Is WTFast against ToS?

[Kyros]

It would be no different from changing your ISP, Router configuration, or even simply playing the game on a different connection. Its like asking if upgrading your broadband is against the ToS.

(In case that wasn't simple enough, it's not against the ToS).

[blowfin]

"a vpn does alter the route the data is sent from your isp to the server"
show me where that is wrong at all because that's exactly what a tunneling service is meant to do.

That's correct. You also stated this:

however, a vpn does alter the route the data is sent from your isp to the server so it does DIRECTLY alter data.

Which is not correct at all. Changing the route does not amount to changing the data.

[Gardes]

Bottom line is Square Enix can't seem to decide on their stance and it seemns to keep changing everytime they say something and their wordings keep being interpreted differently. Hell, it looks like even yoship, community reps and GMs have different ideas.

Imo it's better to not just say anything about it in the game, lest someone has something against you and report you for it.

[Nekodar]

Bottom line is Square Enix can't seem to decide on their stance and it seemns to keep changing everytime they say something and their wordings keep being interpreted differently. Hell, it looks like even yoship, community reps and GMs have different ideas.

Imo it's better to not just say anything about it in the game, lest someone has something against you and report you for it.

Their stance have been perfectly clear all along.
It's players trying to re-interpret that stance all the time that is causing the confusion.

They've stated multiple times that they cannot condone even pure parsers, and Yoshi have said that he while he can't condone them, he understands people use them anyway.
Not all parsers are PURE parsers however and some DO things that are definitely not allowed.

[Mithent]

I can't imagine that changing the routing would be an issue - traffic is dynamically routed across the Internet anyway. If SE have a problem at some point, it is more likely to be if the originating IP is being concealed by the use of the VPN.

That said, I find the claimed benefits of these services to be sketchy. If your routing is currently taking you through a dodgy hop, it might help, but bad ping associated with your connection to your ISP's network and just physical distance seem much more common problems, which these services can't help with (as they neither bypass your ISP nor increase the speed of light).

[TheRogueX]

I can't imagine that changing the routing would be an issue - traffic is dynamically routed across the Internet anyway.

THIS. Your data routes change constantly and without you even knowing most of the time.

[Castillan]

THIS. Your data routes change constantly and without you even knowing most of the time.

I wouldn't quite say "constantly", although it may happen around once a day 'cos some router went down for whatever reason, or more rarely (and generally causing much greater disruption) some technician screwed the pooch and punched in a bad BGP config while attempting to support some new network, and then all hell breaks loose as different routers start disagreeing on the best path to route traffic (generally referred to a route-flap). Usually it is noticeable as a significant lag-spike of a few seconds or more, as the routers between yourself and the server attempt to renegotiate the best possible route to work around whatever went dark.

As is quite often the case, Wikipedia provides a half-decent introduction of the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Gateway_Protocol

[Ninix]

There are a whole lot of misinformed or just flat out incorrect statements being thrown about in this thread.

The only things we can say for certain are the following.

1. Tunneling services such as Battleping, WTFast, et al. are not seen as ToS violations. You can argue all you like over whether or not these "modify" game data (they don't, of course, only the route the data takes), but Community Rep Hvinire has flat out said they are not breaking the rules. You do of course use them at your own risk since SE cannot endorse them, but you will not be banned for using them.
   
   
2. Parsers are against the ToS. This is not up for debate. They are third-party applications that read data from FFXIV's memory space and that give players who use them an advantage (primarily in the form of boss alerts, timers, overlay widgets and so on). Square Enix has even specifically called out "parsers" as a type of third-party application that is not allowed.
   
   
3. Square Enix is not currently checking for or banning users of parsers. There is nothing in the game client looking for parsers, or bots for that matter. Bans are done completely through player reports and server-side heuristics. Since it's impossible for said heuristics to detect the presence of a parser (because it does not directly alter the behavior of your character), the only way you can be banned for using a parser is by basically admitting in-game that you are using one, and then being reported. In other words, you will only be banned for using a parser if you are being an asshole about someone's DPS and they decide to report you.

Square Enix, of course, may change this at any time by implementing client-side automated cheat detection. If they choose to do this (which is unlikely, most games seem to be forgoing client-side cheat detection in favor of server-side detection because it's a never-ending battle that developers cannot win), it is up to them to decide whether or not to ban users of parsers. Good business sense would probably dictate that they don't do this because a very large portion of the endgame raiding playerbase uses parsers at least occasionally and are not harming the game in any way by doing so, and losing their business would be silly.