SE's most difinitive statement yet on parsers

[Elven]

If only there wasn't such a negative stigma towards those who parse. Oh well.

I think it's because those that do parse don't see it as cheating and the arguments and rationalization they present that it isn't always over look the fact that it is simply cheating because it's not allowed under the current Tos.

[ispano]

I think it's because those that do parse don't see it as cheating and the arguments and rationalization they present that it isn't always over look the fact that it is simply cheating because it's not allowed under the current Tos.

Sorry, like Krr said. Not allowed by the ToS != Cheating.

[Krr]

Account sharing, an almost ubiquitous item across MMORPGs, is an extremely good example of this. While sharing your accounts isn't "cheating" and they're more or less exchanged or gifted like bought property (materially, not legally,) the concern is not that account sharing is inherently destructive to the game or the community but that they cannot officially support it happening, due to player safety concerns and liability.

("X logged into my account and stole my credit card! You're responsible!" "No, sorry, account sharing is against the ToS so we have no liability beyond our obligation to ban your account to prevent this behavior.")

Many, many things condemned by policy are done not because they are "immoral" or "wrong", they are done to protect the interests of the company in terms of legal liability in the event that an innocent activity turns into legal damages.

As a side-effect the universal bans of say, both account sharing and third-party software, also give the company convenient outs to ban actually destructive behavior, like people operating botter hiveminds. But their only purpose isn't to "identify cheaters" by a long shot.