WoW players condemn the use of Gearscore in Season of Discovery

James Lynch
A player rides a dragon in World of Warcraft: The War Within

In retail World of Warcraft, Gearscore has become the determining factor in whether many players are allowed access to the game’s hardest activities. Though seen by many as an annoyance, its continued use in Season of Discovery is causing significantly more controversy.

For those who are not aware, Gearscore is essentially a numerical value given to each player based on the armor and weapons they are currently using. This then allows dungeon and raid leaders to ascertain whether that person is capable of completing the activity they are asking to join – in theory.

In a game as complex as WoW, this system cannot possibly include all of the nuances of high-level play. As such, players who have already completed the activity with ease can be rejected for anything from having an unorthodox build to one item that lowers their average Gearscore too far.

Now, one player on social media has expressed their disdain for the system’s use in Season of Discovery and they have a lot of support from the game’s wider community.

Gearscore is less relevant in Season of Discovery than other flavors of WoW

In a post on Reddit, one user shared their disdain for players who have been using Gearscore to determine groups for Blackfathom Deeps in Season of Discovery.

The main issue with the use of Gearscore in Season of Discovery in particular relates to the new power provided by Runes. Gearscore fails to allow for how the new abilities synergize with armor choices for each class. This is an issue that’s compounded by the new roles for classes that can and do alter stat priority.

Many players were quick to agree with the OP. One said: “People pushing GS in sod are just advertising their lack of itemization understanding of game knowledge. Going to be in for a rude awakening when they realize you use MC/BWL items into Naxx.”

Another added: “I’m surprised people aren’t calling out this in game, I thought the behavior would have stopped by now. These people asking for GS aren’t using reddit or forums.”

With phase two of Season of Discovery set to start at some point before the end of February, the meta is likely to heavily shift yet again. The likelihood of this further rendering Gearscore redundant is fairly high as a result.

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