On theorycrafting and what it can and cannot do for you. Wasting time, perhaps, working those numbers? Or is that exactly what you should be doing, hm?
TLDR version at the bottom of every paragraph.
What theorycrafting cannot do for you
Theorycrafting has always been a very special meta-game activty for me. The experience that doing something that was only remotely connected to the game as such, would actually make me perform better, was rather intriguing. Because I like math, and I like to think that I'm reasonably good at it.
Math turned into a part of the game and as such, it became a playful activity. My teachers would have been pleased.
That was back then. Today, you are not performing at your best or nearly good enough, if you have not reviewed
certain sites, filled to the brim with top notch math, done to deliver the answers to your questions.
As I was doing my own fair bit of theorycraft, I soon discovered that the more to-the-point my questions were, the more elaborate the simulation would have to be.
The math involved would get more and more advanced, factoring in an increasing amount of factors, relating to encounter-specific conditions. The amount of specific spells casts, healing per mana per second, so on. The numbers were many and the precision great. Or so I was convinced.
Late one night, it dawned upon me. This is useless, I thought. This is shit. Even though my results were generally applicable to any raiding activity as such, raiding consists of a string of very specific encounters, complete with very specific conditions. I could not possibly gain anything from this generalized mishmash.
Then again, collecting data from the specific encounter is all well and good. It would certainly provide me with precise data, but I would have to gather multiple datasets in order to be correct - or to be as correct as possible. Then another thing dawned on me.
If you have the opportunity to gather datasets from an encounter, thereby beating it in order for the data to be complete, you do not need to do theorycraft. You are alright. Just... continue raiding. Observe, learn, react and doing that, you should be a fine healer.
TLDR: Theorycrafting cannot make you a good healer. It can guide, but not teach. What you need to learn about healing is what you learn from playing the game and consulting your in-game peers.
What it is worth: What theorycrafting CAN do for you
How you heal is one thing, what you're wearing while doing it is another.
Theorycrafting can settle certain doubts regarding non-tier equipment.
Furthermore, we might just be able to allocate stats on gear with
that reforging thingie for tailors, blacksmiths, leatherworkers, engineers and jewelcrafters - if it survives beta, mind you.
So what to wear? When to prioritize a stat over another? Stats once more or less specific for different classes now become more or less specific to their function (a healer being a function, along with tanks and dps).
Theorycrafting your way through your gear is one very certain way of getting dressed with sense and style. Knowing what your gear does for you, is also knowing what you can do.
Then, of course, there are the odd trinkets that might or might not be worth something, everything or nothing at all. Since proper healing trinkets were introduced (
*cough*), I've spent most time on figuring out which trinkets to go for. There are so many, and they're
so pretty!
Hopefully, Cataclysm will provide many a shiny trinket for us to desire. Long for. Ache for. Cry for.
TLDR: Theorycrafting can help you make the right decisions, gear wise. Do your guild a favour, and do the math before you enter a new instance. Be prepared. There, I've said it.
