It's official Parsers are illegal in FFXIV

[Noahlimits]

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...5bd14ffec4345f

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.

Isn't the key phrase here "would not normally be able to do in game"? Can't a player get his DPS (although using a lot of math) from the battle log? Since that is an action a player could normally do in game, isn't that quote saying that it is, in fact, okay?

Either way, I don't care. I don't use them. /shrug

[Tupsi]

Isn't the key phrase here "would not normally be able to do in game"? Can't a player get his DPS (although using a lot of math) from the battle log? Since that is an action a player could normally do in game, isn't that quote saying that it is, in fact, okay?

Either way, I don't care. I don't use them. /shrug

No - Parsers read into data much more than you can "eyeball", hence why they're a 3rd party tool. They also display DoT damage which you, as a player, can't get an accurate number by eyeballing unless you have the cleanest battle log known to man.

It was either 2006 or 2008 (can't remember which year, if not both) I knew several people who were banned for using windower in XI

Yep, SE bans for it if you're dumb about it, Windower itself they don't care about (it is a 3rd party though) but it's the cheat like plugins that people adamantly defend and will only list say, the one that shows you TP and MP of players, but not the stuff that, you know, lets you see through walls...or run through them..or have exact readouts on monster pop times and so on.

[LexSunfire]

No - Parsers read into data much more than you can "eyeball", hence why they're a 3rd party tool. They also display DoT damage which you, as a player, can't get an accurate number by eyeballing unless you have the cleanest battle log known to man.

depends on the parser. some parsers get their data only from your combat log.

and my understanding of Yoshida's stance on parsers is that he can't come out and say using parsers to gauge your own dps is okay because then he's promoting third party software.

[EasymodeX]

No - Parsers read into data much more than you can "eyeball", hence why they're a 3rd party tool. They also display DoT damage which you, as a player, can't get an accurate number by eyeballing unless you have the cleanest battle log known to man.

Uh, you can fraps the entire fight and count each and every one of your damage ticks that floats above the target's head.

Lololo.

You can also take the target's health and divide by the time it takes to kill the target.

Welcome to how things were done before we had tools to do things efficiently.

[Tupsi]

Uh, you can fraps the entire fight and count each and every one of your damage ticks that floats above the target's head.

Lololo.

Yeah, people who throw out DPS % the second the fight ends really did review an entire 4-10 minute video in 2 seconds...yep.

[EasymodeX]

Yeah, people who throw out DPS % the second the fight ends really did review an entire 4-10 minute video in 2 seconds...yep.

So the complaint here is that parsers enable faster data analysis? Last I checked, the scrub crywagon was complaining that parsers allowed a player to analyze numbers they would not otherwise be able to do.

[Aikaal]

Parser is a third party program so it is illegal. However, most people use them to see if they are doing something wrong. Parsers does tell you, "There's something wrong with your damage or healing in that period of time."

But, Parsers don't tell you how to fix it. It's your job as a player to discover what's wrong with you. I don't know a single serious and dedicated group that wouldn't use such program to improve their gameplay.

SE is aware of that. Parsers are indeed illegal since they are a third party program but they don't hunt and track down the players using Parsers. Because they know if they'd do that and start banning everybody they'd lose all of their community. They will only ban those using Parser for malicious uses.

[LexSunfire]

SE is aware of that. Parsers are indeed illegal since they are a third party program but they don't hunt and track down the players using Parsers. Because they know if they'd do that and start banning everybody they'd lose all of their community. They will only ban those using Parser for malicious uses.

this would be the difference between prohibited and bannable. a prohibited action unenforced is not bannable, until the point where the prohibited action causes problems in the game. harassment or cheating would be the point where it becomes bannable. I personally don't use a parser because I don't want to come anywhere near the line of prohibited/bannable. but if others want to push the line and risk being banned, then use it at your own risk. but if you get banned you have no one to blame but yourself.

[C-croft]

this would be the difference between prohibited and bannable. a prohibited action unenforced is not bannable, until the point where the prohibited action causes problems in the game. harassment or cheating would be the point where it becomes bannable. I personally don't use a parser because I don't want to come anywhere near the line of prohibited/bannable. but if others want to push the line and risk being banned, then use it at your own risk. but if you get banned you have no one to blame but yourself.

Use of a parser is bannable. They are not going to actively pursue you unless you start putting people on blast aka harassment. It's a don't ask, don't tell policy. The ban is a result of the prohibited action. Regardless if the action is enforced or not, a prohibited action is, well, prohibited. You can go shoplift and not get caught or the shopkeep not stop you, but just because you got away doesn't make it any less illegal.

[LexSunfire]

The ban is a result of the prohibited action. Regardless if the action is enforced or not, a prohibited action is, well, prohibited. You can go shoplift and not get caught or the shopkeep not stop you, but just because you got away doesn't make it any less illegal.

when they acknowledge that they won't enforce a rule unless it causes problems... that's a lot different than shoplifting. unless you're analogizing to a fictional world where stores acknowledge that shoplifting is okay as long as you keep it hush hush.