[LyonheartLakshmi]

Could you give us a way to see information related to the status of Besieged just in the chat window? I know we can gather that information by checking the besieged map. But to see the more detailed information (e.g. the number of forces for the Mamool Ja Savages), not only do I have to bring up the map, but I then have to scroll over to a specific spot on the map.

For instance, the command /bstatus (analagous to /bmap) could output the following information to the chat window:
Mamool Ja Savages -- Training: 98, Archaic Mirrors: 8, Prisoners: 1
Troll Mercenaries -- Preparing: 168, Archaic Mirrors: 8, Prisoners: 0
Undead Swarm -- Training: 99, Archaic Mirrors: 0, Prisoners: 0
Orders: Invade Enemy Base

Not only would this provide an easier way to access information relevant to Besieged, it would also make it possible for players to develop a way to poll that information and display it "offline". Similar to the way FFXIAH.com is able to poll auction house activity and make it available to players who aren't logged into the game, this command would provide an easy to parse source to display Besieged status outside of the game.

I like Besieged. If I know when Besieged is going to start (or at least a rough estimate), I can log in and participate without having to wait around in the game itself for long periods of time.

[Amele]

SE is, generally speaking, not attempting to encourage the creation of third party (including third website) tools.

it's a little different with sites like ffxi.somepage.com because they just read the existing .dats and this is perfectly legal for both their ToS and fair use.

this sort of thing on the other hand is encouraging someone to run a script that interacts with the game in the background while playing, which is technically speaking, against the ToS.

[InuTrunks]

And Amele, this isposted in the Ask SE questions, meaning this is hopefully directed at someone at SE :P not the general public.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by Amele

SE is, generally speaking, not attempting to encourage the creation of third party (including third website) tools.

it's a little different with sites like ffxi.somepage.com because they just read the existing .dats and this is perfectly legal for both their ToS and fair use.

this sort of thing on the other hand is encouraging someone to run a script that interacts with the game in the background while playing, which is technically speaking, against the ToS.

I would be curious to see what SE's stance is on FFXIAH.com.

[Ziero]

So basically you want a roundabout way to get a third party tool that can inform you of when Besiege might start?

I can't see this one getting added >_>

[Cotners]

Originally Posted by Ziero

So basically you want a roundabout way to get a third party tool that can inform you of when Besiege might start?

I can't see this one getting added >_>

It's not a third party tool if it's implemented by SE.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by Cotners

It's not a third party tool if it's implemented by SE.

If SE implemented a way to view Besieged status on a web site, that would be great. They're slowly adding things to Linkshell Community as a way to view in game stuff. So far we can view job levels, crafting levels, mission progress, inventory and even equipped gear.

Could conquest and besieged maps be next?

If they have no plans to do the work to add this to Linkshell Community, it would be nice if they gave the player base the tools to create this resource. SE doesn't need to put any work into making a viewable AH system outside of the game since it already exists. The same could happen with Besieged status tracking.

SE wants players to live their lives first, and fit FFXI into it, rather than vice versa. Unlike much of the other content in this game, Besieged happens on its own schedule and players have to adjust to it. If the game is going to dictate when we can participate in this content, we should at least be given better tools to find out the status of Besieged.

Even HNMs have a predictable window of opportunity. And HNM camping is probably one of the worst parts of this game when it comes to gaming dictating life for players.

[Amele]

Originally Posted by InuTrunks

And Amele, this isposted in the Ask SE questions, meaning this is hopefully directed at someone at SE :P not the general public.

and I'm just gently reminding lyonheart that SE is not in the habit of aiding and abetting the creation of tools that interact with the client game engine.

I've never seen an official statement from SE about their stance on FFXIAH.com - it is important to note, however, that the way FFXIAH is coded, it does not interact directly with the game engine - only with the AH servers' listing and history system.

the proposed chat lines requested here for the intended example purpose that Lyonheart outlined, would be a pretty clear-cut case of something that violates the ToS (if for a benign purpose.) I personally am not against tools of this nature, but I seriously doubt SE will go to the trouble of implementing a feature specifically intended to aid in violation of the ToS (no matter how benign) out of game.

