It doesn’t really matter which MMORPG community you take a closer look at, from Lost Ark to WoW, DPS meters are a topic almost everywhere. Some allow them, some forbid them, and some even offer them themselves. MeinMMO author Mark Sellner is tired of the discussion. For him, it’s clear: every MMO is better with a DPS meter.
What is a DPS meter? This is how mechanisms are called that show you how much damage per second you are actually doing. Damage per second is also abbreviated as DPS (Damage per Second), which is where the name comes from.
Such DPS meters can exist in various forms and ways. Some MMORPGs have them directly integrated into the game, while others rely on external programs that they explicitly allow or at least do not forbid. Sometimes the developers of such DPS meters even collaborate with the game studios.
For instance, this is the case with Guild Wars 2. The common DPS meter “ArcDPS” is developed by a fan, but this development occurs in close consultation with ArenaNet so that the tool remains allowed and can be used. Other MMOs like the currently popular Lost Ark strictly prohibit them.
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The article originally appeared in July 2022 on MeinMMO.
Where is the problem with such programs? In many MMORPGs, such aids are forbidden. The reason for this is that you are often also able to see the damage of the other group members. Some tools even show which player has just messed up an important mechanic.
Some developers therefore believe that such tools could promote toxic behavior. There are concerns that players could be bullied out of raids because they are not causing enough damage, and everyone can see who is ultimately responsible for the failure of the fight.
In many MMORPGs, DPS meters are therefore also gray areas. They are often used, although they are de facto prohibited. However, nobody should really talk about it, because otherwise there are consequences. Final Fantasy XIV is the most popular example of this method. However, our author Mark Sellner thinks that even that is not enough.
In these 5 MMORPGs, your damage numbers actually look the best:
The problem is not the tool, but the culture
DPS meters are not fundamentally evil: If I want to get into difficult endgame content in an MMORPG, I am probably not good enough for that at first. Before that, I should master my character, have a skill rotation down, and be able to hit hard as a DPS player.
However, to improve myself, I need to somehow be able to read how good I actually am. This often only works with a DPS meter. For me, it is a big part of the long-term motivation in an MMORPG to constantly get better. And I don’t want to achieve that only through equipment and gear score.
Guild Wars 2 provided me with the perfect opportunity for this, but unfortunately, I didn’t go through with it until the end. In the airport of Lion’s Arch, you can find a golem. You can configure it in any way and give yourself all the buffs permanently that you want. Then you hit the helpless monster and continuously see in the chat how much DPS you did after 10% of its HP.
This is fundamentally a great idea, but a simple display in the chat is not enough. I want to understand where this damage is coming from and actively see when I am improving and when I am doing things that I should rather avoid.
It becomes perfect here only when I add the third-party tool ArcDPS, which provides me with this information. The golem and ArcDPS then provide the optimal combination to improve myself in the long term and ensured that I have overall beaten on a helpless golem for over 100 hours to finally get those extra 2,000 damage out.
Don’t ban the tools, ban the players: At the same time, I can also see the problem that such a tool leads to toxic behavior. I have witnessed multiple times in my raid group how people were kicked because the damage simply did not match. But that is not the problem of the DPS tool.
For instance, I led a training group in Guild Wars 2 for a while. For me, it was essential to see at which points we need to improve as a group to make progress. Thanks to a DPS meter, I could precisely adjust where help was needed, and we were able to keep pushing forward week after week.
The problem is clearly the users themselves, who believe they need to insult or behave unfairly to others in a raid or other content.
In general, I believe that toxic behavior in online games should be punished more severely. In my opinion, it should change more regarding the behavior of the players than the removal of useful tools, just because they could potentially lead to users being mean.
An overview of how the major MMORPGs currently deal with DPS meters can be found in our article on it:
DPS meters as an opportunity, not a danger
Some players are against it too: I repeatedly encounter players who are against DPS meters. Often they share the developers’ concerns. Many simply do not want to be kicked out of groups just because they are having a bad day.
These are understandable concerns, but in my view, the tool is not responsible for this. When a boss is beaten multiple times, the mood in the group quickly deteriorates. Whether you check with a DPS meter who has done the least damage or not is irrelevant; a guilty party is usually identifiable anyway. In my experience, toxic behavior occurs both with and without a DPS tool during failures.
In some discussions, I therefore try to show my fellow players that they should see DPS meters as an opportunity and not as a danger. The tools give you, as a player, a powerful tool to improve yourself. Moreover, they provide your more experienced friends with a way to help you with that.
Additional long-term motivation: DPS meters also provide an opportunity for developers because they serve as long-term motivation for many hardcore fans. Players who have practically experienced everything in an MMORPG often have no more goals. A DPS meter can change that, at least for a handful of them.
I certainly am not the only MMORPG player who wants to work on improving myself. Expanding my skill set and simply mastering my character mechanically better. To achieve this, DPS meters are simply essential. That’s why every MMO should have one, or at least not forbid them.
What do you think? Are you for or against DPS meters in MMORPGs? Do you use one yourself, or have you perhaps even had negative experiences with it? Feel free to share it with us in the comments here at MeinMMO.
Another motivation can be to sell characters illegally: Most expensive MMORPG character sold for 8,800 € – made WoW history
