DPS Meters - Violation of Service Agreement?

[xSinful_Snake]

According to "Prohibited Activities in Final Fantasy XIV [68216]" listed under In-Game > Other:

The following activities are also prohibited in Final Fantasy XIV.
- Modifying, analyzing, integrating and reverse engineering game data

According to the wording, this would include any third party programs (eg., any file with the .exe file extension not directly of the game\\'s origin) that may "mine" or "analyze" game data.

This would make the recent .exe released by multiple developers, both small and more popular a direct violation of the The Official Rules of the game which would result in a possible Warning, Suspension, or even Banning of an account correct?

[xSinful_Snake]

To all the players who would possibly ridicule me for bringing this to light but just remember that I\\'m actually trying to save everyone from being reported for running background .exe like the current DPS meters.

The use of DPS meters needs to be revised against the official rules of the game, or vice versa. I\\'m not a major supporter of DPS meters because I believe they breed elitism in players who find themselves listed at the top of these games, but I\\'m also not completely against the use of DPS meters because I believe that with proper moderation a player can use these meters to properly track their progress.

[xSinful_Snake]

Furthermore, I do know that .exes that attach themselves are highly susceptible to malicious manipulation and can easily inject viral lines of code into both the system and the game if the proper securities aren't in place to prevent that. Given that the current .exe's are capable of obtaining in-game data and require the user to be logged in, it's heavily plausible that these applications can be manipulated or even originally programmed to perform like key loggers and steal account data such as usernames and passwords.

[BlackShroudMercs]

Well, from what I have heard if you are using some third party thing to check your overall damage out and what not you get banned.

We had them built into the game in the last MMO I played and when I get here everyone is acting like meters are some monster come to steal away fun times. Its dumb considering all the fun I had with my guild on the previous MMO. Many of us would have contests to see who could max damage out, trash talk each other for fun, non of us took it seriously or got hurt.

Just think its silly, because of a few jerks you run into who try to bash your dam. out simply to be a d bag they removed the meters..are we playing a game or are you babysitting me? Bash my dam. out, do it, it only makes work harder to crush you one day, certainly won't cry about it..

My bad for ranting there lol..

[Suirieko]

I can see that the Parser can be seen as a grey area, but it doesn't modify any of the game data files (but it does read and analyze it based on the player's damage output), but on the flip side: it doesn't lead to unfair balance nor advantage. It allows players to improve themselves.

And for those who want to nitpicks about PS3 players. No disadvantage here. Just ask a friend who plays PC to run the parser and they can give the necessary information.

[Ragingfungus]

Dps meters are important IMO. It's useful in pugs to know if someone is being worthless and it's useful evidence if someone is accusing you of the opposite. It's even more important in a hc raid setting to be able to identify what may be holding your group back. Oftentimes though they are just a fun thing to have.

[xSinful_Snake]

Aside from some of the name-calling terms used, I agree with the DPS meter not appearing harmful at first glance but this game is new (re-new?) and already has some potential security loopholes according to the amount of accounts being attacked and stolen according to recent reports by the developers.

Whether the initial intention is harmless to the games original programming is not the question at hand, it's what are the potential dangers of future FAKE DPS meters and faulty or malicious .exe's

I understand that the agreement can be gray to some but only if the reader interprets it like that. At the end of the day, the words specifically mention "analyzing data" as a prohibited action, which is exactly what these parsers do.

This needs to be clarified in order for people to understand what is at risk when they utilize them.

[PiedPiper]

Only thing I miss about WoW is omen threat and dps meters. The current threat bar system is a big improvement over 1.0, but... It would be nice.

[xSinful_Snake]

Bump. Simply because this is extremely important and needs to be addressed before players get action taken against them for using what they assume to be harmless software that could potentially get them banned.

[xSinful_Snake]

Why do I feel like this issue is being purposely ignored when the basis for it has alot to do with the recent bans and suspensions lately?