If running a parser makes you cynical and depressed, why do it?

[Vidu]

Vidu,

Besides a handful of the trials the leveling content is completely trivial. Believing you're carrying anyone through it is a bit off-base; it's designed to carry the entire team through it basically regardless of skill, by being ridiculously easy. It's not challenging and it's not supposed to be.

Not that I'm saying you should tolerate someone AFKing through an entire dungeon, but being optimal is hardly necessary and the ONLY reason you would need parsers in that content is optimization. Your input on other peoples optimization isn't necessary for that content, so your opinion that you need the means to force it on people is just arrogant. In that content parsers just create unnecessary toxic hostility towards new or struggling players.

Beyond that, I'm really not interested in arguing anecdotes. I've seen plenty of completely pointless fights break out in trivial content over who's out-damaging who. It's dumb and it's not needed. I don't see the reason to call new players out when the run is going fine, and I never will. It's just discouraging how much of this community feels it's "necessary" in trivial content, for some obtuse sense of making this content more "serious" and less fun than it should be for new players.

Yes, content is mostly trivial but that does not mean that you dont need to put in some amount of effort.

Putting in some amount of effort doesnt equal optimisation on the level you're implying. Pressing 1-2-3 in the right order is already optimization compared to only pressing 1-1-1. Using your cooldowns during a fight instead of outside of one is optimization. Keeping your DoTs up is optimization. Using AoE-spells in groups and ST-rotations on single enemies is optimization. People confuse "playing level appropriate" with "purple parsers and day one clears" constantly when it comes to these discussions. A certain amount of "optimization" is completly reasonable, even in trivial leveling dungeons.

Why do you believe that taking this content less serious is more fun to new players? Why do you believe that telling someone "Oh, it actually doesnt matter what you do, just roll your head over your keyboard, thats fine" is more fun to new players than telling them "Hey, there is a better way to play your class which will allow you to contribute in a more meanigful way to our teameffort!" - and while this is only my personal opinion I'd like to add that I feel that most jobs are a lot more fun to play if you actually know what you're doing - each job has some of their best skills locked behind doing something "right" before after all. And by "best skills" I dont only mean that they're the ones with the highest potency but often also the ones with the most flashy animations/sounds aswell as adding a certain "flow" to the whole gameplay. For me its also more fun to press more than one button - that might not be the case for everyone and some people might be totally happy with hitting 1 over and over again, but at least for me playing a job "better" also makes it more fun.

Personally I think its really sad that most content is extremly trivial, specially when that wasnt always the case but we saw both real nerfs (aka adjustments to the content itself) and this powercreep happening. I recall ARR leveling dungeons being actually difficult and a challenge - and I recall Wall-to-Wall pulls being something you didnt do lightly because everyone had to be on their toes or it would have been a wipe. I think if I'd be starting right now, I'd be pretty disappointed by some of the encounters that are being build up by the storytelling as some sort of challenge or something actually dangerous - and then they turn out to be those super trivial fights that are over before you even had a change to try and do the mechanics right because every second on is being skipped. And I'd be even more upset if I'd be "told" that it really doesnt matter what I'm doing, because that implies that it really doesnt matter wether or not I am there, in that fight - and yes, of course it doesnt matter, we all know that missing a dps is never a big deal and that you can finish content without tanks and healers, but thats not what I would want to believe.

Maybe we just have different ideas what "fun" is, but "eh, do whatever, doesnt matter anyways" doesnt sound like fun to me - neither does "you have to play absolutly PERFECT", but thats not what I've been arguing about in the first place. Speaking for myself I can say that contributing in a meanigful way, to the best of my ability and knowledge to any groupcontent is whats most fun to me. Which would be the reason I sometimes might be using a parser: To check wether or not I'm doing that and if I'm not, to correct that. Its also "fun" to do content with likeminded people, so I'm "happy" if that parser shows me that everyone else in that particular run is doing well - if they arent I might be mildly annoyed, rarely speak up and either vote-kick them or at least add them to my blacklist so I'll remember not to play with them again if I have that choice.
If someones "fun" includes not caring about their performance and only looking at the pretty landscapes, thats fine by me - I'll just do everything in my power to avoid them. Sometimes maybe after suggesting that they could try my way of having fun: By looking into a guide or something similar.
I still remember how its like to be completly clueless and at least I'm having way more fun now, with more knowledge and better skills. I'd like to invite everyone to try the same - there might be frustrating moments, sure. But for me those were and are worth it. And if thats not your cup of tea* we can always try and avoid each other - for DF-content that might end up with either you or me getting removed, depending on what the current group thinks is more "fun" right now: Playing your job properly - or just saying "this is trivial, nothing matters".

*Please note that this isnt intended for you personally but is more meant as a general "you" - the two of us wont run into each other anyways, unless you decide to make a character on Light