thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
The people who are, "toxic" as the OP likes to call it aren't the people using combat log parsers or the people doing any form of data analysis, it is the people who are doing none at all.
greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,155Arc User
"Toxic" has to do with personality. Not who does or doesn't do data analysis.
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
The OP asked, but I think it's not needed for a DPS Meter. That's for Cryptic to decide. JUST END THE FORUM THREAD!
Don't EVER post a third-party link too! @rjc9000 That's against the rules of TOS! Where is a moderator to close this thread please?!
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greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,155Arc User
Technically, posting from imaging sites and youtube are third-party links. And my understanding is only scoutcav can request the thread be closed since it is their thread, or the mods can do it if they feel it has run its course or things are getting out of hand.
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
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thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,155Arc User
I think that is due to the fact that it only reads data and doesn't change anything within the game itself.
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
(a) WHEN USING THE SERVICES, THE SOFTWARE MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER’S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) AND/OR CPU PROCESSES FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH THE SOFTWARE. AN “UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM” AS USED HEREIN SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY “ADD-ON” OR “MOD,” THAT IN PWE’S SOLE DETERMINATION: (i) ENABLES OR FACILITATES CHEATING OF ANY TYPE; (ii) ALLOWS USERS TO MODIFY OR HACK THE SOFTWARE INTERFACE, ENVIRONMENT, AND/OR EXPERIENCE IN ANY WAY NOT EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED BY PWE; OR (iii) INTERCEPTS, “MINES,” OR OTHERWISE COLLECTS INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH THE SOFTWARE. IN THE EVENT THAT THE SOFTWARE DETECTS AN UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM, IT MAY COMMUNICATE INFORMATION BACK TO PWE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR ACCOUNT NAME, DETAILS ABOUT THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM DETECTED, AND THE TIME AND DATE THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM WAS DETECTED; AND/OR AND PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT MAY EXERCISE ANY OR ALL OF ITS RIGHTS UNDER THIS SECTION OF THE AGREEMENT, WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO THE USER.
Where does it state this 'ACT MOD' is acceptable? You're hacking the game environment interface to read dps. No where I see from PWE/CRYPTIC that it's allowed! I'm done with this forum thread! Be obsessive and get yourselves banned! Just enjoy the game and stop being so obsessed with every drop of damage!
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micky1p00Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 3,594Arc User
edited August 2019
For everyone else reading this thread.
ACT is not a mod, and it doesn't hack any game environment, it's a fancy log parser, Same thing in essense what a notepad does. Reading a text file generated by the game for this specific purpose, to be read and parsed.
It doesn't interact with the game process in any form or shape.
(a) WHEN USING THE SERVICES, THE SOFTWARE MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER’S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) AND/OR CPU PROCESSES FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH THE SOFTWARE. AN “UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM” AS USED HEREIN SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY “ADD-ON” OR “MOD,” THAT IN PWE’S SOLE DETERMINATION: (i) ENABLES OR FACILITATES CHEATING OF ANY TYPE; (ii) ALLOWS USERS TO MODIFY OR HACK THE SOFTWARE INTERFACE, ENVIRONMENT, AND/OR EXPERIENCE IN ANY WAY NOT EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED BY PWE; OR (iii) INTERCEPTS, “MINES,” OR OTHERWISE COLLECTS INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH THE SOFTWARE. IN THE EVENT THAT THE SOFTWARE DETECTS AN UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM, IT MAY COMMUNICATE INFORMATION BACK TO PWE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR ACCOUNT NAME, DETAILS ABOUT THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM DETECTED, AND THE TIME AND DATE THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM WAS DETECTED; AND/OR AND PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT MAY EXERCISE ANY OR ALL OF ITS RIGHTS UNDER THIS SECTION OF THE AGREEMENT, WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO THE USER.
Where does it state this 'ACT MOD' is acceptable? You're hacking the game environment interface to read dps. No where I see from PWE/CRYPTIC that it's allowed! I'm done with this forum thread! Be obsessive and get yourselves banned! Just enjoy the game and stop being so obsessed with every drop of damage!
