I just wanted to point out a double standard...

[Tharian]

lol in game GM's cant even contact you when you're in an instance.

Um... dude. Actually they can. They just have to use the Support Desk instead of the /tell system. And if a System Administrator needed to contact you while you were in an Instance, then I am pretty sure they could bypass the "no /tell's while in an instance" black out if they really wanted to. System Administrators are just below the Developers on the hierarchy of power within the game. G.M.'s don't have the kind of power that a System Admin has.

[Wizhard]

I guarantee you that Square-Enix also has a way of determining Parsed Data for all battles fought on their Game Servers. While spouting out random nonsense numbers probably won't get you banned... spouting out the accurate DPS figures would be a very high risk proposition. Either way, good player policy is to report anyone who is spouting off numbers and alleging them to be DPS figures, on the assumption that they are in fact using third party software.

Except not a single ban was given for using it. The only warning was for a person who repeatedly belittled the dps in question, which was filed as harassment, not use of third-party software.

I guarantee you that Square-Enix also has a way of determining Parsed Data for all battles fought on their Game Servers.

And i really hope they will give us that functionality so we can once and for all forget this nonsence.

[Tharian]

Actually... not to nitpick. But there have been several hundred bans by Square-Enix for the use of Parsers and other Third Party Software. The vast majority of them however took place in Final Fantasy XI in a war between the Developers and the Players over what would become known as the "Absolute Virtue Conflict" where in the developers whose favorite monster was Absolute Virtue, would continuously modify the creature so that each time that creature was defeated by an alliance, that avenue to defeat was summarily removed from that fight by the developers.

The end result was that the only way to effectively defeat Absolute Virtue towards the end of the conflict was by utilizing Third Party Cheats and Hacks (the least of which were Parsers). It got so bad that Square-Enix had to introduce an official nerf to the fight, but instead of doing it by weakening the boss, they instead raised the level cap of the players, thereby invalidating the need for these hacks.

[Sapphic]

The end result was that the only way to effectively defeat Absolute Virtue towards the end of the conflict was by utilizing Third Party Cheats and Hacks (the least of which were Parsers). It got so bad that Square-Enix had to introduce an official nerf to the fight, but instead of doing it by weakening the boss, they instead raised the level cap of the players, thereby invalidating the need for these hacks.

Theres a world of difference between cheats and hacks and parsers which do not modify data, just record. Whereas cheats and hacks DO modify data.

Also you think SE raised the cap just for AV? Just lol. Think you need to study up a bit more there champ.

[Richiealvian]

Look at it this way, if I have a reasonable cause to think that my neighbor is running an illegal coke (drug) factory in his basement, I am duty bound to tell the Police whether I am 100% certain that he is doing so or not. It is the Police Department's job to have it's investigator's determine if their is enough probable cause to arrest that individual.

Same rules apply when reporting someone for suspected breach of the Terms of Use. So long as you have reason to suspect that there has been a breach of the Terms of Use, then you should report that person. Hence I would report someone who tells me I am doing under a specified number of DPS on the grounds of suspecting them of using a Parser. Do I have proof? No. Do I have sufficient evidence to report them? Yes.

I'd hate to be your neighbor

[Tharian]

Theres a world of difference between cheats and hacks and parsers which do not modify data, just record. Whereas cheats and hacks DO modify data.

Also you think SE raised the cap just for AV? Just lol. Think you need to study up a bit more there champ.

Oh I know it wasn't "JUST" for Absolute Virtue. But Absolute Virtue was a huge reason for the level cap increase. He was impossible to beat without it at the time.

That said, while you are absolutely correct that Parsers do not modify data, they just record it, any and all third party software that can be used to provide yourself with an advantage over other players is something that is bannable. Same goes for Glitches. Parsers can in fact provide such an advantage. Thus they are a bannable offense if you are caught using them.

I'd hate to be your neighbor

Fortunately I don't have neighbors like that to my knowledge, so I have no reason to report my neighbors to the police for such a crime.

[Sapphic]

Oh I know it wasn't "JUST" for Absolute Virtue. But Absolute Virtue was a huge reason for the level cap increase. He was impossible to beat without it at the time.

