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Spike Flail, expectations about their knowledge of theorycraft come before
their dependability. Bad Omen, a E.U. guild, puts their requirements more
clearly, listing three expectations for prospective applicants in bullet form,
the third of which is “If you do not want to min-max/theorycraft on your
knowledge of theorycrafting with guidelines for attendance and availabil-
ity, clearly linking theorycraft with an expected level of play. These are but
two of the scores of guilds that lay out theorycrafting as a key component
of the application process, ranging from essential knowledge to a highly
encouraged bonus. Much like computer skills are increasingly important
to get a job, knowledge of and fl uency in theorycraft is used to separate
applicants to guilds and determine who is of sui cient quality to invite and
who is not.
A second theme in the positive discourse about theorycrafting is the way
theorycrafting helps players understand underlying features of the game. In
the introduction to a user modifi cation designed to aid in in-game theory-
crafting, Sean Forsgren writes,
You all know a
World of Warcraft
number cruncher. You may, in fact,
be that person, the one who can spout of [sic] stats about your class or
game mechanics. Although, in the beginning, I rolled my eyes at people
who pondered the math of the game, today fi nds me holding a deep
respect for you number junkies. You've all helped many of us become
uncrushable, uncrittable and even understand how +spell damage and
+healing work.
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In the midst of articulating that numerical analysis had moved from a margin-
alized activity that caused him to “roll my eyes,” Forsgren frames his respect
for theorycraft in how it helps to explain how
WoW
is designed and works
in practice. Playing with numbers may be mockable, but once those numbers
are put to use and Forsgren can see the practical application of the theoretical
analysis, respect for theorycraft can be garnered, similar to the way that Billy
Beane's approach to baseball was denigrated until proven ef ective.
However, the understanding granted by theorycraft is generally incom-
plete, subject to testing and hypotheses, rather than defi nitive, as Blizzard
rarely releases the exact formulae that govern play in
WoW
. In a forum
thread where this general principle is overlooked, Blizzard designer Ghost-
in the thread, after a player expresses dismay that hours of work testing were
worthless, as it was based on incorrect assumptions, Ghostcrawler wrote,
This is honestly one of the reasons we don't do this more often. There is
a risk players will stop experimenting and theorycrafting if they think
we will eventually just dump all of the answers on them. We like for
players to experiment with gear, talents and the like. Having black
