Thanks treesh for the informative post. I'd like to add some of my thoughts as well.
I am a big fan of damage meters. I think it is essential for the dps classes to gauge how well they do with respect to the other members of the raid. When you see yourself lagging behind others it's a great opportunity to learn about what you can do to improve. Do you need better gear? Is there a better spec for your class? what is the best spell rotation to maximize DPS? What is this /stopcasting thing I hear about? As treesh mentioned you cannot have too much DPS. The more dps you have the faster things die and the less chance you have for things to go wrong.
On the other hand, I am not a fan of healing meters. The unfortunate side effect of healing meters is the mere fact that you must heal EVERYONE to top the healing meters. Let's talk specifics for a bit. Druids have one of the most fantastic/mana effecient heals in the game: Lifebloom. For only 220 mana or 178 mana (if you're a tree) you can cast an instant heal that will heal someone for nearly 3000 health. This makes lifebloom ideal in fights where the whole raid is taking damage, but at a slow rate. One fight where lifebloom healing the raid really shines is on the Gruul fight. The important thing to note, however, is that it takes seven seconds for the heal to reach full effect. If there is a paladin, shaman, or priest with their 1.5 second heals that is interested in toping the healing meters that individual will heal the person with the lifebloom essentially wasting the lifebloom heal. Druids are effected more by this discussion than any other healing class. We have HoTs and Big long heals. It is very easy for the other fast casting classes to get there spam heals in before ours have a chance to hit or take full effect. In addition, many of the classes have healing spells that don't count as heals for that healer. Lifebloom for druids, Earthshield for shamans, Prayer of Mending for Priests. These heals actually show up on the meters as heals for the target not the healer. Blizzard never designed the classes to do equal "healing" on healing meters, so unlike damage meters, you can't take nearly as much away from healing meters.
Once side note about FFA healing. I think that a mod that will indicate which members of the raid have aggro is essential for FFA healing. You can proactively start a heal on them as soon as you notice they gain aggro. In addition you can see when they lose aggro. If I see someone grab aggro, take a hit, then quickly drop aggro I know that I can drop one lifebloom on the target and they will safely be healed up to full. If they don't quickly drop aggro, however, I know to keep healing them until they do.
D
I am a big fan of damage meters. I think it is essential for the dps classes to gauge how well they do with respect to the other members of the raid. When you see yourself lagging behind others it's a great opportunity to learn about what you can do to improve. Do you need better gear? Is there a better spec for your class? what is the best spell rotation to maximize DPS? What is this /stopcasting thing I hear about? As treesh mentioned you cannot have too much DPS. The more dps you have the faster things die and the less chance you have for things to go wrong.
On the other hand, I am not a fan of healing meters. The unfortunate side effect of healing meters is the mere fact that you must heal EVERYONE to top the healing meters. Let's talk specifics for a bit. Druids have one of the most fantastic/mana effecient heals in the game: Lifebloom. For only 220 mana or 178 mana (if you're a tree) you can cast an instant heal that will heal someone for nearly 3000 health. This makes lifebloom ideal in fights where the whole raid is taking damage, but at a slow rate. One fight where lifebloom healing the raid really shines is on the Gruul fight. The important thing to note, however, is that it takes seven seconds for the heal to reach full effect. If there is a paladin, shaman, or priest with their 1.5 second heals that is interested in toping the healing meters that individual will heal the person with the lifebloom essentially wasting the lifebloom heal. Druids are effected more by this discussion than any other healing class. We have HoTs and Big long heals. It is very easy for the other fast casting classes to get there spam heals in before ours have a chance to hit or take full effect. In addition, many of the classes have healing spells that don't count as heals for that healer. Lifebloom for druids, Earthshield for shamans, Prayer of Mending for Priests. These heals actually show up on the meters as heals for the target not the healer. Blizzard never designed the classes to do equal "healing" on healing meters, so unlike damage meters, you can't take nearly as much away from healing meters.
Once side note about FFA healing. I think that a mod that will indicate which members of the raid have aggro is essential for FFA healing. You can proactively start a heal on them as soon as you notice they gain aggro. In addition you can see when they lose aggro. If I see someone grab aggro, take a hit, then quickly drop aggro I know that I can drop one lifebloom on the target and they will safely be healed up to full. If they don't quickly drop aggro, however, I know to keep healing them until they do.
D