2 just double down on the silly! we don't mind. we're laughing here right with@ you! pretty sure the official closed doors testers even use it as part of the official testing process. absurdism is my favorite kind of humour
(a) WHEN USING THE SERVICES, THE SOFTWARE MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER’S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) AND/OR CPU PROCESSES FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH THE SOFTWARE. AN “UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM” AS USED HEREIN SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY “ADD-ON” OR “MOD,” THAT IN PWE’S SOLE DETERMINATION: (i) ENABLES OR FACILITATES CHEATING OF ANY TYPE; (ii) ALLOWS USERS TO MODIFY OR HACK THE SOFTWARE INTERFACE, ENVIRONMENT, AND/OR EXPERIENCE IN ANY WAY NOT EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED BY PWE; OR (iii) INTERCEPTS, “MINES,” OR OTHERWISE COLLECTS INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH THE SOFTWARE. IN THE EVENT THAT THE SOFTWARE DETECTS AN UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM, IT MAY COMMUNICATE INFORMATION BACK TO PWE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR ACCOUNT NAME, DETAILS ABOUT THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM DETECTED, AND THE TIME AND DATE THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM WAS DETECTED; AND/OR AND PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT MAY EXERCISE ANY OR ALL OF ITS RIGHTS UNDER THIS SECTION OF THE AGREEMENT, WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO THE USER.
Where does it state this 'ACT MOD' is acceptable? You're hacking the game environment interface to read dps. No where I see from PWE/CRYPTIC that it's allowed! I'm done with this forum thread! Be obsessive and get yourselves banned! Just enjoy the game and stop being so obsessed with every drop of damage!
There a few key points in the TOS section here. "Unauthorized" which the paragraph goes to explain as a third party software, add-on, or mod the PWE determines to be against the TOS which primarily includes cheating of any type, modding of the game, and data mining (not to be confused with information already provided by the game user interface). Ultimately PWE has the final say if something is considered against the TOS or not, and we have several occasions of developers either stating outright that ACT is perfectly fine or have simply commented on screenshots from ACT and not banned players.
All ACT does is look at your combat log, which is in the game already, takes that information and the time stamps and calculates for you your damage and healing. It's basically a faster way of simply writing down the data yourself from the combat log and doing calculations off of that.
ACT is not a mod, and it doesn't hack any game environment, it's a fancy log parser, Same thing in essence what a notepad does. Reading a text file generated by the game for this specific purpose, to be read and parsed.
It doesn't interact with the game process in any form or shape.
You know I tried to end this discussion long ago. Seriously I tested Shadow's Flurry. It hardly triggers at all. I asked a friend about it and that friend tested it. Don't waste your time with Shadow's Flurry! Does it give better chance with Duelist Flurry more often? Might be the more outcome only for Duelist Flurry? I only asked 2-3 people of friends that play Rogue Assassin and they told me "Execution" is what they use. It seems that it triggers enough with Duelist Flurry more than with any other skill. I'm not going to argue this matter when something has been tested. I wasn't obsessed about it, but more of curious thing, which is just as easy to test out with another loadout. My friend used gloaming cut and he got nothing with Shadow's Flurry. So it's a waste of time.
I'll be honest with you all. Execution feels like Last Moments, even though it's not starting at 40% of the enemy's health. It triggers more with other skills and it's 10% chance; it's your call. I know it's 20% of enemy's health that it triggers on enemy's health with 10% chance, but as I noticed Execution triggers more to help get the last bits of health down faster. It seems at 20% health of a boss goes down a lot faster. I know it doesn't seem much, yet lets face the fact that both feats are lackluster.
Also I'm just not sure about this combat logs mod and I'm not seeing anything that is stating it's acceptable by the developers. So I had to give caution. Still I'm not going to use it. It's just as easy to look at the combat log in game; less clutter.
They have target dummies in game already. Give dummies x amount of hit points and y amount of defense stats and add a timer to show how long it takes to kill them. Then divide HP / Time to kill and get DPS.
The larger the HP total the better so players can cycle thru daily's, mount powers and artifact powers.
Elitists will already judge you by the final number on the damage board after a dungeon run. A DPS dummy would give me something to practice different rotations on to help me improve my character.
