As a Roblox developer, it is currently too hard to …
Control flags after the Allowlist for local client configuration via Fast Flags change.
See also Add FStringDebugShowFlagState to the allow list
Below is also an explanation
If Roblox is able to address this issue, it would improve my development experience because …
Being able to address issues, do debugging and bug reports.
Explanation
This here is a Minesweeper field. With this I want to portray the Roblox Client, but it could also be a channel, etc. and or from Launching Early Access Programs: Test Experimental Features
Just like how you can place flags in Minesweeper, Roblox is able to do the same thing as well. They can place flags which act as gates for new changes, and then show the field to others.
Like so:
Demonstration of Roblox filling up the field with flags
Each flag here is eventually individually owned by a different person at Roblox, or maybe multiple times.
Previously, you were able to control every flag individually, like so:
It doesn’t necessarily have to mean, toggling flags off, but it can also mean to enable additional ones that weren’t ever introduced into the Minesweeper field at all.
When we talk about flags here, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that the flag is in its “enabled” state, e.g. true. false could also be its “enabled” state eventually.
But this change Add FStringDebugShowFlagState to the allow list is claiming to remove the ability to do so in the future.
Leaving you with the only option left to either toggle flags all at once or none at all.
So, let’s go over through some things:
This change here Add FStringDebugShowFlagState to the allow list seals the ability from bad actors to use fast flags as cheats. This is a good change.
However, this seal is very powerful and also impacts those that did not use them to cheat at all.
Imagine a laboratory where experiments are ran. Some or multiple made a bad mistake, and the result to that was to shut down the entire laboratory.
This stops the incident, but now, nobody can run experiments anymore.
Second Example
Imagine a city, with infected zombies, but also with remaining survivors.
Roblox’s solution was to imprison the zombies along with the remaining survivors, without ever rescuing the survivors.
With this feedback, I want to question, for how long will that be?
Looking at some responses
I do not agree. It has an impact on those that do not cheat as well. There is an allow list though and feature requests can be used, but that only works for a couple fast flags and not all.
Is it even still an internal feature anymore now?
They know? 
The word “internal” is actually important. There’s probably a lot of other things…
Yes. I don’t think anyone can change these flags anymore regardless though.
Again, there is the mention of the word “internal”…
This change, it makes me sad but also mad.
But I am meant to explain the issues I am facing specifically.
Impact
I use Fast Flags to address issues and debugging. Without this said “feature”, I’d have probably never been able to make certain bug reports in the first place.
For example:
It was an issue I encountered once, and I took the efforts to analyze it a bit more. Because I believe this is more efficient, especially if you don’t know whenever Roblox will get to analyze it, or if they even will.
As all humans, we have a brain, and Roblox Staff doesn’t magically have a shared memory with all knowledge about Roblox. It depends also on who reviews these issues and whether they might even believe that it even is a real issue.
But if you provide evidence, you clear some of these doubts.
And issues like:
- FFlagExtendedLightRanges4 crash
- DFFlagSimSolverImprovedPartialSleep Crash 1
- Steps to Reproduce a major crash caused by Network Physics Weirdness and Humanoid Animation or Layered Clothing
But one I remember also, was https://devforum.roblox.com/t/canvasgroup-images-fast-flag-uitexture-use-dynamic-render-settings-more-canvasgroup-blurriness-on-everything-instead-of-just-images/3826627
Staff didn’t reply with, “Hey, I understand the issue!” at first.
I actually had to find ways to explain and get the point through.
This is why earlier I mentioned:
As all humans, we have a brain, and Roblox Staff doesn’t magically have a shared memory with all knowledge about Roblox. It depends also on who reviews these issues and whether they might even believe that it even is a real issue.
If I came there with 2 images only and no analyzing what’s’o’ever, only with an image with before and after and no explanation. I would wonder, whether the issue would have still been found or not.
Maybe, it could have taken longer, etc. but yeah… And I actually jumped inbetween Studio and Client for that issue, as both gave different results and that made debugging this a bit more harder.
If you need evidence, just as the Roblox Staff themselves.
These are not the only issues, and I don’t believe that these will be the last ones either.
Fast Flags have an owner, and when you specify a flag, you’ll most likely address an issue in a very efficient way compared to all other ways.
Like, I’d assume that Roblox Staff themselves have to figure that out as well? If they even still can?
Fast Flags on Roblox are similar like how Google Chrome treats them. Except that Google Chrome is a bit more reckless, but maybe I don’t see the difference between both anymore.
Fast Flag that has a major request in being toggled a lot, should be turned into a setting. And etc. and obviously fast flags used for cheating have no purpose.
And apparently one of the truth is, that most flags are indeed used to toggle things, if not for cheating. And that only small amount of users use Fast Flags, and then there’s more categories that can be made that would show how that “small amount” uses Fast Flags…
And for what I am mentioning, I think the use case it too small, that makes me believe that Roblox eventually isn’t going to change anything about it. Because it is a company, as well.
In the other thread, it was mentioned that originally it is an “internal” feature, even if Staff once may brought it up somewhere.
And with all other knowledge. It looks like a locked door.
This is why I am sad and mad about this unfortunate change.