For some reason, I had it in my head that gearscore was being calculated clientside, and that mods were just able to report it. Is that not how it works?
It is being calculated client side. Client side is our side. Blizzard's side is server side.
I think it was more a question of whether or not Blizzard was providing GS and a mod was just pulling the GS number and printing it.
I still think that the best way of completely screwing with GS is to just completely remove the ilevel number from gear. Still use it in the developmental process, but when it comes time to push the gear into live, delete the ilevel column from the spreadsheet so nobody can access it client side. It doesn't screw item creation or balance because it's still being used, we just never see the number. Players will now have to pay closer attention to their stats, rather than just looking at the ilevel and brainlessly saying "it's better". And as for GS, either it breaks entirely, or they're forced to overhaul it completely so it looks at base stats per class or something, which would be a far better judging tool. Either way, it's a win/win scenario.
The Wolfman on
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
I still think that the best way of completely screwing with GS is to just completely remove the ilevel number from gear. Still use it in the developmental process, but when it comes time to push the gear into live, delete the ilevel column from the spreadsheet so nobody can access it client side. It doesn't screw item creation or balance because it's still being used, we just never see the number. Players will now have to pay closer attention to their stats, rather than just looking at the ilevel and brainlessly saying "it's better". And as for GS, either it breaks entirely, or they're forced to overhaul it completely so it looks at base stats per class or something, which would be a far better judging tool. Either way, it's a win/win scenario.
Item levels on gear has existed long before it was an interface option, the point of making it visible is that some mechanics we use rely on restricting things by item level. Enchants, etc.
Also, raid achievements that depend on not outgearing content.
GS is not the problem. People will always have barriers to entry and arbitrary predictors of performance. GS is just the latest "link achievement."
I still think that the best way of completely screwing with GS is to just completely remove the ilevel number from gear. Still use it in the developmental process, but when it comes time to push the gear into live, delete the ilevel column from the spreadsheet so nobody can access it client side. It doesn't screw item creation or balance because it's still being used, we just never see the number. Players will now have to pay closer attention to their stats, rather than just looking at the ilevel and brainlessly saying "it's better". And as for GS, either it breaks entirely, or they're forced to overhaul it completely so it looks at base stats per class or something, which would be a far better judging tool. Either way, it's a win/win scenario.
Item levels on gear has existed long before it was an interface option, the point of making it visible is that some mechanics we use rely on restricting things by item level. Enchants, etc.
Also, raid achievements that depend on not outgearing content.
Crud, glazed over that part.
Well then, make enchants be purely based on character level or something. Hell, they already do this with some enchants. I don't really know why we have this weird dual system going on. Not to mention a ton of people are always confused by it anyways. Like whenever somebody tries to enchant an heirloom for instance.
The Wolfman on
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
Even if ilvl were completely removed, it wouldn't be that hard to write a mod that does what gearscore does. Might even wind up being a better measure of effectiveness.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Or we can go back to the days of "LF tank for Xraid need to have 75k HP" or "LF2 healers need 5000 SP".
Man, those were fun times.
This was basically my point. GS isn't the problem, it's just a symptom.
Right, people have been douchebags sine forever. I can't really remember what the people were saying in vanilla, but in BC arbitrary stat requirements were the thing.
I still think that the best way of completely screwing with GS is to just completely remove the ilevel number from gear. Still use it in the developmental process, but when it comes time to push the gear into live, delete the ilevel column from the spreadsheet so nobody can access it client side. It doesn't screw item creation or balance because it's still being used, we just never see the number. Players will now have to pay closer attention to their stats, rather than just looking at the ilevel and brainlessly saying "it's better". And as for GS, either it breaks entirely, or they're forced to overhaul it completely so it looks at base stats per class or something, which would be a far better judging tool. Either way, it's a win/win scenario.
That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.
Yes, this is horrible, this idea.
Also I think this marks the first time in my life I've seen a lose/lose scenario referred to as win/win.
Even if ilvl were completely removed, it wouldn't be that hard to write a mod that does what gearscore does. Might even wind up being a better measure of effectiveness.
