Can SQ-EN draw a line in the sand w/ 3rd Parties?

[Nethereal]

If I understood correctly in the past, isn’t SE not going to take external sources such as those videos because of the possibility of being ‘doctored’?

IIRC it that was in response to things relating to gm reports etc.

Streamers are live all the time and while someone could be doctoring their stream while live a simple question "What HUD UI mod are you using?" and a reply from said streamer would easily incriminate them and other questions should they answer them.

IMO the statement about them not using video evidence is just a cop-out like many other things they do because they benefit more from doing nothing.

They aren't "whispering in your ear" every little thing. They'll call out debuffs all at once and that's about it.

They'll whisper anything into your ear that you set it to and you can also set it to tell you what other party members have. It's audio overload and should never be used but you're kind of underestimating what it does.

It's a crutch none the less but good teammates can be that crutch just as fine.

[Saefinn]

Cactbot can print large, bolded instructions directly to your screen the milisecond an ability is telegraphed (and sometimes before it's even telegraphed clientside), with customized text that doesn't just label the ability, but gives you personalized instructions on how to solve the mechanic. This isn't even in the same universe as traditional shotcalling in some encounters.

It can also be used to draw a timeline on your screen, showing you exact times until upcoming abilities come out.

I look at that and try to figure out how it's like "having a raid leader do call outs" or "watching a video beforehand" as I've seen claimed earlier in the thread. I have a pretty competent raid leader but this is a level of detail and precision that would be unreasonable to expect of him whilst still playing his role. So to me it's like the debate about whether it's cheating to use an autoclicker to buy a house when people spam clicking anyway and the reason I say it would be is because the computer is capable of doing the task to a degree that is unreasonable to expect of a human.

One thing I'd hate to see is if a tool like this is more widely used that those who don't get this advantage end up being seen as the weakest link because they're not keeping up with learning mechanics as quickly in progression groups. Which would be a disadvantage to PS4/PS5 players and those conscious about sticking to the ToS.

[Nethereal]

One thing I'd hate to see is if a tool like this is more widely used that those who don't get this advantage end up being seen as the weakest link because they're not keeping up with learning mechanics as quickly in progression groups. Which would be a disadvantage to PS4/PS5 players and those conscious about sticking to the ToS.

So a few things.

Cacbot is only worth setting up for ultimate.
Respectable ultimate raiders understand that Cacbot can be an extreme crutch and they don't use it because the reason they're there is for the challenge. That said world first proggers will use every tool at their disposal as to not handicap themselves.

Any content below ultimate is not going to see Cacbot widely used it's simply too easy and not long enough to warrant the annoying process of keeping any 3rd party program up to date.


Publicly requiring the use of a 3rd party program to enter a group would probably get you banned.

The closest thing we have to this is pugs in uwu with "Bring AM." / "Have AM." (Auto Markers) it's a very niche section of the game(ultimate) and is being used to circumvent what a large majority of people consider artificial difficulty.

So really at the end of the day anyone respectable won't see people as a weak link as long as they're performing what they signed up for.

And if by some supernatural occurrence casuals start using/requiring cacbot that's when people will start getting banned for simply mentioning it. Really though ffxiv just isn't WoW.

[EnigmaticDodo]

Cactbot can print large, bolded instructions directly to your screen the milisecond an ability is telegraphed (and sometimes before it's even telegraphed clientside), with customized text that doesn't just label the ability, but gives you personalized instructions on how to solve the mechanic. This isn't even in the same universe as traditional shotcalling in some encounters.

It can also be used to draw a timeline on your screen, showing you exact times until upcoming abilities come out.

This right here and the previous post you had about your game being automatically controlled is what I have an issue with. People think I'm trying to get every single thing removed. No. Just this stuff that's for all intents and purposes is cheating.

Is Ultimate even considered an achievement anymore with all of these tools removing all thought from the process?

[Nethereal]

Is Ultimate even considered an achievement anymore with all of these tools removing all thought from the process?

It is.

Some people just do ultimate for glamour though and they will do anything to make that process easier. IMO it's better that they "cheat" than buy the run off sellers.

People largely who do use 3rd party programs to handhold/cheat their way through understand that they're not as mechanically impressive as people without unless they've already done it without.

The actual main advantage to this is the dps variation. Where one person would have their mind split between mechanics and job performance most of their brain power can be spent on job performance exclusively, this however is largely irrelevant unless you're extremely interested in your numbers because the variation is only the difference between a 95 parse and a 100 parse.
Everyone else who can't get a 95 parse naturally is just being risen up from below average to above average which still isn't what's getting them the clear it's just helping them.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

This right here and the previous post you had about your game being automatically controlled is what I have an issue with. People think I'm trying to get every single thing removed. No. Just this stuff that's for all intents and purposes is cheating.

Is Ultimate even considered an achievement anymore with all of these tools removing all thought from the process?

Ultimate raiders who sell clears devalued it already.

The very thing that made them special they sold for money lol.

[Katie_Kitty]

Ultimate raiders who sell clears devalued it already.

The very thing that made them special they sold for money lol.

I see it's another episode of "People who never cleared Ultimate get to tell us how worthless Ultimate clears are because reason"

One of my least favorite perspectives on the issue is "Selling ultimate clears means that ultimate clears are now worthless/devalued". Believe me, if you didn't earn your clear, people will know it. There are some exceptions, of course, like people who have money to burn and decide to buy the clear while they're currently progging it. But those people generally do get the clear on their own merits eventually.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I see it's another episode of "People who never cleared Ultimate get to tell us how worthless Ultimate clears are because reason"

One of my least favorite perspectives on the issue is "Selling ultimate clears means that ultimate clears are now worthless/devalued". Believe me, if you didn't earn your clear, people will know it. There are some exceptions, of course, like people who have money to burn and decide to buy the clear while they're currently progging it. But those people generally do get the clear on their own merits eventually.

The only reason I don't have a clear is because I haven't taken the time to do so, busy with life at the moment.

An d the whole prestige behind ultimate is its difficult. When you turn around and sell that, its just money, not difficulty.

[Katie_Kitty]

The only reason I don't have a clear is because I haven't taken the time to do so, busy with life at the moment.

An d the whole prestige behind ultimate is its difficult. When you turn around and sell that, its just money, not difficulty.

I'm sure you're more than capable of clearing Ultimates. What I disagree with is that the mere existence of clear sellers means legitimate clears are valued less. Personally, I don't see a title or weapon as inherently prestigious. The prestige comes from being an ultimate-level player, and the title/weapon are indicative of that, but your actual performance in-game matters more. When the two do not match up, it's reasonable to wonder about the validity of the clear, and often people can determine how valid it is based on a number of factors that we won't go into here.

Yep, if someone bought the clear, their clear is pretty much worthless besides having a shiny weapon. But it's pretty obvious when you run into someone like that.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I'm sure you're more than capable of clearing Ultimates. What I disagree with is that the mere existence of clear sellers means legitimate clears are valued less. Personally, I don't see a title or weapon as inherently prestigious. The prestige comes from being an ultimate-level player, and the title/weapon are indicative of that, but your actual performance in-game matters more. When the two do not match up, it's reasonable to wonder about the validity of the clear, and often people can determine how valid it is based on a number of factors that we won't go into here.

Yep, if someone bought the clear, their clear is pretty much worthless besides having a shiny weapon. But it's pretty obvious when you run into someone like that.

Also note, I was only referring to the sellers themselves, not EVERY ultimate clearer lol