Parser / Dps Meter!

[DarkshadeUnicorn]

As above!

Why don't we have a one built into PoL

[TybudX]

I agree with this statement. Only good things could come from bad players seeing just how bad their precious little butterfly wings really are.

[Ihnako]

You have one... just look at the flying numbers and do your pen & paper work.
And please remember - it's a game. If you feel your numbers are low think about a way to impove.
Ask others for opinions (or read the corresponding threads) - sometimes you just take a look at a bad moment.

Realy - there is no need for a parser or a dps-meter esp. when you've to consider that not all players have nearly unlimited ressources. (PS2 limitations)

[Byrth]

Unless I'm missing something, SE is under no legal obligation to keep the Playstation 2 experience the same as other users.

That said, they could dramatically decrease the need for a parser if they would just display all the stats. Let me check a monster and see all the relevant stats of my fight against it instead of giving vague clues about its level and my attack/accuracy relative to its defense/evasion. Tell me my exact critical hit rate, its defense, its evasion, etc. instead of giving me bullshit "Impossible to Gauge" messages for NMs.
PS. Why was "Libra" not this? Anyone can see the only important measure of Enmity just by looking at who the monster is attacking.

Let me check my own menu to see all my personal stats (DA rate, TA rate, Accuracy, Ranged Attack/Accuracy, Critical hit damage, total PDT, total MDT, total BDT, etc.) instead of just Attack/Defense, elemental resistance, and base stats.

The hardcore FFXI community thrives on min/maxing, which often results in situational gear/merit usage. We often don't actually know the stats of the monsters we're min/maxing for, so we can't really say with certainty that we're using the best option, even if we have worked out what the best options are and know what situations they're the best in. Let us get more information about the monster instead of inferring it.

Also, yeah, it would be pretty funny to see the reactions of the unique little birds to the results of an official parser.

[Arcon]

Let me check my own menu to see all my personal stats [..] instead of just Attack/Defense, elemental resistance, and base stats.

You know, that's one thing that's always bugged me. Elemental resistance was always one of the most useless stats to be displayed, because there's only a handful of situations that it actually mattered in. And knowing the value doesn't mean much, since resist calculations were still a complete guessing game. No one ever calculated that 200 earth resist would resist x% of Ouryu's attacks by 1/y, but it was determined based on observation. It was, by any measure a stat worthless knowing. I don't know anything else that would have been less important to display. It really makes no sense to me.

[Ihnako]

Unless I'm missing something, SE is under no legal obligation to keep the Playstation 2 experience the same as other users.

They could also stop working on improvements for the windows version?
As long as this game is a multiplatform game the long SE has to keep the experience nearly the same.

That said, they could dramatically decrease the need for a parser if they would just display all the stats. Let me check a monster and see all the relevant stats of my fight against it instead of giving vague clues about its level and my attack/accuracy relative to its defense/evasion. Tell me my exact critical hit rate, its defense, its evasion, etc. instead of giving me bullshit "Impossible to Gauge" messages for NMs.
PS. Why was "Libra" not this? Anyone can see the only important measure of Enmity just by looking at who the monster is attacking.

You'r missing the most funny fact - it's still a RPG even if it's a japanese one.
You can't walk to a monster with a magical microscope and see all it's stats - that's why they give you a vague hint on how difficult a mob is. Nothing else are colors or different flags in other games related to "RPG".
Maybe you should stick to SCIFI since that would be logical to inspect your opponent and having the blueprint in your hands.

Let me check my own menu to see all my personal stats (DA rate, TA rate, Accuracy, Ranged Attack/Accuracy, Critical hit damage, total PDT, total MDT, total BDT, etc.) instead of just Attack/Defense, elemental resistance, and base stats.

All other stats beside Attack/Defence doesn't give you anything. You just fogot that every stat needs a stat to compare with.
SE does give you hints on how good your stats are by checking your target.
Critical hit damage is, by the way, depending on more than one stat and would 99 of 100 cases just wrong.
(vs a Lv1 or Lv99, NM or nonNM, weakness against certain damage type or resistance buff, a.s.o.)

