Discuss: Are DPS meters bad for MMOs?

[Bishop81]

not having dps meters is like being on a track team without stop watches

Except not everyone sees this game as a competitive race.

Some jerk yelling at you to "go faster" when you just want to take a evening stroll and watch the sunset, kind of sucks.

You should instead ask this: do developers need to restrict things because of people's lack of decency?

Or, does your local cinema need to restrict selling popcorn because of a group of people that like to throw with it?

They do "restrict" people from shouting "Fire!" for no reason in a crowded cinema though.

[Rubieus]

DPS checks or no DPS check, players will still discriminate against each other. Why? "Efficiency".

Corollary to Murphy's Law,

If players can be jerks to each other, they will be jerks to each other.

Sorry for the late reply, I agree vehemently with you, I was just answering the question. Is it a good or bad thing? In most respects, it is neither, but I lean toward good because it does help you manage a better play level. A better player makes runs smoother.

We had jerks before we had dps meters so. The real question is, is playing an MMO or any game with multiplayer aspects worth it?

[Thistledown]

I would like to see my own dps, and just my own dps in a vanilla game. I want to see how much contribution I'm making as a dps SCH, stance dancing and weaving spells in between.

[silentwindfr]

as a tool for improvement it's a nice tool, sadly, with human nature.... the parseer can do more damage than any bombing outside. it's violent but, how many time did you see a jerk screaming about someone he do see too low with him all mighty parseer, i'm sure everyone did meet one at least one time.

in the hand of a Raid leader that must make sure that the raid reach a dps check, the parseer or dpsmeter is an amazing tool.
in the hand of pro theorycrafter that like to find the most efficient way and discuss it on the forum after hand and never really use it in content, it's almost mandatory.
in the hand of the mass, is like give a gun to a baby...

solution? easy:
- in raid, give a windows that show a dpsmeter to the raid leader only.
- make training room where you hit dummy, and there you can have an integrated dpsmeter, that allows you to test your cycle and such.
- but outside this two case, forbide totally the use of the dpsmeter and parseer.

finally, i will be blunt good player don't relly on the parseer, when they have master them cycle and check them gears, they barely need to check if them dps move a inch or not, the question is to get the jobs done! not to see big number! in raid you are a team, competition is nice but can lead to stupid move. i'm sure a lot of raid leader must time to time be firm with some dps because of the kikimeter ^^

[Hyunckel]

Anyway, I'm not sure why opening such a hot topic, because except for PS3/4 users, PC players can use a parser if they want to.

And since bullying people telling them they do too low of a dps on their parser is a bannable offense (which everyone should report, that way less jerks ingame, justified or not you don't need to spoil the fun out of others, everyone pays to play a game not to be yelled at)...

As of now, unless you're a console user, the situation is alright. No official parsers means less jerks ingame relying on them to abuse people. Or if they do, they can't specifically link it to parsers or get potentially banned for that.

I never seen anybody complain about dps being too low. I myself actually congratulate the few people I see every now and then doing really good dps (and when in Duty always Recommend them)

[vp_cmc]

If it is a content like t10, then I want to know exactly, why we keep hitting enrage at 5%, and who is the weakest, since his improvement will be the biggest improvement for total group dps.

If it is a content without strict dps checks, then seeing others dps is not important, but it is still good for:
a) If there is someone on same job, who does better dps than me, I can compare our rotations and improve myself
b) I can commend person who does good dps (because he puts effort to do it). And no way you will notice this in 8-man groups without a tool.

[Elusana_Celah]

Using these apps is bannable though isn't it? I mean I would like to have a way to monitor how I'm doing with my black mage but not if it runs a ban risk.

[Bishop81]

Using these apps is bannable though isn't it? I mean I would like to have a way to monitor how I'm doing with my black mage but not if it runs a ban risk.

SE is OK with personal DPS monitoring and might someday implement a way to do so.

As for existing 3rd party ones, they know about it. It's tolerated ... for now. It is against the ToS.

[Velox]

Back in my day we were able to pass DPS checks in MMOs before anyone even knew what a parser was. Do you know how we did it? If your party failed a DPS check, everyone took responsibility for it. There was no "blame game." Every single person told themselves, "I need to get better so we don't wipe again," regardless if they were actually the ones holding the party back or not, and then proceeded to practice on other enemies or dummies.

The problem now-a-days is that kids have gotten so overly dependent on software to help them that they can no longer help themselves. A parser is like a wheelchair when you have a broken leg. Sure it makes the healing process quicker, but if you continue to use it you become dependent on it. Months later your legs start to atrophy because you stopped using them and you find that you can't function without the wheelchair anymore.

That being said, if this game MUST have some sort of DPS meter added, a decent compromise would be to have training dummies record hits while you are in combat with them and have it displayed. This way people have a way for self-improvement without inconveniencing everyone else.

[Krr]

Frustrating content design contributes way more to players being a-holes than any number of dps meters. Compare your average expert 4man run to the average LOTA run or party finder entries trying to pug Coil.