5 reasons why PS4 players need a parser in game

[MomomiMomi]

You said we're at a disadvantage and I say we aren't. Especially when you consider that parsers are still technically against the TOS. Doesn't mean anything at this point since usage is so widespread and KNOWN, but my bigger point is that if 2 equally geared players - PC and PS4 - perform the same rotation with the same timing and technical expertise, the PC player isn't going to somehow magically do it better simply for using, or even having access to a parser.

But the only way you're aware of a proper rotation is because the PC players have parsed it to know it's the best rotation.

PC players have an advantage, which means that console players are at a disadvantage.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

But the only way you're aware of a proper rotation is because the PC players have parsed it to know it's the best rotation.

PC players have an advantage, which means that console players are at a disadvantage.

So you're saying the rotation I figured out for myself well before I saw one of the first MCHs guides and said "Hey this is basically what I already do!" was due to a PC player parsing me and telling me that's how it was done?

To be fair, that's perhaps a rare and unusual case. But the fact remains that it's becoming an accepted idea, "I'm at a disadvantage because I can't parse" and that's just self-defeating. Yes, they help. Yes, a lot of established rotations are borne from people parsing. But as far as ability to play and figure things out on your own, regardless of what you play on? Parser or not, that's something people should be able to do at the most basic level. Seriously.

Would I parse if I could? Yeah, probably. Am I a terrible and incapable player at such a huge disadvantage because I can't? Ha! No.

[floofuf]

Most of the things you've said on this issue

It seems to me that you're not really arguing anything. Yes, you could learn your class and rotation without a parser, but it does help quite a bit. Some people need help, and a parser can provide them with it. I don't know exactly what a parser does as I am also a PS4 player, but from what I've read from other people it seems to be a really useful tool, and it's unfair that PS4 players don't have the ability to use it to. While we can learn our classes and rotations without parsing, to actually maximize your damage and timing you will probably need a parser.

[whiteblade89]

it's unfair that PS4 players don't have the ability to use it to.

I get where you're coming from, but the fairness of it isn't really SE's problem. They don't officially condone the use of parsers despite that fact that a lot of people openly use them. It comes down to PC's being ABLE to run third-party parsers whereas consoles can't. It would be unfair if they added an in-game parser but only gave it to PC players. That's unfair. As it is, it's merely a difference in technology design between a PC and a console.


That being said I've always been somewhere in the middle on this issue. If they added an in-game parser then I would use it to perfect my rotation even though I feel like I've already mastered my main class which is NIN. It would certainly help me perfect alt classes like MCH and DRK. Then again I'm perfectly fine if they never add one because I enjoy being able to overcome the challenge of learning a class based on my own abilities to problem solve and think critically about my toolkit.

Bottom line is that there is far too big of a stigma around parsers and the potential for harassment for SE to condone an in-game parser. At least for now.

[Shurrikhan]

You said we're at a disadvantage and I say we aren't. Especially when you consider that parsers are still technically against the TOS. Doesn't mean anything at this point since usage is so widespread and KNOWN, but my bigger point is that if 2 equally geared players - PC and PS4 - perform the same rotation with the same timing and technical expertise, the PC player isn't going to somehow magically do it better simply for using, or even having access to a parser.

Now if there's perhaps some mechanical or game-based limiting factor that perhaps prevents a console player from doing exactly what the PC player does, despite an equally matched level of capability and effort, THEN that's an issue. But while I don't discourage wanting to find ways to perform better, I'm also not subscribing to the idea that I'm at a disadvantage purely for what I choose to play on. Not after how hard I know I work to perform well.

I don't see how, however minor, the lack of a helpful tool wouldn't be a disadvantage. You have a metric that, at the end of a series of practice or theorycraft test rotations, can tell you which is superior. That contributes to mastery.

Admittedly, a relative potency parser with crit rate factored across all hits would provide more usefully consistent results, but the parser is still a valuable tool, less for watching the numbers in real time as seeing what came out best and providing a basis for analysis and improvement. Yes, the basic advantage of parsing is trial-and-error work, which is less time-efficient than simply looking up a guide and following its timings and priority systems, but the work done there informs many of the considerations I think you'd agree are highly useful, and mitigating the chance of flawed assumptions therein.

