Thursday 15 May 2014

Removal of NPC data from the API.

I said I'd write about this.

So the basic idea is, npc and player kill data can't be accessed in game through the client in W-space. However you can get it using 3rd party apps through the API. As such they want to remove it from the API.

On paper this makes alot of sense, its very in keeping with W-space. We don't have local we have to scout, intel is harder to get.

The issue though is just because it makes sense doesn't mean its good for the game.

So first I start to look at what it will do.

You won't be able to get information on when people run sites or see in what day of a cap escalation cycle they are in. For most stuff this isn't to much of a issue this data is already a hour old so when it first appears on Dotlan/Siggy etc. Its often to late. This does heavy screw people who do log on traps as you can't just jump in to a system and go "hey they run sites for the last 2 days at 19.00". Then log off and wait till 19.00 the next day.

This will probably make it safer to farm as log on traps will be harder.

Making farming easier may increase the amount of melted nano's on the market leading to a drop in there price. This would then heavily affect people in C1 to C4 space who get a much higher percentage of there income from salvage. Worth noting I think the income in C1 to C3 is already low when you look at risk to reward.

Are any of these important enough to keep the API info in game. Speaking to CCP FoxFour it's something he wants to happen, but he is more than willing to change his mind if a decent reason can be presented. On several posts he actually commented on the fact that it was a good argument and took it on board.

Making PvP harder I'm not sure on, its not going to affect wormhole PvP in general much at all. Its going to hit Blood Union and Co hard. But I'm sure they can cope, They might have to scout more, which might add on a couple days to log on trap ganks.

Making PvE safer, this I do think is a much bigger issue, its this combined with instant sigs spawning that really make it safe farming. If sigs didn't instantly appear on the overlay, this change probably wouldn't be as much of a issue.

The knock on effect of melted nano prices I also see as a big issue, but its really hard to predict this.

All this I've brought up with CCP FoxFour, especially the effect of this combined with instant overlay spawns. He's taken all this on board. There is some concerns but not enough to stop the change going ahead.

The making PvP harder I think is a bit of a over reaction. Making farming safer I do have a issue with W-space shouldn't be safe. This is what I'll be pushing to CCP to look at and hopefully change. I do have faith that something can be done here.




2 comments:

  1. If the main objection you have to removal of these stats from the API is that it makes aggressors' lives harder (also read makes them equal to those they are aggressing), then I think you're barking up the wrong tree. So it makes it harder for someone to do a log on trap (something that in itself is a huge problem), so what? If removal of the kill data makes it so that those wanting to do log on traps have to actually scout, that's a good thing. Removing kill data makes w-space less safe, as one would no longer be able to pop into a system, read the kill data and then make a safety evaluation all without d-scan or probing.

    Removing auto-populating sigs? Good idea. Force people to have an active probe scout if they want that level of safety (though how that is related to the API data, I don't immediately see). While you're at it, maybe try to get CCP to revisit the discovery scanner? It kinda makes w-space less 'unknown' and exploration, well, boring and not really that much of an exploration.

    I think if you want to make your case that this API data removal is a bad thing (or a good thing), you need to give us more data on why. Thus far, I don't see any reason why the NPC data should not be removed, and quite a few reasons why it should.

    Maybe I'm missing something?

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  2. No maybe I didn't say it well. Removing it will make log on traps harder but then you can scout, might take a day to scout no biggy. General pvp I don't see it being affected that much. I'm worried it will make it safer to farm, but its this combined with auto sigs that makes it alot safer. Having it go back to how you had to scan would really help. I don't mind the change I'm still a bit worried on the effect it might have on nano prices. but that's something we will have to wait to see on.

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