Just tally up all the str, agi, or int on gear, since those are basically a function of ilevel in Cataclysm. Bam, GS 2!
Even if ilvl were completely removed, it wouldn't be that hard to write a mod that does what gearscore does. Might even wind up being a better measure of effectiveness.
Just tally up all the str, agi, or int on gear, since those are basically a function of ilevel in Cataclysm. Bam, GS 2!
That actually would be more informative than GS tho.
Yeah I mean, various websites already rank gear by stat weighting, and assign each a value that measures effectiveness for a particular role. One of the problem with gearscore is that raw ilvl is such a dumb fucking way to measure effectiveness.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Oh, I haven't been able to figure out an answer for this, so I guess I'll just ask here.
I found five or six old darkmoon cards sitting on an alt, and since they seem to sell for 50 gold or so on dark iron I figured I might as well auction them off. Only, I can't because the AH tells me that they are out of charges. Darkmoon cards don't even have charges! What the hell is going on?
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Oh, I haven't been able to figure out an answer for this, so I guess I'll just ask here.
I found five or six old darkmoon cards sitting on an alt, and since they seem to sell for 50 gold or so on dark iron I figured I might as well auction them off. Only, I can't because the AH tells me that they are out of charges. Darkmoon cards don't even have charges! What the hell is going on?
I think it's a bug that affected your copy of the cards around when WotLK launched. If you get those cards "new" (meaning you recently got a bunch out of Dire Maul or Winterspring or Inscription or whatever), they won't have that issue, but since they've been laying around for a while they got messed up at some point.
I'd say try opening a ticket. A GM might be able to fix it.
Edit: Oh, and cards that are bugged in that way can still be used in decks.
End on
I wish that someway, somehow, that I could save every one of us
Yeah I mean, various websites already rank gear by stat weighting, and assign each a value that measures effectiveness for a particular role. One of the problem with gearscore is that raw ilvl is such a dumb fucking way to measure effectiveness.
not only effectiveness but th overall ability to just deal with things. a blue gears tank using items built from blacksmithing CAN tank heroics. he might require more healing, yes. and the group might also go slower, yes. but it can be and should be done to develop players.
i think a growing trend that is starting to emerge is that "i am superior to the content i am experiencing." instead of learning the correct way to battle bosses and mob packs it as now become a cluster fuck of mashed buttons and impatient players.
why play the game if you are not going to learn to play it right/ half the fun 9at least for me) is developing a play style that not only benefits others but is rewarding to myself.
something to ask yourself as a player is - do you know/remember the correct way to fight loken? if you had a gear score of 3000 would you know what to do instead of just eating lightning novas? do moast tanks and healers know that spellslinger spiders in old kingdom cast a spell that hits a tank for 85% of his total hp?
i think most problems with progression / players / and dungeons could be completed if people actually relied on game mechanics, rather than becoming lazier as their gear increases.
teach new players how to play, and show them by example.
Some of us have played since day one in WotLK and have not only ran said heroics countless times on our mains, but also alts and alts and alts.
Yes, I know how to fight Loken the "right" way, no I don't give a shit and am not going to waste the time going through the motions when we can burn him down before he even gets off a nova simply to say we did it "right", when I'm killing the fucker for the 19 billionth time.
It's fine to expect people to know how to do things the "old" or "right" way, but it's silly to expect them to actually perform as such at this point in the expansion pack.
The only thing blizzard can do to avoid this is implement mechanics that don't allow for overpowering, which in theory is fine but then the instance that has that kind of bosses will be immediately relegated to OK and OCC status and everyone will avoid them like the plague because they can do "easy" heroic in 20 minutes or "hard" one in 30 for the same end rewards.
Really the concept of overpowering content isn't the same as the problem with Gearscore and trying to link the two is a stretch.
Blizzard seems to have made their peace with it though, at least toward the latter of an expansion's life cycle. It's a much better option than forcing new people/alts to raid their way through three previous tiers of content to gear up.
Maybe what's needed is another level of difficulty for five mans, so that rewards can come from 'casual' content without it becomes the breezy aoefest it currently is. Normal difficulty, heroic difficulty, and Fuck You, Nub difficulty.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Even if ilvl were completely removed, it wouldn't be that hard to write a mod that does what gearscore does. Might even wind up being a better measure of effectiveness.