They have target dummies in game already. Give dummies x amount of hit points and y amount of defense stats and add a timer to show how long it takes to kill them. Then divide HP / Time to kill and get DPS.
The larger the HP total the better so players can cycle thru daily's, mount powers and artifact powers.
Elitists will already judge you by the final number on the damage board after a dungeon run. A DPS dummy would give me something to practice different rotations on to help me improve my character.
For that you can use the dummy in Chult and a stopwatch if you don't want to review/parse the logs.
They have target dummies in game already. Give dummies x amount of hit points and y amount of defense stats and add a timer to show how long it takes to kill them. Then divide HP / Time to kill and get DPS.
The larger the HP total the better so players can cycle thru daily's, mount powers and artifact powers.
Elitists will already judge you by the final number on the damage board after a dungeon run. A DPS dummy would give me something to practice different rotations on to help me improve my character.
For that you can use the dummy in Chult and a stopwatch if you don't want to review/parse the logs.
How? I dont know the HP of the dummy, regen rate, defense stats. PC users have tools to use, Console has to use the dummies to get a feel but not actual results.
Interesting results but the testing is somewhat flawed as you cant tell what bonuses are active at any given time. For example when you were hitting Execution was the buff for WWOB or WOE up compared to it being down for Shadows flurry.
Also usually when testing damage you want to use the testing weapons (that have same min an max damage) so there is no spread in the damage data.
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micky1p00Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 3,594Arc User
The bleed, the illusion applies DF bleed, so there is a difference there. And like you pointed out, the weaker the target the more of them there are, and the less competing DPS, then the more it's skewed towards executioner, but still very interesting test, and nice to see DPS meter used for a good purpose
They have target dummies in game already. Give dummies x amount of hit points and y amount of defense stats and add a timer to show how long it takes to kill them. Then divide HP / Time to kill and get DPS.
The larger the HP total the better so players can cycle thru daily's, mount powers and artifact powers.
Elitists will already judge you by the final number on the damage board after a dungeon run. A DPS dummy would give me something to practice different rotations on to help me improve my character.
For that you can use the dummy in Chult and a stopwatch if you don't want to review/parse the logs.
How? I dont know the HP of the dummy, regen rate, defense stats. PC users have tools to use, Console has to use the dummies to get a feel but not actual results.
The Chult dummy is a larger dummy, more akin to a boss than a basic mob. No, you can't tell what stats it has without loooking at logs but you can use it to determine base effectiveness.
The simplest method is to burn it's health to zero with a timer. Switch powers/loadout, burn it down to zero again. Which was the faster burn? That tells you which loadout/power array is more effective. It's an exceedingly painful method of testing. Especially if you are testing specific powers and their synergy with other powers/feats.
Or, as others have done and still do, install NW on a PC and use the PC tools available for testing, then translate those results across to console. Inefficient I know.
A DPS meter, as the OP asked for, would be a much better option.
NO NO NO NO NO NO AND FOREVER NO! I'M NOT DEALING WITH THIS AGAIN! I ALREADY HAD TERA ONLINE RUINED BY EXPLOITERS/CHEATERS AND I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE THE SAME PROCESS EXCUSES TO RUIN THIS GAME FOR ME!
What does a dps meter does with "EXPLOITERS/CHEATERS" ?
stock and stone I can master, but there's a Wizard to manage here!
NO NO NO NO NO NO AND FOREVER NO! I'M NOT DEALING WITH THIS AGAIN! I ALREADY HAD TERA ONLINE RUINED BY EXPLOITERS/CHEATERS AND I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE THE SAME PROCESS EXCUSES TO RUIN THIS GAME FOR ME!
What does a dps meter does with "EXPLOITERS/CHEATERS" ?
Don't ask, this is flat-earth conspirational theory territory.
That said, better tools to measure our performance in-game would go a long, long way towards making this game more accessible to new and casual players.
As I mentioned to the developers some time back on the issue of item level against power against percentage damage increase (If you are reading, don't think I didn't notice you changed an item due to my passionate rambling. Much appreciated.) how much your damage is actually increased by changes to your build is a very, very abstract idea several steps up from Santa Claus and just a few under a state-wide application of socialism that actually works.