The hardcore FFXI community thrives on min/maxing, which often results in situational gear/merit usage. We often don't actually know the stats of the monsters we're min/maxing for, so we can't really say with certainty that we're using the best option, even if we have worked out what the best options are and know what situations they're the best in. Let us get more information about the monster instead of inferring it.

And again - why do you want to waste you inventory space with higly specialized and situational gear?
And that's just one downside. Another one and that's what's critical is that it would also mean that more people on the windows platform will use 3'rd party tools to switch gear more efficently.
I know - the game allows to change gear within a fight to a certain degree but I would welcome some common sense.
Otherwise SE please set the TP to 0 if any equipment beside ammunition is changed. ;p

Also, yeah, it would be pretty funny to see the reactions of the unique little birds to the results of an official parser.

For X-Box and PS2?

[Karbuncle]

They could also stop working on improvements for the windows version?
As long as this game is a multiplatform game the long SE has to keep the experience nearly the same.

Yeah, They aren't obligated to do anything. We know. which also means if they decided to give this to PC players, and not PS2, They could. IIRC the PS2 Players didnt get the font "upgrade".

You'r missing the most funny fact - it's still a RPG even if it's a japanese one.
You can't walk to a monster with a magical microscope and see all it's stats - that's why they give you a vague hint on how difficult a mob is. Nothing else are colors or different flags in other games related to "RPG".
Maybe you should stick to SCIFI since that would be logical to inspect your opponent and having the blueprint in your hands.

Why not? Its Magic. How come we can use Libra and suddenly tell to an exact % how much the monster hates us? hmmm...

Also, I want to tell you this funny little FF ability/spell.

its called, Scan!. Which has been in some past FF Games that allow you to directly see all Stats/Etc of the Enemy target. including their HP, MP, weaknesses, Etc. So if you ask me, I don't see how its out of genre.

All other stats beside Attack/Defence doesn't give you anything. You just fogot that every stat needs a stat to compare with.
SE does give you hints on how good your stats are by checking your target.
Critical hit damage is, by the way, depending on more than one stat and would 99 of 100 cases just wrong.
(vs a Lv1 or Lv99, NM or nonNM, weakness against certain damage type or resistance buff, a.s.o.)

So you're saying, Knowing your Ranged Accuracy, Accuracy, Ranged Attack, Evasion, Double Attack/haste Values, somehow won't matter...? Tell me, how exactly would be able to see important stats like Accuracy, Evasion, Ranged Accuracy, and Ranged attack somehow be so horrible you seem to want to fight against them being added?

I mean, Unless you're just arguing with Byrth to argue. Seeing stats like this might also help us determine what certain armors give. for instance, Double attack trait is commonly believed to be +10%, Triple is +5, through methods of seeing this in game we could verify. or armor like Homam Body that "Increases Triple Attack Rate" or w/e, What exactly does it give? a % increase? a simple +1/+2?

Or WAR AF feet, Believed to be a flat +1 Double attack, being able to view how much it gave by simply checking a number when equipping it is far less tiring then hours of parsing to get a good sample.

or armor with latents like "Fatality Belt" which if i recall still hasn't been discovered, Which may just be because its effect is very low. Being able to see Critical hit Rate/Damage would take the guess work out of a lot too.

Like being able to tell how much Critical hit Rate/Damage items like Lokis, X's Knife, kamome, Pahl. Body/etc give without long parses. This would all be wonderful information to have.

And again - why do you want to waste you inventory space with higly specialized and situational gear?
And that's just one downside. Another one and that's what's critical is that it would also mean that more people on the windows platform will use 3'rd party tools to switch gear more efficently.
I know - the game allows to change gear within a fight to a certain degree but I would welcome some common sense.
Otherwise SE please set the TP to 0 if any equipment beside ammunition is changed. ;p

So you're saying, You don't want this to be added because you can't understand the reasoning or logic behind carrying some armor that, while situational, has uses that some people would like to be prepared for, and that if SE added a way to verify the best of the min/maxing, it would only serve to increase the amount of people who use Third Party Tools?

