Thats because parsers just give you the number info, which was totally reliable in that "little story". Afaik, they gather the info from the battle log, which can be iffy in the event of dots. I read a bit on the dots point at one time, but am a little tired to find it right now. Gear differences are for the player to spot. The parser just gives you numerical info. It is not there to hold your hand through content, and you are sorely mistaken to view it that way. That you need to know how to read a parser to make the most out of it is just common sense. However, you do not need to be able to make perfect sense of it to gain from it.
Parsers paint part of a larger picture. It is up to you to put the other, simple pieces together with it.
That's too bad. Did you report him?
Did he say he was using a parser? You don't really need one to see if a healer is doing damage. Not that they need to in there.
Which is at odds with most of the tanks I healed through 2.0. Can you remind me of the cost of running a crafted acc tank at that time, I remember it costing a pretty penny because of the demand. Which made all those tanks more in straight STR gear all the more noticeable to me healing them.
For your first bit, read above. There was nothing unreliable about the numbers. What is unreliable is your expectations of the parser. It is up to the players to make use of the tools. The hammer doesn't bang the nails itself, you have to do a little work. What does gear and new player skill have to do with a parser being unreliable? As above, a parser gives you a number.
Also, it was you who said the player was bad. He didn't say he was bad, or that people called him bad. He said someone told the top performing dps, that they were the top performing dps. That they appeared to have the trial down the the point where they could execute it perfectly and were higher geared only confirms the accuracy of it.
Also, you can use those things you listed as a very rough guide. But here you think people aren't capable of reading the simple print on a parser, but are recommending something far more convoluted for less of a potential gain.
I too, came from DCUO and did not see the same effect from the parser, what I saw over there was the Devs making terrible and greedy decisions that made a lot of people in the game bitter and annoyed.
One add on: that you can use a parser to see the differences in pieces of gear is a function and benefit of a parser, not a demerit.