What happened to stat models being simple enough to just keep a few rules (caps + weights + multipliers) in mind for? Why are people so ok with external tools like sims becoming mandatory? Parsing logs, simming, etc is such a pain that I’m honestly shocked at the lack of pushback.
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The Game Director on WoW is the Elitist Jerks guild leader, the guild that popularized simming everything
So no, I don’t think we will escape that. World of Spreadsheets is here to stay.
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Sims aren’t required.
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What’s the alternative? Whenever I ask about what gear is optimal for a given spec, I get pointed at sims.
Players weren’t able to reforge their own gear, so they cried really loud. Now we have an extreme trash system, see what crying about choice gets you in the end?
The alternative is to not worry about it.
Most players do not need to min max their gear itemization.
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There’s so much data that goes into determining if an item is an upgrade.
Stat weights, talents, trinkets, passives, armor with abilities.
And combined with different boss and add scenarios, whether it’s AoE, Single target, burst damage.
Simming is the best tool we have.
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So long as gear is inherently random via sockets/WF/TF and we have content with gear that scales by 5 ilvl increments repeatedly… No. We’ll never get away from simming. At least not to the levels we currently sim. At this point… everything, except blatantly obvious downgrades, should be simmed. When the gear in the game was static (both from a lack of inherent RNG and a lack of numerous ilvl variants of the exact same piece), it was more defined as to what you needed and what was your BiS. It was also harder though due to the multiple additional stats such as spell power, penetration, resistances, hit, expertise, etc. etc. etc.
In the past, it was hard to figure out exactly what was optimal due to numerous additional variables to consider with gear. With some of those variables almost becoming “traps” for newer players. Currently, it’s hard because of the numerous levels of RNG variability inherent within the gear. So even though there are WAY less stats to work with… The optimal stat combination requires you to sim it.
Imho though… Simming really only starts to matter if you’re pushing into Mythic or going for +15 and above keys. Before that, you’ll be more than fine with following a general stat rule like Haste > Mastery >= Vers > Crit. Before that, you’re actual gameplay makes a much larger impact on your output.
As an example… I’ve seen players use on-use trinkets because that’s what the sim output… but when you go over their log you realize that they never actually even used the trinket during the fight… At that point, idc what the sim says… Fix your gameplay before worrying about the sim.
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The game wasn’t simpler, but now the tools and access to data are.
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This as well. As time has gone, the access to tools to easily assess the data has simply gotten better. Gone are the days of downloading Rawr and plugging in your character. Or writing simple code into Simcraft. Now it’s just… raidbots.com + simcraft addon + Top Gear tab. Easy.
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Because this is no longer a game for casual fun. It is now a mathematical game of equations:
Equation A > Raid Boss
Every other equation < Raid Boss
Since most of us aren’t mathematicians or programmers, other people have built the interface in which we can make sure we are always using Equation A.
I mean… if you ask for optimal than ya I guess it makes sense people would point you to a tool that measures optimal gear. If you don’t actually care about being optimal, it probably won’t matter. Most people, particularly in pugs or casual guilds, aren’t going to like… sim your gear for you and go “Oh man your stat weights suck.” Talent builds maybe, and I find that annoying, but gear simming not so much.
This, there is just too many factors to take into account for the game to have an easy “this is an upgrade or not” type of value to present you. Basically the game would need to run a sim for you to determine that. Given how easy it is to use these sites (most allow you to pick your armory profile and toggle a couple of setting and they start churning away) I don’t have an issue with it.
The alternative is we take another step towards dumbing down the game. This is why we lost the ability to reforge our gear, why sockets are so rare and enchants on anything other than weapons are next to pointless. It was “too difficult” for players to determine what was and wasn’t an upgrade…
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