I just wanted to point out a double standard...

[Sapphic]

Oh I know it wasn't "JUST" for Absolute Virtue. But Absolute Virtue was a huge reason for the level cap increase. He was impossible to beat without it at the time.

Actually SE reduced AVs HP before the level raise and more LSs where able to defeat it.

In response to a wave of bad press surrounding another HNM Pandemonium Warden, Square Enix reduced the difficulty of Absolute Virtue in late 2008. Its HP total was reduced from an approximate 100,000 to around 66,000, and its stats were significantly lowered. A time limit of 2 hours was also imposed to prevent players from fighting it for too long.

[Tharian]

Actually SE reduced AVs HP before the level raise and more LSs where able to defeat it.

In response to a wave of bad press surrounding another HNM Pandemonium Warden, Square Enix reduced the difficulty of Absolute Virtue in late 2008. Its HP total was reduced from an approximate 100,000 to around 66,000, and its stats were significantly lowered. A time limit of 2 hours was also imposed to prevent players from fighting it for too long.

Reducing the Hit Point total of Absolute Virtue did diddly squat towards reducing the difficulty of the fight. Absolute Virtue could have had a grand total of 5,000 hit points for all the good it would have done people... the thing at the height of it's power could literally spam any and all 2 hour abilities of all classes except those found in the Treasures of Aht Urghan Expansion. That includes the one that instantly restores the entire parties hit points to maximum! And imposing time limits on Super Bosses actually INCREASES the difficulty of the fights, not decreases the difficulty. Can you imagine fighting Ruby or Emerald Weapon in Final Fantasy VII if you were limited to only 10 minutes?

Now if you're going to cite the Pandemonium Warden Fiasco, you need to explain what all the bad press was about, just in case there are people here who don't know.

The problem with Pandemonium Warden was that Pandemonium Warden is a Tiered Boss. What this means is that he is identical in nature to bosses such as Chrono Trigger's Final Boss for example. Pandemonium Warden has around 12 or so (not the exact number) different forms. Each of these forms is followed by a group of other enemies that provide support for the boss during the fight. In one of these forms he is followed by a group of White Mages, who again can each use the 2 hour ability that instantly restores all health to a party.

The problem that caused all the bad press relating to that boss, was that one Linkshell had attempted to fight Pandemonium Warden as a World First. They weren't really prepared for what the boss had in store for them though. Cue 18 hours after the fight had started (that is 18 hours of fighting a single enemy), and they had just defeated the latest form, and they all thought they had won the fight, their adrenaline was actually beginning to wear off at this point and these people had more or less been in front of their computers for 18 hours straight at this point running off of a sugar and adrenaline high... low and behold another form pops up 5 seconds later. People promptly begin to pass out from Adrenaline and Fatigue Sickness, which isn't something people want to experience after doing something like that.

Point is, the fight and subsequent fainting spells received a crap ton of press time, and that is what cued Square-Enix to weaken the vast majority of their Super Bosses and / or impose time limits on them. And it is because of this reason that we don't have the Notorious Monster System, or Super-Bosses like that in this game.

In fact, the closest that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn comes to a true Super Boss (in the iconic sense) is the Odin and Behemoth FATES. And those aren't even remotely close to comparing to the Super Bosses produced by the rest of the MMORPG companies. Until you have fought Tequatl, you really haven't seen a modern Super Boss.

[Zona]

That said, while you are absolutely correct that Parsers do not modify data, they just record it, any and all third party software that can be used to provide yourself with an advantage over other players is something that is bannable. Same goes for Glitches. Parsers can in fact provide such an advantage. Thus they are a bannable offense if you are caught using them.

Thats like saying the forums or any website that gives you information on your spells gives you an advantage over other players

[NoctisUmbra]

Parsers can in fact provide such an advantage.

Nope.

Last I checked, parsers do not directly increase DPS. They simply increase the feedback you get from the game, and accelerate the learning process for the entire community.

All that testing people do to figure out which stats you should pick for your jobs. All those BiS setups. All those effective rotations that a majority of the community reads up on and, if they care enough to not be dead-weight in party content, incorporate into their playstyle. They are results of people testing the mechanics thoroughly with the use of - you guessed it - parsers.

You can say parsers are giving the player using them an advantage all you like, doesn't make it true. A person using a parser in a party is giving the entire party an advantage, potentially, simply if it leads to finding the source of the wipes faster. People using parsers to test game stats/strats/rotations/builds are giving the whole community a boost in developing the metagame. A person using a parser, however, does not have a direct advantage over a person who doesn't.

They do nothing but help the community. People always like to talk about players that will use this info to harass others as an excuse. That implies that a player willing to harass another in game wouldn't already be inclined to do so without a parser, which is quite silly in my opinion.