I really don't think someones going to begin using Third party tools to macro if they already aren't now, just based on us having more knowledge of whats better than what.

We should have been able to see Stats like this from the beginning, they even added a lot of it in FFXIV (you can see your Acc, EVA, and R.acc/atk If i remember right). These are just basic things the players should be able to see. You can see your attack right? but checking a mob still gives you "Low, neutral, high Defense" reading, but while also giving the same for accuracy, we cannot see our Accuracy in any way.

[Leonlionheart]

Also, yeah, it would be pretty funny to see the reactions of the unique little birds to the results of an official parser.

Many lulz would be had.

@Ihnako: WoW gives the players all information of stats, including haste% and Critical Rate and Damage bonus.

If there's an MMO model to follow, simply because of sheer revenue the game has, it would be WoW.

[Ihnako]

@Ihnako: WoW gives the players all information of stats, including haste% and Critical Rate and Damage bonus.

I waited for that argument. WoW isn't what a game needs. It's one of a million games that attract a certain audience.
[Removed by Moderator according to the FINAL FANTASY XI FORUM Guidelines.]

@Karbuncle
I'm aware that some (not all including FFXI) FFgames have the spell scan.
Maybe SE could implement it for ... WHM and SCH. ;p

Ranged Accuracy and Ranged Attack won't matter to know.
Check your target and you'll get the information on how likely it would be to hit your target. And then take the necessary steps to max out your performace or better the performance of your party/alliance.

One point you added is that certain armor just gives vague hints of their combat value and even excessive tests didn't gave a decent hint about it.

From your way to put arguments together I guess you think if you would see a value of 50% critical hit rate - you would start thinking that every 2'nd hit would be a critical hit? That's mathematicaly wrong as long as the timeframe isn't infinite.
Stats you see that may or may not take effect is just an epenis and don't have any impact on the fight. But that's my opinion.

One thing should be clear - FFXI's flavor comes from the point that you have to do your research.
There is no rectangle showing the direction where the target mob/area is.
There is no detailed information about the target so you have to use your brain/former made experience.
There is no non plus ultra gear/skill as long as you don't take your time and test what's best (for you).

If you want it otherwise you could also play any WoWlike game and I can tell you - there are a lot even some that may be better as WoW.

Btw. knowing what stats exactly will influence the outcome/performance of a fight does have a direct influence on how many equipment will be changed during the fight.
You may be unaware of the WHM dilema with blinking party members. (I know <stal>)
Didn't you ever asked yourself why there are some players that perform on a different level even if you use what the game/macro system allows you naturaly?

Just remember - to change more than 6(?) items you need another macro.
Most people (at least those on X-Box and PS2) will use macros to a certain point where they could play the game and not push buttons like in a Street Fighter game.

There is another point why SE may have decided to not let you know all of your/target stats. SE can easily change/balance them it terms that a certain stat/combination is inferior.

To put it all together:
- There is no need for a parser nor more informations about your character or your target.
- Use your experience and decide for yourself what's the best and not a stat on a spreadsheet.
- Don't let FFXI become another WoW clone. This game is easy enough!
- Fun/miracles/blur knowlede/the will to improve your character and storyline is what makes a game addicted not numbers. (And I crunch numbers like others enjoy their breakfast.)

[Karbuncle]

Ranged Accuracy and Ranged Attack won't matter to know.
Check your target and you'll get the information on how likely it would be to hit your target. And then take the necessary steps to max out your performace or better the performance of your party/alliance.

When checking a mob, It bases the check info on your Main hand weapon, Ranged Accuracy and Ranged attack are not considered. Theres no way to check your R.acc or Ranged attack at all.

-

On knowing what stats influence what, the thing is, We already know the gist of it, What this would do is make it much easier to determine latent effects, and exact numbers on certian things. Which isn't going to change much since most armor already has known values, This would make it easier in the future to determine these things, and make it a lot more accurate.

Knowledge of Armors still is not going to suddenly make people switch to 3rd party tools by the thousands, it just won't happen. If they're using them now, They'll continue using them, If they're not, they wont or will, I don't think more making it easier for us to determine some bonuses will suddenly switch people to windower Macros.

