Would you like an in-game parser?

[Krissey]

I use a parser to practice my opener so I know I'm doing it right. I still mess it up 80% of the time. Why is Dragoon so hard?

[ToasterMan]

I use a parser to practice my opener so I know I'm doing it right. I still mess it up 80% of the time. Why is Dragoon so hard?

The button bloat in this game is a huge problem. It makes a lot of classes much harder than they should be. I REFUSE to do anymore raiding until SE fixes it. I haven't had any fun with the classes at higher levels in this expansion. SE should make reasonable classes to play in hard encounters. Not the other way around.

[Ayuhra]

The button bloat in this game is a huge problem. It makes a lot of classes much harder than they should be

This is a problem in this game, I think. I enjoy a slightly more simplistic rotation but complex bosses. Classes are built around strict mechanical precision here, it seems like. If you slip you can slip badly which IMO makes some classes more stressful than fun.

Anyway, REGARDING PARSERS:


I think people have to understand where the apprehension towards a party-wide meter is coming from. Since I usually performed high on the meters in the groups I ran with in other games I was rarely harassed but there was some harassment that occured. The big problem with the meters I think is that it turns killing a boss into a pissing contest between the DPS in a group. No longer is the objective to kill the boss, it's to do better than your own party members. A definite competition sets in for them in a way it doesn't for healers or tanks. If you are not a naturally competitive person this can feel stressful. If you are looked at as a number instead of a tank or a healer it feels dehumanizing (And we are numbers, I mean we're called "Damage Per Second" instead of "Damager" or "Damage Dealer" within the community).

Since there are a lot more DPS than healers or tanks we are also conditioned to believe we'll be replaced in the blink of an eye if we don't soar like an eagle in numbers. Which means...

A parser can, and WILL, if introduced lead to bad behavior especially early on. I remember when we first got popular meter addons in WoW, people just acted like idiots. Rogues and feral druids would refuse to switch targets because they were bent on getting off a 5cp finisher so adds caused all sorts of issues. Additionally, people were jumping in too soon, bursting at the beginning of a fight, not cutting off dots before threat wipes (like Hydross)...all because they wanted to be at the top of the meter. Congratulations, we wiped but you certainly did rock those meters because you used your long, massive cooldowns early instead of saving them for an execution phase.

Meters can screw with class populations too. When everyone knows what dps class performs highest (because everyone will have the tools to figure it out) everyone will flock there. Not a huge problem, really, but some might find it annoying.

Actual damage meters will absolutely cause some deep changes in our little community. It's completely silly to say they won't. That said, they can still be used as a valuable tool especially for hardcore statics and they will not be abused as much as people think. They won't make jerks out of people who weren't jerks already. They WILL give said jerks a megaphone, though, so you'd have to brace yourselves for that.

How do I feel about them personally? I am, perhaps surprisingly, pro parser. They are a very handy tool in the right hands and it's nice to be able to see your own DPS and be able to adjust it on the fly. To me knowing my damage output is far less stressful than NOT knowing. The parser would just have to be good and not get confused by things like dots or counting Egis as entirely different combatants than the SMN who controls them.