Sure, numbers go up, but which numbers are more important? Which ones make more of an impact in practice? Which ones does it actually feel good to increase and make you feel like you're actually making progress?
To get a decent grasp on the theory, you can't rely on the game, you have to ask other players and look for resources in the internet, which is already a failure on the part of the game's design.
However it gets even worse when it comes to practice, in the ever-changing maelstrom that is actual battle what improved or worsened because of your changes or just changed because you, the monsters or your party behaved differently is near impossible to make apart in most cases.
That turns the sense of improving your character into a nebulous and uncertain concept where you see that you are improving over time, but don't have a clear grasp on how your changes are affecting your character, which makes it a lot more confusing and much less enjoyable than the developers should aim it to be.
The dummies are a start but fall short for frankly too many reasons for me to bother listing.
However! There are some easy ways that this issue could be very easily solved with minimum expenditure of resources on the developer's part.
1. For damage dealers make dummies with a Damage per minute counter on top of the damage they receive per hit with a "Highest reached" mark. A dummy for beginners, another for normal players, and a last one for veterans. And Just like that damage dealers have an easy way to reliably measure their damage for entire rotations in different tiers of content. (Yes I know. Feats and items that change damage depending on enemy health have to be taken into account, but we're waddling here one step at a time people.)
2. For tanks and healers make dummies that attack on a reliable pattern and with different tiers of damage. (Say Ankle Biter, Pre-Nerf Orcus, Falcon Punch.) and if you just want to make these with spaghetti code, simply put there a monster with infinite hit points that is unable to move and has one single attack pattern that can change targets depending on threat.
There, two small additions that can be haphazardly cobbled together with minimal resources and would significantly help all players experiment, improve, and feel more accomplished as they learn their classes.
The stars are falling, and the old gods silent as death, with the blood sworn to rip you down from the night sky, what cost will pose too high?
NO NO NO NO NO NO AND FOREVER NO! I'M NOT DEALING WITH THIS AGAIN! I ALREADY HAD TERA ONLINE RUINED BY EXPLOITERS/CHEATERS AND I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE THE SAME PROCESS EXCUSES TO RUIN THIS GAME FOR ME!
@commanderdata002 stated: What does a dps meter does with "EXPLOITERS/CHEATERS" ?
My answer to the question.
SOME PLAYERS WERE USING THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS IN WAYS THAT UNBALANCED THE GAME ECONOMY, WHICH HAD A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON THE GAME EXPERIENCE FOR OTHER TERA ONLINE PLAYERS.
And the fact a dps meter read the client, which basically in term counts as exploit/cheating, but to find answers. Any Third-Party program is why it's a violation!
I NEVER EVER used DPS meters! Those people that used DPS meters are obviously so obsessed in finding the answers of every drop damage and ridiculed other players not dpsing enough. Also they never played as team effort, because they are so obsessed with a DPS meter by constantly looking at their DPS meter interface.
If the developers state it's ok to use and doesn't really interfere with the game (Combat Log Parser), I want to see that clarification. Since something is reading and printing the combat logs, I believe it's something that no one should risk getting into trouble with. I'm guessing that combat log parser reads the combat log text files from the game folder only and organizes to a format for easier read?
EDIT: I just answered my own question, while typing this forum thread post.
Stated here, it's determining the combat logs from the game folder and not the client. I guess that's ok, since it's not the client? EDIT: INSIDE THE GAME CLIENT FOLDER!
I declare anything that reads from inside a game folder is technically a violation! I just don't want to go there and I'm not really obsessed about DPS (excuse me). I just take anything that is obvious advantage that seems to have more chance if you get my drift.
I'm not sure, because tables can turn in an instant! So I would NEVER EVER use a combat log parser or even a DPS meter! Still I'll use my own essentials or principles to determine DPS, because I rather not risk myself to get banned. Honestly, I don't want anyone banned from Neverwinter. I'm done with is discussion and for some reason it keeps going on.
