Why must the ability to heal as a DPS = underwhelming performance as a DPS?

Here is a fact to think about, good players are downing nightmare content with all the classes doing their different roles. Acension, for example, downed nightmare S&V with a shadow DPS pulling off 2500 on the last boss.

If you know your class well then you can compete in the hardest content. You may not make the leader boards on TORparse though for DPS.

Let me preface this by saying that this is not another “You are telling me to **** and heal to full!? Hold my purse those are fightin’ words!” thread, not because I don’t think there is anything to be said about it, on the contrary in fact, but because I do not believe anything meaningful can be accomplished by pursuing that course of action.
What I want from this thread is a meaningful answer, dare I say it, supported by evidence as to the philosophy, which has become painfully clear that the developers hold, that classes which have the ability to heal cannot be expected to perform on par with classes that do not with respects to PvE and PvP DPS as well as overall PvP potential. Let me clarify that when I say “on par” I mean within a reasonable margin of around 5%, which is not the case at present (as many have pointed out it is closer to 10% or even 15%). The validity of this philosophy (again, as many have already grasped) is the crux of the argument which has arisen from the now infamous “heal to full” thread.

As a lightning sorcerer since early release, and someone who has cleared all content released to date, as well as having a good deal of PvP experience I have never understood this philosophy. As far as I am concerned literary the only instance in which the ability to heal is a noticeable asset is when soloing PvE content, that is to say leveling and doing dailies as that is the only solo content this game has to offer (with the exception of the two new Czerka SM FPs, where I guess this also applies). Aside from that and especially when it comes to group PvE content the ability to heal as an otherwise DPS class is entirely irrelevant, and though there may be extremely rare cases where throwing an extra heal might save the day, those come but once in a blue moon and are the result of either something going horribly wrong, bad luck, a poor healer, or most likely a combination of all 3. Therefore, I see no justification as to why the at least 10% disparity in DPS exists in PvE. Though it is by no means game breaking (especially for those of us who are not obsessed with getting on top of the damage charts), nor can it be the difference between downing a boss encounter (contrary to popular belief, because if things get that close then chances are your group is simply not ready for said encounter for whatever reason), this unjustifiable disparity in DPS can still keep people from playing a class they enjoy, either because they are unwilling to play a class with subpar DPS or because raid leaders will not take such a class. Regardless this is an issue which should not exist at all.

When it comes to PvP the situation is even simpler. Healing yourself or others as a DPS class in PvP is at best highly inefficient and at worst (and most often) simply an exercise in futility that serves only to prolong the inevitable and even then it prolongs it by a pitifully short amount of time. In other words even if we do try to “make them pay for trying to kill us” by simply boring them enough to make them move on to an easier target, as full healers do, we could not do it, precisely because we are NOT full healers but DPS. The ability to heal yourself as a DPS in a PvP environment is hardly an advantage at all, let alone one that justifies lower DPS and less overall survivability and defensive cooldowns.

Quite frankly, I do not see how anyone can dispute this logic, even if I do say so myself, not because I have made a particularly brilliant argument but because it is so simple I hesitate to even call it an argument at all. Why the developers can’t see it, then, is entirely beyond me.

Well that is all I have to say on the matter, now it’s up to you guys. Can any of you offer any defense for this philosophy? Can you drop some knowledge on me that can make me reconsider what I hold as self-evident? Yes Andryah, when I say this my gaze pierces the veil of the interwebs and stares right at you (not in a creepy way of course).

As always I would love to hear from a developer on this, but I am not holding my breath. Anyway, I am now off to heal myself to full!

A hybrid should never be able to out damage a pure. It is that simple. If you let commando/mercenaries do as much damage as a slinger/sniper, then you're just asking for slinger/sniper to be excluded from content because they can't bring any survival to hardmode/NiM.

Even the disparity a little bit, but don't create absolute parity.

Here is a fact to think about, good players are downing nightmare content with all the classes doing their different roles. Acension, for example, downed nightmare S&V with a shadow DPS pulling off 2500 on the last boss.

If you know your class well then you can compete in the hardest content. You may not make the leader boards on TORparse though for DPS.

Are you daft or are you just purposely being annoying?

#1 Any instance of a DPS class not being able to DPS on par with other DPS classes (again within a reasonable margin) only further highlights the class balance problems and proves my point.

#2 I don't even know where to begin with that, it's such an idiotic statement just looking at it gives me a headache! How can you say that heals make up for less DPS under any circumstances?! It's like saying that having eyes can make up for not having ears! But even if we were to assume there was some relevance to that statement, the fact that the afore mentioned heals are virtually obsolete in end game PvE and PvP... or to put it in terms even you can understand: the fact that the heals SUCK, renders it moot.

Lastly I don't think anyone here would have a problem with dropping their latent heals if it meant an even footing with other DPS classes. Oh and FYI I was never referring to myself when I talk about this issue as my extensive experience and knowledge of my class allow me to be within a reasonable margin of other DPS, however, that still puts me at a disadvantage because given my skill with the class if it wasn't for the DPS nerfs arising from the flawed philosophy about which i made this theead I would be dealing much more damage.

P.S. If your posts are only gonna be 2 to 3 sentences you have no excuse not to proof read them and leave all of these typos... It's a common courtesy you owe anyone who tries to read them.

Just a little fun with average Top-10 Parses from our favorite site and the differential with the top spot.

8Man Kephess HM.

Marauder = 4,762 DPS
Sniper = 4,680 DPS (-2%)
Operative = 4,247 DPS (-11%)
Powertech = 4,069 DPS (-15%)
Sorcerer = 3,982 DPS (-17%)
Mercenaries = 3,951 DPS (-17%)
Juggernaught = 3,785 DPS (21%)
Assassin = 3,548 DPS (-26%)

Ironically enough it seems that Marauders & Snipers and Sorcerers & Mercenaries respectively are well balanced with each other.

Notable however is that on this Single Target primarily stationary boss fight the "hybrid" DPS classes trail the "pure" DPS classes by 16%.

Just some interesting data.

Im an idiot?