Gaming Hacks

Write MMORPG Macros

Turn tedious sequences of commands into click-and-forget aliases.

Like real life, MMORPG play has its moments of repetitive tedium (especially while you’re grinding— [Hack #30] ). Fortunately, computers are very good at doing repetitive tasks; they rarely slip up and never complain. Many modern MMORPGs offer macro features to help you record and play back long sequences of events; Star Wars Galaxies and Final Fantasy XI are two examples of this phenomenon. In particular, Galaxies includes good macro features to automate your gaming experience.

Star Wars Galaxies Macros

In order to access the macros menu, hit Ctrl-A or the small firework symbol on your menu bar. This will open the actions menu, on which the macros tab hangs. To start a new macro, hit the New Macro button. Give the macro a name, choose an icon that represents it, and type the macro into the text box.

Warning

Capitalization counts in commands. If your macro doesn’t behave properly, double-check your spelling, capitalization, and semicolons.

To refer to other macros or to loop self-referentially, a macro must call a slot in the User Interface toolbar. Grab your toolbar and drag it to encompass two rows so that you have as many slots as possible for actions and macros. To refer to a toolbar slot, use the call /ui action toolbarSlot xx, where xx is the number of the slot. Keep in mind that the first slot in the upper right corner is slot 00, not 01. The last slot in the lower left is slot 23.

Now that ...