It's just I rather not have these things discussed like this on forums. It's paranoid reasons why I despise the use of such things of how a game I played from my past got destroyed by people that clearly wanted to cheat their way. I am the type that likes to learn and pay attention to what I have in front of me already. Any game will display damages. I'm sorry, but I have my own opinion. Sorry for being harsh. I mean well from my stand point perspective. I tried to show how I think, which in term I have helped players many of times. We discuss these outcomes from an outlook stand point in game. It's better to discuss with other people, rather than by yourself. Sometimes it's obvious when it's by yourself to notice outcomes too. As a gamer I just know what seems to work by thinking. However, Shadows Flurry VS Execution, I'm not going to be obsessed about it. Duelist Expertise VS Skull Cracker. Well Skull Cracker isn't always active, so Duelist Expertise. Yet it's hard to determine Shadows Flurry VS Execution by the proc % chance during the whole dungeon. I guess it's ok to use that combat log parser? However, I'm just not sure. Knowing me, I will never use it! So please ask before use. Just I know for a fact that any DPS meter or any third-party program breaks TOS violation!
As I stated Shadows Flurry hardly procs with any other skill, besides Duelist Flurry. Is the feat misleading? A friend of mine tested and didn't notice anything at all by proc trigger! He doesn't use Duelist Flurry, yet sometimes he does, so he picked Execution anyways.
Perhaps the real problem is that before Mod 16, we had more route to play our way with all the skills provided? In some ways not always true. This isn't Drum & Bass for your own pleasure. So what you're going to do? JUST PLAY THE GAME!
I mean having more damage on gloaming cut on a weapon (cube of augmentation) is like a feat in itself. So I'm just stating my mind here for whatever your gameplay is. Yet gloaming cut helps with stealth regeneration, so in term a Rogue will do more damage with more stealth. In the end someone using Duelist Flurry, I like it with Duelist Expertise. So in some ways it balance out. If you're going to be obsessed about it more, then be a complaining person about the game. I'm not going to be obsessed about it. I could put Duelist Flurry more damage on weapon, but I like Cloud Of Steel. It's because it helps me hit harder from a distance, when I need to. It's game and being obsessed about every detail isn't worth your time. Play the way you want to by certain degree. Just some are not worth to use at all. One of Paladin areas by choice, I don't even use! It was a leveling only and I can't really use the other choice for advantage, even if I wanted to. Also both are worthless for higher level play style for what actually helps me and how I like to play.
Post edited by mwk on
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,429Arc User
Stated here, it's determining the combat logs from the game folder and not the client. I guess that's ok, since it's not the client? EDIT: INSIDE THE GAME CLIENT FOLDER!
I declare anything that reads from inside a game folder is technically a violation! I just don't want to go there and I'm not really obsessed about DPS (excuse me). I just take anything that is obvious advantage that seems to have more chance if you get my drift.
May be it is. May be it is not. I don't really know what Cryptic stands on this. However, what I know is dev is directly/indirectly endorsing it. ACT is the tool players shows dev where the bug and problem is. And communicate/acknowledge the result is a bug or not. It is used extensively in various places between testers and dev. If it is not allowed, Dev has N years to inform the public not to use it instead of using it as part of discussion.
When dev and users are using this tool and its result as some "mutual understanding" in the discussion, one can consider it is "kind of" an "authorized tool" but without legal obligation to support this tool. Of course, that is still up to interpretation.
By the way, my virus checker read all folders in my computer including the game folder. May be yours does not. If a virus checker is allowed, I do not see that mentioned in Cryptic's TOS.
Post edited by plasticbat on
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
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micky1p00Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 3,594Arc User
I get your point, but I think it's safe to ask anyways before using something that could lead to getting banned. Yet, I just don't like to mess with those type of things. The first thing to know is how often do you see something occur? Shadows Flurry VS Execution in mind. I just play like that, so I never needed something that does the work for me. I like to look closely at things on my own time.
DPS measures are cool and all and teh dummies are only for a basic measure, that dont take in the time moving between mobs or avoiding big hits...
All those numbers are subjective since even the end scrore in dungeon will change by a crazy dps that run ahead of the party trying to kill all the mobs first to be top dps and a Smart dps that makes tank+heals duo life easyer by not doing that...
Anyway those stats are really usefull to plan builds, and having soem way to measure (like Took said) not only the dmg and heals don but also agro and combat advantage, or control time would be amazing, but really on this game ALL efort should be moved to avoid/clear new bugs on new content, would be much better to just have Mod 18 launch with less bugs...
