GearScore™ vs. Average Item Level
The following is the chart I created which shows the differences between GearScore™ and AIL, showing why GearScore (and PlayerScore™ as a whole) is and are superior.
"If you just cant make progress and you are literally wiping on trash pulls over and over, it may be time to analyze your gear. The Dungeon Finder's Heroic item level requirement should be considered a minimum -- and remember, it doesnt look at enchants or gems or even if the gear is appropriate for you."
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, Lead Systems Designer for World of Warcraft
| Design | GearScore was designed to provide players with a way of viewing the overall power and potential performance of another player's equipment |
Average Item Level was designed because wow developers felt it was unfair to impose gear requirements on the LFD tool without providing a value to players so that those players knew where they stood in regards to the requirements. |
| Scope of Use | PlayerScore allows you to view the GearScore of any player either in-game or online. |
You can only see your own personal Average Item Level. To find another player's item level you must either ask a player (and then be live what they say) or leave the game and access the armory. |
| Equipment used in calculation. |
PlayerScore will only measure the GearScore of equipment a player is actually wearing and will ignore all other items. |
Average Item Level will take into account equipment a player has in their inventory. A warrior can have healing plate gear in his back pack that he obtained from a quest or as loot and will receive an increase in their Average Item Level, even though the item has no benefit to the warrior. |
| Accuracy & Resolution | GearScore includes a much higher level of resolution, which allows the score to be much more accurate. |
Average Item Level is built on a very small number which doesn't give a very wide range of accuracy. |
| Gems & Enchants | GearScore will go up or down depending on rather or not equipment is gemmed or enchanted. Gems and enchants will increase the performance of a player and should be included as bonuses to their equipment's GearScore. |
Average Item Level will stay the same regardless if the player gems or enchants his or her equipment. |
| Appropriate Gear | GearScore will be severely reduced if a player equips equipment that is not designed for their class or spec. An example would be a warrior with Healing plate gear. The healing plate gear offers no increase in the warriors tanking or dps and so is not included in the player's total GearScore. |
Average Item Level will be the same regardless if the player is wearing correct gear or bad gear. |
| PVP Gear | PVP equipment will receive a penalty to a player's GearScore. This is because PVP gear is designed for short-term dps and survivability, and doesn't provide the same level of dps or sustainability required for boss fights as PVE gear does. |
Average Item level will be the same if a player is using PVP gear or not. As PVP gear is currently higher item level and easier to obtain then equipment from heroics, a player can easily inflate their Average Item Level with pvp equipment. |
| Slot Weight | Each item's GearScore is dependent not only on the item's rarity and item level, but also the type and location of the equipment. For example, a 2-handed weapon will receive a vastly superior GearScore compared with a belt or bracers. |
Average Item Level gives the same weight to all items. For example, a 2-handed weapon is given the same value and weight as bracers or belts even those those items are vastly inferior to the weapon. |
| Color Coordination | GearScore is color coded so your brain can spend less power on determining if a score is good or not, and more power dodging the fire on the ground. |
Always White. |
| Access | To access GearScore you must use the PlayerScore addon or web service |
Personal Average Item Level is visible to all players without additional services or addons. |
| Bonus Features | While not a direct benefit of GearScore, PlayerScore which provides GearScore comes with a slew of bonus features such as char act her experience; pvp, pve, and raid scores to provide a better picture of a player's history; talent, gem, and enchantment auditing; player ratings; and more! |
None. |
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