Tera and DPS meters

This is a polarizing feature that some players would like to be a part of Tera sometime in the near future. There are many arguments to be made on why it should or shouldn’t be a feature of the game. Of those arguments there are sufficient pros and cons as to why this should happen. On one hand having DPS meters will help the player identify that they are not doing enough to help the party/raid; on the other that same feature can be abused to where, due to low dps, a party/raid a member can be booted from the group or not allowed to join in the first place. There are more arguments why dps meters should be available to which I won’t get into here. Instead I’ll share my thoughts on having it.

Let me be clear that when dps meters are used correctly that they help the player identify where they are in the effectiveness of their gear/spec/skill rotation. However, let me also say that I’m against dps meters when they become a measuring stick to arbitrarily rank a player on how they perform to which that limitation inhibits their ability to become part of a group who can help them improve. To me the advent of dps meters was one of many reasons why my love for WoW started to wain over time. Too often I saw the negative aspects of dps meters being misused and the greater internet fuckwad theory in full effect.

Ultimately dps meters and gear score was a big factor of what ruined WoW for me. In the beginning it was a game that I loved to play and had incredible fun in. Where it was difficult to get into upper echelon guilds that were the best at end game raids they were not concerned with dps output or what gear you had but whether you were a good fit for the guild, that you showed up to raids on time and knew the boss fights. When the top guilds recruited new members they usually had an established web site with an application form, and you would be interviewed by an officer who would determine if you had the qualities that they were looking for. Guild invites were not random or given after a public channel recruitment post hooked an observer. Getting into a top level guild was a big deal.

So, in closing I’ll just say that I for one am hesitant in adding a dps meter to Tera but that doesn’t mean that I’m absolutely against it. Should EME include a dps meter my preference would be that the individual player sees only their dps output and no one else’s. Furthermore EME has been doing a bang-up job of providing dungeon guides to the community. As part of their guides they should include what dps output is recommended from the players to be a helpful contributor. Although this is not a perfect solution I think that it’s not a bad compromise to start with. Should other better ideas exist I would be open to suggestion.