Actually SE reduced AVs HP before the level raise and more LSs where able to defeat it.

In response to a wave of bad press surrounding another HNM Pandemonium Warden, Square Enix reduced the difficulty of Absolute Virtue in late 2008. Its HP total was reduced from an approximate 100,000 to around 66,000, and its stats were significantly lowered. A time limit of 2 hours was also imposed to prevent players from fighting it for too long.

[Tharian]

Actually SE reduced AVs HP before the level raise and more LSs where able to defeat it.

In response to a wave of bad press surrounding another HNM Pandemonium Warden, Square Enix reduced the difficulty of Absolute Virtue in late 2008. Its HP total was reduced from an approximate 100,000 to around 66,000, and its stats were significantly lowered. A time limit of 2 hours was also imposed to prevent players from fighting it for too long.

Reducing the Hit Point total of Absolute Virtue did diddly squat towards reducing the difficulty of the fight. Absolute Virtue could have had a grand total of 5,000 hit points for all the good it would have done people... the thing at the height of it's power could literally spam any and all 2 hour abilities of all classes except those found in the Treasures of Aht Urghan Expansion. That includes the one that instantly restores the entire parties hit points to maximum! And imposing time limits on Super Bosses actually INCREASES the difficulty of the fights, not decreases the difficulty. Can you imagine fighting Ruby or Emerald Weapon in Final Fantasy VII if you were limited to only 10 minutes?

Now if you're going to cite the Pandemonium Warden Fiasco, you need to explain what all the bad press was about, just in case there are people here who don't know.

The problem with Pandemonium Warden was that Pandemonium Warden is a Tiered Boss. What this means is that he is identical in nature to bosses such as Chrono Trigger's Final Boss for example. Pandemonium Warden has around 12 or so (not the exact number) different forms. Each of these forms is followed by a group of other enemies that provide support for the boss during the fight. In one of these forms he is followed by a group of White Mages, who again can each use the 2 hour ability that instantly restores all health to a party.

The problem that caused all the bad press relating to that boss, was that one Linkshell had attempted to fight Pandemonium Warden as a World First. They weren't really prepared for what the boss had in store for them though. Cue 18 hours after the fight had started (that is 18 hours of fighting a single enemy), and they had just defeated the latest form, and they all thought they had won the fight, their adrenaline was actually beginning to wear off at this point and these people had more or less been in front of their computers for 18 hours straight at this point running off of a sugar and adrenaline high... low and behold another form pops up 5 seconds later. People promptly begin to pass out from Adrenaline and Fatigue Sickness, which isn't something people want to experience after doing something like that.

Point is, the fight and subsequent fainting spells received a crap ton of press time, and that is what cued Square-Enix to weaken the vast majority of their Super Bosses and / or impose time limits on them. And it is because of this reason that we don't have the Notorious Monster System, or Super-Bosses like that in this game.

In fact, the closest that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn comes to a true Super Boss (in the iconic sense) is the Odin and Behemoth FATES. And those aren't even remotely close to comparing to the Super Bosses produced by the rest of the MMORPG companies. Until you have fought Tequatl, you really haven't seen a modern Super Boss.

[darkstarpoet1]

That's because each individual dot tick isn't listed, but the lumped ticks are. ie you can't tell how much Bio is ticking for, only what all your current dots are ticking for.

I don't know the people who make the ACT XIV plugin, but I know someone who worked on one of the other Parsers. It's due to how the system treats dots which is unlike most other MMOs. So you'll see a combined tick for all your dots on screen, and the parser can pull that number. But it has to estimate to figure out how much each individual dot did of that lumped amount.

i do know the person who created xi app. he stated it directly pulled from the chat log and not memory. that was months ago last time i spoke to him, but that was as of then.

[Zona]

That said, while you are absolutely correct that Parsers do not modify data, they just record it, any and all third party software that can be used to provide yourself with an advantage over other players is something that is bannable. Same goes for Glitches. Parsers can in fact provide such an advantage. Thus they are a bannable offense if you are caught using them.

Thats like saying the forums or any website that gives you information on your spells gives you an advantage over other players