5 reasons why PS4 players need a parser in game

[HyoMinPark]

@bswpayton - While you're correct in saying that toxic players will be toxic regardless of having a parser or not having one, using "No Bonus" PFs is not a very good example of toxicity. A better example would be something more along the lines of some people you meet in DF who bail after a single mistake in a piece of content (bonus points if they were the one who caused the wipe, and even more if they were wearing Savage gear), or these individuals in 24-mans who start MT wars with the other alliances. That's a better example of immaturity and toxicity. Not "No Bonus" PFs. That's simply parties wanting members who have already cleared the content (and hopefully know said content) for fast and efficient farming.

To OP, I played on PS4 for over a year before I switched to PC, and started looking at ACT to judge my own performance. Before I switched, I knew people who parsed, and my numbers stayed the same, of course increasing as my gear improved. So I do not feel like I was at a significant disadvantage by not having a parser while on console. I don't even look at my parser during duties, since I play in Full Screen, and rather tend to check the data on it after I've done several different duties to see what my numerical performance was like (if I even bother to run it--a lot of the times I don't, and only tend to use it when I'm doing Savage or Ex primals). I don't use parser callouts for mechanics; I prefer to rely on my own eyes and awareness for that.

What I'm saying is, I performed just as well without a parser, as I did with one. Any improvement I made with either due to gear changes, or not being cheap and actually using consumables. Before I even looked at Krietor's bard guide or looked into using a Double-EA versus Double-IJ opener, I still had an opener fairly similar to Krietor's. Sure my parser is useful for judging my burst damage in one opener compared to another, but even when I was on PS4, I knew people who parsed, so I just asked them to watch my dummy parses for me.

Anecdotal, I know. But that was my experience, and I can't be the only one in this sea of players who faired fine without a parser.

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ADDITION HERE: Sorry, it's late here, and I've been out all day so I'm a little tired and scatterbrained right now.

I wanted to add that I don't really approve of this division you're suggesting: that PS4 players are at a terrible disadvantage compared to PC players just because they lack access to a tool like ACT. I am sure there are plenty of people out there who play on PS4, who do not have access to parsers, and who perform just as well as Savage raiders who parse every piece of content this game has. Success and performance are all based on skill, not a parser. While parsers may help with analyzing your performance and analyzing what may help you succeed/clear a particular piece of content, insinuating that PS4 players will always be at a disadvantage or less skilled or whatnot compared to PC players just because they cannot parse themselves is sort of insulting to the PS4 playerbase.

You don't need a parser to be an amazing player. Quite personally, some of the most amazing people I have met are people who don't care a thing about parsers or parsing. Do they have lower numbers than a Savage raider? Maybe, maybe not. But that doesn't make them any less amazing, and some have taught me a lot of the stuff I know, not ACT. Any further knowledge I gained was based more off of me reading guides, and trial-and-error, some involving parser analysis and some not.

(And when it comes to things like learning how to handle mechanics, parsers can't teach you that. They may be useful for watching DPS during high DPS checks, but they can't teach you how to handle Zurvan's Soar mechanic, or Sephirot's Mad Hops, or Refurbisher's Double Scrapline. Parsers are useful, but they can't teach you everything. Some things take more than just high parses.)

My experience may be anecdotal, but I do know of some players who play on console, who do not parse, and yet they still perform well. Maybe they have had friends parse them and help with rotations. Or maybe they haven't. But my point is, don't create a PS4 versus PC division when we don't really need such a thing. I know it already exists to some extent, but let's not exacerbate it.

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While I would not be opposed to personal parsers (not public ones) being added into this game, it has been said time and time again by the developers that no such add-on will ever be supported by SE. And there have been many examples of why that is so. Just because we pay SE a subscription does not mean they have to give us everything we demand. We pay them for this game (a service), and they reserve the right to develop it as they ultimately see fit. I can't say I know of many people (or anyone really) who have threatened to stop playing if an in-game parser isn't added.

It would be like me going to McDonalds and demanding they serve me food from a Burger King menu, because it's what I want, regardless of how it may or may not profit them. I'm a paying customer, so I should get everything I ask for, right? No. It doesn't work that way. Businesses strive to make their customers happy, but they don't bend over for us, or ask us "how high" when we tell them to jump.

It's a sad thing that you're threatening to leave if SE doesn't add in an in-game parser. But, in the grander scheme, you are just one $15/month sub in a sea of hundreds of thousands of subs. And I am not saying that in a mean way, but from a business perspective. FFXIV losing one subscription isn't something that will prompt SE to suddenly go back on their countless "no's" to parsers. And, like I said, I know of no other people who have threatened to quit over the lack of such an add-on.