World of Warcraft

As an evoker player (though not Augmentation yet), it's definitely frustrating to see that Augmentation players are getting kicked from groups for, supposedly, doing low DPS.

Support specs are new to WoW, so it's not surprising that there's no simple way to see how they contribute. But is it really fair to depend on a damage meter rather than the overall performance of the group? I've never felt as though damage meters really were as useful as many people make them seem.

An analogy that might help here: Augmentation evokers are force multipliers -- in military terms, that's a unit or soldier who makes others more effective. For instance, a forward air controller who calls in targets for ground-attack aircraft to hit. That FAC isn't going to do any damage on their own, but the aircraft they bring in wouldn't be able to damage its target without the FAC's assistance. The crew of that plane are vital, yes, but so are the people who tell them where to go.

And, going back to WoW figuring out how to properly track augmentation evokers' contributions to the battle is going to take add-on authors a while. Details is starting to try to make it happen, but for now the results aren't very accurate. But adapting to any new system, any new technology, takes time.

So if you see that small (for now) DPS bar in your damage meter addon, think twice before trying to boot a player who is trying their best to help you do your job better. Chances are that they're doing just fine. It's just a problem with how to measure the help they are giving you.