5 reasons why PS4 players need a parser in game

[MomomiMomi]

You realize a parser doesn't teach where you are going wrong, it just shows you the number, you the player, not the 3rd party software, still need to explore how to make that number higher. The software doesn't scream "HIT THIS SKILL, THEN THIS ONE, AND THIS ONE, THEN THAT SKILL." It doesn't promote your skill, you already have to have the want to perform better.

But if you don't have that number, you won't know that you need to make it higher. A lot of people think they're good, only to enter a raid with someone parsing them and find out, to their horror, they're doing 50% of the dps they should be.

That's the point where a lot of players have to not just try to do a little better, but completely re-examine what they're doing wrong.

Others are not quite as extreme. They think they're reached their peak, and they're good, but they compare to someone else's parse and find there's still room to improve. Or they try doing something slightly different and see if their dps goes up.

I'm sure most people who actually care to improve would improve with a parser.

[Jetstream_Fox]

But if you don't have that number, you won't know that you need to make it higher. A lot of people think they're good, only to enter a raid with someone parsing them and find out, to their horror, they're doing 50% of the dps they should be.

That's the point where a lot of players have to not just try to do a little better, but completely re-examine what they're doing wrong.

Others are not quite as extreme. They think they're reached their peak, and they're good, but they compare to someone else's parse and find there's still room to improve. Or they try doing something slightly different and see if their dps goes up.

I'm sure most people who actually care to improve would improve with a parser.

Your second statement proves exactly why a parser doesn't help, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE WRONG. The software is only going to give you a number, it doesn't tell you the rotation, it doesn't tell you the mechanical aspects of a fight, and it doesn't account for raid synergy. I'm completely down with anyone wanting to improve, even I know I can do better, but a parser isn't going to help me improve in every aspect of this game, its not going to give me detailed tips on a class, or understand boss fights. There is 3 areas one needs to be good at in order to succeed in this game, their rotation, fight knowledge, and communication, and guess which two are not able to be increased with a parser, and happen to be the more important of the three areas of success.

[SpookyGhost]

[...]

Might be wrong, but I don't think anyone's claiming that having a parser means that you no longer need to learn mechanics, a rotation, or how to coordinate with your group. A parser simply gives you a number, and from that number you can tell if you're on the low or the high side. If you're on the low side, you can then go "well, I must be on the low side for a reason, let me examine what I did in the fight and where I can improve". Then you test your theory on how you can do better and if the number goes higher then you've improved. Without knowing that the number was low in the first place you might never have realized it was an issue and continued on doing what you were doing before.

[akaneakki]

Might be wrong, but I don't think anyone's claiming that having a parser means that you no longer need to learn mechanics, a rotation, or how to coordinate with your group. A parser simply gives you a number, and from that number you can tell if you're on the low or the high side. If you're on the low side, you can then go "well, I must be on the low side for a reason, let me examine what I did in the fight and where I can improve". Then you test your theory on how you can do better and if the number goes higher then you've improved. Without knowing that the number was low in the first place you might never have realized it was an issue and continued on doing what you were doing before.

^ This very much.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

Might be wrong, but I don't think anyone's claiming that having a parser means that you no longer need to learn mechanics, a rotation, or how to coordinate with your group. A parser simply gives you a number, and from that number you can tell if you're on the low or the high side. If you're on the low side, you can then go "well, I must be on the low side for a reason, let me examine what I did in the fight and where I can improve". Then you test your theory on how you can do better and if the number goes higher then you've improved. Without knowing that the number was low in the first place you might never have realized it was an issue and continued on doing what you were doing before.

No one said that, but the general idea has been "You NEED a parser to be able to do better!" when that's far from true. Otherwise every PS4 player is subpar by default, right?

Honestly, I'll take the guy that puts up decent (as in good, but not absolute best) numbers and performs mechanics properly, maintains some grace under pressure (I really can't stand when people are quick to panic, but in fairness, I know I'm simply less prone to panic), and is more concerned with strong teamwork over the guy with one eye on his parser, asking about his parse during the fight, and taking unnecessary risks all in the name of his bloody parse. Like seriously, a super high parse means nothing if you don't clear or complicate things for the rest of the team.

[akaneakki]

Like seriously, a super high parse means nothing if you don't clear or complicate things for the rest of the team.

I just hope you realized everything you said so far, actually is againt's what you just said.

[SpookyGhost]

[...]

It doesn't need to be either/or. Also most people check their parse at the end of an encounter or after a wipe, sometimes they'll glance over to see where they're at but no one's eyes are glued to their parser. Everyone that wants their number to go higher knows that you do 0 damage when you're dead, I think you're being a bit hyperbolic here.

Also you don't NEED a parser to do better - there are many aspects you can improve on that a parser won't help you with. However, if you want to improve your DPS contribution then a parser is a very useful tool for doing so as it lets you know where you are and (after adjustments) how much you've improved.

[Zojha]

A parser simply gives you a number, and from that number you can tell if you're on the low or the high side.

And interpretation of that number requires context. Gear plays a role - Someone with an i230 weapon might play slightly better than someone with an i250 weapon, but parse lower. Synergy plays a role - The BRD with a DRG in the group is gonna perform better than the one with a MNK instead given equal skill. Similar goes for AST buffs. Since every fight has individual mechanics, every parse is only valid for that one fight. Job balance can also play a role, even though it's relatively close together right now.

That said: Any parser that's worth its salt needs to account at least for gear and synergy effects and calculate those out before spitting out a number. Plain ole DPS is fairly misleading - You can see that in the top percentiles on FFlogs where you have dedicated parser runs with comps catered to one player and double AST feeding that person in particular balance cards. Don't compare yourself to that as average joe. That's not your standard.

[SpookyGhost]

[...]

I mean, yeah. I was trying to keep things simple, but realistically if they add a parser in this game it should track more than just damage - misses, crits, % mitigation, raid buffs, etc. There should also be a timeline like on FFLogs that shows you when and where everyone used what. There is a lot of valuable information missing from this game, only one of those being actual DPS numbers.

I'm sure this comment will be met with "but that would take a lot of resources!" by someone. And yeah, it kinda would (not as much as most imagine, but still), but considering this isn't Gaia Online I think that allocating resources to improving the actual data given to people on battle content is a worthwhile investment.