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U.I. Review - Bartender 3

Posted June 15th, 2008 by Xerin

Bartender 3 is a action bar replacement to replace the default handling of World of Warcraft's action bars. The action bars are the bars that allow easy access to abilities, skills, items, and macros. There are many solutions to change the in-game action bars and many different mods that allow you to change their behavior. Some of them are more annoying than others while some can increase your performance and allow greater flexibility. Is Bartender 3 the first one or the last one? Let's find out.

Bartender 3 is an Ace2 mod meaning it offers all of the benefits most Ace mods have. Built in computability with FuBar, uses the Ace settings window, and is really good on system resources.  It also integrates itself with the default WoW key bindings allowing you to be able to change what keys activate what skills for all 10 bars it allows you to have. For the action bars it provides... the features available are near limitless. You can have up to ten bars with their size, color, background, translucency, number of slots for skills, location, etc.

Bartender 3 is near effortless in setting it up if you just want some extra bars moved around. An icon near your minimap or an icon located on your FuBar allows you to shift/ctrl click to lock the bars down or allow you to move them and to lock your ability icons in place so they can't be accidentally moved. Not only does it take over the handling of the action bars but it also takes over the bag bar, micromenu, pet bar, reputation bar, stance bar, xp bar, and the roll bar. This allows you to move them freely anywhere on the screen you want.

I've used many different types of action bar replacements in my time playing. So many that I'm not sure I can remember the name to most. However, the one I've liked the most has been Bartender 3. It's simplistic and takes me about 5 minutes to set up per character.  I like to have the bottom of my window covered with 3 bars and then two on the left hand side. I like them to be translucent if there isn't a skill in a slot and I like them to be movable easily in case I need a part of a window for a quest.

Thankfully it allows all of this without effort. Not that it's a lot to brag about since every action bar replacement out there allows that and usually without much effort. So I can't really say it's unique on that front. I can say that it has a lot of polish though and seems to not use much in the way of resources. It also allows for great customization.

Overall it's pretty generic, but completly complete. If you need to edit your action bars and need a lot or a few options then Bartender 3 is the mod for you. It can easily turn your ideas into reality.

Customization: 5/5
Visual Style: 5/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Clutter: 5/5

User Friendliness: 4/5

Total: 4./5

Ratings Breakdown

Customization: How easy it is to customize the mod. A low rating isn't necessarily a bad thing nor would it affect the total score unless it's lacking. Anything 3 and above is “good”.

Visual Style: How well it looks. The higher the better. The highest scores are usually for mods that are visually appealing, fit into the overall look of the game, and contain polished graphics. Lower scores are for more amateurish mods that stand out when placed into the game.

Usefulness: How useful is it? 1-2 means it's not useful at all, a 3 means it has its places but you'll need a good reason for it, 4 means it's useful but you might need a reason for it, and a 5 means it's useful for anyone.

Clutter: How much space does it take up? Does it use as much space as it needs and no more or does it takes more space than it should? Does it spam you? The higher the better.

User Friendliness: Can any user use it or does it require a bit of knowledge about the subject to use? Three or higher is good.


Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Ten Ton Hammer network or staff.

Comments or questions? Email us (Xerin@TenTonHammer.com) or post on our forums!


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