An Alternative? to parsers..

[Gelesto]

I see lots of posts about parsers for and against, the good arguements for having them being personal improvement and to see that you are getting better, with the best arguement against them is for abuse and exclusion from content if you don't meet someones ideals.

My idea - Grades

During the course of a duty damage done, damage taken and effective healing (not overhealing) will be calcualted awarding you with a grade at the end C, B, A and S.

Now depending on your job these values will differ for example a MCH will not be weighed as heavily for damage to say a BLM or SAM each is taylored to the job much like the savage dummy challenges Damage dealt is apllicable to ALL Jobs Healers and Tanks included

For healing as stated above effecdtive healing (damage absorbed by shields also would count towards this) meaning no overheals would increase your "score"

Taking damage is never a great thing but it is the role of the tank do such so taking damage as a tank will have a reduced effect on the negative score listings comprared to healers and dps (avoid the orange muck), encouraging people to use those cooldowns to boost that "score"

So during the course of a dungeon you will generate invisible points for your contribution to the group and after the duty complete message you will recieve your grade card showing you what rank you got ( varies on job and duty naturally) showing people where they have room to improve ranks A, B and C or knowing you did well with a rank S, your grade is only viewable by yourself to stop abuse if you didnt meet certain expectations.

Perhaps include a rewards system to help enforce the idea that if your playing with people especially strangers that doing your best is best for all. C 1 point, B 2 points A 3 points with S granting 5 points possibly to spend on glamour items, minions, mounts, untradable consumables, titles etc

Any thoughts? Additions? would like to know what you all think, could it work or is it just another shower thought.

Edit: additional points awarded for swift completion of duty ( more time left on the timer = more points)

[Miracle_Diva]

My opinion on this is - it would be nice to have rankings on lower lvl content, but on 70 it's better to have more precise data about your performance. Maybe it would be nice to have parser AND abcs rankings so you can actually tell how good you're doing and how high you can potentially grow when you have people you can compare yourself to.

[BluexBird]

Yeah uhm... I'm all for this and everything, but I still think the vast majority of people who are against parsers, are actually against it because they don't want to be held accountable for how much they might potentially be SUCKING. All that talk about how it would make players "more toxic" is just a cover argument.

Alternatives to parsing are nice. But in the end there's really only two types of players - those who care about how much damage they're doing, and those who don't. And in the latter group you will find those who are worried other people might find out how BAD they are. Or in this case, it's the actual GAME telling them they need to step things up. They don't want that. They don't want to improve. That is the only reason to oppose personal damage parsers or any other variant.

[Erik501]

Yeah uhm... I'm all for this and everything, but I still think the vast majority of people who are against parsers, are actually against it because they don't want to be held accountable for how much they might potentially be SUCKING. All that talk about how it would make players "more toxic" is just a cover argument.

Alternatives to parsing are nice. But in the end there's really only two types of players - those who care about how much damage they're doing, and those who don't. And in the latter group you will find those who are worried other people might find out how BAD they are. Or in this case, it's the actual GAME telling them they need to step things up. They don't want that. They don't want to improve. That is the only reason to oppose personal damage parsers or any other variant.

Oh, really? Gosh, I thought I was playing FFXIV...

Let me answer to you with your same style, ok?

In the end, there's really only two types of players - those who feel entitled to decide who is good and who is bad according to their own stardards because... reasons..., and those who don't. And in the first group you will find people who are worried other people might not find out how GOOD they are, and so they desperately need a parser so everybody else will have to kneel before them because of how extremely awesome they play.

Fair enough?

[Gleipni]

Oh, really? Gosh, I thought I was playing FFXIV...

Let me answer to you with your same style, ok?

In the end, there's really only two types of players - those who feel entitled to decide who is good and who is bad according to their own stardards because... reasons..., and those who don't. And in the first group you will find people who are worried other people might not find out how GOOD they are, and so they desperately need a parser so everybody else will have to kneel before them because of how extremely awesome they play.

Fair enough?

it does not make any sense,When will people understand,in the end game,you need to play good,there is no "but im just here for fun i dont care of the rest" or "suck i pay it so i play as i want",you need a parser to know if you're doing good or bad,the end,why does people find it so revolting to asses if someone is good or bad ?

[akaneakki]

Fair enough?

I've honestly waited for months where people say harrasement on a daily basis happens in game because of parser, so I'm still waiting. I mean waiting for proof.

[BluexBird]

I'm not asking anyone to kneel. I don't brag about my DPS. Especially because I don't think anything over 90 percentile is worth bragging about. Even 99 percentile isn't worth bragging about. Knowing how to play your class is not worth bragging about. But that's the thing players in the 80-99 percentile have in common - they know how to play their class. If they're in the 50-80 range they probably do as well but might be having trouble with mechanics and/or dying.

Meanwhile you have people in the lower 30-40s. I call them "bad", but you are considering it a personal attack. It's not a personal attack. Most of the time, it's not even their fault. They probably don't even KNOW they're doing low damage. HOW WOULD THEY?! THE GAME DOESN'T TELL THEM!

But then even after you tell them they're doing something wrong, they spit in your face and tell you to get lost? Yeah... they're not just bad, they're garbage. lol

[KaivaC]

I've honestly waited for months where people say harrasement on a daily basis happens in game because of parser, so I'm still waiting. I mean waiting for proof.

It really makes me wonder, however, with as many folks claiming harassment over parsers, and yet no one has really brought forward a screenshot to prove their argument. 'I don't need proof, it happened in every other MMO, it'll happen here', or, 'Just trust my word'.

We all remember the last person that tried to claim this, and got called out on it for outright lying. Actually have not seen that person since being called out, surprisingly.

[Gemina]

Yeah uhm... I'm all for this and everything, but I still think the vast majority of people who are against parsers, are actually against it because they don't want to be held accountable for how much they might potentially be SUCKING. All that talk about how it would make players "more toxic" is just a cover argument.

Alternatives to parsing are nice. But in the end there's really only two types of players - those who care about how much damage they're doing, and those who don't. And in the latter group you will find those who are worried other people might find out how BAD they are. Or in this case, it's the actual GAME telling them they need to step things up. They don't want that. They don't want to improve. That is the only reason to oppose personal damage parsers or any other variant.

You do realize that someone against parsers can just as easily state that the only reason why you want them is to identify 'bad' players so you can trim the fat? Yoshi is against them, so by your definition, he is a bad player who doesn't care to improve? You make it sound like toxicity in the game is just in the imaginations of sucky players.

A safer assumption would be that casual players who don't care about how much damage they are causing or improving don't enter content where this is required. There will always be those who want to be carried through content, and I will point that a parser isn't going to help you identify this player. It's only going to point out who is doing the least amount of damage, and that player could be putting in the maximum effort they are capable of.

Of course these players are worried. Why wouldn't they be? They are not worried about being a bad player though. They are worried about being excluded from content they want to clear due to someone else's arbitrary standards.

As far as grades go. I think it would be a cool little feature, but it could never substitute the data a parser provides, so it isn't really an alternative but rather something new. I like the idea.

[KaivaC]

Oh...also...I have to insert the obligatory 'omg another parser thread rawwrrrr' before somebody else does