This is absolutely ridiculous (DPS CHECK RANT)

[Destomius]

I really can't see why they can't at least put a DPS parser on a striking dummy.

Seriously. There's literally no harm that can come out of that.

[Klamor]

I agree.

Extreme mode primals should be hard, but the DPS checks shouldn't be so hard that people actually need to learn the basics of their class to beat. I think people should be allowed to mash their skills in any order they feel like and still have more than enough DPS to clear any fight.

[Higashikata]

Spoilers: the answer is no.

[Kaedan]

Basically what need to be done is either...

A) SE stops making dps check fights or reduce the dependancy on bare minimum numbers in those checks.

or
B) 'legalize' or introduce an in game method as part of the UI for players to see their own productivity and be able to optimize from there.

Neither needs to be done. There are plenty of people who passed EX Bis, Rav and even some A1 Savage without parsers.

I understand people dislike parsers. I know it's because they THINK it breeds exclusion. Here's a newflash.. look around you. Exclusion already exists in this game at levels more rampant than I've not seen since World of Warcraft. And that's WITHOUT parsers, that's WITHOUT a gearscore mod that tells you what their ilevel is just by hovering a cursor over them. It happens regardless. So that excuse no longer works.

Actually, that strengthens the argument against them. Because having parsers would only compound those problems.

I'm not against parsers, but I also don't pretend they don't cause problems either. There was actually a great suggestion for how to include a parser while avoiding much of the problems they usually bring with them. Make an "event" at the Gold Saucer. When you sign up, it creates a fight for you and sets a timer that is calculated using your job and item level. If you can beat the opponent in within the time limit, you win some sort of prize. If you don't, tough luck.

Anyway, the point is that if you win, that means you've passed at least a basic DPS check for your job. They could even add difficulty modes.

[Klamor]

Spoilers: the answer is no.

The answer was apparent but I like Fry.

[Ryel]

I'm not against parsers, but I also don't pretend they don't cause problems either. There was actually a great suggestion for how to include a parser while avoiding much of the problems they usually bring with them. Make an "event" at the Gold Saucer. When you sign up, it creates a fight for you and sets a timer that is calculated using your job and item level. If you can beat the opponent in within the time limit, you win some sort of prize. If you don't, tough luck.

Anyway, the point is that if you win, that means you've passed at least a basic DPS check for your job. They could even add difficulty modes.

I used to think this was a good idea personally, something like the WoW proving grounds that have been brought up repeatedly until someone actually enlightened me as to what was happening often enough in WoW.

There are 2 major issues to this approach:

1. Players will learn an optimal rotation exclusively for the encounter:

There are many players that would likely use this to better themselves, however there are many more that would basically just learn the "dummy rotation" and no longer care or remember it when it comes to live content. Being able to do max DPS in one fight doesnt mean you carry those skills elsewhere or that players will bother to retain the skills from the trial. You can hope they will but there isn't any guarantee, a player performing in Garuda EX doesnt mean they will in Bismark Ex etc.


2. Desperate players will share their account info:

Account sharing is against the ToS and can result in account suspension or worse, but this will not prevent desperate players from either buying a trial clear (especially if it's made mandatory for Party Finder groups or Duty Finder requirements), or asking a close friend or FC member to play the job for them so they can get over the "wall" a wall which will have accomplished nothing in the long run because there will be no way to check for legitimate clears and leaves us in the same boat that clear selling already does.

[Havenae]

Neither needs to be done.

I tend to think if there's a recurring problem that affects the playerbase to a point that there are countless posts on forums regarding it... then SOMETHING needs to be done about it. Burying your head in the sand does breed improvement.

[Firepower]

I would like to see a marker with set values determined for the job and item level which changes colour based on thresholds of DPS for instance say 0-100 DPS Is too low for your item level and job then it would show a red marker on your HUD or even on the enemies selection circle, if 100-200 DPS is "normal" or say "average" (lets say average DPS is sufficient for most content) It would be yellow and then 200-300 DPS would be "good" or a high standard, DPS high enough to be able to complete more difficult content, Savage/Extreme primals. There doesn't need to be numbers or any information sharing if square want to avoid harassment but a simple colour to indicate when you yourself are underperforming should be enough to encourage someone to ASK for help or look up ways to improve their DPS.

If the player refuses to improve themselves then there isn't much more you can do about it. All the parser numbers in the world won't make them change.

[Zfz]

There are plenty of people who passed EX Bis, Rav and even some A1 Savage without parsers.

This is a commonly used fallacious argument. The fact that a trained soldier can hit a target without sighting, doesn't prove anything about the usefulness of sights. The fact that some people can clear content without parsers, doesn't say anything about the usefulness of parsers.

[Kaedan]

I tend to think if there's a recurring problem that affects the playerbase to a point that there are countless posts on forums regarding it... then SOMETHING needs to be done about it.

Then you give far too much credit to the forums.

The forums are a place for people to whine and complain. That's essentially the only thing that happens on any forum except sharing videos and random antics. Every once in awhile you get a positive post or a constructive post regarding theorycrafting or something. But by and large the vast majority of posts on any forum are whine posts. Forums are not, in any way, indicative of a problem. What would indicate a problem would actually be a LACK of whine posts, because that would mean your game is dead, i.e. doesn't have any players.

EX fights and Alex Savage are designed to be difficult. They are designed with DPS checks in mind. I guarantee that for every person whining about DPS checks, there are at least ten people who cleared the content without a parser... but you don't hear from them because they don't come to the forums to talk about how they can clear difficult content without parsers. Because it doesn't need to be said and is actually looked down upon socially as bragging.

Like I said, people are at least 10x more likely to post about something they don't like than something they do.