The only problem I have with gearscore and ilvl is that it is misleading and easily acquired. I've met people with 745 ilvl that are garbage, and I've met people with 705 ilvl who deserve to be raiding with the best.
I think that they're bad, but I only think they're bad because a system of ranks via logs - an accurate and fact-based gauge of your previous performance leveled against other players - would be far superior. The downside to logging and ranking is that it's not officially supported, and can often be just as misleading as ilvl or gearscore (fight length, raid strategy, mechanics the player dealt with, early deaths, etc.).
Frankly, while ilvl and gearscore cannot provide an accurate assessment of a player's skill, they do provide a way to judge experience (are they fully Mythic geared, or do they have two Mythic pieces, many Heroic pieces, and a few normal pieces?) and potential (a player with 705 ilvl is only capable of doing so much damage, while a player with 745 ilvl is capable of doing MUCH more damage).
Last edited by Tehr; 2016-06-28 at 05:27 PM.
B.Net: Tehr#1477 | Discord: Tehr#5246 | Stream | Guild Website | List of characters
Raid CD Tracker (#1 on wago.io): Tehr's RaidCDs, ExternalCDs, UtilityCDs, ImmunityCDs, AoECCs, RezCDs, & Interrupts
I don't think it's the I-level that is the issue, I think it's the achievements, especially where Pugs are concerned. It's actually extremely ridiculous to base someone's skill level on achievements or even I-lvl, so many different achievements and even gear can be purchased in game and out of game now it's ridiculous. Then again, even if I am 100% correct (which I may not be), I don't have a viable solution or alternative.
Read the second part of the post.
- - - Updated - - -
Read the second part of the post.
I've been playing since launch, I remember the days of reporting to the AH mailbox for inspection before getting invited to a PuG. I'm not saying there's a way to get rid of it, I'm saying that the community as a whole is much more obsessed with it now than they used to be.
I get that people always find ways to judge characters, I just recognise that the advent of gearscore in wrath and its subsequent replacement with visible ilvl really changed the face of the wow community.
Last edited by jackofwind; 2016-06-28 at 05:28 PM.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
I think you're being too romantic about the history of WoW.
Gearscore was, in my experience, MUCH bigger in Wrath than it is now (since ilvl is now officially displayed and incorporated in all we do through ilvl gating), and as such I think your assumption than it's a community problem that has been progressing over the years is romantic bullshit.
People haven't changed that much, only your perception of them, and those you associate with.
B.Net: Tehr#1477 | Discord: Tehr#5246 | Stream | Guild Website | List of characters
Raid CD Tracker (#1 on wago.io): Tehr's RaidCDs, ExternalCDs, UtilityCDs, ImmunityCDs, AoECCs, RezCDs, & Interrupts
I remember one time back in Wrath a guy was recruiting for a PuG and he'd invite you to the group and make sure you could do at least 3k DPS on the target dummy before he'd let you stay in the raid. (This was during Ulduar/ToC times.) People will always come up with inventive and stupid ways to prejudice against other players. I really don't think it's any worse now than it has been at any time in the game's existence, it just seems that way since the tools to get the information are so easily within grasp.
My only issue with ilvl is if you are a great player and good with the class/spec(s) you play, but you are playing on an under geared alt and refused to join the party because you'r ilvl is 695 for raid that drops 700 and the group leader wants 710. I dunno about you but that doesn't make much sense.
At least GS and achievements could be faked or fabricated when submitting to join a group. Ilvl restricts people.
He's kind of right tho. Gearscore conly became a thing in later Wrath, there was no similar thing in vanilla or BC. People still used LFG channel to find people for pugs, but their criteria were different. If gearscore was needed back then, it would have been made before, it's not a difficult addon to make (at least it doesn't seem so).
Item Level is a byproduct of the current state of pugging. Instead of searching for players to have fun with and progress a bit, you're looking for players who already completed the said content, so you can farm it.
ilvl is fine. Absolutely absurd range between max and min ilvl in expansion is not.
No more time wasted in WoW.. still reading this awesome forum, though
Is this like a big thing in some players' game time? Like, getting turned down from pugs is some big part of your wow life? I just literally never see any of this come up when I play. Maybe I don't pug as much as some but, when I do, if they don't click my name to add me, I don't sit around and brood over it.
you cant hide it. if you hide it can be quite accurately estimated by looking at stats. Then at the end, we have the same thing.
Recruit someone, he says he has the bis gear and plays great. Put him in raid. he sucks > kicked.
ilvl or no ilvl you will have people with crappy gear abusing it and people with good gear still being bad.
Like green, blue, purple when those still meant something.
The worst thing I know are people who don't set an ilvl in their search setup but write it in the title. They do that for they themselves donÄT meet that requirement and want to be shoved through that dungeon.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Are you all new are you? Item level has been a thing since vanilla. It may night have been a visible metric but it better gear was always better and people have known that from the get go. There is a reason people were admired for having a full set of t1 > t3, the gear was better. Thats no different to ilvl, you didn't get a raiding position because you just hit level 60 and had a mix of level 55 blue and green gear. People who complain about ilvl as a restriction are = to the pig that builds its house of straw and than complain that its not as study as the house made of bricks. Put the effort in, you want to have the better house/gear than either go through the proper channels or go sulk in the corner.