Official statement from SEGA on parsing tools

[oratank]

parsing tools bring flame war to community as same as ff14 that ban this issue too(if they get reported).jp dev may not like this kind of thing

[Z-0]

Personally I cannot help but feel the majority of you are blowing this way out of proportion.

Furthermore it is untrue that the parsing tool wasn't being used primarily to shame, even if it was behind closed doors most of the time, and people like the likes of Shiyo are prime examples of this.

[SteveCZ]

Personally I cannot help but feel the majority of you are blowing this way out of proportion.

Furthermore it is untrue that the parsing tool wasn't being used primarily to shame, even if it was behind closed doors most of the time, and people like the likes of Shiyo are prime examples of this.

Can't deny the people who use the tool correctly, and I can't deny the people who are insecured by it either.

SEGA somehow decided the game isn't suited for people like Shiyo or anyone wishes to improve like what you believe in. If they do agree with the likes of Shiyo or you, they'll make an official tool like OverParse, which all of us also believe it's a slim chance to happen.

If SEGA isn't worried about the use of the tool regarding on such concerns, SEGA would already make an official statement to PSO2 Tweaker as well, if it's in fact just about illegal 3rd party tool issue.

[Keilyn]

I used the parser as well to get better, and the parser opened my eyes at how casual the game itself actually is. In fact I liked using the parser to analyze. I have my own ways of analyzing without the need of a parser, but the parser was good at really seeing the MPA damage totals. However I think MPAs are a short percentage of my times in this game outside of LQ or EQs

[AsinineWaffle]

I was upset about this initially but it blew over. I got the data I wanted so really all I'm going to miss is competing with my team for highest damage in EQs and looking over my general performance.

[TaigaUC]

@Z-0
Well, like I said, it's not just this particular matter about damage parsers.
This is just another example of SEGA's attitude. Another nail in the coffin that confirms their priorities and approach.
If they did enough things that showed otherwise, then I'd have more hope for PSO2's future. But it is really not looking good.
I'm under the impression you haven't been particularly pleased about PSO2's direction of late either. A lot of people aren't. For good reason.

Yes, I've thought that super PD is a good thing. But that's also how PD should have been to begin with.
Aside from that, I can't think of any other significantly redeeming actions that SEGA has recently taken.
Maybe the new TA, but it's way too short and simple.

[Shiyo]

Personally I cannot help but feel the majority of you are blowing this way out of proportion.

Furthermore it is untrue that the parsing tool wasn't being used primarily to shame, even if it was behind closed doors most of the time, and people like the likes of Shiyo are prime examples of this.

You have screenshots of me "shaming" people for low parses?

I've literally never used the parser. I'm just not a moron and realize the parser is actually good for the game - no, good for ANY game.

Sure do love baseless insults!

[Tenlade]

I'm kind of curious here I see people talking about the game being toxic. But I've never met anyone who talked shit on me for being bad/undergeared. And I definitely don't have good gear or the best damage. Also do you really need to have a parser to know if you are playing a build right? Is it that hard to see how fast you kill something compared to others?

all the horribly toxic people are ones ive seen on this forum. the worst I saw was one guy complaining i picked up enough crystals to use the photon turret in td2. On the flipside the onlytime ive ever had anyone bring up the parser was someone complimenting me for hitting near the top of it while i was in thier party for an EQ.

I think the only reason Sega cares about this is it modifies the game to work, and not in a way that brings in customers like the english patch.

[Varuden]

I'm somewhat split when it comes to Parsing tools. I've never used one ever in my life, but I can see it as a potentially great tool to try and self-improve (Or make an inferiority complex much worse) but can also be used to shame others as well.

For me I see the pros and cons as such-

PRO:

• Be able to measure and find out how to effectively maximize uptime and damage.
• Gauge performance with those around you.
• Be able to theorycraft and do fancy damage calculations.

CON:

• Can potentially create more animosity towards players who are not up to "par". But lets face it, people will find ways to exert dominance with or without a parser, parser just makes it even easier to do so.
• Support players are given no justice. Damage parser doesn't parse buff uptime, heals distributed, weak bullet, etc.
• Does not always equate to player skill, since gear discrepancies also create differences in dps.

Also, I wonder how many people actually care about surviving, while having decent uptime they also effectively minimize the damage they take but maximize the damage they deal. Because personally, I still don't see face tanking damage just to deal more damage very skillful.

Whenever I play anything with automate hunter or iron will hunter, I always take a look at how many mates did it consume, or how many times did iron will proc. If too many mates are used, then it's less my skill and more getting carried by consumables. If iron will procs too many times, then it's just me not bothering to dodge because I know I have a chance at living. Even over relying on a tech-using class to heal you 100% of the time (and lower the damage they output in the process) so you don't have to pause to use a mate doesn't really make anyone more skillful.

Personal rants aside, I'm still split.

TL;DR:

Parsers are double edged swords.

Parsers are useful tools, but would be more effective it if parsed more than just damage numbers. They can also be utilized to antagonize/shame/etc player easier.

All in all? No one is winning this war. But supports are always going to lose the war regardless. MMO Rule #1.