Just tally up all the str, agi, or int on gear, since those are basically a function of ilevel in Cataclysm. Bam, GS 2!
That actually would be more informative than GS tho.
Maybe a little bit, but I think things like PvP gear would still make such an addon think you're geared up properly for raids.
People want the ability to overgear: it makes them feel powerful and allows them to be lazy, two things that gamers love. People hated the fact that everything in FF8/Oblivion levelled with you because it prevented you from truly feeling powerful and because it meant you could never truly be lazy because that shitty mob from the start of the game could still potentially wreck your shit if you didn't pay attention.
Some of us have played since day one in WotLK and have not only ran said heroics countless times on our mains, but also alts and alts and alts.
Yes, I know how to fight Loken the "right" way, no I don't give a shit and am not going to waste the time going through the motions when we can burn him down before he even gets off a nova simply to say we did it "right", when I'm killing the fucker for the 19 billionth time.
It's fine to expect people to know how to do things the "old" or "right" way, but it's silly to expect them to actually perform as such at this point in the expansion pack.
The only thing blizzard can do to avoid this is implement mechanics that don't allow for overpowering, which in theory is fine but then the instance that has that kind of bosses will be immediately relegated to OK and OCC status and everyone will avoid them like the plague because they can do "easy" heroic in 20 minutes or "hard" one in 30 for the same end rewards.
Really the concept of overpowering content isn't the same as the problem with Gearscore and trying to link the two is a stretch.
Yup. ICC and Halion (and ToGC) are there for people who want to have to do things the right way.
People want the ability to overgear: it makes them feel powerful and allows them to be lazy, two things that gamers love. People hated the fact that everything in FF8/Oblivion levelled with you because it prevented you from truly feeling powerful and because it meant you could never truly be lazy because that shitty mob from the start of the game could still potentially wreck your shit if you didn't pay attention.
Oblivion is a terrible example since things became more powerful in combat even if you were just leveling up from stealing, crafting, or talking to people. Actually FF8 isn't a great one either since mass drawing/junctioning basically became the game's "real" leveling up and easily allowed you to overpower the shit out of things if you just made sure to avoid killing things as much as possible.
So basically both games had clumsy systems that could either be gamed to be made extremely easy or fucked you over if you didn't play by the poorly designed rules correctly. Some games do non-standard RPG character progression correctly, but not those two.
People want the ability to overgear: it makes them feel powerful and allows them to be lazy, two things that gamers love. People hated the fact that everything in FF8/Oblivion levelled with you because it prevented you from truly feeling powerful and because it meant you could never truly be lazy because that shitty mob from the start of the game could still potentially wreck your shit if you didn't pay attention.
Oblivion is a terrible example since things became more powerful in combat even if you were just leveling up from stealing, crafting, or talking to people. Actually FF8 isn't a great one either since mass drawing/junctioning basically became the game's "real" leveling up and easily allowed you to overpower the shit out of things if you just made sure to avoid killing things as much as possible.
So basically both games had clumsy systems that could either be gamed to be made extremely easy or fucked you over if you didn't play by the poorly designed rules correctly. Some games do non-standard RPG character progression correctly, but not those two.
Haha the card ability and junction system made you ridiculously overpowered without ever leveling. I had so much fun once I figured out that system and leveling like normal actually had an interesting effect by making the end game brutally difficult but so awesome after what felt like hours of one attempt on the boss.
So basically I understand the point, just poor examples
I still think that the best way of completely screwing with GS is to just completely remove the ilevel number from gear. Still use it in the developmental process, but when it comes time to push the gear into live, delete the ilevel column from the spreadsheet so nobody can access it client side. It doesn't screw item creation or balance because it's still being used, we just never see the number. Players will now have to pay closer attention to their stats, rather than just looking at the ilevel and brainlessly saying "it's better". And as for GS, either it breaks entirely, or they're forced to overhaul it completely so it looks at base stats per class or something, which would be a far better judging tool. Either way, it's a win/win scenario.
That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.
Yes, this is horrible, this idea.
