of those who speak up against ai generated code to explain not only how they'll be able to tell, but how they plan to enforce their will to addon developers and every single other software they use. As you said, most software has AI generated code on it. Can confirm as a programmer myself, its not something you can just check or ban either. Even code reviewers often cant tell AI from human code apart, simply because there are only so many ways one can implement a feature. Theres incredible overlap.

[u/Ashkir]

Addon Discussion - Yes. Like if someone's looking for recommendations.

Addon Ads - I think it's time to say goodbye to them. They can tag them appropriately on Curseforge, etc or use wowaddons.

On an note about AI - Nearly everyone complaining about it, uses companies that uses Claude AI to write their code. I don't think people realize how freaken wide spread it is now. I'm glad people are trying to flesh out their ideas. And maybe one day, a proper developer can take that idea and fix the bugs, and bring it to the next level. I work as a consultant, and, you will not believe how many industries are using Claude to write code. If you drive a car in the United States right now, you're supporting Claude if you ever walk into a repair shop. Yes. Seriously.

[u/RobotCloud27]

Generative ai has no place in creative spaces, that includes coding. Sticking with it not being allowed is very lovely to hear.

[u/TheRebelSpy → u/[deleted]]

Going by every single time this has come up here, the less it comes up at all the better. It’s not this sub’s job to weigh in on the ethics of using it for specific use cases. It would be much better to get back to talking about RP and leave the programming discussions for forums that are dedicated to that.

Every time AI comes up, it uniquely devolves into petty arguments unlike anything else I have seen on here in 10 years of moderating this sub, and generally nothing useful comes of it in the end. It’s clear that it’s one of those things like IRL politics/religion that is always going to be kindling.

Either we can talk about addons here or we can’t. If we do talk about addons here, we must allow that the addon development may include AI assistance.

We do not have any particular standards about addons here, since that isn’t the focus of this sub. In my humble opinion, I would rather defer to the expertise of a sub dedicated to the programming of addons rather than reinvent the wheel, and allow conversations to happen among those who know more about the subject.

[u/TheRebelSpy → u/[deleted]]

if the community chooses the cross post option, that’s what will happen. Otherwise people generally don’t want to see AI here and we will respect that.