Appraising is worthless.

[Jeremiah]

Actually, these are the empirical results from a sophisticated neural network that has played billions of games.

Tier lists are always opinion-based argument generators, no?

Yes, it is subjective, but it can still have some rational structure.

[Blank4u47]

Do you know what the appeal to authority fallacy is? I am going to take a wild guess that you don't.

I do, but I’d like to point out I’m not referring to him as an “authority figure” I’m saying he knows the game mechanics better than most people, to the point that he was labeled the bug slayer and given a bug detecting wand. If someone proves their knowledge to a certain extent, they naturally accumulate a degree of trust for their opinion.

[Jeremiah]

I could rank the weapons myself, which would be limited to my opinions or we could rank the weapons as a community which would give a more encompassing view.

Or we can just continue to troll each other like too many roosters in the hen house.

[Jeremiah]

I do, but I’d like to point out I’m not referring to him as an “authority figure” I’m saying he knows the game mechanics better than most people, to the point that he was labeled the bug slayer and given a bug detecting wand. If someone proves their knowledge to a certain extent, they naturally accumulate a degree of trust for their opinion.

I don't care.

[Grond]

Yes, it is subjective, but it can still have some rational structure.

So, where am I being irrational?
Some things like literacy being good surely don't need an explanation.

[Blank4u47]

I could rank the weapons myself, which would be limited to my opinions or we could rank the weapons a community which would give a more encompassing view.

Or we can just continue to troll each other like too many roosters in the hen house.

Why would you want to rate the weapons? And we are not trolling you. You just have such an extreme response to generally mild opinions.

[Jeremiah]

So, where am I being irrational?

I just asked for your reasoning. I never said it was irrational. I wanted to know how you ranked them. Not everything is an argument.

[Jeremiah]

Why would you want to rate the weapons?

To figure out the chance that appraising is being applied to a useful item. Also a rank list of common gear might be useful for new players trying to figure what is good and what is not.

[Blank4u47]

To figure out the chance that appraising is being applied to a useful item. Also a rank list of common gear might be useful for new players trying to figure what is good and what is not.

Not sure what you are getting at here. Appraisal will change it’s evaluations based on how much extra damage or better or worse status. Same idea for armor. For other items good or bad or mediocre means cursed or blessed. Which can be useful in a pinch.

[Grond]

I just asked for your reasoning. I never said it was irrational. I wanted to know how you ranked them. Not everything is an argument.

Tier 1 skills are what I would consider true game-changers. Limitless fireballs, the ability to read scrolls, and not having to worry about positioning in a few critical moments make a difference.

Tier 2 skills still offer significant bonuses to make the game easier, such as being a bit faster, having the potential for spellcasting, being able to do some easy shoplifting, killing stuff in melee faster (crits, invis backstabs) etc.

Tier 3 skills are more modest boosts but still clearly make the game easier; bonuses to more minor stats, saving some on healing, not having traps be a hassle, etc.

Tier 4 skills are just minor utility: avoiding some pitfalls with gear, some occasional tricky situations like viper traps or the door game.

Tier 5 skills are the true useless ones, with very little point in advancing them. Haggling will occasionally save some money, but you don't really need money and most classes can't even advance it to a level where it works. Listening trains up just fine on its own. Two Weapon Combat is improving an ill-advised method of fighting.