Parses and ToS

Hi I have a quick question about parsers. I just started getting serious about a dps class (before mostly only tanking) and I'd like to have an in game parser overlay mostly to compare myself to other dps and also to see my numbers and improve. .........not to be an elitist but seems like it would be fun to know how well I'm doing

So A. Is it against the terms of service?
B. What's a good one to use?

Aldo side C. Unrelated but Sweet FX.....worth it and is it against ToS?

Use it, but don't explicitly say you have it in game.
It should be in the game.
It's technically against the ToS, but it's horseshit that they aren't implemented across the board yet.

Parsers are against ToS, but they don't actively scan for them. They have openly said it's against ToS, but also said it's more of a don't ask, don't tell situation. As long as you aren't harassing people you can run them all day long. SE knows we use them and as long as your aren't offending other people with them you'll be fine. Basically the only way you'll get a temp ban is if someone reports you. Best one to use for DPS tracking is ACT (Advanced Combat Tracker). Also you can use SweetFX and talk about it openly to your heart's content.

Ok so parsers bad sweetfx good lol anyone happen to run sweetfx? How is it?

They dont mind you using parsers but its a case of, we dont like them but we arent going to actively seek and ban for them.

Btw if you do happen to run a parser, if you are likely to share information with the grp it is good habit to ask first.

Well idk about the parser now I've put in a lot lot of work in my character lol and as much as I want to improve myself I'm not sure I'd it's worth the risk

It's not a permanent ban, and hardly anyone ever gets in trouble for that in game. Most of the time it's a temp ban on the forums only. Quite literally the only way you can get in trouble for it is you are running around shouting that you are using a parser, and they are all terrible and need to learn their roles. Just running it for your own knowledge is fine. It's not as though it modifies anything in the game. It merely reads the combat logs and filters things down specific encounters and does the number crunching for you. I mean if you were so inclined you could do it by hand.

I mean, they implemented combat logging which basically serves no other purpose than allowing parsers to read it... so even though it's technically against the TOS, nobody is likely to either notice or care that you're running one as long as you don't start calling people out in PUGs on the basis of it. I believe the official stance is that they know damn well that people need parsers as a tool for self-evaluation and progression, so as long as you don't make it clear in-game that you're using one, they're not going to stop you.

Is there anyway if doing this with a ps4 :(

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Originally Posted by Stupiduglytaru

Is there anyway if doing this with a ps4 :(

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Find someone else to parse for you is pretty much your only option.

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Originally Posted by SerDakota

Well idk about the parser now I've put in a lot lot of work in my character lol and as much as I want to improve myself I'm not sure I'd it's worth the risk

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They don't care if we use parsers in all honesty, they probably think it's a good thing people can use them to improve themselves for raid content... What they don't want, is people using the data in the wrong way, like calling out a player for having bad DPS or something.

Only reason it's against ToS, is so that people don't use those numbers in a bad way, and keep it to people they know.

They are not gonna search for it and ban you or anything... even if you keep being an ass in-game with the parser results, you would get a warning or temporary suspension for short period, not a permanent ban.

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Originally Posted by SerDakota

So A. Is it against the terms of service?
B. What's a good one to use?

Aldo side C. Unrelated but Sweet FX.....worth it and is it against ToS?

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To answer in order.
A) Yes, technically. But, videos are posted daily of people running parsers that show in the video, for example, and SE just says "Congrats on World First T13, guys!" All they really care about is if you're using the parser to get an unfair advantage (not just getting DPS numbers) or if you're using it to harass people.
B) Advanced Combat Tracker. Sometimes the setup can be problematic, but there are guides out there.
C) I swear I had SweetFX on this computer and loved it, but I can't find it right now :( From what I recall, nothing about it would be against the TOS.

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Originally Posted by SpookyGhost

Find someone else to parse for you is pretty much your only option.

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I think it sucks that they haven't given us a way in game to simply see our own DPS numbers. Which puts us at a disadvantage vs other players who can see both theirs AND ours. And what's the reason they keep giving? Oh yeah, because they don't want people getting discriminated/harassed over their low DPS numbers. Ok so how would letting people see their OWN numbers in game contribute to that happening, that makes no sense at all as a reason why we can't have something like this to gauge and improve our performance.

Until they give us something, we're stuck with a situation where others can parse their own DPS and our DPS numbers, when we can't even access our own numbers, how is that fair. I don't think even Rain Man could watch the battle log and calculate DPS that way without a parser.

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Originally Posted by Buff_Archer

when we can't even access our own numbers, how is that fair.

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Well, based on what Craiger commented above, if they implemented a legal DPS meter for parsing ourselves, nothing stops us from asking the other about their parse, which in a domino effect would pretty much end up on the harassing that party DPS parser would regardless bring, had it be legal...

Of course, nothing would make them actually answer those who ask, but I doubt that would stop the harassing, if a legal self DPS parser existed.

Just my own opinion, tho.