Community Development : Just Supply The API!

sunnynight
sunnynight Posts: 45 Arc User
Let me start by saying that I am a computer software/hardware engineer.

Other games such as League of Legends greatly benefit so much by allowing the community developers, actual players, to build on their game, and attract a broader stronger more active community on the internet. Community developers can do so much more work than employee developers can ever manage, and they will do it for free!

All PWI needs to do is to supply the HTTP API's.

For example, supply API's to:
1. Lookup pvp statistics from (X)TW, or (X)NW
2. Look up gold prices, bid for gold from a "gold bidding account" where players deposit coin
3. Search for commission shop items and prices or vendor shop items and prices.
- One group of community developers have gone through so much pain to create this website http://pwcats.info/search.
They literally have bot characters flying to every single shop in archosaur to record and display prices on this website for players to look up.
The programming implications of these bots are so painstakingly obvious. I swear if you take this great site away from us by thwarting their bots with some visual technique, the players and merchants rely on this website so much they would just hate you for it. Plus the developers will just come up with more advanced techniques to get around your efforts to thwart, don't waste your time. Just Supply The API!
4. There are so many countless possibilities...

If building a website around these is too much work, take a page from League of Legends and many other games out there, let the community developers do the work for you! All you have to do is provide an HTTP API for them. Its so simple. Many other games benefit so greatly from allowing the community to build around their game and do much more work than the employee developers could ever manage, and for freeeeee!

There are so many players that have careers or experience in programming, use them!
Just supply the API!
Thanks

Comments

  • sunnynight
    sunnynight Posts: 45 Arc User
    Oh I brought the pwcats website to your attention to SHOW you that there are players that are WILLING to do the work for you and that will jump through hoops and go to great lengths to do it!

    I brought it to your attention in good faith to make a point. (Its possible you already knew about it) Not so you can destroy their efforts for botting etc or whatever excuse you might come up with.

    There are players in the community who would love these types of features.

    Just Supply....
    you know it...
    The API

    Thanks
  • sylenthunder
    sylenthunder Posts: 3,061 Community Moderator
    PW cats isn't using any API to pull data. It's using illegal bots to harvest the information from running game clients.

    PW Database would be closer, but it's just a data dump of the client code.

    There is no API for the game client. This is largely why Core failed so badly. They have to pull the data directly from the multiple proprietary databases, convert it into a format for the sites, and then display it. Ever wonder where rankings went to? That's right, yet another failed interface that was completely unable to be maintained properly.

    Can it be done? Maybe. It would be better if the code was actually manipulated to not using multiple archaic proprietary databases with differing layouts and inter-linking data.​​
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  • sunnynight
    sunnynight Posts: 45 Arc User
    Thanks for the response,

    and yes I know about the situation of the bots on pwcats. I was just using them as an example of community developers, that took the time to make these complex bots. I was also pleading on a side note that they don't get shutdown. Its a very essential tool for merchanters and fills a gap that the PWI devs could not.