I think is Good to have those numbers? - Yeah would be great Do they can do it or should focus on doing it ? - They dont have personel or resourses for that, just focus on unbug new content...
Comments
Why be so obsessive? And thanks for not being sexist
NEVER USED A DPS METER! Why does it matter? NO SERIOUSLY!
I rather have someone who isn't the best dps in the world, but knows how to dodge, than a dps machine that can't.
If you have the obsession of every drop? Overreacting much? Yeah.
Don't EVER post a third-party link too! @rjc9000 That's against the rules of TOS! Where is a moderator to close this thread please?!
(a) WHEN USING THE SERVICES, THE SOFTWARE MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER’S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) AND/OR CPU PROCESSES FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH THE SOFTWARE. AN “UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM” AS USED HEREIN SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY “ADD-ON” OR “MOD,” THAT IN PWE’S SOLE DETERMINATION: (i) ENABLES OR FACILITATES CHEATING OF ANY TYPE; (ii) ALLOWS USERS TO MODIFY OR HACK THE SOFTWARE INTERFACE, ENVIRONMENT, AND/OR EXPERIENCE IN ANY WAY NOT EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED BY PWE; OR (iii) INTERCEPTS, “MINES,” OR OTHERWISE COLLECTS INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH THE SOFTWARE. IN THE EVENT THAT THE SOFTWARE DETECTS AN UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM, IT MAY COMMUNICATE INFORMATION BACK TO PWE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR ACCOUNT NAME, DETAILS ABOUT THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM DETECTED, AND THE TIME AND DATE THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM WAS DETECTED; AND/OR AND PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT MAY EXERCISE ANY OR ALL OF ITS RIGHTS UNDER THIS SECTION OF THE AGREEMENT, WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO THE USER.
Where does it state this 'ACT MOD' is acceptable? You're hacking the game environment interface to read dps. No where I see from PWE/CRYPTIC that it's allowed! I'm done with this forum thread! Be obsessive and get yourselves banned! Just enjoy the game and stop being so obsessed with every drop of damage!
ACT is not a mod, and it doesn't hack any game environment, it's a fancy log parser, Same thing in essense what a notepad does.
Reading a text file generated by the game for this specific purpose, to be read and parsed.
It doesn't interact with the game process in any form or shape.
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just double down on the silly! we don't mind. we're laughing here right with@ you! pretty sure the official closed doors testers even use it as part of the official testing process. absurdism is my favorite kind of humour
An in game DPS meter - or any additional in game metrics - will require additional resources and not likely. No matter the usefulness.
I'd use it if it was there though, depending on it's function. As we have all seen in this thread, not all advise givers are created equal.
Guild: Ruathym Corsairs
All ACT does is look at your combat log, which is in the game already, takes that information and the time stamps and calculates for you your damage and healing. It's basically a faster way of simply writing down the data yourself from the combat log and doing calculations off of that.
I'll be honest with you all. Execution feels like Last Moments, even though it's not starting at 40% of the enemy's health. It triggers more with other skills and it's 10% chance; it's your call. I know it's 20% of enemy's health that it triggers on enemy's health with 10% chance, but as I noticed Execution triggers more to help get the last bits of health down faster. It seems at 20% health of a boss goes down a lot faster. I know it doesn't seem much, yet lets face the fact that both feats are lackluster.
Also I'm just not sure about this combat logs mod and I'm not seeing anything that is stating it's acceptable by the developers. So I had to give caution. Still I'm not going to use it. It's just as easy to look at the combat log in game; less clutter.
The larger the HP total the better so players can cycle thru daily's, mount powers and artifact powers.
Elitists will already judge you by the final number on the damage board after a dungeon run. A DPS dummy would give me something to practice different rotations on to help me improve my character.
Guild: Ruathym Corsairs
These logs are from running Dread Spire lair in DR. I ran the lair twice for each log so it was the same amount of enemies/available damage.
SF proc'd twice the amount of times but did significantly less damage.
Also usually when testing damage you want to use the testing weapons (that have same min an max damage) so there is no spread in the damage data.
