Goblin Squad Member
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Seeing as Mr. Dancey is a former CCP employee and I am sure he remembers what the community from Eve did with CCP I am wondering about the use of API and Pathfinder Online.
Things of use for API (or possible uses)
- Kill mails, to be used for a killboard and to see who killed you to put a bounty on the enemy player
- The use for API to generate signatures, forum access or teamspeak access
- Use API for a market tool, a hex tool (to see who is controling what)
- A skill developer / Monitoring tool
The main thing ofcourse would be if people could get access to possible API's to start working on them (either once alpha starts or early beta)
An Application Programming Interface. It's a tool that you can give to developers that will allow them access to certain parts of the backend while protecting the sensitive bits. You use it to create applications that present/utilize that data in various ways.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I personally don't want any API support. I think it kills the game, you end up having to watch a bunch of websites or load a bunch of mods to stay competitive. It eliminates possible in-game jobs, and lessens the push on the developers to improve the game.
If an event happens in the game, the only way you should find out about it is if you were there or someone tells you about it, not some watch-bot. If someone kills you, game mechanics and word of mouth should dictate who knows about it.
I want every player to be using the same controller, it's the only way to make things fair. 'Hardcore' players like to have all their tools, but it ruins the game for the casual player, which seems to be what Goblinworks is wanting to attract. If you can't heal 5 people efficiently, it's a balance mechanic, not something you should try and subvert.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I personally don't want any API support. I think it kills the game, you end up having to watch a bunch of websites or load a bunch of mods to stay competitive. It eliminates possible in-game jobs, and lessens the push on the developers to improve the game.
If an event happens in the game, the only way you should find out about it is if you were there or someone tells you about it, not some watch-bot. If someone kills you, game mechanics and word of mouth should dictate who knows about it.
I want every player to be using the same controller, it's the only way to make things fair. 'Hardcore' players like to have all their tools, but it ruins the game for the casual player, which seems to be what Goblinworks is wanting to attract. If you can't heal 5 people efficiently, it's a balance mechanic, not something you should try and subvert.
I am not talking about ingame addons, I am talking about things out of the game (like the evemon and the killboard) they are fun to look at and are good to learn from it.
I am not talking about ingame addons, I am talking about things out of the game (like the evemon and the killboard) they are fun to look at and are good to learn from it.I personally don't want any API support. I think it kills the game, you end up having to watch a bunch of websites or load a bunch of mods to stay competitive. It eliminates possible in-game jobs, and lessens the push on the developers to improve the game.
If an event happens in the game, the only way you should find out about it is if you were there or someone tells you about it, not some watch-bot. If someone kills you, game mechanics and word of mouth should dictate who knows about it.
I want every player to be using the same controller, it's the only way to make things fair. 'Hardcore' players like to have all their tools, but it ruins the game for the casual player, which seems to be what Goblinworks is wanting to attract. If you can't heal 5 people efficiently, it's a balance mechanic, not something you should try and subvert.
I can certainly support the use of APIs as you describe without the in game addons that other games have.
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Goblin Squad Member
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If someone settles out in some random part of the map, no-one should know where they are until someone finds them, marks their location, and distributes that information. If you want a territory map, you should have informants to constantly update your personal map.
If someone kills someone, the details should be given to the killer and the victim, I shouldn't be able to go to some website and look at how many kills someone has, or browse the website to find obvious targets I can go after with my bounty hunter. There are already mechanics for getting a bounty, you will know your killer unless game mechanics dictate otherwise.
Skill developer, doesn't need API support, the data is easy enough to fill in manually. Any monitoring software should be created by GW and hosted by GW. I don't want a 3rd party looking at my skills and characters.
Signatures are fine, but that's something I would really like GW to handle.
Basically, the only information I want to come out of the game is what players share with each other or manually post somewhere in forums, a wiki, blogs or something else. I don't want to see any non-GW info-bot pull information out of the game.
Information trading should be a big part of player to player interaction, not player to web-bot.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Your objection works under the assumption that all data is accessible to everyone. That is not the case. As examples character location data and data about what you are wearing is available only to you as you are the only one having access to your account. Specifically declared public data is available to everyone. For example who owns what hex or market data everyone has anyway ingame.
As for your objection of generally making data not automatically accessible and being ok with people manually inputting data into tracking tools. This essentially boils down to you wanting people who are willing to engage with the game you are not willing to having it harder. This is horrible. Willingness to engage with a game more should always result in a positive effect and not making it harder for you. If I am willing to research the optimal way to craft an item than I should be better at make that item or if I am willing to go raid a dungeon I should have access to different gear in the same way as if I am willing to set up tools outside of the game I should get information while I am not in the game.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'm for an API, though it should be limited to world data such as hex ownership, etc. Maybe allow people to publish their information, like a tavern owner might want to publish his menu to entice people to visit, or encourage people to sell what he needs to him.
As for addons, I'm not sure how I stand yet, there would have to be more discussion. Many of the best features that Blizzard implemented with WoW after the first expansion were directly from player created addons. If Goblinworks could focus on game mechanics, balancing, content, etc rather than UI and just pull the best UI mods and copy them then the game will be better for everyone in the long run. The point was raised that addons being necessary to be competitive would be bad, and I definitely agree with that. If addons are available I'd probably use them or even make one or two myself, but I don't think they should be required to play the game without being at a disadvantage. I really think that in terms of development they would help, though. Maybe only allow them on a test server? That would help development but very few people would put the effort into programming them at that point. I think this is probably a good thing to crowdforge.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The use of API will make up for another meta game, people will use it for the market, use it to see what they need to create the items they need, what skills they need and also training time will be done.
Addons for ingame, no go for me. I have a pretty solid stance on that.
But for out of game, yes please!
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Goblin Squad Member
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Also on a sidenote in regards of what is showing what is where, an API won't allow that, it will only show you who is the owner of the hex.
Look at the following: Dotlan maps and then one of the systems, hophib and you can see what is being shown there. The items listed there are all fixed. I am sure that with PFO there will be certain things in a hex that are fixed as well and won't change (just like belts in eve online.
I am hoping to see something like that for PFO as well.
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The worst use of APIs is when they are used to arbitrarily exclude other players on the basis of a gear or success score - Cases in point:
1) World of Tanks - players abusing other players (name calling) who don't have sufficiently high win rates (which is ludicrous in a game that requires all 15 players on a team to be on the ball and lucky in order to win a battle. You could be the best player in the world but if the other 14 are unlucky or just having a bad day then you will lose and your score will drop). The win rates are made available via the API and someone has chosen to make an app that displays all players win rates.
2) World Of Warcraft - The infamous Gear Score app which was being used to reject players from attending pick up raids or instances. (It was also factoring such things as correct enchantments, socketing etc) Now while it may be all well and good to want to succeed on a raid and thus want the best geared players, but how are newer players with poorer gear supposed to learn the mechanic of a raid when they are not allowed to attend - let alone be able to earn the better gear to be allowed to attend? It was a catch 22 situation that lead to a lot of cliquishness.
It also could not judge how good a player was in their class - it simply scored the points value (in fact earlier on players were picking up loot which was of a higher gear score but not class appropriate in order to artificially boost the gear score ie a rare drop cloth item by a plate wearer)
So Player interface or quality of life improvements , yes. Discriminating add ons - NO!