Also I think this marks the first time in my life I've seen a lose/lose scenario referred to as win/win.
Either GS disappears completely, or they're forced to create a new analysis system, which can't be half as retarded as raw ilevel. Explain to me how either scenario is a bad thing.
The Wolfman on
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
0
L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
I got my baby Warlock to 41 and respecced to SL/SL. Now what? Do I just tab+dot mobs and let them beat on me as I outheal it? I kind of understand the appeal, and I like playing straight up Affliction, but someone suggested I try SL/SL, and now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Does it make it easier because I can take on tons of mobs at once?
I still think that the best way of completely screwing with GS is to just completely remove the ilevel number from gear. Still use it in the developmental process, but when it comes time to push the gear into live, delete the ilevel column from the spreadsheet so nobody can access it client side. It doesn't screw item creation or balance because it's still being used, we just never see the number. Players will now have to pay closer attention to their stats, rather than just looking at the ilevel and brainlessly saying "it's better". And as for GS, either it breaks entirely, or they're forced to overhaul it completely so it looks at base stats per class or something, which would be a far better judging tool. Either way, it's a win/win scenario.
That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.
Yes, this is horrible, this idea.
Also I think this marks the first time in my life I've seen a lose/lose scenario referred to as win/win.
Either GS disappears completely, or they're forced to create a new analysis system, which can't be half as retarded as raw ilevel. Explain to me how either scenario is a bad thing.
Any scenario that involves removing ilevel, which is an important tool for both the developers and the players, is a lose. Especially when, like I already posted above, you can just make GS 2 that condenses a character into a number using a similarly simple scheme.
I got my baby Warlock to 41 and respecced to SL/SL. Now what? Do I just tab+dot mobs and let them beat on me as I outheal it? I kind of understand the appeal, and I like playing straight up Affliction, but someone suggested I try SL/SL, and now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Does it make it easier because I can take on tons of mobs at once?
SL/SL is more of a PvP focused spec. I guess it would work fine for leveling, but I don't know why someone suggested it to you for leveling over pure affliction. You get more survivability, yes, but affliction's is already decent anyway, so meh.
I got my baby Warlock to 41 and respecced to SL/SL. Now what? Do I just tab+dot mobs and let them beat on me as I outheal it? I kind of understand the appeal, and I like playing straight up Affliction, but someone suggested I try SL/SL, and now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Does it make it easier because I can take on tons of mobs at once?
SL/SL is more of a PvP focused spec. I guess it would work fine for leveling, but I don't know why someone suggested it to you for leveling over pure affliction. You get more survivability, yes, but affliction's is already decent anyway, so meh.
When you're leveling, the difference is pretty much when you start putting points in demonology, since you won't get much use out of points in destro (unless you instance a lot).
End on
I wish that someway, somehow, that I could save every one of us
Any scenario that involves removing ilevel, which is an important tool for both the developers and the players, is a lose. Especially when, like I already posted above, you can just make GS 2 that condenses a character into a number using a similarly simple scheme.
And it's not like there aren't "better" tools out there (ElitistGroup, for example). People use GS because they don't have to give it any thought beyond looking at the number.
L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
So it only makes sense after I've maxed out Affliction to then go into Demo?
Except for the two points that make your pet healed when you do damage....
I still think that the best way of completely screwing with GS is to just completely remove the ilevel number from gear. Still use it in the developmental process, but when it comes time to push the gear into live, delete the ilevel column from the spreadsheet so nobody can access it client side. It doesn't screw item creation or balance because it's still being used, we just never see the number. Players will now have to pay closer attention to their stats, rather than just looking at the ilevel and brainlessly saying "it's better". And as for GS, either it breaks entirely, or they're forced to overhaul it completely so it looks at base stats per class or something, which would be a far better judging tool. Either way, it's a win/win scenario.
That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.
Yes, this is horrible, this idea.
Also I think this marks the first time in my life I've seen a lose/lose scenario referred to as win/win.
Either GS disappears completely, or they're forced to create a new analysis system, which can't be half as retarded as raw ilevel. Explain to me how either scenario is a bad thing.
