I love when i see the “server data” comment, I often post about analytics from hardcore.
But…… and this is a huge but
Seeing the build and the gear and knowing what quests were done and how fast does not give the devs enough info to be able to react with nerfs.
First, the devs cant just nerf a successfully strong build based off build alone as this will impact a wide range of other builds that were somewhat effective and utterly destroy them into nothing thereby pissing off that clientelle.
Secondly, there are many first life builds that can absolutely destroy content, but the key to that is the player behind the build. Some builds get nuked because any joe schmoo can destroy content with them hence the not so recent nerf to inquisitive, favoured souls and bards(give those builds to talented players and it becomes utter destruction of content).
Thirdly the devs even with all the analytics can only really truly understand what is going on when they have a complete description of how to play the build or they have a video for reference. These are the big no-no’s for what elite players will not do with their builds as they know and have seen the results, common discussion in game is “dont share how we do this with the public verbally or in chat and dont post anything on the forums”. As a matter of fact dont post anything in chat or forums you dont want SSG to have. Do it in live chat or on text/voice on your own personal phones.
To conclude in response to your post, there are people that share their build info, but they do it in game with known people that they can hear their voice and play with for a long enough duration to determine that the person they are playing with are not likely a dev or an SSG employee, as most elite players understand the pain of losing certain previous builds due to sharing too much where the devs/SSG have access thereby losing some of the fun they were having with the game. The whole point of playing a game is to have fun.
Signed
The Narc
I disagree. I data mine and provide analytics for a living for a multi-million dollar company. I paint a picture using only data all the time.
If I had access to the server data I could show what builds rise to the top of the heap when it comes to speed at which quests are completed. Taking into account past lives, tomes, etc. that offer some advantage.
Player skill is a big part which can be be view to a limited degree based on account history. While being a long term player does not automatically mean you are skilled, it can be give a weight in the analysis.
A very simplified example would be.... (this is not a detailed how to, only broad strokes)
1) Identify a quest the was designed to be an extreme challenge.
2) Pull quest time to complete data with a specific data range.
3) Fine the mean average to complete the quest. Taking quest level vs character level into account.
4) Focus on the top 10% where character level and quest level are close.
5) Determine the number of party members that are real players and not hirelings.
6) Identify the class(es), AP point spend in tress.
7) Identify common build make ups.
8) If combat log data is maintained it could be used to determine what is doing the most damage as well as what is mitigating incoming damage.
From here it is relatively easy to see what build/abilities are clearly rising to the top. This adds focus for any potential nerf possibilities.
This become even easier if players are soloing this content at level and blasting though as fast or faster than most groups.
Using the data alone one can recreate any encounter from start to finish.
So that uber/elite build that crushes everything in record time would shine like a beacon in the night once the data is properly modeled.
Some of the stuff I am doing the AI assisted data modeling, the insights and patterns it finds in record time are down right scary.
Now would SSG invest the time an energy into doing this, probably not as there is little financial gain vs time invented.
Is it possible to discover that super build that only those who know the secret handshake has access to, you betcha.
