Would you like an in-game parser?

[Deathgiver]

Producer and Director Yoshi-P here. (snip)
■The Use of Third-Party Tools for Tracking Buffs and Debuffs■

Recently there has been some debate regarding the use of certain third-party tools during PvP matches. These tools have been used to view detailed information about opponents, generate audio notifications when certain actions are triggered, and provide other data in windows separate from those of the FFXIV UI. The development team is well aware of this situation and is currently weighing various options.

As prohibiting the use of third-party tools can lead some to confusion (”Are chat programs prohibited?” “What falls within the definition of “third-party tool?”), I should state that our policy is to not place excessive restrictions on our players; we simply do not want you to use devices or software which are in violation of the terms of service.

However, we do not condone the use of tools which provide an advantage in PvP by obtaining information, such as player position and buff/debuff status, by parsing packet data and utilizing it in the manner described above. Therefore, to discourage the use of such tools, we are considering using a different encryption protocol for PvP packets.

We understand that even should we change encryption protocols with every patch, third-party developers will continue to update their tools. Nevertheless, by using separate protocols for PvP and PvE, and by frequently updating protocols, we hope to prevent the use of these tools during a season. We are currently carefully evaluating the feasibility of this approach—how often we might need to update encryption protocols, as well as what precise methods we might employ. While it may be some time before we are able to implement any changes, we ask for your understanding and patience.

And to those of you who are using tools which afford you an unfair advantage in PvP, I would ask that you refrain from doing so.

The fact that they already have a method for disabling parsers and they don't choose to use it speaks volumes about SE's stance on parsers in PVE. I really think at this point it's a matter of them ensuring that users across all platforms can get the same experience before they release some form of parser.

[Xlantaa]

The fact that they already have a method for disabling parsers and they don't choose to use it speaks volumes about SE's stance on parsers in PVE. I really think at this point it's a matter of them ensuring that users across all platforms can get the same experience before they release some form of parser.

SO, if they want, they can prohibite us using them too. So it is better don't go too far or they can just disable for all people.

[Destous]

The fact that they already have a method for disabling parsers and they don't choose to use it speaks volumes about SE's stance on parsers in PVE. I really think at this point it's a matter of them ensuring that users across all platforms can get the same experience before they release some form of parser.

This is a bit silly. Are they trying to keep the skill ceiling for PvP deliberately low? I can't imagine trying to do arena in WoW without Proximo. 3rd party tools to track battle log info for PvP is a staple for MMOs with PvP. If a program is offering other information, like player position, why not just state that the specific software does violate the ToS, and issue bans for using it?

[Pells]

This is a bit silly. Are they trying to keep the skill ceiling for PvP deliberately low? I can't imagine trying to do arena in WoW without Proximo. 3rd party tools to track battle log info for PvP is a staple for MMOs with PvP. If a program is offering other information, like player position, why not just state that the specific software does violate the ToS, and issue bans for using it?

Because they can be the same program, and SE can't tell from their end which do and which don't without violating some rather serious privacy issues. The logs aren't being used by parsers; they are either reading information directly from memory, or intercepting the data packets. This is because not all combat information is posted to the logs, most notably dot ticks. It's not a big stretch to go from reading damage from memory to reading enemy (pc or npc) positions. In fact, there were threads when hunts were new about just this: some parsers were giving people an in-game advantage by detecting hunt targets before players could actually see them.

[Seraphix2407]

some parsers were giving people an in-game advantage by detecting hunt targets before players could actually see them.

I haven't heard about any parser doing that. I used to play on ps4 till I changed to pc recently, however. That thing you speak of is not really a parser, but rather a program that scans for you and look for info around you. It's like a widescan ability and you can see where hunts are, is from what I heard. I know FFXI had something similar in terms of scanning and could even teleport there direcently, but I don't think anyone is that stupid doing it in this game, but scanning? Heard soo much about it and was quite annoying finding out people did.

On topic, that however has nothing to do with parser, if anyone want's to use that as a legit reason why parser shouldn't be in game.