Quote Originally Posted by Dualgunner View Post
Wait, it disables battle logs? So if everyone consents to the recording, does that mean parsers wouldn't pick anything up?
I don't think so. Parser logging's primary method is capturing network data. That data is also used by the client to show you what other people are casting during combat, where they are, and damage/healing numbers that appear when you (and other people) do things. The client itself could choose not to record that data in the replay feature's log, but in order for the parser to not see it, it'd have to not be sent by the server at all and that would cause side effects (like not being able to see someone elses casts).

Note that it's the parser that logs data for upload, not the game. So long as the server still sends that data across the network to the client, it doesn't matter what the client does with it, by default. (If you switched it to use in-memory parsing, then what the client does could have an impact, but that's already the not recommend method.) I don't anticipate this will be a problem for parsers because SE changing what data gets sent to a live combat client when replay is on vs when it's not would have all kinds of side effects and be pretty odd. But I have no insider knowledge so I could be wrong.

The thing that excites me the most about the replay would be the ability to pause and look at specific events through other player's perspectives: what comes to mind is a simple "Watch how I handle GCO, and emulate it" but it being limited like this is going to kill a lot of that for me. >.<
It sounds like the replay won't show you some things, yeah. That's a shame, although if you got to watch a really skilled player and could at least see their rotation maybe it'd help even without the numbers. But I'm not sure exactly what will be visible and what won't.