[Ziero]

Originally Posted by Cotners

It's not a third party tool if it's implemented by SE.

He's asking that there be a text command in game to see Besiege status so *other* people can use that command to code external programs to watch the status outside the game.

He's basically asking if SE could add something for the sole purpose of increasing the ease of creating a third party tool.

If an external Conquest/Region map *was* added via the LS community great, but that's a totally different request.

[BurningPanther]

Sounds nifty and all, but why not just check the Conquest/Besieged map? You get all of the requested into there anyways. The only think I could think it needs is markers tracking invading mobs on the Besieged map, so's you know to head 'em off at the pass.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by Amele

I've never seen an official statement from SE about their stance on FFXIAH.com - it is important to note, however, that the way FFXIAH is coded, it does not interact directly with the game engine - only with the AH servers' listing and history system.

the proposed chat lines requested here for the intended example purpose that Lyonheart outlined, would be a pretty clear-cut case of something that violates the ToS (if for a benign purpose.) I personally am not against tools of this nature, but I seriously doubt SE will go to the trouble of implementing a feature specifically intended to aid in violation of the ToS (no matter how benign) out of game.

I'm not sure I see the difference between what FFXIAH does, and what I was suggesting could be done for gathering and reporting Besieged related information.

For FFXIAH to work, two things have to happen:
1. A FFXI character is used to open the AH menu and check the stock of items, and all sales records for that item.
2. Some software takes that information and stores it off in a database.

The suggestion I made would involve:
1. A FFXI character is used to issue the command /bstatus (or whatever) to see Besieged related information.
2. Some software parses the text files where chat messages are stored, and stores it off in a database.

What's the difference? Or do I misunderstand the mechanism FFXIAH uses to gather transaction information? Surely, FFXIAH doesn't directly connect to the AH servers to get listings and sales histories.

[Necropolis]

I'd highly doubt that ffxiah.com would pay to keep a character logged in on every server. I would think they have a way of circumventing that step and gathering information via another sorce.

If they were paying 12.95X32 and offering that information for free or donations, they are some rather generous people.

[Feba]

Surely, FFXIAH doesn't directly connect to the AH servers to get listings and sales histories.

Well, they didn't used to... Cliff won't really talk about it, but he has hinted that he *could* do that if he wanted to (and I'm sure reading the servers is a lot easier than their old "use a bot to run through every item, and parse the chat logs" approach.)

That said, remember, this forum is for QUESTIONS, NOT FEATURES, IDEAS, OR SUGGESTIONS. On that alone this will never get answered, but do you *really* think the best way to encourage SE to do something is to talk about how it would make it easier for people to use third party tools?!

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by Necropolis

I'd highly doubt that ffxiah.com would pay to keep a character logged in on every server. I would think they have a way of circumventing that step and gathering information via another sorce.

If they were paying 12.95X32 and offering that information for free or donations, they are some rather generous people.

Slight nitpick: it would be 12.95 x 4 + 1.00 x 28 = $79.80, since you can have up to 10 characters on one account, and they can all be on different servers. That's substantially less than 12.95 x 32 = $414.40. $80 a month is still a lot of money... but so is hosting a web site. I wonder what they're web hosting costs are each month. It's not like you can get away with using free web hosting from Angelfire for the hard drive and traffic needs of something like FFXIAH.

Could FFXIAH bypass the need for 32 separate characters by connecting directly to the AH servers? If I were SE, I would be far more afraid of allowing that to happen than to allow players to parse text files for information that's already in plain text.

[Necropolis]

Given the speed that I've seen FFXIAH update sells, I wouldn't think that either someone or some bot is logging in, parsing all the files, logging out, logging in another char on another server, parsing all files, so on and so on.

Just doesn't seem practical to do it that way, how many item catagories are thier on the ah? Every single and stack of items, toolbags, quivers, armor, weapons, misc. and all that? Suppose they could do that, but I would think they'd have someone logged in continously if they were gathering the data that way.