[Suggestion] "Iron Mammets": Interactive Striking/Healing Dummies!
I was thinking about how they could make testing our output more fun and interactive without adding DPS meters (and I'm posting this here because this would involve some heavy user interface changes).
So why not take the basic MMO concept of target dummies and take it to a whole new level?
-Player housing will allow placement of "Iron Mammets" (much in the same way we place striking dummies).
-Iron Mammets are larger than normal Mammets, and can take and dish out any amount of punishment (and readily flaunt this fact to lowly meatbags like us).
-Talking to an Iron Mammet will allow you to choose three different combat simulation routines: damage input, damage output, and healing input.
-Damage Input will allow you to set how much damage the Mammet will take before ending the simulation. At the end of the simulation, the Mammet will note how long it took you to deal that damage, allowing DPS to determine which combination of skills yields the best results.
-Damage Output will have the Mammet deal damage to you at a set rate per second. This will allow tanks to see which rotation allows them to survive the longest.
-Healing Input allows you to set the amount of damage the Mammet will take every second to see how long you, as a healer, can keep it alive.
-You can also enable additional options, such as having AoE telegraphs appear on the ground under you at certain intervals, allowing you to see how your rotation will fare as you're forced to readjust your position.
-The Iron Mammet would keep a log of your last 10 simulations so you could compare and contrast results. If possible, it could also keep a log of which abilities you used and in what order.
In summary, Iron Mammets would allow players to have all the self-improvement advantages of a Healing/DPS meter while being far more unique, interesting, and useful, and while also not introducing the toxic elements that DPS meters can bring.