A perplexing question no one has yet answered

Many folks here have touched on the reason for why spell bonus gear appears as +damage/healing.

The distinction here is that, mechanically, it is a value used in a coefficient to alter the end number of the spell's power.

Externally, players make the distinction between healing and damage because numerically they appear to operate differently. Damage subtracts health, healing adds it.

On the coding side, there is not the same distinction. There is only the coefficient affecting the spell. The servers don't care whether you are healing or damaging with your gear. It is all the same to the game.

Now, in the case of + fire damage or + healing, this is taking the broad category of spell types and breaking them down into individual categories. Keyword here being individual.

Being selective of a single spell type allows specialization. Excluding a single spell type does not offer the same thing as well.

It is a broad brush that gear is being painted with, yes. However, it keeps things manageable on the design side. Making a spell damage type that takes into account only 2 or 3 spell types can begin to clutter design (did that item have arcane/fire or arcane/nature?!?!). This also helps in pretty much all cases where a particular class uses more than one spell school. To create a broad but exclusionary '+ damage only' type limts current use, increases design time unneccesarily, and limits future design options.

By limiting spell bonuses to damage alone, you eliminate the possibility of certain classes to ever have access to a healing bonus or a future healing spell. If such a change were to be made, we would then have to go back and redesign all of the gear for that class. I don't think the item folks would like that much. ;)

If you need a better example, consider this:

As a mage, I cast Spell Steal on someone who is being healed by a Heal-Over-Time spell.

I would expect to get my spell bonus on the spell I stole.

Agreeable?

Q u o t e:


Good point. That makes sense now. Sure, it's situational, but it makes sense.

I'm just glad I could think of an actual situation where a non-healing class would need a healing bonus, heh.

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I think a better question would be "why do dps caster classes have to take stat points they do not use?" It's clear that the stat value on any one spell school is lower than +damage/healing, so why not give dps caster classes gear with only +damage?

Because, as explained previously, there is no such thing as '+damage' in the actual game. There is '+Fire' or '+Nature', but there is no '+damage'. It is a matter of semantics. That is just what people call it, but that isn't what it really is.

It doesn't affect the item budget the way you think it does. You aren't 'paying more' for the +healing, coupled with +damage.

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Hmmm, I thought the +healing bonus was applied considering the person who is casting the spell, not the one who's receiving it. So, if a mage steals the heal-over-time spell (that is a "buff"), it would not matter the +healing bonus that the mage has. Well, never mind, I am confused, sorry. :)

The mechanics of that particular spell are complicated. As far as I know, the underlying design works so that the Mage is effectively recasting the spell on themselves.

In this case, spell coefficients should apply. I'm 90% certain. Of course, knowing my luck, it will be proven that this is not the case, in the near future. :P

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there is a + dmg stat in the game.. look again.

Do you happen to have an example?

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I see, it makes sense. But don't worry Tseric, if you're wrong, I won't say "owned" for ruining your well thought out example. ;)

Cheers. I surely would appreciate that. ;)

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Why is there a solely +healing if there isn't a solely +damage?

Because you didn't read the thread and you're asking the wrong questions.

'Spells and effects' in the tooltip refers to things that originate from the caster. Healthstones are an independant or tradable healing source, therefore do not apply.

And please don't say that, because the warlock made the healthstone, it originates from the caster. :P

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yes i know what you are saying, but the label is misleading and inconsistant. I'm not arguing for a mechanics change anymore than i am arguing for a rewording of the labels. :P

It would be more misleading or less intuitive if we began to split hairs in the limited space of a tooltip. ;)

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I'm sure someone can come up with a UI mod that hides +healing on the gear that is mage only. :)

Heheh, more power to 'em, I say. :D

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This brings up a question. Is the Draenei racial heal affected by +healing gear?

Pretty sure it is.

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Yup. When it was spellpower those with healing spells were told they gained NOTHING from it for healing by ignorant people, so it was changed. And just like you said, now it's a different bunch having a similar problem with the solution to the other problem.

As is often the case in game design, you trade one set of problems and challenges for a completely different one. ;)