[bswpayton]

I don't see how, however minor, the lack of a helpful tool wouldn't be a disadvantage. You have a metric that, at the end of a series of practice or theorycraft test rotations, can tell you which is superior. That contributes to mastery.

Admittedly, a relative potency parser with crit rate factored across all hits would provide more usefully consistent results, but the parser is still a valuable tool, .

And lets be honest alot of players whom use them also have the advantage of triggers that allow you to know when something is coming this is basicly and in game guide.

[Kosmos992k]

And lets be honest alot of players whom use them also have the advantage of triggers that allow you to know when something is coming this is basicly and in game guide.

In my day, we called that cheating. Remembering that cheating is usually defined as somehow gaining an unfair advantage over other players, and what you describe appears to meet that definition.

I should add, I am not saying you or anyone else is cheating, however leaning on the crutch of a 3rd party tool to tell you how to play, what to use and when is not a display of skill it's a display of the ability to follow orders.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

Yes, the basic advantage of parsing is trial-and-error work, which is less time-efficient than simply looking up a guide and following its timings and priority systems, but the work done there informs many of the considerations I think you'd agree are highly useful, and mitigating the chance of flawed assumptions therein.

That's effectively my point there. Parsing makes doing that easier. But it's not impossible to do without. Tougher maybe, more time consuming, definitely, but as I currently can't parse, what am I to do? Sit back and wait for others to do everything then tell me how to do it?

I'm not trying to step on any toes here, but if you're playing on either platform and waiting for others to tell you how to do things, that's pretty bad.

[CosmicKirby]

You said we're at a disadvantage and I say we aren't. Especially when you consider that parsers are still technically against the TOS.

The fact that they're against the ToS has absolutely no being on their data providing capability. The fact that PC users have access to them, and PS4 players do not, is a text book definition of disadvantage. Although how big this disadvantage is will vary from situation to situation and player to player.

Doesn't mean anything at this point since usage is so widespread and KNOWN, but my bigger point is that if 2 equally geared players - PC and PS4 - perform the same rotation with the same timing and technical expertise, the PC player isn't going to somehow magically do it better simply for using, or even having access to a parser.

I feel you're missing the point here. It actually takes a good amount of time for the community to reach a mathematically agreeable consensus on what stats/rotation/nuances are considered 'optimal'. Until that consensus is reached, players without a parser are taking shots in the dark as to what's helping their performance the most. A parser helps an individual ascertain a question of "What helps my performance more in this circumstance" incredibly quickly, compared to waiting a couple of weeks and reading a guide.
Much less, for individual players, who will have different gear, materia, and raid compositions that effect their stats and outputs, a parser can be a much more personalized tool that helps them more efficiently than just reading a guide. An example here would be a composition during 3.0 progression that had a BRD would allow the whole rest of his raid party to worry less about their Accuracy because of his evasion debuff, especially the healers. A parser would let the healers know if slotting more crit/det/accuracy would be the most optimal choice in that situation.

Now if there's perhaps some mechanical or game-based limiting factor that perhaps prevents a console player from doing exactly what the PC player does, despite an equally matched level of capability and effort, THEN that's an issue. But while I don't discourage wanting to find ways to perform better, I'm also not subscribing to the idea that I'm at a disadvantage purely for what I choose to play on. Not after how hard I know I work to perform well.

You're not on a disadvantage for what you're playing on. You're at a disadvantage that you can't use a tool that very much can optimize your performance without having a PC player to use the tool for you. Ostensibly, you're trying to get a new record on a track in a racing game, using only a stopwatch, when you could be using a stopwatch in conjunction with a video replay to more precisely locate room for improvement.
Are the same results possible with either method? Absolutely. But one platform cannot attempt one of the methods without the help of a 2nd and 3rd party, for reasons entirely unrelated to the issue. (An unfounded fear of abuse of data in non-progression content)

[LaylaTsarra]

Not happening according to the developers. You can read the 1000 threads on the issue but they've made it clear they don't want one.