Kill GS?

Gearscore is like an axe. In the right hands it can be a useful tool. In the wrong hands you just hope your Sunday pilates classes have strengthened your body to the point where you could deftly jump away should it be swung around to-and-fro with no regard for logical application.

Q u o t e:
Is it supported

No third-party addons are supported.

Q u o t e:
was that the idea behind the visible item level on gear

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.

Q u o t e:
Maybe we're getting a built in GS it'd be like many other useful mods before that got added to the standard UI.

That wouldn't change the possibility of misuse of such a feature.

Q u o t e:
Or is it an annoyance that's derailing things from how they should be and must will be dealt with like that AVR mod.

The addon takes information that is freely available about items, and attempts to quantify that in a way that makes it very easy to tell the relative 'worth' of the items someone is wearing. As long as items are created on a scale and made using a set budget (both of which are essentially required for balanced progression) then something like gearscore will be possible. I don't believe there's any way to "break" it, not are we currently considering any such thing.

Q u o t e:
Right now it feels like if blizzard was trying to avoid the topic or didn't take it seriously.

No, the issue is that people are using information that is freely available (and would always need to remain so) mashing it up into a number, and misusing that number as a means to keep people out of their groups. All it does is make the process of inspecting someones gear faster, and ultimately less accurate.

The best thing we can do is tell people to stop using the information in a way that's dumb, and that's a losing battle.

Well, it's been more than five pages since I've read something that brings up a new point or is continuing an informed debate, so I want to thank everyone for posting...

... aaaaaaaaaand scene.