Addendum: IMO doing log rotation at the OS level is probably the best option and scheduling it during off hours (say 3am or something), but walking a non tech savy person through adding a batch/powershell file and getting it setup in task scheduler is a no go most of the time. Telling someone to go to Launcher -> Advanced settings -> Log Files and setting size to 500mb and putting a check in the 'delete' box is doable. Putting real time log trimming/deletion/rotation into the game is a lot more complex and raises other issues. For example, GINA and, I think, Gamparse have log rotation options however from what I've seen this causes other issues. For example, if GINA tries to rotate a log it can fail if you have a DPS parser running with the file open. If it succeeds it will cause the DPS parser to fail because the log it's parsing just disappears etc. If you had a rotation happen from the EQ client, it could cause similar issues so you want the rotation to happen sometime when the game is not being played.
I'm sorry you don't like Waring's response, but it was 100% spot on. I have experience with teaching. I have worked tech support in the past. I have also done tech writing in the past as well. I have written many step-by-step tutorial and even done in-person teaching for computer related stuff. Even if something is insanely easy for anyone who is comfortable with tech, there are those who have convinced themselves they cannot possibly understand how to do thus-and-so even if they absolutely can. I have been utterly shocked how many of those types play video games. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but there are a lot of game players who are borderline Luddites. They want a computer, and by extension video games, to be like a toaster - put the bread in, push a button, and it's done, mysteriously, in a few minutes. A plethora of PC players want the games to be like console games, i.e. you don't need to do anything more, anything extra, than just start the game in order to play. It is absolutely cat-herding to try to get them to not only install a 'helper' program, i.e. a parser, but then even more cat-herding to get them to go through the menus, etc. to set it up. Asking people to switch to a different application also runs into the "but it works and I don't want to bother" (even if it takes less than 5 mins to do so) mentality, too. There are other reasons, too, to turn on a log file and parsing. I had my logs on in the aughts long before the current parsers were built. I have my logs on now and run Gina about once a year at best (I'm not interested, at this time, in min/maxing again and I don't raid on a regular basis). I use logs to 'record' interactions, to be able to copy/paste something that was in the chat, and even to check on things later. I even have in-game macros to use the /output to generate specific logs circumstantially. AND, I would suspect many, like me, have never heard of EQLP. Even Google came up with a goose-egg on "EQLP" as a parser. Lots of stuff on audio EQ + LP, but I know those aren't it.
Can you imagine being in a "raiding" guild on a PC-only MMO with people who don't even know how to save a file? Or that can't even read a post? I would quit that guild so fast.
You searched for the acronym... try searching for the actual name and it's the first result. Even EQLP however has MANY results on the first page of Google.
It's real hard to search on the actual name when any references you have seen have only been for the acronym. I never heard of it outside of this thread. I suspect you added something more to your search than only EQLP and didn't see that the "many" results were for audio EQ and LP not anything to do with log parsing in Everquest.
Good ideas from OP. I'd love an option to append trimmed logs to a player.archive.log so I don't have to open 30 files when I want to look back in time. I also support this idea and don't use GINA.
It's been talked about a LOT on these forums. And here's the Google search, second and fourth result have it. No, I didn't add anything else to the search. The search also has the full name of it, talks about parsing... Even talks about triggers and migration!
FYI: The search results are modified by your search and browsing history. What you pull up can and will be different from other users.
As I don't routinely look up EQ raiding information or even read every raid-related thread on the forums, Google doesn't know I would be looking for something Everquest raiding vs general results for audio since EQ and LP a common acronyms in audio (Equalizer is the first but I forget what LP stands for). I am actually more likely to do a search on audio than specifically for Everquest raiding so..
LP stands for Long Play. As in a12 inch record, rather than a 7 inch (single or EP Extended Play). LP just became synonymous with 'a vinyl record'.
I find it hilarious that anyone would google a random acronym and not give the search some context. Just add 'everquest' in as a keyword. I know fancy new technology is difficult and all but we're going on like 30 years of web search engines.
There is a long, storied history on this forum. A tradition that goes back many years, and a tradition that will continue to live on. That tradition is Captain Video posting terrible takes. But this one? This may be your worst take yet. I tip my hat to you. You refuse to remain complacent, always striving for new heights. Well done.
My take is more terrible than you've given me credit for. It is this: We could easily be in maintenance mode by the end of this year if they can't get the DX11 upgrade sorted out, the new UI sorted out, the persona design issues sorted out, raid lag sorted out, and the new content production rate sorted out (not in any particular order). And here are reputable veteran players arguing over how best to approach getting dev time allocataed to babysitting a player's log files. It's all about priorities and a very limited set of available resources. I know what I'd rather see them working on. And (gasp) I actually think my view is the majority.
All I know is I've personally helped several people who's game was a lagfest of unplayablity all due to huge log files. How many others are suffering this issue, blaming it on other factors, I cannot say but at this point it sure seems pretty common.
The programs that read the log files, should be able to easily rotate them for you. I have not tried eqlogparser beyond just testing it out yet, but other programs like gina will happily rotate them for you. The only real reason to turn logs on at all is due to these programs, so let them do it (they already do)
