"I play the way I want" -Randomperson

[Kenji1134]

Its always amusing how people tend to link the words "parser", "performance", and "elitist" together in any available context.

I have been using an old, yet very very good parser for nearly a decade now, across many games.
This parser, like any parser, will tell me your dps. But I can examine your gear, look at your weapon, and glance at the level of your armor to get a pretty good idea of where your dps will be anyway.

The parser "can" also tell me about your rotation. That is, IF I have a second monitor open, and dig into the very guts of the parse, until I see ALL of your outgoing damage in order by timestamp... And actually analyze it, since I still wont have any info about what procs you got, your positioning for each attack, or whether you are properly using your dots (reapplying in a timely manner).
OR, if I know the class, IE I have it at 50 and have played it in some endgame content, then I can look at your castbar, for casters, or just look at your character animations to get a sense of your rotation.

For a BLM, it is extremely simple.
A BLM "should" have 3 blue orbs around them for 2-3 casts, and 3 red orbs for 6+ casts... so 1/3 blue, 2/3 red. Without even looking at WHAT they are casting.
Now if their MP drops to exactly 0, and they get 1 blue orb, then I know they just used Flare and Transpose, which may or may not be a good choice for a given situation.

Lets see...
DRG.
They should be doing at LEAST 1 attack from the side, and 1 attack from the back every 30 seconds.
They should also do their rather distinct "thrust spear into the air while jumping" attack (sequence) no more than 2 times in a row, unless the mob is dying.
If they never flank, they are not using Heavy Thrust. If they never do a back attack, they are not using Disembowel and Chaos Thrust.
If they are doing the 3 attack sequence that ends in the upward spear thrust every 8 seconds, then they are just spamming their base combo for minimal damage.

Monk.
They should do the lovely "breakdance kick" almost every 10-12 seconds.
They "should" be doing 1 set of attacks from the back, then another set that starts with the breakdance kick from the side, pretty much every 20-25 seconds (for both sets).
If you see a monk who never flanks, they are doing ~21% less dps than they should be. If you see a monk who never does rear attacks, they are again gimping their dps output.

Bard.
Its kinda hard to tell if a bard is being "terribad" in an 8 or 24 man. No cast bars and no positioning requirements means that they only ways to tell what a bard is doing is by animations, and the 2 dots they should generally have on the target.
If you have 4 people and 1 bard, you can tell. Too many people or multiple bards means there's too many debuffs flying around to check.
Still, if you know what Heavy Shot looks like, and you see a bard doing NOTHING but that single animation... congratulations, you got a bad bard.

SMN.
A bit of a cross between bard and blm.
If you see a SMN casting Ruin ALL THE TIME, thats bad. If you NEVER see a SMN cast Ruin, but their MP keeps dropping, then they are probably spamming Ruin 2, which is also bad (well, its wasteful if you dont have to move).
Likewise, if the pet is standing there doing nothing... Bad.
If you never see them cast Bio 2 or Miasma, or you see them CONSTANTLY casting Bio 2 and Miasma... also bad. (SMN typically has 4 castbar abilities: Bio 2, Miasma, Ruin, Shadow Flare, and Shadow Flare is not used all that often.)

I think thats all the dps classes we have atm.
And I just described how you can, with proper knowledge of the class, tell if someone is frankly "doing it wrong", without actually touching a parser.

Now onto the other issue...

Yes, its your money. Its your character, and its your monthly fee.
But when you enter into a group, you are essentially signing the following agreement.

In order to complete a task that I am unable to perform using my own power, I agree to join this group of like-minded individuals who's goal is to complete this particular task.
As such, I will perform my role at the minimal level required for the completion of this task, and expect the same of all other members of the group.

If you want to "play your way" or have a hardcore "I does what I wants!" mentality... Then by all means, go solo.
If you now want to beat a group dungeon, and find that you cant do it alone, then you can either give up, or find other people who couldnt do it alone, and go do it together.
But when you do that, you are setting a goal for the group, and are agreeing that you will work towards accomplishing that goal.
Of course, if you manage to find a group of "I does what I wants!" and your collective goal is to wipe repeatedly on dungeon trash for 90 minutes... Well by all means, go ahead. But if you join a group of people who's intention is to NOT wipe on trash for an hour, then you are ruining THEIR fun and not letting THEM play the way that THEY want... Think on that for a minute.

Frankly, when I go into a dungeon, I assume that everyone there joined that DF or PF group with the intention of winning.
I also assume that they will perform at a minimal competency required for the content. I do not expect Blue Gartr level performance in a DF roulette group. But I do expect you to have sufficient gear (DF/PF ilvl check), and sufficient skill and knowledge of your class to get the job done without significantly slowing down the group or needing to be outright carried.

If for whatever reason you DONT have the required level of knowledge, cause its your first time in the dungeon, you just got the class to 50, this IS your first 50, or this is your first MMO... Then please, by all means... ASK!
State that you are new, and that you dont magically come with nearly a year of in-game multi-class/role experience like some of us do. And then say that you would be receptive to advice, insight, tips from more experienced players... You might be surprised how many people remember what it was like to be in your shoes, and we can be quite helpful... (cept the natural born trolls)

Closing thoughts,

It's not "elitism" to expect someone to perform at the minimal requirements for the content. It is not "elitism" to want to improve yourself in a mathematically reliable way.
However it IS "elitism" to say that your way is absolutely correct and utterly infallible in all possible circumstances... because... I SAID SO! Thats why! Cause its my monthly sub and I DOES WHAT I WANTS!!! <- That is Elitism.