February 3rd Announcements

[Altrius Véurr]

I'll be honest, I think that Aida should had dropped the support of parse plugin from the Tweaker. he/she din't did it to not be a downer but still.

To be honest, SEGA doesn't actually care if people use OverParse, in fact, the reason why they started cracking down on Parse users is because many of them are DPS-shaming, and not bothering to censor the players name. It is a bannable offense, but as long as no one try to upload it in public sites, upload without censoring and etc., SEGA would just look the other way. After all, SEGA have the capabilities to /create/ a software that blocks Parse entirely, they simply didn't bother. But I would not doubt that they /would/ if they see a revival of DPS-shamers and whatnot.

[TehCubey]

I'll be honest, I think that Aida should had dropped the support of parse plugin from the Tweaker. he/she din't did it to not be a downer but still.

Nah. Due to PSO2's nature as an action RPG instead of a standard MMO with the tank-healer-dps roles and heavy focus on mechanics during boss battles, it's very hard to tell if you're doing well. This includes gear - two people with the exact same build and equipment can perform on vastly different levels depending whether they know what they're doing or not.

Because of that, in this game a parser is almost mandatory if you want to better yourself - see how well you fare during quests, and check the progress you've been making. Too many people think they're hot shit just because their affixes are good, but running an EQ with a parse active would be a rude awakening to them.

'Sides, if tweaker stops supporting the parser, that's just one more reason to stop using the tweaker.

[Dark Mits]

I'll be honest, I think that Aida should had dropped the support of parse plugin from the Tweaker. he/she din't did it to not be a downer but still.

Do not blame the tool for the actions of its users. Prohibiting parse because people use it to name and shame isn't far off from asking to prohibit chatting because some people may use it to harass others.

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It's the opposite actually. Because the game is action and not traditional role-based rpg, a parser will not provide that much useful information on how to improve oneself, since pulling out huge numbers is less dependent on equipment and raw stats and more dependent on being able to avoid enemy attacks, reducing time doing non-dps actions (catch up to enemy, heal, etc), and being able to select the correct target swiftly. A parser will still provide information on how to improve yourself, but the benefit is miniscule compared to the rest.

[TehCubey]

It's the opposite actually. Because the game is action and not traditional role-based rpg, a parser will not provide that much useful information on how to improve oneself, since pulling out huge numbers is less dependent on equipment and raw stats and more dependent on being able to avoid enemy attacks, reducing time doing non-dps actions (catch up to enemy, heal, etc), and being able to select the correct target swiftly. A parser will still provide information on how to improve yourself, but the benefit is miniscule compared to the rest.

That's false. Your performance being less dependant on equipment and stats makes the parser more useful, not less. In a normal MMO where your performance is heavily gear-based, there's an easy way to judge if you're good or not - by your stats/item level. That, or by failing your role as a tank/healer/dps or failing the boss's specific mechanics, but if that happens then it's very easy to notice that you screwed up, so you know what you did wrong and how to improve on it.

In PSO2 there is no easy way. Also let's say I want to try out different rotations - PA combinations, or if you're a hero, whether it's better to switch weapons around or to stick to one, etc. Theorycrafting can only get you so far, but how can you judge what works better in practice? You need to parse. Sticking to one thing and not going past it because "that works good enough for me" is how we get so many rising slash holders.

[Dark Mits]

That's false. Your performance being less dependant on equipment and stats makes the parser more useful, not less. In a normal MMO where your performance is heavily gear-based, there's an easy way to judge if you're good or not - by your stats/item level. That, or by failing your role as a tank/healer/dps or failing the boss's specific mechanics, but if that happens then it's very easy to notice that you screwed up, so you know what you did wrong and how to improve on it.

In PSO2 there is no easy way. Also let's say I want to try out different rotations - PA combinations, or if you're a hero, whether it's better to switch weapons around or to stick to one, etc. Theorycrafting can only get you so far, but how can you judge what works better in practice? You need to parse. Sticking to one thing and not going past it because "that works good enough for me" is how we get so many rising slash holders.

But you just explained why a parse isn't ideal for judging performance.

In traditional role-based rpgs, the parse will show you info like up damage per ability, uptime of (dot) abilities on boss, etc, which can only have meaning if there is no fight downtime. In action games, the majority of damage does NOT come from using the strongest ability currently not on cooldown, but from minimizing downtime. No amount of parsing will help someone who is bad at gap closing or avoiding enemy attacks become better.

[TehCubey]

You have a very inflexible view of what a parser can or can't be used for.

[Aexorcet]

In action games, the majority of damage does NOT come from using the strongest ability currently not on cooldown, but from minimizing downtime.

You're right to an extent, but if you break the gameplay down you'll probably find portions of it that just amount to maximizing DPS. Something like Deus core, or when Dragon's head comes down. One of the biggest problems that I faced when I branched off to other classes was trying to figure out how much damage I was actually doing. There is no good way to find out in game (*) and the rapid multi hit nature of certain attacks makes even getting a damage estimate pretty hard. Having parse information would have saved me from using a lot of sub optimal PA's.

* I've started going into Facility, waiting for a ship Ecode to pop up, and then attack the power source with only one shield generator down for a minute of 2. Super inconvenient, but I guess it's the best you can do without a parser.

[Zulastar]

That's false. Your performance being less dependant on equipment and stats makes the parser more useful, not less.

I run today's 12 ppl dragon without rematch with my 2nd character and saw a guy there with Weila/205 atk on each unit. He done a same damage as me while I'm geared at full Qliphad with cheapest affixes to 100 atk on them.
Well I dream about same equipment but can't afford it mostly 'cause I can't get myself a Weila and do proper affixes due to luck lacking. If I had these I could increase my performance by 1.5-2 times and always have top places or just solo EQ and never complain about someones weakness.
But I continue to do so because I depend of other player's performance and I'm hurt to see this situation.

[Kondibon]

If I had these I could increase my performance by 1.5-2 times

Increasing your atk by 300 isn't going to improve your dps by 1.5-2x...

[LordKaiser]

Yeah, yeah I see you guys like the parse tool, As long as the Tweaker is not in danger then I don't care, I don't like SEGA to implement stuff against the tweaker to just block the OP tool. It haven't happened yet on these years thought , just keep it to yourself.