Blizzard to Limit GearScore and Other Addons

According to this article by WOW Insider, Blizzard is going to cut back on what are called "inspect requests" by addons like GearScore to help with lag.  It says this is implemented as of Patch 3.3.5.  There are links addon developer sites in the article.  One of them says in an update that it appears this throttling will happen with the next rolling restart, not with Patch 3.3.5 itself.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/25/blizzard-to-begin-throttling-gearscore-like-inspect-requests/

I think what this means is any addon that has to request character information will operate slower to help the stressed WOW servers.

UPDATE:  WOW Insider explains how it will work.  Again.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/28/inspect-request-throttling-explained/

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Why Professor Beej Hates Gearscore UPDATED

Two words:  anti-casual elitism.
http://www.professorbeej.com/2010/05/omg-gearscore-sux.html

UPDATE: Tobold thinks there are other problems going on besides GearScore.
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-dont-think-gearscore-is-culprit-here.html

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How to Fool Gearscore

Isn't hard, just takes some gold.
http://highlatencylife.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/fooling-gearscore/

I love the illustration, by the way.

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Why Damage Meters and GearScore Are Evil

Spelled out in two good articles-
http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/04/28/damage-meters-corrupt-absolute-damage-meters-corrupt-absolutely/

http://www.wow.com/2010/04/28/spiritual-guidance-the-gearscore-is-a-lie/

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Elitist Armory, Better than Gear Score?

Rilgon (hunter) thinks Elitist Armory is a better way to evaluate gear than Gear Score and he loves EA's Raid Experience calculator. Here's why:
http://www.stabilizedeffortscope.com/?p=1453

Here's the link to the Elitist Armory website in case you need more information:
http://elitistarmory.com/

A bit more about Elitist Armory.
http://pwnwear.com/2010/05/04/elitist-armory/

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The Spamalyzer (Addons) and Other Lag Addons

Spamalyzer wins my vote for Best Addon Name.  It helps you identify addons like Carbonite or GearScore that cause lag by spamming chat during raiding.  The writer says this happens even if folks don't have the addon themselves.  If this is a problem for you, it is worth checking out.
http://pwnwear.com/2010/03/09/spamalyzer-addon-can-help-lag/

UPDATE:  Another lag fighter called Leatrix
http://www.twistednether.net/2010/03/08/resource-site-spotlight-leatrix/

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Podcast: Interview with GearScore

I almost never mention podcasts here since they rarely have solid information for players, but this one I can't resist.  It's an interview with the creator of GearScore.  I haven't listened to it so I do not know how professional the podcast is. Some are quite sophomoric.
http://www.brigwyn.com/2010/01/14/episode-20-thl-podcast-special-edition-interview-with-the-creator-and-developer-of-gearscore/

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Gearscore and Why We Love/Hate It (Addons)

Cold Comfort takes a critical look at Gearscore and how it supports the Great Gear Myth.  He points out the variety of gear scores various sites and addons give for the same toon, explains just what Gearscore counts and what it ignores, explains how to game Gearscore, and talks about why Blizzard probably won't ban its use.  This article has links to Gearscore and Gearscore Lite download sites and explains the difference.
http://blog.cold-comfort.org/great-gearscore-debate-09/

Here is part two from Cold Comfort, which looks at the addon Experience which shows character stats, including how many times someone has killed a boss.  He advocates using "experience" as a measure of how much of the game someone has gone through instead of looking at gear, which can come to a player who has not done much in-game through various routes.
http://blog.cold-comfort.org/inexperience-weakness/

If you are feeling particularly silly, you might be interested in Namescore, which rates character names as to legibility, appropriateness and asthetics.
http://www.nostockui.com/2009/10/forget-gearscore-try-namescore/

Dreambound feels pretty much the same way about PUGs as Cold Comfort.
http://dreambound-druid.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-pug-raids-and-gear.html

And yes, I know I've just posted four blog entries about addons.  It seems folks talk about the same topic simultaneously.  Must be something in the Internet....

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Gear Isn't Good Enough/You Don't Know Your Gear UPDATED

The Solo MMO Player has noticed that many WOW players have great gear they don't know how to use. And the reverse is true--many people look down their noses at folks who don't have the latest & greatest gear but who know how to use it to the max to get the job done. The ignorance about gear amazes the Solo MMO Player. So many folks just rate gear on whether it is green or blue or purple or whatever. There is a lot more to it, folks.

The Big Bear Butt's been made aware that the gear he has that is perfectly adequate to getting through Naxx is considered sub-par. Now this is a man who really knows the game. Let me quote him in full,

"If you’re not getting any of the new gear, you’re still able to do your job at the same progression level exactly the same as before. This seems to be a point that is escaping a lot of people, at least on my server. I’ve seen an explosion in pickiness. People looking for more people to join a simple 10 person Naxx pug… that must be in Conquest gear or Trials loot. Seriously, you’re begging for people to join you, but they’ve got to be in the best casual gear out there to even qualify?"

http://thebigbearbutt.com/2009/08/20/its-not-flat-but-its-got-a-slow-leak/

This "great gear a player doesn't understand/adequate gear that gets the job done is sub-par now" diocotomy is causing trouble at the guild raiding level. Let Cold Comfort the raid leader explain what he's running into,

"For content that is well-understood (Naxxramas for example), I don’t really care what level your gear is at, so long as you meet the minimums required to take down the bosses. Even being slightly under the minimums is OK if you have a few strong people willing to pick up the slack. So long as you pull your weight, I’m not going to force you to re-spec or have every slot enchanted. Your GearScore is just a guideline, not a threshold below which you won’t get into a raid. What I cannot tolerate is people who show up well geared without knowing anything about the fights, and continually ask for instructions before each boss encounter."

http://blog.cold-comfort.org/2009/08/is-wow-too-easy-or-are-we-too-lazy/

By the way GearScore is an addon that allows one to mouse over a player to look at their gear instead of having to make a trip to the Armory or Quick Armory.

http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/nvgearscore.aspx

A tutorial about gear and what it all means is obviously very necessary. I'll see if I can dig one up.

UPDATE: No luck on finding a general gear tutorial yet. We may have to write one. Meanwhile, the Greedy Goblin and his group proved once again it isn't the gear you wear, it's how you play the game. Reading the Comments is very interesting!
http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2009/08/ungeared.html

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