Quote Originally Posted by Bishop81 View Post
Seriously, can't people just clear raids without parsers? Why do you need that clutch?
Well you can. In fact, parsers really only have been in the spotlight since WoW became a thing. Older MMOs were a time when parsers and other applications really didn't exist. Back then we simply beat enrage timers and DPS checks through brute force trial and error. Because we had nothing helping us, we learned to watch everyone, including ourselves, simultaneously and gauge DPS based on visual performance (rotational requirements, skill timings, gear, planned buff rotations, movement keys, party announcements, etc.) Basically we all developed a unique skill for gauging an entire party's performance without using numbers directly. After countless battles, you could watch an entire fight going down and say to yourself "Wizard A is not pulling his weight, especially during phase 3 of the battle" all while doing your own thing at the same time.

Parsers simply make that content easier and more accessible for the people who could not hone that level of skill. In a good sense, they opened up difficult encounters to a wider audience. In a bad sense, modern MMO community has grown too dependent on them.

As a metaphor, parsers were supposed to be wheelchairs when they first started appearing. You could use one to help you get around if you didn't have the strength or ability to walk yourself. The problem is that modern gamers started using them simply out of laziness because it takes a lot more work to walk a distance than letting a chair do it for you (even if you don't have the disability that warrants the wheelchair). It's not all their fault though, it's the gaming culture that's driving them in that direction. Most are oblivious to how dependent they are on parsers now simply because they are ignorant of any other way to complete things. To them, it's the "norm" of MMO gaming, and is continue to spiral more and more out of control because of that.