Are add ons/overlays such as TaCo, Arc DPS, ReShade, GW2 Timer etc allowed to use?

[Cynder.2509]

I've been experimenting with this ReShade thing recently as it makes stuff look a bit better and isn't stressing my eyes so I'm not sure if these things are even okay to use. Yes, I know ReShade is actually fine but I still might have wanted to include this here. Also I've been using the timer for quite a long time and thought about maybe getting it as an overlay so I don't have to tab in and out a lot. I wanted to give the other things a shot as well but first I need further clarification on this.

Thanks for your time. Have a nice day/evening/night/morning

[Edelweiss.4261]

I know lots of people use these without issue, but I think it'd be great to get a dev answer(or be linked to one that already exists). Internal policy can change without our knowledge, so I'd like an external statement.

[infrequentia.3465]

arc dps is allowed (including its build template)

Taco is allowed, ( need to look somewhere on reddit for it )

reshade is aswell.

 

the devs are more active on Reddit so you will find more info there regarding overlays/addons

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> Are add ons/overlays such as TaCo, Arc DPS, ReShade, GW2 Timer etc allowed to use?

 

Short answer: yes.

 

Longer answer: The programs listed fall into the following categories:

* External websites (e.g. GW2 timer)

* Overlays (e.g. TACO, e.g. GW2 Timer overlay)

* DPS Meters (Arc)

* Reskin tools (e.g. ReShade)

 

I hope it's obvious that external websites are always okay to use. Overlays are also okay to use, because they run separately from the game & do not interact with GW2 at all, except to use data provided by the game already (e.g. the echolocation API for Mumble is used by TACO and GW2 Timer to show you icons relative to your position).

 

It gets trickier for the last two groups, because they 'inject' something between the client and what you see on screen. But, as with overlays, in their purest form, DPS meters and reskin tools don't interfere with the game itself. ArcDPS takes publicly available data and puts it into a format that is easier to read. (With an important exception.) Reshade changes how things look, again using the data that is already running to your monitor.

 

(The exception for Arc is its template saving/loading feature. That obviously does a bit more than offer a convenient display. It's definitely an interesting "edge" case, because it's right on the border of acceptable versus unacceptable.)

 

ANet is really only concerned if you're using 3rd party tools to cheat the game in some way: to make you faster than others, or speed your cooldowns, or provide information to you that isn't publicly available. It's not okay to make it so your computer players the game for you, e.g. macros that do more than a single in-game action or allow you to keep farming without being present at the keyboard.

 

ArcDPS has an additional credential: its developer frequently checks in with ANet's security team to make sure that it doesn't include _anything_ that is problematic for ANet or the game. It's not a "seal of approval" (ANet doesn't gives those out, because they can't vet every version of 3rd party software for use in all circumstances); it's just as much as ANet is every prepared to say: "we don't object."

 

tl;dr all of the listed software is okay to use with the game, in their current versions.

[Cynder.2509]

Ah, I see. Thanks for clarifying this! :)

[GrubySzymek.1362]

Every 3rd party addon is "use at your own risk".

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> Every 3rd party addon is "use at your own risk".

 

Yes.

I should have included that in the above explicitly: if something goes wrong with the add-on, with your game crashing while running the add on, with the add-on being hijacked by a hacker (unlikely though it might be), it's on the user of the add-on. Many add-ons require an update after major (or sometimes minor) GW2 patches, for example; that's not something ANet can control.

 

tl;dr

> Every 3rd party addon is "use at your own risk".