I understand your concern for it. I love FFXI, but its obvious its UI is kinda awful. The game is easy enough to pick up, But at the same time, Not being able to ever check your current Critical hit rate, damage... R.acc, R.atk, Evasion, or basic things like that is not good UI.

-

On the macro thing, 2 macros can switch every piece of armor you have (not including Weapons). The way my macros are set up are confusing, but I've gotten used to it. I do something like this for THF

CTRL/Alt1 = WS gear
Ctrl/alt2 = TP Gear
ctrl/alt3 = Eva gear

Its not exactly that (theres a lot more macros), But basically I hit Ctrl1, then alt1 to switch to WS Gear, then use Ctrl2/alt2 to switch back to TP, Its really quite quick and can fit all things into it. on jobs like RDM it takes like 2-3 Macros "pages" because of the large amounts of gear.

So even if i had to buy more gear, I wouldn't suddenly begin using windower macros, Mostly because the set up i have no is easy enough for me, Most people these days who dont use windower macros are probably the same way. They got it working for them.

-
To address your Final points.

- There is no need for a parser nor more informations about your character or your target.

First part, You're probably right. Second part i can't say I agree. We shouldn't have to spend hours parsing ourselves just to figure out information the games UI should already tell us. The UI is terrible in this game when it comes to things like displaying our stats. We shouldn't have to use parsers and guess work to identify if Loki's Kafhtan gives +5% Critical hit Damage, or +10%, We should be able to put it on and see the Stat changes. (i.E Add more info to our Inventory screen).

Use your experience and decide for yourself what's the best and not a stat on a spreadsheet.

Sadly, Math is always better than Eyeballing, If you want to do the best, You learn. giving us the ability to more easily learn and decide which armor is good, and which is bad, Is just something that should be part of the game already. This would actually help both types of players, the casual and the number-crunchers.

The number crunchers will be able to more easily and readily test the values of armor that aren't 100% Clear. Examples like the Homam Body, or armors that don't specifically tell us their numbers (Like Loki's only saying "increases critical hit damage", not by how much)

Or "Enhances Triple Attack effect" as i said earlier, on Homam body. is it so hard to write "Triple Attack +1%"? What does it add? etc. This information we shouldn't have to guess around with. There is nothing wrong with giving us more information.

While I'm not saying everyone needs to number crunch, but truthfully some level of learning is required in ANY MMO. I play to have fun, so do a lot of number-crunchers. but they find doing their best always is fun, I find playing with my friends and doing my best is fun.

Each persons definition of "fun" will be different. This kind of improvement would actually help more than just number crunchers, It would make it easier for less-in-depth players to understand what their gear is doing for them as well.

Don't let FFXI become another WoW clone. This game is easy enough!

Having a UI that isn't terrible is not going to make FFXI a WoW clone. We don't 'need' a parser, but things like being able to see what your actually EVA, R.acc, R.atk, Crit.hit.rate, and Crit.hit.dmg are should be something thats always shown somewhere. These are important stats, as important as Attack or Defense. Even FFXIV's UI incorporated some of the above.

Fun/miracles/blur knowlede/the will to improve your character and storyline is what makes a game addicted not numbers

Some people enjoy it for that, Some enjoy not sucking at their job. Theres nothing wrong with either. adding a place to view relevant stats would not ruin this game. Just because its been like it has since day 1 Doesn't mean it wasn't crap from day 1.

Again, I Agree we don't really need an in-game parser, but we do need to be able to view basic stats. AT LEAST Ranged Accuracy/Attack and Evasion, those are important.

Edit: And really, the sad part is, that this Equipment screen is probably unchangeable. We will probably never be able to check our EVA, R.acc, or R.atk values.

Also look at items like "Flock Earring" or "Flock Ring". Those latent effects will be nearly impossible to test. But if we could see our EVA, and R.acc, We could see those stats change when latent is active, Making them more used/known depending on their bonuses.

Edit2: I'm really trying to make this not sound like a RAGEEEEEEE reponse =.=a its hard work.