I've healed in 10+ MMOs in the past fifteen years. Among those, only two have asked for heals and dps together--this game and Phantasy Star Universe. In that game it was obvious, though: your 'heal' was one large AOE burst that could be spammed forever as long as you had the PP (their version of mana) to do so. I was a War Techer and used daggers and bows over there.

Ad for this game, I would never have thought to DPS had I not come to these forums, seen all the debates and then tested it for myself. I doubt I am the 'best' at healer dps--regardless of its existence I still care more about keeping a party alive--I will agree that it makes playing WHM more fun and keeps me busy helping the group when healing is not needed. Plus, with the change to cleric stance, the risk involved is pretty much zero.

That said, this is the only MMO where I've ever seen players react in spite about something they want / expect others to do that the game does not explicitly tell them they need to. Let's be blunt--you were gonna use STR accessories anyway: it gets shit done faster. I've read about tanks doing an actual gear strip, removing a piece between pulls for each pull they did not see the healer dps. If you're going for shock value you need to get more creative. XD