SE's most difinitive statement yet on parsers

[Xystic]

I'm making an absurd argument I agree

Agreed, your argument is absurd.

A parser is a data collection tool, nothing else, it doesn't give someone an unfair advantage over someone else, and it's silly to pretend that it does.

Its a data collection tool that provides you information. Information is not "nothing". Without information you can't do anything but when you have it, you can. Those without that same information is at a disadvantage.

[Bixby]

I apologize if someone else has posted this info. I looked and couldn't find a thread on today's statement. Note that this time they specifically mentioned parsers by name (in the past they have typically stated, in response to questions on whether parsers are ok, that 3rd party programs that affect game play are not permitted, making it pretty clear they were referring to parsers but some have argued otherwise). Even more significant, they made this statement in a posting on banning actions taken against players for TOS violations.

For a little context, in order for them to change the boilerplate text for these announcements, they'd most likely be getting a lot more reports about some given thing, or dealing with something a lot more than they used to.

I doubt there's been a sharp increase in "parser" violations as most people talk about them (i.e., DPS meters). But there has most likely been a sharp increase in violations from hunts, i.e. Radar, a 3rd party tool that parses game data.

Yes, DPS meters are a violation of the user agreement. I wouldn't take this statement as being specifically directed at DPS meters, though. It's still Fight Club.

[Elven]

Lets say you did use the parser on your own static group or practicing FC members to get better no problem right? Even Yoshi eluded to this point. But that isn't where it ends now is it there in lies the problem people use it for malicious intent outside the helpful hand it gives to honest players and into players that use it on unsuspecting players unaware these parsers are running. SE helped out by changing mob health to percentages and still people are unhappy. So sadly it's the few that ruin it for the many or though cynicism in me tends to believe it's the many that ruin it for the few.

[Roris]

Radar use could have been prevented if they kept yet another 1.0 feature they threw out that let you see mob dots on the mini map, including special icons for NMs, console limitations are a silly excuse for their removal because even XI lets you see them with both Wide Scan and the compass. DPS parsers just let you see numbers and are just e-peen in the end, they mentioned plans for integrating a DPS meter into dummies but like a lot of things it was just thrown out as a vague idea without any concrete info on when it'll be implemented.

Official mods might also add them alongside other features parsers include but mods were promised more than 2 years ago, since then they've just given excuses for their delay, PS3 release, addressing launch server issues, PS4 release, Chinese version release, etc.

[Taban]

Ok, let's drop the console thing...

VoIP - doesn't touch the game
Parser/mod/addon - touches the game, may or may not be a bad touch.

So your only problem is that something touches the game files, not the advantage it may or may not give?

[Tiggy]

They said months ago that these were illegal. This isn't new.

[Asael]

Nothing new. SE has been denouncing 3rd party software like parsers for quite sometime now, yet all the while winking at everyone to imply to those that do to just keep their mouths shut about it. And there lies the issue, people can denounce parsers and other 3rd party tools all they like for whatever reasons, but it's not going to change anything. So instead of someone telling you that your DPS is way too low and then booting you now they'll just boot you and not say a word and you'll never really know why. SE and friends can moan and groan all they want about it though nothing is going to change, but rather the way people specifically respond to it.

[Barimu]

even XI l

I don't think Yoshi-P has ever played anything other than WoW and GW2 because he praises them both as the greatest mmos he has ever played, but if he played 11 then he'd realize 11 was better than both of them

[ElHeggunte]

I can understand why people would be against a radar, but I never understood the obsession with hating on parsers. The only thing it does is read numbers off of your combat log in real time and displays them in a way that's easy to understand. You could do the same thing with a pen and paper if you sat there and scrolled through your combat log for an hour, the program just expedites the process. Otherwise, parsers don't typically display any information that wasn't already available.

Every time someone is adamant in their stance against parsers I always imagine someone who's bitter about being kicked from a party because someone else parsed them and said they were underperforming. Parsers are useful. A few jerkasses using it in ways you might not like doesn't make the program itself bad and is no good reason to take it from everyone else.

I don't personally use them (because I'm lazy), but more power to someone who wants to make regular use of them.

[KahnyaRedx]

I can understand why people would be against a radar, but I never understood the obsession with hating on parsers.

People don't want other people to know they are bad, derp, can't perform a simple rotation, or slacking. Simple as that. The issue with catching someone using a parser is since it reads from memory, it's local to a user's computer. It may also parse log files, also local to the user's computer. The only way to catch this type of reading is illegally gaining access to the system and monitoring for it. Which mind you I said is illegal, and in my honest opinion, if it's on my computer, it's mine. They could have done all the counting on their own servers, but to save CPU and Memory, they chose to give it to the user's systems.

Or you could always just look at the enmity bar to determine who's pushing the most dps, do a screenshot and pixel count. Go old school on it!.