People advertising they're running Parsers

[MilkieTea]

That's exactly the point. Showing the information in the battle log could be already wrong. I'm not sure if SE is already violating the EU privacy protection laws here and must anonymize the data in the battle log with e.g. Player1, Player2, Player 3 instead of showing the character names.

But also here from purely legal point of view, seeing and getting the players data in the exisitng battle log does not allow any player to track and analyze this data by his own with e.g. a parser. EU laws are very strict here. You are not are allowed to use any data without permission. Yes, that are the strange EU laws.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. Otherwise there would've already been action taken, considering the EU is pretty swift to tamp down on that sort of stuff.

[Mihari]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. Otherwise there would've already been action taken, considering the EU is pretty swift to tamp down on that sort of stuff.

As long as nobody complains officially against it, the authorities will do nothing. But once there is a lawsuit, it will be looked into it. At the moment I don't know any cases in the EU, were the implementation of the privacy protection within multiplayer games has been checked or reviewed by authorities. But if someone don't want that his character name is visible in a log for everyone, it normally has to be implemented.

The best example are apartment buildings in the EU. If a tenant does not want his name on the doorbell, it must be anonymized with for e.g cryptic numbers. The landlord has to ensure that. This general privacy rule rule can also be easily applied to multiplayer games. But as I said, as long as no one complains it, the authorities do nothing here.

[Pintsized]

Parsers - unlike mods that change gear appearance or whatever - DON'T modify the game code; they just read the data being sent to the client and tabulate it.

Still technically a TOS violation, but as far as anyone can tell, nobody's been banned ONLY for parsing.

So, they're breaking into the internet connection between the game client and the server?

How is that any different in effect than changing the game code?

[Menriq]

So, they're breaking into the internet connection between the game client and the server?

How is that any different in effect than changing the game code?

They aren't breaking any internet connection. The data comes from the client / server, and is in memory. This memory is read, interpreted, and then written out to a log. This log is what is used for the parser, uploading, etc. So, to answer your question, it's not changing anything; it's just reading what is already in memory.

[Arrius]

I am not sure about the people who say that they use/want parsers to determine their performance, either.
The jobs aren't that complex, it's more about remembering their intended rotations and using common guidelines that overlap with each other job. On tanks and healers, it's more situational thing you need awareness for and the ability to look ahead.

If you play the jobs as intended, then you should not need a parser at all. Because that's as good as you can get.
The rest is practice to (re-)learn them.

[Menriq]

I am not sure about the people who say that they use/want parsers to determine their performance, either.
The jobs aren't that complex, it's more about remembering their intended rotations and using common guidelines that overlap with each other job. On tanks and healers, it's more situational thing you need awareness for and the ability to look ahead.

If you play the jobs as intended, then you should not need a parser at all. Because that's as good as you can get.
The rest is practice to (re-)learn them.

I would disagree. You might think you are playing the job as intended, but there could very well be ways to improve, thus negating your comment about as good as you can get. For example, on EX 1, there is a way to AoE all 4 adds. You might do this, whereas someone else will AoE, but only get 2 of them. Comparing yourself to others is a way keep improving. Now, if you want to talk about shaming people, etc., then that's a different conversation. But to say you don't need a parser to determine if you can improve I think is a pretty objectively false statement.

[Esper56]

Man I'm so glad I just play casually. Thancred, Urianger, and Estinien never give me lip in dungeons.

Although, I do worry about that bear Urianger brings everything to.

[Endariel]

Yet again a thread full of people (not everyone, aye) ignorant of how parser works, how it's used etc etc but express their expert opinion

[Arrius]

I would disagree. You might think you are playing the job as intended, but there could very well be ways to improve, thus negating your comment about as good as you can get. For example, on EX 1, there is a way to AoE all 4 adds. You might do this, whereas someone else will AoE, but only get 2 of them. Comparing yourself to others is a way keep improving. Now, if you want to talk about shaming people, etc., then that's a different conversation. But to say you don't need a parser to determine if you can improve I think is a pretty objectively false statement.

I go against this.
Very specific encounters with very specific situations in them don't make a job perform itself 'better' in general. Dragoon Doomspike Line AoE combo might not be able to realiably hit those 4 adds, for instance, vs Monk Arm of the Destroyer combo, which hits everything around the player and is easier to do.

Same goes with those weird rotations that heavily depend on certain stat setups, which easily break once the corresponding job receives a change in balance. Which likely will happen in a .05 or .1 patch.

They are edge cases and only offer miniscule improvement vs the investment effort.

[Menriq]

I go against this.
Very specific encounters with very specific situations in them don't make a job perform itself 'better' in general. Dragoon Doomspike Line AoE combo might not be able to realiably hit those 4 adds, for instance, vs Monk Arm of the Destroyer combo, which hits everything around the player and is easier to do.

Same goes with those weird rotations that heavily depend on certain stat setups, which easily break once the corresponding job receives a change in balance. Which likely will happen in a 6.05 or .1 patch.

They are edge cases and only offer miniscule improvement vs the investment effort.

I probably wasn't clear, so my apologies. In the example I gave, I meant the same class. So for example, I can stand in a certain spot on BRD and hit all 4 adds at the same time. Another BRD might only hit 2 of them. It's a DPS gain to hold Apex Arrow at 100 gauge for the 2 minute burst, whereas someone might think using it at 100 is the intended way to play it. This goes back to using the parser to improve. I will often either go on Discord to see what tips / recommendations are on a fight by fight basis, but I will also compare my logs to those who are better to see what they are doing so I can improve myself.