Merged parse vs. what alternative?

[Allyrion]

If your hypothetical parser has a setting that says "End encounter after X seconds with no action" and it's set to default at, like, 6, then you have 14 seconds or more of your encounter that aren't being counted in the "per second" part of DPS when you merge the encounters. This would, of course, inflate the ratio of damage to seconds, and make one's DPS bigger than it should be.

I guess the latter part is a matter of perception.
I use an extended reset timer because it shows the full encounter time. This is true, I don't like cutting the downtime over the fight.
But I don't think downtime should be counted for DPS, generally. I'd rather have more consistent numbers based on the damage when you're actually fighting.
DPS is skewed during downtime, putting you at 0 while you're waiting around.
So, to me, it gets DPS is deflated and lower than it should be with downtime.

I liked parsers from other games where you can damage as the accurate but broader measure of how much you contributed over the course of the fight, while DPS is what you're able to do while you're actually fighting.