SE's most difinitive statement yet on parsers

[Parawill]

I actually think that is the only reason why there is no official parser because players will harass other players with it.

In a business standpoint, with the amount of complaints coming from parsers--albeit the fact that everyone seems to be blaming the tool rather than the actual person who is harassing people with gathered data (facts) and then speculating and blaming the entire group--it's better to not have an official parser as it seems the majority has a dislike on parsers and also that the game is apparently catered towards casual gamers.

So... Square Enix's stance on anti-parsers (which by the way, seems to be very lenient) is to benefit the business as a whole while reaping the side benefit of not having to deal with harassment issues for when it wasn't a pressing issue. That's how I see it anyways.

If only there wasn't such a negative stigma towards those who parse. Oh well.

[Elven]

If only there wasn't such a negative stigma towards those who parse. Oh well.

I think it's because those that do parse don't see it as cheating and the arguments and rationalization they present that it isn't always over look the fact that it is simply cheating because it's not allowed under the current Tos.

[ispano]

I think it's because those that do parse don't see it as cheating and the arguments and rationalization they present that it isn't always over look the fact that it is simply cheating because it's not allowed under the current Tos.

Sorry, like Krr said. Not allowed by the ToS != Cheating.

[Krr]

Account sharing, an almost ubiquitous item across MMORPGs, is an extremely good example of this. While sharing your accounts isn't "cheating" and they're more or less exchanged or gifted like bought property (materially, not legally,) the concern is not that account sharing is inherently destructive to the game or the community but that they cannot officially support it happening, due to player safety concerns and liability.

("X logged into my account and stole my credit card! You're responsible!" "No, sorry, account sharing is against the ToS so we have no liability beyond our obligation to ban your account to prevent this behavior.")

Many, many things condemned by policy are done not because they are "immoral" or "wrong", they are done to protect the interests of the company in terms of legal liability in the event that an innocent activity turns into legal damages.

As a side-effect the universal bans of say, both account sharing and third-party software, also give the company convenient outs to ban actually destructive behavior, like people operating botter hiveminds. But their only purpose isn't to "identify cheaters" by a long shot.