And like you pointed out, the weaker the target the more of them there are, and the less competing DPS, then the more it's skewed towards executioner, but still very interesting test, and nice to see DPS meter used for a good purpose
The simplest method is to burn it's health to zero with a timer. Switch powers/loadout, burn it down to zero again. Which was the faster burn? That tells you which loadout/power array is more effective. It's an exceedingly painful method of testing. Especially if you are testing specific powers and their synergy with other powers/feats.
Or, as others have done and still do, install NW on a PC and use the PC tools available for testing, then translate those results across to console. Inefficient I know.
A DPS meter, as the OP asked for, would be a much better option.
Guild: Ruathym Corsairs
That said, better tools to measure our performance in-game would go a long, long way towards making this game more accessible to new and casual players.
As I mentioned to the developers some time back on the issue of item level against power against percentage damage increase (If you are reading, don't think I didn't notice you changed an item due to my passionate rambling. Much appreciated.) how much your damage is actually increased by changes to your build is a very, very abstract idea several steps up from Santa Claus and just a few under a state-wide application of socialism that actually works.
Sure, numbers go up, but which numbers are more important? Which ones make more of an impact in practice? Which ones does it actually feel good to increase and make you feel like you're actually making progress?
To get a decent grasp on the theory, you can't rely on the game, you have to ask other players and look for resources in the internet, which is already a failure on the part of the game's design.
However it gets even worse when it comes to practice, in the ever-changing maelstrom that is actual battle what improved or worsened because of your changes or just changed because you, the monsters or your party behaved differently is near impossible to make apart in most cases.
That turns the sense of improving your character into a nebulous and uncertain concept where you see that you are improving over time, but don't have a clear grasp on how your changes are affecting your character, which makes it a lot more confusing and much less enjoyable than the developers should aim it to be.
The dummies are a start but fall short for frankly too many reasons for me to bother listing.
However! There are some easy ways that this issue could be very easily solved with minimum expenditure of resources on the developer's part.
1. For damage dealers make dummies with a Damage per minute counter on top of the damage they receive per hit with a "Highest reached" mark. A dummy for beginners, another for normal players, and a last one for veterans. And Just like that damage dealers have an easy way to reliably measure their damage for entire rotations in different tiers of content. (Yes I know. Feats and items that change damage depending on enemy health have to be taken into account, but we're waddling here one step at a time people.)
2. For tanks and healers make dummies that attack on a reliable pattern and with different tiers of damage. (Say Ankle Biter, Pre-Nerf Orcus, Falcon Punch.) and if you just want to make these with spaghetti code, simply put there a monster with infinite hit points that is unable to move and has one single attack pattern that can change targets depending on threat.
There, two small additions that can be haphazardly cobbled together with minimal resources and would significantly help all players experiment, improve, and feel more accomplished as they learn their classes.
SOME PLAYERS WERE USING THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS IN WAYS THAT UNBALANCED THE GAME ECONOMY, WHICH HAD A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON THE GAME EXPERIENCE FOR OTHER TERA ONLINE PLAYERS.
And the fact a dps meter read the client, which basically in term counts as exploit/cheating, but to find answers. Any Third-Party program is why it's a violation!
I NEVER EVER used DPS meters! Those people that used DPS meters are obviously so obsessed in finding the answers of every drop damage and ridiculed other players not dpsing enough. Also they never played as team effort, because they are so obsessed with a DPS meter by constantly looking at their DPS meter interface.
If the developers state it's ok to use and doesn't really interfere with the game (Combat Log Parser), I want to see that clarification. Since something is reading and printing the combat logs, I believe it's something that no one should risk getting into trouble with. I'm guessing that combat log parser reads the combat log text files from the game folder only and organizes to a format for easier read?
EDIT: I just answered my own question, while typing this forum thread post.
C:\Users\Public\Games\CrypticStudios\Neverwinter\Live\Logs\GameClient\Combatlog.Log
Stated here, it's determining the combat logs from the game folder and not the client. I guess that's ok, since it's not the client? EDIT: INSIDE THE GAME CLIENT FOLDER!
