Breakfast Topic: Are you there to down the boss or top the meter?
by Michelle Key 
Aug 15th 2011 at 8:00AM
Apologies to those who just got flashbacks of an angry raid leader from reading that headline, but it's something I don't think enough players ask themselves. It may seem like a leading question, but I'm not sure the answer is as cut-and-dried as it appears.
The automatic response might be, "I'm there to down the boss," because isn't that what it's all about? The loot, the points, the achievements and the titles all make up that carrot on a stick that keeps us playing. (I'm not the only one who still has that thing in my bank, right?)
Meter hounds, on the other hand, have valid arguments, too. Damage is the name of the game. We might jokingly tell the warrior to "tank it to death" when the rest of the group has wiped, but we all know it doesn't work that way. Statistically speaking, the person at the top of the damage meter can take a larger share of the credit for the boss's demise.
Being a healer means that I can look at this controversy from more of a third-party perspective. Meters might help identify a significant healing issue in a raid, but outside of that, those numbers say very little except how much damage a healer's assigned target(s) received. Just because I don't put much stock in meters doesn't mean I'm not interested, though.
So, damage-dealing types, care to satisfy my curiosity? Do you focus on utility to make your contribution, or do you feel like leading the damage meters is your contribution?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Elaus Aug 15th 2011 8:04AM
What's the point of playing if you're not going to top the meter? Might as well be playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure of Maple Story or something.
MikeLive Aug 15th 2011 8:12AM
As per my comment below, but what about having fun? Seems to me like that's the most obvious and important reason for playing.
MattKrotzer Aug 15th 2011 8:31AM
I'm there to get hit in the face, so you don't have to. THAT is why I'm there. And you're lucky I am, because you take boss punches like a little girl.
nms499 Aug 15th 2011 9:31AM
I am so surprised to read these answers. My main is a rogue and I absolutely expect to be the top of the charts and strive hard to be. I totally always try to push my numbers. I watch the more important damage done numbers but mine shows dps with them. I am surprised more people are not trying to top the charts. Someone said it is more important to stay alive than top the charts. It's easy to stay alive and do bad dps.
Noyou Aug 15th 2011 10:58AM
As a DPS your job is to burn down the mobs before your tank dies or healer runs out of mana. Occasionally CC a target or toss a heal (if your spec allows). Showing up at the top of a damage meter only means you are good at one thing. Pat yourself on the back but that one thing has nothing to do with WoW. ;)
Meh Aug 15th 2011 12:29PM
Dead dps is no dps.
Utakata Aug 15th 2011 1:29PM
Because there's more to the game than topping some 3rd party damage meter nms499. If people like yourself want to play that mini-game while taking down a boss, then more power to you. As long as it doesn't distract you from doing what you are supposed to be doing. But don't ever presume that everyone wants to play that. And never judge them as inferior because they don't. I am for one personally happy just getting the boss down, looking like I am contributing and having fun doing it.
On the side though, I gotta feeling that Elaus is a type who would likely get his *bleep!* owned playing Maple Story. Just saying.
Sinthar Aug 16th 2011 5:47AM
Aiming at topping the meters is silly and more than a little stupid. Meter obsessed dps are more lightly to stand in fire, miss cues to do something (boss mechanics) and end up causing more problems.
That said I have to admit when I raided (the early years), I did keep my eyes on the meters. It was easy to see why - as I was new, and wanted to see how i rated with the established raiders. Later it was because I was getting to be the top person. After a small while of that, I ended up changing my meter display to deaths as it was more relevant and less distracting.
Meters are a tool, a seducive misleading tool. And anyone mislead by one has just been made a tool. Use the tool to improve your raiding, not to improve your epeen
Chmmr Aug 16th 2011 10:28AM
The arguments to just have fun and concentrate on other things are valid, but I think they assume that someone who strives to top the meter doesn't otherwise do all the other things mentioned.
I learn the boss fight, I don't stand in the fire, I enjoy seeing the raid learn with me, and I have fun. However, that covers the first couple kills. After that, without looking for more of a challenge, the in-game 'fun' is diminished due to the repetition (even though the Vent chatter becomes more fun and relaxed when bosses are on farm status).
I seek to top the meter once the novelty of a boss' mechanics becomes routine.
Tsukuri Aug 15th 2011 8:09AM
I always like to down the boss. I enjoy the challenge of understanding the tactics, avoiding deadly gunk on the floor, knowing what I need to do and when. Oh and also the loot. Topping the meter is usually a bonus whenever it happens (rarely).
michael.garbellini Aug 15th 2011 8:10AM
As a tank I am only worried if there are DPS that are below me, as long as the DPS do not decide to blow all CD's and pull aggro then they can do as they please as long as the boss ends up giving out shineys.