The "new analysis system" would likely be a table of item ids and their corresponding "ilvls".
You're trying to break a tool (edit: by no means the best tool) that is relatively informative in 95% of situations, instead of just telling some some occasional dumb people that they are dumb.
At launch, I used to get kicked out of groups because my health wasn't high enough (as DPS, with majority Naxx10 gear) for a 5-man, so I'm pretty sure summing ilvl's isn't really the problem here.
I got my baby Warlock to 41 and respecced to SL/SL. Now what? Do I just tab+dot mobs and let them beat on me as I outheal it? I kind of understand the appeal, and I like playing straight up Affliction, but someone suggested I try SL/SL, and now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Does it make it easier because I can take on tons of mobs at once?
SL/SL is more of a PvP focused spec. I guess it would work fine for leveling, but I don't know why someone suggested it to you for leveling over pure affliction. You get more survivability, yes, but affliction's is already decent anyway, so meh.
When you're leveling, the difference is pretty much when you start putting points in demonology, since you won't get much use out of points in destro (unless you instance a lot).
I just wouldn't do it until after Haunt.
forty on
Officially the unluckiest CCG player ever.
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
I hate GS as much as the next guy, but removing ilevel is silly. Nothing is going to stop people from coming up with ways to distill your character down to numbers.
Any scenario that involves removing ilevel, which is an important tool for both the developers and the players, is a lose. Especially when, like I already posted above, you can just make GS 2 that condenses a character into a number using a similarly simple scheme.
And it's not like there aren't "better" tools out there (ElitistGroup, for example). People use GS because they don't have to give it any thought beyond looking at the number.
Yup. I don't know how uncommon this is, but the "character rating" tool of choice is split across the factions on Hellscream. Horde uses GS, and Alliance uses WHR.
As far as I know, WHR does a decent job summarizing a character in one number since it accounts for the gear being appropriate for the spec as well as enchants, gems, etc. I guess the only major objective thing it doesn't account for is talent placement. But ElitistGroup takes care of that. I don't know if EG has any sort of straight up number that people use as a first pass filter, though. I don't use any of these addons, and when asked for whatever number I'll always just say something that's a little higher than the minimum they're asking for.
item level is used in several achievements, and directly effects things in game (which heroics you can go to, vehicle strength) which is why it is visible to players anyway.
before item level was visible people just added together the stat weights to find out the item budget and that is the item level.
all it takes is someone to write up a little database of items and approximate item level (using stat weights and/or location of the drop) and oh hey now gearscore can see the item's ilevel.
Posts
I think it was more a question of whether or not Blizzard was providing GS and a mod was just pulling the GS number and printing it.
I realized that after I posted.
Sounds like no, you have to get it in a guild group while in the guild (guild group meaning 80% of the group is from the guild).
Also, raid achievements that depend on not outgearing content.
GS is not the problem. People will always have barriers to entry and arbitrary predictors of performance. GS is just the latest "link achievement."
Crud, glazed over that part.
Well then, make enchants be purely based on character level or something. Hell, they already do this with some enchants. I don't really know why we have this weird dual system going on. Not to mention a ton of people are always confused by it anyways. Like whenever somebody tries to enchant an heirloom for instance.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Man, those were fun times.
This was basically my point. GS isn't the problem, it's just a symptom.
Right, people have been douchebags sine forever. I can't really remember what the people were saying in vanilla, but in BC arbitrary stat requirements were the thing.
That would be an awesome mod though.
Steam
Only the strong can help the weak.
Also I think this marks the first time in my life I've seen a lose/lose scenario referred to as win/win.
That actually would be more informative than GS tho.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I found five or six old darkmoon cards sitting on an alt, and since they seem to sell for 50 gold or so on dark iron I figured I might as well auction them off. Only, I can't because the AH tells me that they are out of charges. Darkmoon cards don't even have charges! What the hell is going on?
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I think it's a bug that affected your copy of the cards around when WotLK launched. If you get those cards "new" (meaning you recently got a bunch out of Dire Maul or Winterspring or Inscription or whatever), they won't have that issue, but since they've been laying around for a while they got messed up at some point.
I'd say try opening a ticket. A GM might be able to fix it.
