Quote Originally Posted by Ryel View Post
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Sorry for cutting the post down but its getting tough to edit

I think we're on the same page and are sort of playing devil's advocate on the subject. And I liked your analogy about the stopwatch. I used to use the stopwatch on my watch whenever I took my Army PT test to keep a proper pace. That's parsing, and does that mean I cheated on my PT tests? I don't think so. And neither did my NCOs. When I look something up on the market board and use a calculator to see how much Gil I am going to have left over after buying it, is parsing too. Those examples are one value parses, but when does it become 'cheating' by some of these vocal members? When doing 2 parses, 3? 4? Where do you all draw the line? Where is SE drawing the line? Am I going to get actioned for saying I used a calculator to when buying things?

I mean I guess they could argue that everyone has a calculator and they can do it with a physical object. Well wait a minute. I could design an Android app to parse those log files through a wifi network (I've done similar things in my college IT projects). Does that suddenly make it ok?

There has to be a line drawn and it has to be clear cut and dry. For example, in the TOS it states that you cannot use programs that change game files. That's pretty specific and knocks out all hacks, cheats, and exploits. But Parsing is way too broad. They're going to have to be more specific. Because banning parsing means no screenshots can be modified or viewed (you can parse through these btw, using OCR technologies)

And I don't think their stance is clear. There's a 40+ page thread in the DPS Section of these forums discussing parses, damage calculators and spreadsheets for each class and none have been actioned, warned, or locked. If SE wants to be serious and crack down, every one of those threads should be locked, deleted, and the OP's and participates warned.

The only way players know how much damage a Black Mages Fire III will do with x number of Det and y amount of Magic Damage is through parsing. And they're pretty open about it.

As to the rest of the people in this thread...

My advice to anyone who is against parsing is to try them. Not on FFXIV, but on Everquest 1 or 2. GameParse for EQ1 and Advanced Combat Tracker for EQ2. Both programs are legit and authorized by SOE so you will not be breaking their TOS. See how they work and what they actually do.

Of course some of you are against them for the abuse. Well I'm sorry to say, but if someone is underperforming (whether it be their ability to Tank, DPS, or Heal, their gear, their attitude, or their performance), it is NOT harassment for me to decide I do not wish to play with them. I am free to disband from the group or my friends and I are free to vote disband the group and requeue for any reason at all or no reason at all.

Now calling names and insults is another matter entirely. That has nothing to do with Parsing. Parsing doesn't cause or make that easier, the ingame chat makes its possible. We don't ban Chat because of its ability to allow harassment.