When I see this sort of talk brought up I think of the time I was playing a shadow priest over WoW and another shadow priest joined. I was doing 6k, he was doing 1k. Everyone who had a parser could see it and we paused, asked what he was doing, and it turns out he thought that using his DoTs and then use the skill that made them explode for 30% of the damage was a good move. We explained it wasn't, I told him to DoT normally, even as to only use one or two DoTs instead of doing the full gamut since mobs died too fast.

He went back up to 5k. Not topmost, but a ginormous improvement.

What I hear/read, when I see these sort of threads are people who want to do their unique builds and faceroll. Now, if they are all grouped together and of the same mind, that's fine, they fail, they get better or they continue failing. But the 1k wonder who, unlike that dude I mentioned who took the advice and cheerfuly left us at the end knowing better, is usually complaining does not want to conform AND still wants to win at his or her goal.

'I have my special build. I don't do cookie cutter builds!'
'...but you're doing 50% of the damage?'
'IT DOES NOT MATTER! I WILL NOT PLAY A COOKIE CUTTER BUILD!'

(I had this actual conversation once).



Even back in Neverwinter Nights I knew people who proudly took all the feats involving +2 to poison saving throws because 'they were role-playing a yuan-ti and it made sense for them to have it'. I don't think the mobs care one iota.


I note with some cynicism how this whole 'I got kicked because I did 50 DPS less' never seems to happen when asked around in the forums, or to friends, or mentioned to the guild, which leads me to think if 50 DPS was not rather 750 with just a little bit exaggeration in order to garner sympathy.