Increasing number of players using 3rd party tools

[Liam_Harper]

Would be nice if SE made a crackdown on the bots and act. Removing the market controllers, pvp win trading and some of the crutches all the raiders are using would make the game healthier in the long run

They will never fully ban ACT. Nor is it a crutch, it's a tool. I can guarantee top raiders using ACT would run rings around the average forum complainer and out-perform them in every way in almost any content even without it. The crutch argument is old.

Bots is a good point though and where the focus should really be. They need to crack down on those.

[LittleImp]

Nor is it a crutch, it's a tool.

While I generally agree that ACT is a good thing and brings a lot of diagnostic value to the game, certain extensions for it are definitely a crutch.

Cactbot reads mechanic tells for you, sometimes before they're even telegraphed in game. I know a bunch of players that are completely reliant on cactbot, to the point where they will literally refuse to raid on patch days because they're unable to do the fights without cactbots assistance.

Triggenometry can be used for arguably even more nefarious purposes, as it can send synthetic input directly to the game based on information it parses from the battle log. Probably the most widespread example of this would be the UWU gaol plugin, which automatically puts signs on players heads so that they don't have to solve the gaol mechanic themselves. Virtually every single UWU group uses this at this point.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

While I generally agree that ACT is a good thing and brings a lot of diagnostic value to the game, certain extensions for it are definitely a crutch.

Cactbot reads mechanic tells for you, sometimes before they're even telegraphed in game. I know a bunch of players that are completely reliant on cactbot, to the point where they will literally refuse to raid on patch days because they're unable to do the fights without cactbots assistance.

Triggenometry can be used for arguably even more nefarious purposes, as it can send synthetic input directly to the game based on information it parses from the battle log. Probably the most widespread example of this would be the UWU gaol plugin, which automatically puts signs on players heads so that they don't have to solve the gaol mechanic themselves. Virtually every single UWU group uses this at this point.

That's... A bit much...

I dislike the automated callouts as is, but since people can do them too (I used to call out every mechanic for the entire static during coil), I I live with that. But this is just too much.

I'm surprised all of the "doing it for the difficulty" people aren't up in arms about that.

We just set gaol priority when my group was doing WR. Didn't get past titan anyway, but it was less the gaols and more people just being unable to do mechanics in general.

[Jin-]

That's... A bit much...

I dislike the automated callouts as is, but since people can do them too (I used to call out every mechanic for the entire static during coil), I I live with that. But this is just too much.

I'm surprised all of the "doing it for the difficulty" people aren't up in arms about that.

We just set gaol priority when my group was doing WR. Didn't get past titan anyway, but it was less the gaols and more people just being unable to do mechanics in general.

Well WoW Mythic people who race and brag about the skills would be in total disarray without their precious cheat addons which Blizzard also allows. It's all about people being hypocrites. Same applies to any tool which gives you the notification on mechanics, no matter the game

[Awful]

Well WoW Mythic people who race and brag about the skills would be in total disarray without their precious cheat addons which Blizzard also allows. It's all about people being hypocrites. Same applies to any tool which gives you the notification on mechanics, no matter the game

I really hate when people point fingers at world first raiders and go "they can't clear without their addons and weak auras!" if you even paid attention in the slightest you'd know that's not true at all. Limit Max while doing min ilvl Eden Savage even talked about his races and how EVERYONE in his raid in accountable for the group, they use these tools so that everyone is on the same page, I watched the world 1st race for Mythic Dom and if that was the case then shouldn't they have won? Man ignorance is bliss.

You don't know the hours, days, it takes that they put in as well as the mental fortitude to keep going, hell even while doing this he's still raiding, staying up all night for EU peeps to do min ilvl at 2am their amount of sheer dedication in order to figure out FFXIV mechanics as well as executing them properly is amazing. Bear in mind they have never raided in this game at all so why not let them play the game the way they want to? Why do people cry wolf over addons when there's no malicious intent?

[EaMett]

UI and QoL addons shouldn't be an issue. Honestly, there are a lot of QoL changes SE should have made but for whatever reason (financial) haven't even bothered to do. All of those are perfectly fine.
If you see anything that is outright cheating (stuff that marks adds on a map, etc. etc.), just report it.

Well WoW Mythic people who race and brag about the skills would be in total disarray without their precious cheat addons which Blizzard also allows. It's all about people being hypocrites. Same applies to any tool which gives you the notification on mechanics, no matter the game

WoW Mythic people who race are literally raiding in FF14 as we speak and doing just fine. Far better than the majority of the FF14 player base might I add, despite having no experience with the game and a playtime of a handful of days due to boosting.
WoW is tuned for addons, so calling them "cheat addons" is a gross misrepresentation.

Callout tools are a grey area, it takes longer to set a callout than it does to just have someone remember the mechanics and call them out. So in that sense, it's inconsequential. The Grey part starts when the tools read out more than what is on screen.

[Phaty]

Well WoW Mythic people who race and brag about the skills would be in total disarray without their precious cheat addons which Blizzard also allows. It's all about people being hypocrites. Same applies to any tool which gives you the notification on mechanics, no matter the game

Lol the WF racers learn the fights and write the addons

[LittleImp]

That's... A bit much...

I dislike the automated callouts as is, but since people can do them too (I used to call out every mechanic for the entire static during coil), I I live with that. But this is just too much.

I'm surprised all of the "doing it for the difficulty" people aren't up in arms about that.

The public ultimate community is honestly pretty weird. A lot of the people involved aren't really 'doing it for the difficulty' so much as they are doing it for clout that comes simply with clearing; how you actually get the clear becomes of less and less import and they're more interested in simply doing it efficiently. Usage of these plugins is widely recommended in many of the ultimate pugging discords. There're even groups of people in the ultimate pug community that intentionally try to carry bad players through the fights.

[Tlachtga]

Probably the most widespread example of this would be the UWU gaol plugin, which automatically puts signs on players heads so that they don't have to solve the gaol mechanic themselves. Virtually every single UWU group uses this at this point

tbf its an awful mechanic and the alternative is spending 3-4 weeks on it because there's always 2-3 people in a group that can't grasp placements. i don't blame anyone for resorting to cactbot/triggers for uwu gaols.

same for everyone that uses triggers for Nael quotes in UCOB; its also an awful mechanic and nobody wants to read long sentences during a hectic phase.

[LittleImp]

tbf its an awful mechanic and the alternative is spending 3-4 weeks on it because there's always 2-3 people in a group that can't grasp placements. i don't blame anyone for resorting to cactbot/triggers for uwu gaols.

same for everyone that uses triggers for Nael quotes in UCOB; its also an awful mechanic and nobody wants to read long sentences during a hectic phase.

I kind of understand using plugins for communication heavy phases like gaols or tenstrike, particularly if you have mutes or people with accessibility issues.

Nael quotes on the other hand are imo a huge part of the intended design of those phases, and they aren't even that difficult to read since you're essentially just doing pattern recognition for single words. Using cactbot to call nael quotes is 100% a crutch.