SE's most difinitive statement yet on parsers

[Dwill]

Sounds to me some ppl have to much time on there hands :P dose it matter who is doing the most?

Parsers in this game is rarely about who does the most and more about how the group as a whole is doing and how we can improve each individual.

So you'd rather a game where people don't help anyone except the raider elite and everyone else gets frustrated, quits and the game dies out due to limited consumers? Sorry if I disagree with you and think HELPING people rather then kicking them is the better option.

It's fine to help people that are new and/or want to improve. But when people just don't seem to learn or refuse the help, then it's not anybody's prerogative to carry bad players through content nor to teach them how to play their jobs correctly. They've had 50 levels to learn how to use their abilities and to get out of AoE and if a little push doesn't help them, it still doesn't give them the right to waste other people's time.

[Krr]

Not true at all. The only reason they don't enforce the ban as strictly now, is because PSO2 is a FTP game and the majority of western players connect via VPN, so can't be easily ip blocked. It was heavily enforced during earlier stages of the game, when the western portal was still on the cards, and the out-of-TOS population was smaller. It's also the reason you can't buy Arks Cash with western credit cards.

Not a relevant comparison at all.

Fact check: The majority of western players only connect via VPN due to a routing error on Yahoo.jp's part after a subnet mask configuration change, which was two months ago. Before that, it was trivial and safe for at least a year to connect with a western IP that could be seen with the naked eye. Sega has also officially announced, several times, that they have no intent to do an IP block, even though they easily did so on contract with the company running the SEA version with most of that region. And, basically every SEA player has noted that most VPNs are totally unviable to use now due to the blocking scheme, which just results in them having shoddy connections that are unplayable.

It is also extremely trivial, if somewhat slow, forforeign players to acquire arks cash now. If Sega didn't want them doing it, the services they use - which are in most cases blatantly fraudulent - would no longer be accepted. Period.

Whatever Sega did during the beta stages of the game is irrelevant to how that clause of the ToS is treated now, which is identical to how Square has treated the ToS with regards to parsing: something they can't enforce or don't want to invest in the tools to enforce due to the risk it poses to their business. Likewise, in both situations the 'threat' (NA players, parsers) has been proven to have minimal impact on the community as long as the particularly inappropriate ones are removed.

The comparison is relevant. Things that happened two years or more ago are not.

(PS. Only an American could say something as conceited as 'No American players.' The TOS states no gaijin. There are more countries in the world outside of Japan than just America.)

Only someone who's on shaky ground with their statements grasps at semantics. Dig? The statement remains relevant whether or not the ToS clause bans all foreigners or just the NA. They're 'enforcing' a specific clause in a way that doesn't reflect the clause by the letter.

[Amberyl]

Fact check

I love posts that start like this, as they almost always contain utter rubbish.

The majority of western players only connect via VPN due to a routing error on Yahoo.jp's part after a subnet mask configuration change, which was two months ago.

Absolutely not true, lol. I don't know what ship or block you hang on, but the vast majority of western players VPN due to distance-related latency messing with the way their friends appear on screen, (regardless of whether they're all local to each other or not,) and that hasn't changed since the game launched to begin with. That's a networking artefact, caused by the mechanics of the client-server code, not some transitory routing issue.

[Amberyl]

And, basically every SEA player has noted that most VPNs are totally unviable to use now due to the blocking scheme, which just results in them having shoddy connections that are unplayable.

Most SEA players didn't need them to begin with? Why is SEA relevant? I said western, not eastern.

It is also extremely trivial, if somewhat slow, for Western players to acquire arks cash now. If Sega didn't want them doing it, the services they use - which are in most cases blatantly fraudulent - would no longer be accepted. Period.

You've never been to Japan, have you? How could you ban cash culture, when the host country is a cash culture? Do you have any idea how many salarymen would end up in the divorce courts if their wives could see how much they spend on gaming each month? o_0

[Amberyl]

Whatever Sega did during the beta stages of the game is irrelevant to how that clause of the ToS is treated now, which is identical to how Square has treated the ToS with regards to parsing

One boils down to being unable to apply a ban consistently due to the game being FTP, and the offending player being able to roll another account without issue. The other boils down to the server being unable to detect the exploit in the first place. They are not comparable issues. If SE rolled out a gameguard system, you can guarantee parser players would disappear overnight.

Only someone who's on shaky ground with their statements grasps at semantics. Dig?

Relating a cultural failing has little to do with grasping at semantics.

[Kaethra]

Key statement is the second to last paragraph: "We would also like to remind players that third-party tools that modify or parse game data violate the User Agreement, and that players who are found to be using these tools will be met with strict disciplinary action."

Sorry to say, but you misread that statement. They said GAME DATA. Which is much different than LOG DATA. While people cannot use Radar or other hacks to find things in game, or modify files, or intercept game transmission from packets sent over a network. This has nothing to do with DPS parses. DPS parses use the log file located in the C:\Users\Username\Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn folder instead of where FFXIV is installed.

SE has no control over what you do in that folder. That is where your UI configs and screenshots go as well. You're allowed to view, edit, and modify anything in that folder (otherwise anyone photoshoping their screenshots should be banned too!). The log files are simply text files and all a parser does with those files is read them, apply math, and displays the results. Anyone with notepad and a calculator could produce the same results.

So saying DPS parser users will be banned is like saying anyone using MSPAINT.exe, NOTEPAD.exe, and CALC.exe should be as well.

As for the argument that PS3/4 users can't do things that PC users can't. That's rubbish. There's plenty of things I can do that they can't with my PC that doesn't even compare to cheats. Such as alt tabbing to my browser to look up a wiki, VOIP, and use a myriad of peripherals (I'd be surprised if the PS3 or 4 could use a 17 button gaming mouse). Of course things like Radar and other hacks are bad, but don't lump DPS parsers in with those.

[Amberyl]

They said GAME DATA. Which is much different than LOG DATA.

While it's kinda cute, you are absolutely deluding yourself.

[Kaethra]

While it's kinda cute, you are absolutely deluding yourself.

You want to provide some facts of that? Those files are not located anywhere in the directory that FFXIV is installed to. Take a look yourself.

[chocomaid]

So that makes cheating totally ok? Would driving a Marathon be ok then because it's more efficient?

Wrong analogy there.

Sprinter A: *finishes 100m sprint* Wew, I think that was my best run, I was on fire!

Sprinter B: *finishes 100m sprint* *Takes out stopwatch and stops it* Hmm, that was worse than my last run, I think I need work on my starting technique.

Sprinter A: Hey that is cheating!

Sprinter B: Uh, sorry what?

[Amberyl]

You want to provide some facts of that? Those files are not located anywhere in the directory that FFXIV is installed to. Take a look yourself.

Take a quick look at every single screenshot you take with the client, and tell me what they have in common. (hint, it's located bottom left, and you'd have to be blind not to notice it.)

Just because they don't necessarily enforce their ownership of everything that the client generates rigidly, doesn't mean that it's not theirs. Even the config files are their intellectual property. You either weren't paying attention in beta, or didn't play, but they have, in the past, enforced stricter usage rules of that content.

There is nothing that this game client creates that you own. And rightly so, you didn't make it. Go and read the EULA.