Quote Originally Posted by Renathras View Post
The problem with this is the justification used by people to increase the skill expression always seems to end up "the players not playing to the optimal level should be doing much less damage". The implication isn't "we want a Job that allows for skill expression" from that. The implication from that justification is "we want to be able to very clearly dominate/lord over people who don't play at our level". At best, it's wanting to look better at the expense of other people looking worse (that is "best" since in that case, it's not an active desire people do worse, it's just a requirement for one to look better).
I can see your point, but the other side also has a point. Skill expression should have a gap, perhaps not a huge one, but it should at least be there.

Let's use the example from above, so we have Bob and Greg, let's say Greg is performing at 90% efficiency and Bob is performing at 70%. If the skill expression gap is about, let's say 8%, Bob will lose some damage but will still be performing at 62% efficiency, this would not gate him from any content, he still has enough skill to clear extremes, even savage, perhaps not week 1 savage, but he can still clear it.

It's also my opinion that clearing hard content should require some form of skill. Take any other game for example, playing on hard mode would require you to at least understand the game and perform gameplay at a decent level, and that's exactly what savage is, a hard mode. People who want to clear savage fast will put in the time to learn and get better, people who don't, they can still clear savage, just a little bit later when they have more gear. No one is really being gatekept out of any content if there's a noticeable gap in skill, 5-10% won't hurt anyone. I understand that people want to do as good as possible, but is it fair to be just as skilled as someone who has put in way more hours in that same job?