Because everyone Loves Parsers

[Niwashi]

I'd really like to see a personal parser added to the game that gives you details on your own stats.

But parsing other party members should remain a bannable offense as it is now. There are just too many toxic players who would abuse it.

[Millen1]

As a PS4 player, I would like a parser to know how I am doing and work to improve. I don't need to know how others are doing. They may keep the don't kick players for a low parse even though that happens now. So I wouldn't see much changing. I am sure my PC friends are tired of me asking how I did on blm.

[Zenji]

You don't need a parser to know when someone is underperforming, therefore anybody arguing that parsers are a negative thing are completely wrong. You can tell your DPS is high or low based on how fast you take out enemy's (taking your class into consideration), or how how much your healing the tank (tank cool down usage) or how well someone is healing the party. It's not hard to tell.

[Sida]

This same argument pops up every now and then. Yes, I think the parser might be nice for your own performance, and maybe even allow it as far as party wide parsing being an option for preformed party. Most of the content that can actually fail for the weaker performance of one or two is ran in statics or PF and if a static group can't handle a conversation about performance then maybe they should not be a static group. However, party wide parsing should be kept away as soon as randomly selected people step into equation, such as through DF.

[Lambdafish]

Its not even parser vs. no parser that I want to talk about. This game needs more clarity and information in all areas, the fact that we need to use third party software, have people on reddit datamine stats, and use things like FFlogs to deconstruct fights is not good design.

We should be able to see what those numbers next to our stats do IN GAME, we should be able to see the damage/mitigation/healing breakdown of the party IN GAME, we should be able to know if the gear that we have meets the specifications of a fight IN GAME. The dev team knows that these problems exist and they are like "ummmmmm yeahhhh we should remove stats and simplify gear even further because people find it too difficult"

[Jkap_Goat]

Isn't there Stone, sea, sky?

[Rongway]

This game needs more clarity and information in all areas, the fact that we need to use third party software, have people on reddit datamine stats, and use things like FFlogs to deconstruct fights is not good design.

We should be able to see what those numbers next to our stats do IN GAME, we should be able to see the damage/mitigation/healing breakdown of the party IN GAME, we should be able to know if the gear that we have meets the specifications of a fight IN GAME.

With respect, the devs have absolutely no obligation to disclose the effects of stats or the formulas in which they're involved, and a lack of disclosure does not by any means equate to "not good design". Nor is the western player expectation of a game handing the player a complete encyclopedia and atlas of the game the definitive "good design". The devs have certain expectations of the player community, two of these being that we figure some things out on our own, or we cooperate when a single mind is not enough.

These "problems" you allege are nothing but challenges for players to work out. It is after all, a game. Whether any given person falls in whole or in part into either category of (people who figure things out on their own) or (people who seek advice from people who've figured things out), it's fine that the devs don't give us a technical manual of the game because we don't need one to play the game.


The outspoken ones who call for parsers are missing the point of a cooperative multiplayer game. In particular, the suggestion in the original post,

At the end of every Dungeon, Trial, or Raid you can view a screen much like in PvP that shows the stats of everyone who was in the party. Let’s make it so that it even shows the people who left or got booted. From this screen you can Blacklist people you don’t ever want to form a party with again due to poor performance or them just being “Toxic” as many have put it.

is asking for license to harass. If you want to blacklist someone specifically for low DPS, you're exercising the exact type of treatment that the devs want to avoid by withholding an in-game damage tracker. If you want to blacklist someone for being 100% a total douchebag, you can already do that from the /contactlist and you don't need a parser to tell when someone's being 100% a total douchebag.

If you want to know if a change to gear or rotation has a noticeable effect on your damage output, go several rounds with a target dummy and keep track of the average time remaining on the clock and see if the changes you're thinking of affect that average positively or negatively.


If someone wants to be exclusive in their hardcore raiding, that's fine, but its up to him and the other seven people to figure out how to make things work. Back to my original point, figuring it out and making it work is part of the game.

But as far as the general game experience as a whole is concerned, adding an in game damage tracker only serves to make it easier to harass people. Without it, those who want damage tracking features for personal improvement can still make do with Stone, Sky, Sea.

[HyoMinPark]

They could always add in options for the parser: Show self, Show party, Show alliance, Show none. People can then pick the setting they desire. At the very least, when I was on PS4, I wanted a parser so I could see where I was at, DPS-wise, and if I could improve. But I always had to ask my friends to parse me and let me know since we don't have an in-game parser, and there are no parsing options/ACT for PS4.

I know that there are some people that are just outright mean when it comes to parsers, and harassing other players. But I have played this game going on a year and a half soon, and I can count ONE instance, MAYBE TWO, where a player was harassing another player with their parser numbers (they were subsequently reported by at least 2 other party members and myself). Maybe I've been lucky, or maybe people are exaggerating the amount of people out there that harass via parser. Most people that parse do so for themselves, or to track the progress of their static/party. Especially since this game loves DPS checks (though they aren't as strict as they used to be). I frequently get in PFs for Ex primals or whatnot and people ask in party chat: "Was anyone parsing? I want to know my numbers please."

However, since people like to just automatically discriminate against those who parse, and assume we're all going to start harassing sub-par players, most people that parse don't speak up to reveal as much, even for someone who is truly genuine and not going to try and use "HA! YOU'RE PARSING! REPORTED!!!" against us. The same can be said for wanting to give someone tips to improve their numbers. Instead of being receptive, they just get outright hostile most of the time ("YOU DON'T PAY MY SUB" "FREAKING ELITISTS" etc.).

Parsers aren't a bad thing. It's the mean players that use them as a tool to harass others that are bad. Place the blame on the player, not the parser, because it's not the one harassing you. It's just showing numbers.
The people that are going to harass with just harass anyways, parser or no parser. They always find something to nit-pick about.

[Lambdafish]

With respect, the devs have absolutely no obligation to disclose the effects of stats or the formulas in which they're involved, and a lack of disclosure does not by any means equate to "not good design". Nor is the western player expectation of a game handing the player a complete encyclopedia and atlas of the game the definitive "good design". The devs have certain expectations of the player community, two of these being that we figure some things out on our own, or we cooperate when a single mind is not enough.

It isn't "bad design" I should rephrase that, but having clear stats would create more accessibility for more casual players. I'm not asking for an encyclopedia, in fact I'm asking the opposite, I'm asking that if I have 725 crit, what the hell does that mean? If difficulty in understanding stats, party damage, and raid synergy goes down, then content difficulty can go up, and that is what the dev team should be doing, not removing functionality.

[Culfinrandir]

Isn't there Stone, sea, sky?

Yes, there is. There's also a website that allows you to input the data from SSS to work out a decent approximation of your DPS. It is, effectively, a parser without needing to add any dodgy software.