Around May of 2005, Ming started a thread on the Rogue forums where he was devising an Agility comparison system for comparing gear using the formula 10 Agility = 10 Stamina = 20 Strength = 20 Attack Power = 1% Crit. One of the first people who responded to the thread coined the phrase "Agility Equivalence Points" and his formula has been known as AEP ever since.
I had just started working on my first armor chart at that time (after having already made a Maces chart) and I liked the simplicity of
the formula. So I incorporated a modified version of it into my charts.
Since then, I've made numerous changes and additions to the formula and have developed additional formulas based upon that formula.
AEP vs. MAEP
With the AEP/MAEP system, each stat is given a different weight when compared to Agility. MAEP, or Maximum DPS AEP, is designed for comparing gear for PVE, and specifically raiding. In raiding situations, Stamina and other defensive stats have little to no value when compared to DPS stats, so they're weighted at just a fraction of Agility (for tie-breaking purposes mostly.) However, in PVP, stats like Stamina, Parry, Dodge, Defense, Armor and Resistances provide necessary defense and survivability, so their AEP values are rated higher than their MAEP weightings.
When looking for gear upgrades, determine what your goal is, then use the chart that works best for you. If your goal is to maximize your PVP gear, then pick items that will give you the largest AEP upgrade. If your goal is to maximize your raid DPS, then select items that will give you the most MAEP.
You can find the AEP/MAEP values I've assigned to stats at the top each chart. If you don't like the formulas I use in my charts, you're welcome to use the downloadable spreadsheets I've provided here and assign your own values.
