Whadt the issue with all of the topics discussing things such as DPS meters? I've thought about it a bit, and I can see the argument for why it would be useful...in a static MMO that requires zero skill on the players behalf. Since Tera doesn't have auto-lock and your attacks have the capability to miss completely...then whats the point of a DPS meter? You already know roughly how much health the boss has, so you'll obviously be basing any numbers you do have off of a near absolute perfect situation....something which you're unlikely to ever encounter in Tera.

As for wondering why a character might have died and such and trying to analyze that...well, I can do that without a program showing me why. They simply didn't have the skill required to live? You can blame the healer or the Lancer, but the simple fact was that they didn't have the timing required to dodge the abilities of the monster they were fighting...and if they weren't dodging to begin with (which would be the only reason a static numerical device would function) then they are...well, I wont say retarded, though they aren't exactly very bright @_@.

If you're really concerned about the best or fastest method of killing a particular mob/BAM/boss...then it takes a very little amount of preparation to accomplish, without having to scrutinize data. Monsters in this game don't have any specific or identified weaknesses other than a resistance to some CC abilities, so all you have to do beforehand is charm up until you get the greater charms you need and enter the battle missing NONE of your abilities, getting hit little to no times, and coordinating your interrupts. Amazingly enough, all of these are the most important aspects of the game and they require absolutely no assistance from secondary programs...

Guess people don't like to read medium length posts </3. You would think with all the concern over scrutinizing numbers that someone would read it through and comment.

-Forever Alone

I'm done with DPS meters and I feel fine.

I'd use a dps meter is to optimize usage of mana and skills. Let me explain. As an archer, I have access to many skills that do damage and most of them have short cooldowns and solid mana costs. This means over the course of a fight of more than say, 30 seconds, my mana is usually completely depleted. I'm interrested in making sure all those mana points were spent as best they could. I can't just spam all my abilities over mobs when they are off cooldown. By the time I'm done using half of them, the first one I used is ready again, because casting abilities takes time.

Of course, even without a dps meter, I know using say Poison Arrow on a minion or regular mob usually is not worth it, because they die before the dot is done doing all it's potential damage. Using it on a BAM is a no brainer.

But sometimes it's not that obvious. Let's say I have to choose between Penetrating Arrow or Explosive trap to deal with a large group of regular mobs. I only have the mana to cast one of the two and I need to kill these guys ASAP to get back on the Boss or whatever other reason, Which one do I choose? I can try and guess based on my experience playing the class and try one of them because I believe it to be the most effective in this situation, or I can back up my decision with numbers I've carefully acquired during previous experimentations that comfirms me that Skill A is better than skill B in Scenario C. I end up killing the mobs faster, get back on the main fight quicker, to help my group finish the dungeon faster, which is the goal of a DPS in a nutshell.

I know TERA is not all about dps. Sometimes you have to choose to use another skill because for example it sends you backward at the same time as doing damage, so you dodge a big hit and inflict some damage, even if not the most damage. But as a DPS class, my job is to deal as much dps as humanly possible while also minimizing damage to myself and my teammates. I'm also a man of science and I like to see actual proof that one combat style is preffered over another.


There's also those people who want to check and make sure their party members are not scrubs. If they have seen one archer consistently put out over 9000 dps and then group with another one with same gear and level and he is at a measly 3000 dps, they know the second guy is not doing the best he could with his class. This can result in the less effective player being kicked out of a party and replaced with a better one (Note that I do not approve off such an attitude). Or maybe a member of the party who has better knowledge of the archer than him can give him a few pointers and help him improve. The dps meter then becomes a useful tool to measure the progress of a player in improving his gameplay.

At the end of the day, a DPS meter is a tool that produces data. This data can be used in many ways, for good or bad. I know for a fact that a lot of people are going to use it to weed out newbies and idiots to avoid grouping with them again. Which in turn let's me know who are the people who would judge me solely based on a number so I avoid grouping with them, even if my dps is actually good. Because I prefer the company of people that group up for the people, and not the stats. Almost everyone can improve his or her gameplay with the right motivations and good teaching, but it's a hell of a lot harder to improve a personality.

Quote: Einlion on 04/28/2012, 06:22 AM - view

Sorry I took so long to post my reply :P.

Yes they "Require absolutely no assistance from secondary programs." The game as is doesn't require any programs, but some people prefer them. Who are you to say "I don't think they're useful so don't use them." Leave it alone, if people want a damage meter to make sure they're doing an optimal rotation so they are actually capable of clearing hard modes, leave them alone. Not to mention, telling people that if they want to kill things quickly to stack buffs in place of an optimal rotation, you're just coming off silly and uneducated. You sound like one of the butthurt kids from WoW getting kicked from DS because you did 12k dps, so now you want the meters far away from your next game, lol.

anyone who doesnt want a dps meter either takes offense that others would use it while they wouldnt, or has had bad experiences with it in the past because they got called out, simple as that....

the first option that others getting mad that they refuse to use it while others do was a joke....

I have to agree that a dps meter in Tera is a bit inaccurate because of the nature of the game. It's like have a dps meter in counter-strike or something, just do head shots and don't miss and you will have more kills for less dmg and bullets.

what I would like to see though is more information on the character stats. Wth is that impact stat? how this kind of crystal affects my dmg output more than this one? In that case a dps meter is useful to try out different combinations.

Even in targeting mmos (like WoW, Rift, Aion... name them), the dps meter was completely irrelevant on boss fights since everyone had a different role to accomplish. And in my opinion, a good mmorpg is when they make you care about other stuff than your dps output (I hate those tank'n'spank fights)