THIS HAS TO END

[Dzspdref]

Yes, anyone can setup a yell bot and anyone can have alts botting. Actual players do that, shocking I know.

No, not "anyone can setup a yell bot" ... nor "anyone can have alts botting."
Only those people playing against the TOS using 3rd party outside software to run that bot can do it.
I use the vanilla in-game program only, and there is NO WAY for someone to make a 24/7 in-game yell bot with the ONLY LEGAL version of the game.

[Alhanelem]

No, not "anyone can setup a yell bot" ... nor "anyone can have alts botting."
Only those people playing against the TOS using 3rd party outside software to run that bot can do it.
I use the vanilla in-game program only, and there is NO WAY for someone to make a 24/7 in-game yell bot with the ONLY LEGAL version of the game.

Actually, many keyboards can be made to press a key at periodic intervals right on the keyboard without even installing anything. So no, you don't really need third party tools to spam a chat macro. The gaming keyboards many of us have been using for years can do that. Are you going to brand people cheaters just for having modern gaming hardware?

[Catmato]

Actually, many keyboards can be made to press a key at periodic intervals right on the keyboard without even installing anything. So no, you don't really need third party tools to spam a chat macro. The gaming keyboards many of us have been using for years can do that. Are you going to brand people cheaters just for having modern gaming hardware?

Just because it's hardware rather than software doesn't mean it's not a 3rd party tool. Any kind of automation that you can't do with in-game macros is a third party tool.

[Alhanelem]

Just because it's hardware rather than software doesn't mean it's not a 3rd party tool. Any kind of automation that you can't do with in-game macros is a third party tool.

Then they'll have to ban me for owning a gaming keyboard. Which literally no other PC game in existence would consider cheating. Sounds fair. And that gaming mouse? OMG, i've got a super duper gameplay advantage over you with that!

This is ignoring the fact that if you have nothing better to do you can just press macros yourself. The method witch which people spurt inane chat macros doesn't change how annoying or not annoying they are. There is also no way for you to legitimately distinguish someone automatically spamming a macro and manually doing so other than irregularity in frequency. using /wait commands you can repeat the same thing three times with a single macro. So I guess you're telling me you're totally fine with chat spam as long as they're not using a keyboard or a program to do it? (The reality is, chat spam is against the rules whether you're automating it or not)

If you think the community shouldn't be able to come up with reasonable QOL improvements when SE won't or isn't able to, then man, I hope you never play WoW, where you're literally expected to have custom UIs to play. Most guilds won't even let you join them if you don't have one (or assume you're bad because you're not tracking your DPS).

You have to look at the spirit of the rule, not just the letter. I'm totally okay with people using UI mods and such. That doesn't mean I'm okay with cheating, like speed hacking or teleporting around the map. There is a clear difference between those things. Someone with less than great vision might use an external tool to make the HP bars bigger or a different color because SE never bothered to implement accessibility options for people with poor vision or color blindness. Are you going to report people for that? I'm curious for what your case is that those people are hurting your gameplay experience. Many people like these aren't looking for a gameplay advantage, they're looking to be able to play in spite of physical disabilities.

[Catmato]

Then they'll have to ban me for owning a gaming keyboard. Which literally no other PC game in existence would consider cheating. Sounds fair. And that gaming mouse? OMG, i've got a super duper gameplay advantage over you with that!

Sarcasm aside, I'm not sure if you're just acting daft, but owning a keyboard with macro capabilities doesn't violate the ToS; using it to gain an advantage over other players, such as the previous example of infinitely spamming /yell, does.

Alternatively, look at it this way. I have Cheat Engine installed on my PC. That doesn't violate SE's ToS because I'm not using it to modify FFXI or bypass its limits. You can have and use a g15 keyboard without violating the ToS until you use it, for example, to bypass the game's 6 line macro limit. Once you use the g15 to repeat functions or automate a macro, you're using a 3rd party tool and are violating the ToS.

This is ignoring the fact that if you have nothing better to do you can just press macros yourself. The method witch which people spurt inane chat macros doesn't change how annoying or not annoying they are. There is also no way for you to legitimately distinguish someone automatically spamming a macro and manually doing so other than irregularity in frequency. using /wait commands you can repeat the same thing three times with a single macro. So I guess you're telling me you're totally fine with chat spam as long as they're not using a keyboard or a program to do it? (The reality is, chat spam is against the rules whether you're automating it or not)

The difference is that you actually have to be at the PC to press the macro to yell. If you're using a 3rd party tool, you can spam your macro 24/7, both annoying people who don't want to see it and giving you an unfair advantage over people who aren't cheating. If you aren't cheating, you have to be there to press the macro again, taking breaks as a real human would.

I hope you never play WoW, where you're literally expected to have custom UIs to play.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't WoW officially support add-ons? If so, that's a completely disingenuous comparison.

Are you going to report people for that? I'm curious for what your case is that those people are hurting your gameplay experience. Many people like these aren't looking for a gameplay advantage, they're looking to be able to play in spite of physical disabilities.

I'm not reporting anyone for anything. I don't care if you need a schoolgirl outfit mod, a colorblind mod, an assistive controller, a script that yells at every opportunity, or scripts that change 90 pieces of gear for every action; it's none of my business. Don't put words in my mouth and don't try to turn a discussion about what is and isn't against the ToS into a personal attack on me.