Built-in Parsers

[Aster_E]

I'll try to answer to your questions.
A parser, as it says parses everything from the combat log, and even more. For instance, let's say you're progressing on high level, someone dies at some point, you and your group don't understand how it happened because you were busy dealing with your own mecanichs or else. With that parser you can point the precise moment when it happened and list the damages that killed that person, also see what buffs or debuff he had and clearly understand what happened, allowing you to find out how to prevent that in the future.

Thank you for your time on this. Now, this sounds like a nice feature, if only it were advertised better by the few dozen parsers I've encountered who only look at the outgoing damage meter and not at such things as buffs, debuffs, incoming circumstances, and so forth. That is, it can be quite nice, certainly, for people who need that extra set of eyes to tell them what went wrong. As a Bard and healer both, I have lost count of how many times I've witnessed a fight going south because: 1) people essentially "stood in the fire," 2) didn't stun an incoming big attack (or even something small but dangerous like Final Sting), or 3) simply weren't doing proper rotations for the size of the pull, despite having the resources (TP and MP) to use their abilities. All of these things I could easily see with my own eyes while still managing to do my own job, as can the majority of decent healers or better that I know. Funny enough, the few "decent or better" healers I've met you missed these things were either half-asleep OR were staring at the outgoing damage meters (and no other resource provided by the parse).

For nidex you can see that the damages you took actually healed the tower, for Zurvan you can see the damages dealt by the chain if you're too far. etc. it won't teach you how to deal precisely with every mechanics in the game, but during progression it provides great information on what's happening and what causes a wipe, allowing you to take measures tu counter that and learn from your mistakes.

I can concede the point you are trying to make with NidEx, regarding incoming damage from one or both staves exploding, people getting hit by blue orbs, or people taking damage from the stack mechanic; though, on the other hand, these are things ranged dps and healers alike can spot with ease, along with people with blue tethers standing in stacks when they don't need to or the same people getting hit by orbs. The one thing I don't do is name names when that happens since I keep joining alleged "farms" that turn into progression more often than not, but I do at least say "Hey, blue tethers are taking too much damage," or "red tethers aren't taking enough.

As for Zurvan, yes, that is a nice point, but it did not answer my question. I asked specifically about standing in your correct color (while your dance partner is nearby), not about staying close to your dance partner in general.

Although, regarding people only using it as a DPS meter, that's right, some will just use it for that sole purpose.
And honestly, I don't find it that bad. They can use it as a tool to improve. Imagine you just clear Shinryu ex, and happened to be parsing the fight. You barely killed in time, but managed. Now you get into farm groups, and this time the group is competent, but there is a tiny bit less dps than the time where you killed it and end up wiping. The parse will show you that, on average the group lacked x amount of Dps, and you can also see who is under-performing, and try to help those person.

Certainly, it can be alright in the right hands, as I said from my first post here. I have no problem with people using it if they honestly need some sort of comparison to where they CAN stand in a fight and where they can improve - the more power to them. It's people, however, who abuse this knowledge alone to only get big numbers in places where just decent ones will suffice, and they are my concern. There are far less of them, currently, in this game compared to a raiding game like WoW. Again, I don't name names. I tend to forget about them since they're relatively harmless at the moment.

On the other hand, you can work on the damages you deal and improve as a bard to maximize your dps output. This has 3 benefits :
- you get better as a player
- you can compensate other's mistakes
- you can skip phases which means faster clears (great for farming) and less stress overall on the players (expecially the healers) and less room for mistakes

("especially" by the way, and also just a heads-up but you made a minor lingual slip earlier and said "tu" instead of "you." It's no biggie.)

When my gear is up to date and I understand a fight enough to anticipate phase skips or changes, I do more than fine even when my Straighter Shot doesn't proc. Right now, the number one thing holding back my Bard is that the weapon is still only i310, and that's by a choice I made back when I thought we were getting relics in a few weeks from now (as opposed to whenever Eureka finally comes out, which might be 4.2, from what I understand).

-snip-

You made more assumptions or hand-waves here than I care to shake a stick at. To top it off, you missed a lot of points. Here's a short list of quick responses to your post here:

1) Answering one anecdote with another is not a solid argument. At best, unreliable hearsay versus unreliable hearsay is politics. At worst... let's just not. For that matter, let's not assume everything is an anecdote just because we do not agree with it.
2) No, Ultimate has nothing to do with what I'm saying. Adding any actual content is nothing compared to what I'm saying, at all. I'm referring to a QoL level feature that I am opposed to having in-game, but don't mind the right people using in general. (My apologies that you see people cry about Ultimate or the like, for whatever reason, since I like the idea of it)
3) I'm not saying a parser will be a jerk just for being a parser. Once again, and let me be perfectly clear right here, a parse is a tool. Bad people will use tools for bad reasons. Putting the tool inside of the game sends a signal to some, not all, such bad people that they are getting a thing that they want and thus must be right. Sounds like bad logic, right? The fallacy lies in those same individuals, not in the majority of parsers I have encountered.
4) Yes, there is more to Bard than Refulgent Arrow, just like there is more to the sky than being blue, or to water than being wet. I was not talking about the songs, which I do use in fights regularly.
5) I'm well aware of theory-crafters. They play the game in their own way. Furthermore, my question was to Señor Deithwen (note: I say that out of respect) specifically since it was he who brought this up to me. Thank you, however, for trying to respond to a question meant for him.
6) One more time, because it keeps on getting missed no matter how much I keep saying it, I see the good in some people who use the tool as it stands outside of the game, I see the bad, and I see the gray area in between.