The Real Problem with Parsers

[CGMidlander]

This game should have a built in private damage meter. Giving people the potential to see their performance and the tools to increase that performance are good ideas imo. Whether or not person x will or won't isn't relevant, giving all people the same potential is relevant.

If it's private, relative performance within context is lost.

A private parse would be an improvement over nothing, but still an incomplete solution IMO.

[Aiselia]

How's the old poem go? "To you from failing hands we throw/The torch; be yours to hold it high." Someone else must take up arms against the villainous scroll bar.

Anyway, we both seem to be agreed that parsers would be groovy if they didn't come with a side order of jerks. We just disagree about how many jerks there would be and how many jerks is too many.

If nobody suppresses the scroll bar, it might grow too large and then start harassing smaller scroll bars for not being long enough.

And yeah, pretty much. Heck, I might even disagree with SE's numbers too. Personally I think that a personal parser (particularly with optional sharing) solves the problem of not being able to gauge one's own performance with less chance of jerkitude happening, so I think that's SE's safest middle ground.

If it's private, relative performance within context is lost.

Which may not be necessary, particularly if you're not doubling up classes. If I'm doing 1,200 DPS as a BRD, it doesn't really matter to how good my performance is whether the DRG is doing 1,300 or 1,100. What would matter is what I do in comparison to other BRDs, which could still be ascertained by looking on the forum. If I look at the forum and see other BRDs are doing 1,300, I know there's room for improvement. If I look at the forum and see DRGs are doing 1,500, that doesn't mean I can improve as a BRD.

Even if there's two BRDs in the run, if I'm doing 1,100 and the other's doing 1,000, while I have the context that I'm doing better than the other BRD, I don't have the more important context of what a BRD can actually do if others outside the run are doing 1,300.

[Waliel]

How dare people with disabilities want to experience content in the game they pay for?

Also, the argument isn't restricted to only high-end content. 700 DPS is completely good enough for things like Expert Roulette, but some people would still kick over that.

The number doesn't matter. It could be 4000 for all I care, but if it's not good enough for the content and causes wipes to happen because of low DPS, it's just simply not good enough. If one happens to find a group that is willing to go the extra mile to get them through, I don't really care what they do then.

In the end disabilities don't matter one bit concerning this whole debate, if you ask me.

[Aiselia]

In the end disabilities don't matter one bit concerning this whole debate, if you ask me.

They do when there are people outright stating they'll kick based on DPS in things like Expert Roulette where the worst that's going to happen if someone's doing lower DPS is that you're going to take a bit longer. Especially when the major point of contention for why SE doesn't officially add in parsers is that exact elitist attitude.

If they're going to hold everyone to the exact same standard and not give a crap about legitimate reasons why someone might be doing lower DPS just because it might take 10 more minutes to do an Expert Roulette, then they're the exact problem that SE expects. And anyone that actually wants parsers in the game should be against those people, not defending them, because they're making it a lot harder to justify adding in parsers.