Expressly authorized 3rd party programs

Or.....

You could play Everquest. And not have your merc or pet auto kill grey cons that you aggro.

I mean, that is also an option.

There are exactly zero authorized third party programs.

If you think it is cheating or might be cheating it probably is and you will eventually get caught for it.

Right, I can play EQ on all but one account and in other 6 days on all my accounts.

When I do, I do not want to violate the Terms of Service. In order to not violate the ToS I need the answer to the question contained in the first 8 words of the thread including the title. As boxing on the same computer is allowed on FV, logically I must be able to tab out without violating the ToS, but I still have to be able to reply to: [Mon Dec 16 17:57:30 2019] Swarmofbees says, in Lizardman, 'Hi Janns, are you there?' in under 2 minutes or be suspended or potentially banned.

Had I been paying attention to that screen I quite possibly wouldn't have replied anyways because the usual follow up to that question is a spiel about why I should join their guild. Knowing how GMs work and being annoyed by recruiters I know in the future to go /ignore Swarmofbees and then /r yes but you are on ignore because if you see say or tell from someone on ignore they are a GM or Guide.

Please delete the thread on the unauthorized Gamparse program. The thread will lure people into using a program that violates the Terms of Service. I would have installed the program myself without your advice.

Since there are no authorized programs the ToS should be updated to reflect that fact.

What if this dude didn't know lizardman WTF

Is that you again? I don't know what your deal is, but stop spreading nonsense.

GamParse does not modify the game in any way, nor provide any advantage over other users. It is a glorified notepad/calculator that reads the log file and does some math, nothing more.

If players such as Beimeith or Rorce can post that they have updated versions of parsers or that people can post about GINA related topics without bringing down the vengeful banhammer......the assumption is that THOSE third party programs are OK. Perhaps they are considered "mods". So Narlee is only partially correct but is definitely being a good PR person and defending the position of their company.

There was a post from a dev, may have been Absor, with 'guidelines'.

In a nutshell,

• If it is simply reading logfiles, like the tradeskill parsers or GINA, it's 'ok'.

• If it's modifying the game, allowing you to do things the game doesn't allow you, then it's not 'ok'.

If it feels like it's letting you cheat, then it probably is, so don't do it.

While no programs are authorized (because Daybreak cannot control what they do), some programs are permitted.

Read about it here: http://everquest.fanra.info/wiki/Utilities#Legality

First off I won't suggest anyone use any software or propose they do. But.... I also don't like the DBG not an answer answers. Or tricksy hobbitses type answers. No offense Narlee but I think your answer fell into the "tricksey hobbitzes" type of answer.

Correct there are zero authorized third party programs. But there are various third party programs that are used which DBG will not state as authorized but also will not result in any action taken against an account for using unless it is abused (and even then we unfortunately do not see things
being done)

The big ambiguity is a clear definition of what constitutes an unfair advantage over other players. Technically any software from gina to gameparse to other stuff could be considered to give an advantage over other players. Question is whether it is an unfair advantage. And this is the whole problem because no one wants to be pinned down.

And no just because you question whether something may or may not be cheating does not mean it is cheating. No offense but that is the foolish answer you get from Customer Service on almost any issue you ask about. Someone alters baz prices for over 2 mil and you ask if its cheating... well if you think its cheating dont do it. no answer yes or no... foolishness. At least they finally stopped over 2 mill stuff from showing up in the bazaar. Customer service and game devs and community relations should all be on the same page when it comes to cheating and all giving the same answer. And when someone asks a specific question about whether something is cheating they should get a specific answer and none of this "if you think it might be cheating silliness".

People want to stay onside with the rules but they also want to use any tools available to them.

While I realize it says this in support.
https://help.daybreakgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015664167-What-is-considered-cheating-

There are a variety of reasons why your account might be banned/suspended for cheating. Here are some (but not all) of the causes.

• Using 3rd party software or cheat programs to gain an unfair advantage over other players
• Modification of your computer or OS environment in an attempt to falsify or circumvent anti-cheat detection.
• Exploiting bugs or game mechanics

You can then read what is below quoted from the Miragul Server FAQ (a DBG posting). Notice how third party software is not mentioned in the bottom part.
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/miragul-heroic-progression-server-faq.260187/

Q: What things are not allowed on this server?
A True Box Server is a place where players are only allowed to play one EverQuest account at a time on their computer.
Doing any of the following on Miragul may result in action being taken against your Daybreak Account:

• Playing multiple characters at the same time from a single computer.
• Using 3rd party software.
• Any method to send one key press to multiple characters.

And as a refresher, doing any of the following on ANY server may result in action being taken against your Daybreak Account:

• Unattended Game-play: Any method that lets a character take actions while you’re not at your keyboard.
• Playing on virtual machines.
• Any attempt to circumvent the /pickzone timer.
• Any attempt to avoid or circumvent lockout timers.

No he is pointing out how absurd Narlee's post is. That is all.

That's exactly why I said Narlee's answer as a "tricksey hobbitzes" answer

Truth be told, I am almost sure that if every single user of a 3rd party program that gave the user an "unfair advantage" got banned right now, Everquest would instantaneously be a dead game. I can't imagine annihilating EQ is high on DBG's agenda. Take that for what you will.

This thread looks like a case of burying the lede. Someone got suspended for AFK killing. I'm glad that still happens.

The official answer is simple. You can not used any unauthorized 3rd party applications and there are exactly 0 authorized 3rd party applications.

People just don’t like that answer so they come up with their own versions of why X is ok.

I find it odd that the OP [new member] is framing his problem [Slayer Achievement - which wasn't mentioned in the original post] in terms of which third party programs are permitted (which later shifted to AFK killing) versus criticizing the achievement in itself. His concerns would be more legitimate if he simply said, "25,000 Drakkin kills is stupidly impossible. Can the devs lower the threshold?"

This thread also comes on the heels of a level increase to 115. AFK killing rules are in effect because of a Pandora's box of problems (farming bots, illegitimate xp/coin gain) other than Slayer.

Dreamweaver should lock this thread before it gets out of hand.

Nah you need to read the link Fanra posted. The DBG quotes are accurate.

Yep unattended game play of any kind is definitely bad.

What Narlee said is perfectly fine. You may as well consider Excel and Notepad to be 3rd party applications if you're counting Gamparse and GINA.

Which is why what he said isn't perfectly fine. But I agree regarding Gamparse and GINA.

Can't be scaring off some newb because they think GINA might be cheating because they think it gives them an unfair advantage. So any answer that starts with if you think it might be cheating it probably is isn't such a good answer.