This just in: Reading the tool tips for your spells can give you an advantage over other players, so SE is planning to remove the information given in the tool tips in order to level the playing field in the game.

Funny you bring this up, because with some of the things I've seen in CT or Hard Mode dungeon runs blatantly suggest to me that there are, in fact, quite a number of players who don't even bother to read the tool-tips of their skills.

I've legitimately seen DRGs spam Full Thrust, and only Full Thrust as well as some who never use Heavy Thrust. Ever. I've seen MNKs alternate their combos, but stay on the rear of bosses full time. I've seen BLMs who use nothing but Blizzard spells. BRDs who never use their DoTs. My favorite tends to be when a BRD tells you they aren't singing Foe's Requiem because they don't want the % cut to their DPS, cuz it implies they read the tooltips, but also that they didn't.

So, yeah. Apparently people who read and understand the tooltips have a clear advantage over those who don't. By reading the tooltips and pointing out to the player's in my party who I see messing up that they're doing something wrong (Heavy Thrust is good, stop spamming Full Thrust, Foe's does not cut your DPS, etc) I am using the advantage I have by reading the tooltips to give them constructive criticism. That needs to end. Clear the tooltips!

[Dwill]

Nope.

Last I checked, parsers do not directly increase DPS. They simply increase the feedback you get from the game, and accelerate the learning process for the entire community.

All that testing people do to figure out which stats you should pick for your jobs. All those BiS setups. All those effective rotations that a majority of the community reads up on and, if they care enough to not be dead-weight in party content, incorporate into their playstyle. They are results of people testing the mechanics thoroughly with the use of - you guessed it - parsers.

You can say parsers are giving the player using them an advantage all you like, doesn't make it true. A person using a parser in a party is giving the entire party an advantage, potentially, simply if it leads to finding the source of the wipes faster. People using parsers to test game stats/strats/rotations/builds are giving the whole community a boost in developing the metagame. A person using a parser, however, does not have a direct advantage over a person who doesn't.

They do nothing but help the community. People always like to talk about players that will use this info to harass others as an excuse. That implies that a player willing to harass another in game wouldn't already be inclined to do so without a parser, which is quite silly in my opinion.

Exactly. The whole concept of "People are going to be harassed" or "People without parsers are going to be at a disadvantage" stems from ignorance as to how such a tool function in the first place.

[Vangl]

This just in: Reading the tool tips for your spells can give you an advantage over other players, so SE is planning to remove the information given in the tool tips in order to level the playing field in the game.

[Althea]

This just in: Reading the tool tips for your spells can give you an advantage over other players, so SE is planning to remove the information given in the tool tips in order to level the playing field in the game.

It's actually funny that you mention this, because a while back people wanted the tooltips for base stats (strength, determination, hit chance, etc) to be more detailed so we could better optimize our stats.

In regards to showing the chance for critical hits, the team remarked that there are currently no plans to display this in the UI. Players can assume simply that as the stats that affect this grow larger, the effect will become greater.

[darkstarpoet1]

It's actually funny that you mention this, because a while back people wanted the tooltips for base stats (strength, determination, hit chance, etc) to be more detailed so we could better optimize our stats.

yeah, great find considering that post of Hvinire has absolutely zero to do with that the poster you quoted said at all. they stated tooltips on spells being sarcastic, but undoubtedly you aren't sure what that is. so you will be able to keep up with the convo you need to be in game, scroll over a spell on your action bar, look at the description that shows up when hovered over it, and understand THAT is a tooltip for a spell.

the post Hvinire is responding to is for people that are asking for something additional added that will show them their crit percentage based off their stats.

[RakaMaimhov]

If you can point out to a DPS what they're doing that's wrong without puking out parser numbers at them, you can't get banned. Examples would be pointing out that spamming chaos thrust on dragoon does very little damage. Or that casting only blizzard 3 isn't an efficient use of a black mage spell arsenal. Asking them if their gear is broken or under spec (spiritbonding crafting gear is a big issue these days). Having enough knowledge of the game and the observation skills to watch bad DPS long enough to see what they're doing wrong goes a long way to helping people actually suck less and keeping you from being accused of parsing.

I also think it was rather stupid to call damage dealers DPS and then ban people for using parsers. Smells like entrapment to me. =P

[RygaenYuui]

Odd. Because I know of some interesting instances where as healer I've had to help push DPS in Cleric Stance....
Or had to push DPS as OT or MT....

....It's definitely a team effort guys. Pointing fingers doesn't help you win anything.

And as far as the parse is concerned, you could have the highest dps in the world; but if your tank is getting ripped to shreds and your healers aren't curing and removing debuffs and reinstating essential buffs and making wise decisions in combat, your parse is just a mile marker for a destination you have yet to traverse.