Better combat logs (mostly for combat parsing)

[sew]

The sad thing is - judging from the date, the unchanged state of the combat log and the lack of responses - that this will likely never be implemented.

Truth is, the combat log is almost complete useless. Not just for a parser, but also for a human reader. It's the barest minimum you can do and possibly call it a "combat log".

I meant to consult the log on more than one occasion - and in about 4 of 5 cases I have failed to find what I was looking for. The combat log is a slew of imprecise information, to the point where reading through it is a pain - and finding what you want is a matter of luck.

[sew]

Few examples why the combat log is inadequate:

• I have been unable to add seconds to the time stamp. With that, you're unable to tell what's coming how fast. The minutes you really don't need anyway.
• I noticed a lot of burst damage on the last boss in the manor, wanted to find out what it was from. Good luck with that - without a filter, you have a lot of irrelevant information to read through. Eventually I worked out that the skill was probably Void Fire III - but who knows? Damage and skill aren't linked - the monster will cast some skill (won't tell you on who, though), and then a few lines later you just "take damage". The skills lack details as well. Might as well call them Smurfpunt, because who knows what they do. You have to resort to "non-canon" sources such as Google, because the information just isn't available in the game.
• The colours are all over the place - every time I read the combat log, they actually distract instead of helping me.

[sew]

• Running the Chimera the first time, we wiped and I wanted to figure out what got me - and I simply couldn't. I found the line saying I was KOed, sure, but there was nothing of note before that. I remember losing a huge chunk of health at once, but couldn't find the ability (nor the numbers) for that. Asked the other group members once we were done, and they failed to find it as well.
• Today someone got one-shot (100% to 0). This was the first time I actually have been able to find the associated log entry in the combat log - because they took like 2.3k damage and it stood out. According to the log, they got hit, and supposedly I casted a heal, the tank slammed the mobs with a skill, and the other DPS indulged in a tea party with an extra helping of cake before the DPS that got hit was actually KOed.

Like Laraul said, it's sad that people pine for parsers (that actually work by accessing memory) just to make sense of something that should really be in the game.

[Jinko]

Agree with this, although I don't think it should be part of the log but a separate API that players can turn on in the settings.

This way players who wish to receive that information can do so and players who don't (and PS3/4 owners) have no need for it and it will cut down on server communication.

That being said I feel the best solution would be an official parser (again which can be turned on in the settings), of course the community is pretty divided on that.

[Zaero]

I thought parsers were against EULA?

[Viridiana]

I thought parsers were against EULA?

When this thread was originally started, we were basically operating under the belief that SE's standpoint was "We can't endorse it, but we aren't going to say anything." I don't think it was until some months later that people started getting banned; and even now it's more like "don't say anything stupid about it in chat and you won't get in trouble." At this point it's kinda like a black market that the authorities only go investigate when someone reports it.