how good do you think you are at optimising?

[Omen of Peace]

3. I'm too interested in elegance and progression. It's more important to me that every level goes smoothly than it is that my character WILL be awesome, or WAS awesome.

Same here. Which is why I can rarely reuse existing builds...

I have absorbed a large body of knowledge, so that I can usually give some advice, but my original contributions amount to little.

[Akalsaris]

3. I'm too interested in elegance and progression. It's more important to me that every level goes smoothly than it is that my character WILL be awesome, or WAS awesome.

Back in 3.0, when the tools to optimise were blunter and the highs higher, though, I think I rated very highly. I remember getting Psychofeedback nerfed through the Wizards boards and I remember very clearly the creation of the Geomancer Gish builds which showed how crap gish were back in 3.0

Personally I think the best optimization is when a character is unique, fun, and useful to the party for the entire 1-20 game, and the best optimizer is one who works to share his knowledge with others to help them have more fun instead of using it to piss off DMs, for example.  So in my book at least you're a top optimizer  

I'd rate myself about an 7 to 7.5 for these boards, and probably much higher for the average population.  THat's only for 3.5 though...in 4E I'm still a real newbie.

[bogsnes]

Personally I think the best optimization is when a character is unique, fun, and useful to the party for the entire 1-20 game, and the best optimizer is one who works to share his knowledge with others to help them have more fun instead of using it to piss off DMs, for example.  So in my book at least you're a top optimizer  

I'd rate myself about an 7 to 7.5 for these boards, and probably much higher for the average population.  THat's only for 3.5 though...in 4E I'm still a real newbie.

Fu for that awesome thought

[Tshern]

I don't think the character has to be unique. A Druid 20 can be damn fun to play and it can be customized for all situations, but it's still pretty similar to any other Druid 20. The uniqueness of a character comes from the player, not the sheets.

[bogsnes]

I was speaking more of the "fun" and "helpful" parts, even though unique can also be a bonus.

[emissary666]

I am most definately a -999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999

[Risada]

After Gleemax/BG: 3~5
Before: n/a

I still have to polish my skillz...

[Ieniemienie]

I'd give myself a solid 5 
Although I do know the psychology notion of always being average or above average, so I might just as well be a 3 

And I totally agree that it is not about you being awesome, but everyone being awesome in that you all have a great time playing DnD!