Theresa Aug 15th 2011 10:07AM
This, so very much. As long as the dps can beat me I'm happy. I don't really care if we make the bear run in ZA (though I've done it several times in pugs), but I do about 10k dps as the tank and any dps in za/zg should be able to beat that. Its kind of depressing how many don't...
Vjax Aug 15th 2011 8:11AM
It's all about downing the boss. Having chart topping dps is great, but if you're getting it at the expense of standing in fire, ignoring the mechanics of the fight and dropping dead after your awsome start then it's pointless. Give me 5 or 6 consistent dps that know thier class and can focus on more than just thier rotation over a meter hound any day.
Ravensblood Aug 15th 2011 8:59AM
A point well stated. Kudos.
LynMars Aug 15th 2011 9:21AM
Not to mention, you can't top the meters when you're dead so blowing all CD's and standing in fire to get one more cast/attack at the expense of healer mana and your own health bar hitting 0 means you're pulling 0 DPS.
Like the writer, I'm a healer, so I actually use Recount as a diagnostic tool rather than an e-peen stroker. My roommate's one of our best DPS. At times I have to remind her that when she outranges me to kill something faster, or draws aggro doing her awesome DPS, she's now doing 0, not contributing to the boss kill, and the big blow to DPS pride--others are beating her on the meters now because she's dead and doing 0 DPS.
Not to mention making us blow our 1 battle rez early in the fight (we're 10man), sometimes only to have her die again, or at the expense of another DPS or heaven forbid a healer or tank. It's not constant, but it happens a lot on progression when she's getting frustrated the other DPS aren't keeping up with her.
If the boss goes down anyway while that person who boasts about "how much more DPS they do than anyone else" is laying on the floor watching, it ought to be a lesson that those numbers and a full colored bar on Recount means jack-all compared to teamwork and doing it right.
tibbelkrunk Aug 15th 2011 9:41AM
As a DPS, I am there for one reason, and that's to kill the boss as fast as possible.
I don't move out of fire because it makes the healers happy; I move out because otherwise I'll have to waste a lot of time on the floor not DPSing.
If I could do 1 more point of meaningful damage over the course of a fight, but die as a result, I'd do it. I'm not here to live in the end. I'm here to kill the boss.
Seriously. I don't care about dying. I don't care about "executing the mechanics". My job is to get the boss dead. Don't get me wrong, most of the time I still have to execute the mechanics to have any shot at getting the boss dead -- but the reason isn't just because "that's how you do the fight". When I have to execute fight mechanics, you can be sure I'm DPSing as much as possible at the same time.
I am there to damage things. I am mashing the hell out of my next ability before the previous one is done because I so badly want that target to die fast. From some people's perspective, that's 1/10th of a second less raid damage going out. From my perspective, that's 1/10th of a second I'll get to spend on my next attack.
I re-gem for 10 more agility. I reforge for 5 more crit rating. I do it because it matters, and when the fight is over in record time, you can look at the top spot on the meter and know I am doing the best I possibly can.
If I'm not always striving to do better damage, then I'm not doing my best, and that just wastes other people's time.
Micheal Aug 15th 2011 2:24PM
Nobody tops the charts at the expense of ignoring fight mechanics. Ignoring fight mechanics in Cata kills you.
Stop with this nonsense about chart toppers being bad players.
AnotherWarlock Aug 15th 2011 11:06AM
Actually, Micheal, that isnt true. A bad player can top the meters by never moving and focusing on their spells/abilities while expecting the healers to keep them alive. In focusing all of those heals on one target, the healers will often lose other, more skilled, dps who are doing what they are supposed to (or even worse, a tank or healer) because a) the healers attention is on the person taking the most damage or b) the healers will run out of mana dealing with these "meter idiots."
Good dps realize that dps isn't the end all.
If the game were just about topping meters, it would be boring. Topping meters - in scenarios like the above - is more about gear than anything else.
zippy747 Aug 15th 2011 2:30PM
It's about downing the boss, getting meter topping DPS AND not standing in fire. None of the above are mutually exclusive... Many people can do all 3, at the same time, just fine.
Numb Aug 15th 2011 7:04PM
Seriously, I *hate* when people act like it's not possible to top the meters AND be a good situationally aware player. I take great pride in being a 'good' player - not standing in fire, understand mechanics, taking on extra jobs (hitting gongs, kiting adds, etc) - but it's still important for me to push the top of the meters. It means I care. It means I'm trying. And honestly, it's good for the rest of the raid too, as FRIENDLY (key word!) competition on meters can foster an environment where everyone is trying their absolute hardest to win and to pull big numbers. Most of all though, for me topping the charts is about being the best for myself. I *know* I'm capable of being the #1 spot on our raid nights; if I'm not in that spot I take the time to figure out what I did wrong to make sure it doesn't happen again.