Request for TOS Clarification: "Third Party Programs"

I apologize if this has been addressed, but I've heard several conflicting reports at this point and it's really getting on my nerves.

Today, this was posted:

We would like to remind players that using third-party programs, parsers, or other tools to conduct actions players would not normally be able to do in the game is a violation of the Terms of Service, and will be dealt with strict disciplinary action.

This is in direct conflict with multiple previous statements, and I assume that's just because of imprecise language.

This post by Hvinire in November explicitly allows VPN tunneling software and implicitly allows programs that do not alter player input.

The TOS explicitly allow the use of videos and music. This would obviously be impossible without third party video recording software.

I have heard that FFXIV-App, for example, has been explicitly allowed despite that it's a parser. I've also heard that parsers are explicitly not allowed. Finally, I've heard repeatedly that GMs haven't really been given a straight answer regarding this, and they're as much in the dark as the playerbase.

How about copying your battle log to the clipboard, pasting it into a text file, and then running scripts on it? That's about as malicious as reading, but I could throw together such a "parser" in minutes with PowerShell, for instance.

Can we please get some clarification? To my knowledge, thus far nobody has been banned for using a parser.

think the key phrase here is this:

"tools to conduct actions players would not normally be able to do in the game"

So long as you aren't using it as some sort of cheat/exploit or something like that (doing something that alters how the game runs/communicates/etc.), should be OK. Was the general rule in XI and why (for the most part) Windower was tolerated until it became known someone was abusing portions of it's capabilities--ie: don't give yourself an advantage over others, and certainly don't blab about it.

As for VPN... that isn't really altering the game's data to give you an unfair advantage. You are simply changing the mode of transit by encapsulating the packets differently to bypass issues with your ISP's routing rules and such. Depending on your medium already in use, it may already be getting repackaged in some form or another for transit. For instance, cable uses an mpeg stream for part of the transit. The data is simply encoded a specific way for transit and then decoded back to it's original form at the other end. So, they kind of don't have a leg to stand on for going after someone if they are using a VPN.

The big taboo is when you are actively intercepting and altering that data to be/do something differently than the game would normally be able to generate with it's built in interfaces and such.

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Originally Posted by theothersteve7

How about copying your battle log to the clipboard, pasting it into a text file, and then running scripts on it? That's about as malicious as reading, but I could throw together such a "parser" in minutes with PowerShell, for instance.

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You can do this for players on PS3?

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Originally Posted by Velox

You can do this for players on PS3?

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You can't do that with a third-party program either, so, basically the same; ya.

Well, the straight answer to your question is that there is no straight answer. If you'd like, I could explain what I've seen/heard from players:

If you're using third-party plugins, such as something to measure your DPS, fine. But the minute you mention it to another player or use it as grounds to act differently than you would without it, you're in trouble. Otherwise, if a GM finds you with it, it really comes down to how generous they're feeling that day. When ARR launched, programs that would automatically keep trying to log you in were becoming popular, and as a result, GMs cracked down on players found to be using that software - would they do the same if you ran a script to log you in today? Considering there's no login queues, it's probably something that, again, would depend on how generous the GM that caught you was feeling.

The general rule of thumb is that anything that provides an explicit advantage is a no-no. Using something like video recording software is fine, because there's nothing about it that puts you at an advantage - if anything, a disadvantage because the software may lead to a framerate drop. I know that still isn't a very good answer, but it's the best you can get from anyone at this point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theothersteve7

Can we please get some clarification? To my knowledge, thus far nobody has been banned for using a parser.

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Use common sense...
The statement is in line what has been previously mentioned.