I think I have the answer to the DPS add on dillemma

[Elesh]

My solution: Why not add attack dummies that have a damage number show up on top of them when you attack them them to show your damage score, so you can measure yourself without the use of an add on, and when you click off of it, the game is still the same way it was as before - without the use of an add-on. This solves every problem argued except for the people who want to judge other people.

This doesn't really solve any of the issues. I can do my rotation absolutely perfectly 100% against a target dummy. I can have a perfect parse there... because I don't have any distractions and I don't have to coordinate with other people.

The reason damage parsers are a useful tool for organized groups is simple: They give people information that is actually relevant to their progression. You need to know who is pulling their weight at each phase of the raid to know how people need to improve. Maybe Bob is really good during phases 1 and 2 but struggles at dps during phase 3... you won't find that out from some sort of a 'mock trial' because it probably won't have EXACTLY that phase 3. But a parsing tool will tell you. And thus you can work with Bob to figure out what is going wrong - is he just misreading the timings, is he attacking the wrong target, is he just getting stunned too often or whatever else might be going on. None of that is visible unless you see it DURING the fight.

The primary reason damage meters exist is not 'to judge people' - they exist as a tool for members of organized groups to determine where their individual weaknesses are so they can all improve to overcome the challenges and eventually beat the raid/dungeon/boss/trial/etc. That's why the first ones were created in older MMOs and why people keep creating more of them in new MMOs... because people need tools to measure how they're doing so that when they're not meeting enrage timers/damage checks they can accurately determine how to improve.

Yes, some people use them for bad reasons... but we don't just... remove everything that could ever be used for bad purposes because of that. Sometimes you need to have nice things for ordinary people and then just punish the people who misuse them.

[hagare]

This doesn't really solve any of the issues. I can do my rotation absolutely perfectly 100% against a target dummy. I can have a perfect parse there... because I don't have any distractions and I don't have to coordinate with other people.

The reason damage parsers are a useful tool for organized groups is simple: They give people information that is actually relevant to their progression. You need to know who is pulling their weight at each phase of the raid to know how people need to improve. Maybe Bob is really good during phases 1 and 2 but struggles at dps during phase 3... you won't find that out from some sort of a 'mock trial' because it probably won't have EXACTLY that phase 3. But a parsing tool will tell you. And thus you can work with Bob to figure out what is going wrong - is he just misreading the timings, is he attacking the wrong target, is he just getting stunned too often or whatever else might be going on. None of that is visible unless you see it DURING the fight.

The primary reason damage meters exist is not 'to judge people' - they exist as a tool for members of organized groups to determine where their individual weaknesses are so they can all improve to overcome the challenges and eventually beat the raid/dungeon/boss/trial/etc. That's why the first ones were created in older MMOs and why people keep creating more of them in new MMOs... because people need tools to measure how they're doing so that when they're not meeting enrage timers/damage checks they can accurately determine how to improve.

Yes, some people use them for bad reasons... but we don't just... remove everything that could ever be used for bad purposes because of that. Sometimes you need to have nice things for ordinary people and then just punish the people who misuse them.

then what about a meter that you can activate at will.
So you can activate it in any situation you want to be measured.
But only checks your performance and can't be shared in game.
The only way to share is by posting a screenshot or telling other people what your number is.