I declare anything that reads from inside a game folder is technically a violation! I just don't want to go there and I'm not really obsessed about DPS (excuse me). I just take anything that is obvious advantage that seems to have more chance if you get my drift.
I'm not sure, because tables can turn in an instant! So I would NEVER EVER use a combat log parser or even a DPS meter! Still I'll use my own essentials or principles to determine DPS, because I rather not risk myself to get banned. Honestly, I don't want anyone banned from Neverwinter. I'm done with is discussion and for some reason it keeps going on.
It's just I rather not have these things discussed like this on forums. It's paranoid reasons why I despise the use of such things of how a game I played from my past got destroyed by people that clearly wanted to cheat their way. I am the type that likes to learn and pay attention to what I have in front of me already. Any game will display damages. I'm sorry, but I have my own opinion. Sorry for being harsh. I mean well from my stand point perspective. I tried to show how I think, which in term I have helped players many of times. We discuss these outcomes from an outlook stand point in game. It's better to discuss with other people, rather than by yourself. Sometimes it's obvious when it's by yourself to notice outcomes too. As a gamer I just know what seems to work by thinking. However, Shadows Flurry VS Execution, I'm not going to be obsessed about it. Duelist Expertise VS Skull Cracker. Well Skull Cracker isn't always active, so Duelist Expertise. Yet it's hard to determine Shadows Flurry VS Execution by the proc % chance during the whole dungeon. I guess it's ok to use that combat log parser? However, I'm just not sure. Knowing me, I will never use it! So please ask before use. Just I know for a fact that any DPS meter or any third-party program breaks TOS violation!
As I stated Shadows Flurry hardly procs with any other skill, besides Duelist Flurry. Is the feat misleading? A friend of mine tested and didn't notice anything at all by proc trigger! He doesn't use Duelist Flurry, yet sometimes he does, so he picked Execution anyways.
Perhaps the real problem is that before Mod 16, we had more route to play our way with all the skills provided? In some ways not always true. This isn't Drum & Bass for your own pleasure. So what you're going to do? JUST PLAY THE GAME!
I mean having more damage on gloaming cut on a weapon (cube of augmentation) is like a feat in itself. So I'm just stating my mind here for whatever your gameplay is. Yet gloaming cut helps with stealth regeneration, so in term a Rogue will do more damage with more stealth. In the end someone using Duelist Flurry, I like it with Duelist Expertise. So in some ways it balance out. If you're going to be obsessed about it more, then be a complaining person about the game. I'm not going to be obsessed about it. I could put Duelist Flurry more damage on weapon, but I like Cloud Of Steel. It's because it helps me hit harder from a distance, when I need to. It's game and being obsessed about every detail isn't worth your time. Play the way you want to by certain degree. Just some are not worth to use at all. One of Paladin areas by choice, I don't even use! It was a leveling only and I can't really use the other choice for advantage, even if I wanted to. Also both are worthless for higher level play style for what actually helps me and how I like to play.
However, what I know is dev is directly/indirectly endorsing it.
ACT is the tool players shows dev where the bug and problem is.
And communicate/acknowledge the result is a bug or not.
It is used extensively in various places between testers and dev.
If it is not allowed, Dev has N years to inform the public not to use it instead of using it as part of discussion.
When dev and users are using this tool and its result as some "mutual understanding" in the discussion, one can consider it is "kind of" an "authorized tool" but without legal obligation to support this tool. Of course, that is still up to interpretation.
By the way, my virus checker read all folders in my computer including the game folder. May be yours does not.
If a virus checker is allowed, I do not see that mentioned in Cryptic's TOS.
All those numbers are subjective since even the end scrore in dungeon will change by a crazy dps that run ahead of the party trying to kill all the mobs first to be top dps and a Smart dps that makes tank+heals duo life easyer by not doing that...
Anyway those stats are really usefull to plan builds, and having soem way to measure (like Took said) not only the dmg and heals don but also agro and combat advantage, or control time would be amazing, but really on this game ALL efort should be moved to avoid/clear new bugs on new content, would be much better to just have Mod 18 launch with less bugs...
I think is Good to have those numbers? - Yeah would be great
Do they can do it or should focus on doing it ? - They dont have personel or resourses for that, just focus on unbug new content...