[TaigaUC]

I don't consider posting legitimate negative concerns, experiences and complaints to be "toxic".
It's not realistic to turn a blind eye to everything and pretend it's all happy joy.

Toxic stuff I've seen:
- People on this forum seem to enjoy arguing (legitimate or not). Sometimes people take things out of context to attack someone, or assume they are stupid.
- EN people spamming annoying/rude stuff in the lobby like "we bombed your country", insulting people for whatever reason.
- EN people blaming each other for failures during bosses, accusing people of not WBing correctly, not playing properly, or not having good enough gear.
- JP publically shaming people who are leeching, have bad gear, or who generally do stupid things like begging someone to gift them expensive AC clothing for free.
- JP people arguing about whether grinding or affixing even make a difference. A bunch of people believe it doesn't (which is factually incorrect).
- JP scenario writer being an asshole.
- JP organized group drama stuff.
- JP making lists of confirmed foreigners. Probably too many for them to bother anymore, so I guess they just avoid ship 2.
- EN and JP people leeching in EQs by literally standing there doing nothing, in full rare drop/exp gear.
- SEGA pissing people off with their poor reactions, and implementation of various things, including Star Gem Scratch.

Stuff I've heard:
- Lots of team drama everywhere.
- JP making lists of people who leech, suck, etc.
- I hear that people have been boasting about topping damage meters. Haven't seen it first-hand myself.


Anyway, I had a few thoughts about damage parsing that I thought I'd try putting into writing:

We now know that SEGA decided to take action against damage parsers. As far as I can imagine, this implies one or many of the following:
- There are enough JP people using damage meters to be a problem. I doubt they give much of a damn about EN players using damage meters.
- They likely believe the recent increase in arguments about effectiveness is a direct result of damage parsing.

Taking these into consideration, this likely means:
- There is significant demand amongst Japanese users for damage parsing.
- SEGA has been wilfully ignoring people's complaints about weak players and leechers over the past four years. It has only become an issue to them now.
- SEGA thinks they can stop people arguing about effectiveness by prohibiting damage parsing. This does not solve the underlying issues.

People have been complaining about leechers and bad players for years, but complaints have recently increased. Why is that?
- Huge influx of newbies thanks to the PS4 version and the anime.
- SEGA continuing to dumb down the content whilst simultaneously making it more difficult to clear quickly (which is directly connected to all their time-based buff stuff).
- They keep adding new, similar and often convoluted systems that may or may not make you stronger, or weaker.
- Four years worth of too many upgrade systems for newbies (or even casuals) to take in and catch up on.
- Increasing lack of fresh content for PSO2. SEGA constantly makes us redo old content that people are tired of and just want the rewards for = increased incentive to leech.

Why would a person use a damage parser, anyway?
- Competing with other players on damage can be fun.
- You can easily experiment to figure out whether stuff is better or worse.
- Comparing to other players allows you to understand where you're at, and give you a clearer idea of how you can improve.
- You can clearly see who is leeching or sucking.
- Assholes like to boast about being on top.
- The game is generally super vague. Damage parser helps clarify many things.

So how has SEGA been handling these issues?
- They keep widening the gap between weak and strong players, with layers of similar upgrade systems that most people do not know exist, or don't want to waste time on.
- The game is intentionally vague to trick people into making mistakes which require real money to fix.
- They told strong players to help the weak players, instead of streamlining their systems to make getting stronger more accessible and intuitive (without dumbing them down).
- They seem to prefer trying to conceal the fact that there's a huge strength gap, as implied by their action against damage parsing.
- They won't acknowledge that their systems are confusing or obscure to most, instead opting to officially insult people who don't get it as "being dumber than a Rappy".
- Their new content is often focused heavily on incentive instead of fun new experience. This encourages people to leech.
- They added even more boost tickets, which further increases incentive to clear faster.
- They added a ton of Star Gem related microtransaction systems, because that brings in easy money. Yes, I know it's not really related, but SEGA prioritized it.
- Collect File guarantees good weapons if you put time in. But those often have pitfalls, eg. bad latents and low element (most people don't know how important element is).

What could SEGA be doing instead?
- There's obviously enough demand for a damage parser. They could add some form of in-built parser. There will be toxic behavior regardless, so why not?
- They should really streamline some of those systems. Merge all the similar ones. Make stuff more accessible, like Collect File.
- Make differences between sidegrades/upgrades more easily obvious. Or, you know, stop focusing so much on sidegrades.
- Add some kind of anti-leeching system.
- Focus more on making content fun. People leech when they're required to do stuff they don't enjoy. People don't leech when they actually want to enjoy playing the game.
- Put more clear, practical and one-time compulsory tutorials in-game. They need to emphasize how important some systems are, from the beginning.
- Be less vague about stuff in-game. Their in-game descriptions are often either very vague, unspecific, or just don't even exist (eg. affixes not listing the actual stat bonuses, etc).
- Remove or change the boost ticket system to not rely on time. That way, people won't be so eager to rush, rush, rush.
- Change the EQ system so that people have a long amount of time to do a limited number of EQ runs, instead of trying to fit as many as possible into a short window.