Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Rhaina On Crutches

In this thread about dual-spec, one poster makes the common claim that certain mechanics are "crutches" which weaken guilds who use them. Rhaina posts a beautiful response that struck me as being so perfectly right that I took the liberty of reposting it here:
If you lack one leg, a a pair of crutches is an indispensable possession that allows you to move about in the world.

If you have two perfectly good legs, a crutch is unnecessary.

If you have two perfectly good legs, but you injured one, a crutch can be a temporary necessity. Eventually, you don't need it anymore. In my experience, the physical therapist thinks I don't need it before I do. In my brother's experience, the physical therapist is trying desperately to get him to keep using it for a week longer than he thinks he needs to.

I don't think it's at all reasonable for a person who can walk without a crutch to sneer at the one-legged person for whom the crutch is mobility and independence.

There are raids where intentional use of dual speccs makes the raid capable of meetings its specific goals. There are raids where relying on dual speccs is unnecessary and just causes angst for no good reason, and may even make the raid less capable overall.

Unfortunately, we can all look at the one-legged person and see that a crutch is a boon to her. We're not so good at just looking at a person who has two legs and knowing who will benefit from the crutch and who just weakens himself by using it.

4 comments:

  1. You know, I'd surely rather be asked to switch my spec for a particular fight than to be told to go stand outside of the instance while they brought in another dps (I play a healer).

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  2. both my specs are heals (PVE Disc and PVE Holy).

    I are heals, period. I just have different options available to me during different situations. I like it.

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  3. Given the overall lack of GOOD & RELIABLE tanks and healers, I feel that it's not unreasonable to expect your DPS druids, paladins, warriors and DK's to also double as another spec - especially in smaller guilds.

    I, for one, have found a great deal of worth in being able to dual-spec Protection and Retribution. If my guild could find a few more healers, we'd be all set. There's a good deal of Paladin's, but not many that are willing to get out of Retribution (moreover, be successful in another spec).

    Really, when it comes down to it, it is a personal decision. However, a little personal sacrifice can have it's rewards (as I have experienced) if you just take the time to learn how to adapt. Yes, it is a game. Yes, it is my $15.00 per month.

    HOWEVER. I am wasting $15.00 per month if I am standing around writing "/2 RET DPS LFG (Any Heroic/10/25Man) NOT SAVED TO ANY!"

    It's like a dead Ret. You are 0DPS if you're not DPSing. I'd rather play as a tank, running something, than stand around LFG.

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  4. I'd never played Ret until dual-spec came in, Holy all the way. Wow what a difference it makes to doing dailies! I can't believe I levelled to 80 as Holy.

    I was asked to dual spec by our RL to Ret in anticipation of certain fights needing less healers, which obviously won't happen for a while in Ulduar. I've got quite an amazing Ret set and have been signing up in PuG's as dps to hone my skills, and it's revitalised my love of the Paladin. It's like having a whole new toon.

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