Edit: Oh, and cards that are bugged in that way can still be used in decks.
not only effectiveness but th overall ability to just deal with things. a blue gears tank using items built from blacksmithing CAN tank heroics. he might require more healing, yes. and the group might also go slower, yes. but it can be and should be done to develop players.
i think a growing trend that is starting to emerge is that "i am superior to the content i am experiencing." instead of learning the correct way to battle bosses and mob packs it as now become a cluster fuck of mashed buttons and impatient players.
why play the game if you are not going to learn to play it right/ half the fun 9at least for me) is developing a play style that not only benefits others but is rewarding to myself.
something to ask yourself as a player is - do you know/remember the correct way to fight loken? if you had a gear score of 3000 would you know what to do instead of just eating lightning novas? do moast tanks and healers know that spellslinger spiders in old kingdom cast a spell that hits a tank for 85% of his total hp?
i think most problems with progression / players / and dungeons could be completed if people actually relied on game mechanics, rather than becoming lazier as their gear increases.
teach new players how to play, and show them by example.
pistols at dawn
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Some of us have played since day one in WotLK and have not only ran said heroics countless times on our mains, but also alts and alts and alts.
Yes, I know how to fight Loken the "right" way, no I don't give a shit and am not going to waste the time going through the motions when we can burn him down before he even gets off a nova simply to say we did it "right", when I'm killing the fucker for the 19 billionth time.
It's fine to expect people to know how to do things the "old" or "right" way, but it's silly to expect them to actually perform as such at this point in the expansion pack.
The only thing blizzard can do to avoid this is implement mechanics that don't allow for overpowering, which in theory is fine but then the instance that has that kind of bosses will be immediately relegated to OK and OCC status and everyone will avoid them like the plague because they can do "easy" heroic in 20 minutes or "hard" one in 30 for the same end rewards.
Really the concept of overpowering content isn't the same as the problem with Gearscore and trying to link the two is a stretch.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Maybe what's needed is another level of difficulty for five mans, so that rewards can come from 'casual' content without it becomes the breezy aoefest it currently is. Normal difficulty, heroic difficulty, and Fuck You, Nub difficulty.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
So basically both games had clumsy systems that could either be gamed to be made extremely easy or fucked you over if you didn't play by the poorly designed rules correctly. Some games do non-standard RPG character progression correctly, but not those two.
Haha the card ability and junction system made you ridiculously overpowered without ever leveling. I had so much fun once I figured out that system and leveling like normal actually had an interesting effect by making the end game brutally difficult but so awesome after what felt like hours of one attempt on the boss.
So basically I understand the point, just poor examples
Either GS disappears completely, or they're forced to create a new analysis system, which can't be half as retarded as raw ilevel. Explain to me how either scenario is a bad thing.
When you're leveling, the difference is pretty much when you start putting points in demonology, since you won't get much use out of points in destro (unless you instance a lot).
And it's not like there aren't "better" tools out there (ElitistGroup, for example). People use GS because they don't have to give it any thought beyond looking at the number.
Except for the two points that make your pet healed when you do damage....
The "new analysis system" would likely be a table of item ids and their corresponding "ilvls".
You're trying to break a tool (edit: by no means the best tool) that is relatively informative in 95% of situations, instead of just telling some some occasional dumb people that they are dumb.
At launch, I used to get kicked out of groups because my health wasn't high enough (as DPS, with majority Naxx10 gear) for a 5-man, so I'm pretty sure summing ilvl's isn't really the problem here.
As far as I know, WHR does a decent job summarizing a character in one number since it accounts for the gear being appropriate for the spec as well as enchants, gems, etc. I guess the only major objective thing it doesn't account for is talent placement. But ElitistGroup takes care of that. I don't know if EG has any sort of straight up number that people use as a first pass filter, though. I don't use any of these addons, and when asked for whatever number I'll always just say something that's a little higher than the minimum they're asking for.
before item level was visible people just added together the stat weights to find out the item budget and that is the item level.
all it takes is someone to write up a little database of items and approximate item level (using stat weights and/or location of the drop) and oh hey now gearscore can see the item's ilevel.