"Itemization Team is Right; You are Wrong"

I think you are misreading our intent.

We don't want to expand boss loot tables. That makes it less likely you'll end up with you want, not more. If we make druid tanking sticks, and druid rings, and druid trinkets, then you have more stuff that other tanks can't wear.

Therefore when players say "Please remove this stat from my gear," our answer is almost always "No, because we want other classes to share that gear."

There are always just some sub-optimal items. Those are there by design. Not everything is intended to be an upgrade and we want to reward players who understand the finer points of their class enough to know when something is an upgrade and when it's not. (And I'll throw in my standard dig that if you are simply picking something because a spreadsheet or website told you too, make sure you're making the right choice for your character.)

However some items also have mistakes in them and we are getting those fixed up over time.

Q u o t e:
<customer> I'll have a steak please.
<ghostcrawler> Here is your chicken dinner.
<customer> Uhh--- I ordered a steak?
<ghostcrawler> This is not as good, but when you come back tomorrow, order steak, and are given burger, think how much better that burger will be than this chicken, and closer to what you ordered! Here's your check.

What you are arguing for is that a boss should always drop steak. That isn't our design. When bosses reward too well then groups finish the content too quickly and then ask why we haven't released anything new yet.

If an item drops that improves some of your stats but lowers others, that is far more interesting from a game-design point of view than if you *always* knew you were going to get an upgrade. One thing I always stress is that games should be about interesting decisions. Deciding if you can afford the loss of hit to get more strenth, or trying to decide if the parry rating is worth losing a little stamina are interesting decisions. There are not always clear cut answers. It lets players demonstrate mastery of the game when they can make the right choice for their character. A best in slot item is not worth it if you have to sacrifice too much of another stat to use it. An item with tons of defense can be the best thing for you if you are wearing blues to hit the cap, or the worst thing for you if you are already comfortably above the cap.