- For combat logging outside the game, see CVar advancedCombatLogging.
A damage meter is the colloquial term for a kind of AddOn that parses the combat log to measure player performance during combat. Such AddOns were originally introduced to monitor dps over the duration of a boss encounter, however, later variants could also measure other actions such as healing, interrupts and deaths.
Controversy
Over-reliance on damage meters as a measure of performance is controversial, especially in group play.[1] It is generally-accepted etiquette to refrain from copying meter output into party/raid chat windows, to avoid the appearance of judging DPSers solely on their damage output without regard for other factors like the welfare of the group, the nature of specific battles, or any alternate roles. Players are often sensitive as damage meters may be used to filter supposedly under-performing players.
Conversely, many advanced meters also include options to measure other stats (threat, heals per time, dispels etc.). Proponents thus feel they are useful tools in evaluating performance since these additional views can account for an individual's play style and utility role.
Limitations
Damage meters are non-authoritative, principaly limited to the combat log range. Different players will have incomplete logs in a disperesed encounter such as a large room or separate phases. This can be overcome with hidden addon traffic, but requires several players to install similar AddOns to ensure data reliability.
Meanwhile, even same player having more two or more damage meters installed will record slightly different readings with each.[2] This can result from deliberate differences in how each AddOn interprets similar data, such as when combat is considered to have begun and ended for each player (ie, how to count deaths).
References
- ^ Megan O'Neill 2011-05-20. Ready Check: On damage meters. WoW Insider.
- ^ Olivia Grace 2013-03-12. Addon Spotlight: Skada versus Recount. WoW Insider.
External links
- DamageMeters (AnduinLothar and Dandelion, 2005-2008); was integrated with Cosmos.
- Recount (Cryect, Elsia and Resike, 2007-present); more than 100 million downloads.DamageMeters.
- Skada Damage Meter (Zarnivoop et al, 2009-present); more than 30 million downloads.
- Details! (Terciob et al., 2013-present); more than 100 million downloads.