Support for IamPicard App
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in The Bridge
What we know:
It has just recently been announced that the much loved IamPicard App that offers a different GUI and offers tools to help you sort through your crew is coming under review.
Disruptor Beam has been making great efforts to curb the use of macros which could give a player an edge in events over a player who does not use a macro. This is to be applauded.
The IamPicard App creator has already confirmed that there has never been any attempt to contravene STT's ToS and that if DB asks for the App to be removed there will be no effort to fight DB over the issue. This too is to be applauded.
What we do not know:
We do not know where Disruptor Beam will land on the subject.
What we can do:
Voice your desire that Disruptor Beam would not lump all tools together and judge the IamPicard App fairly.
Tell your story about the App and it's helpfulness to you so that DB can make their decision in an informed manner.
My IamPicard story:
I was skeptical about the tool myself when it was first discussed in our fleet (Noobs of the Delta Quadrant) but eventually gave it a try. When it first loaded, I was surprised at it's usefulness and immediately felt a sense of relief over much of the mundane tasks that STT had previously demanded of me but that were now offloaded onto a tool. Many captains out there will attest to owning some sort of a spread sheet that they have used to keep track of their crew, traits, relative strengths, usefulness across missions and to overcome weaknesses in the default GUI of STT. IamPicard came to my rescue by giving me the freedom to enjoy the parts of the game that were fun while doing much of the heavy lifting for me that I had previously been doing in spread sheets.
At the same time, I began using the IamPicard app at the same time as skirmish events were introduced to us and the use of Macros became a serious issue. I found myself relieved that the creator of the App was careful to not allow the App to go against the ToS like macros do. The App does not give me a competitive edge over others in STT and I hope that Disruptor Beam is able to see that the creator has been specifically careful to make sure that it cannot be used in that fashion.
What it would mean to me if the App was to be ruled against the ToS? I honestly do not know. I have been a three year player of STT and find myself staying with the game for the community in my fleet rather than the game itself. When I installed the IamPicard app, I took a great step forward towards making my time in the game a lot less frustrating and it will feel very bad to have to take such a leap back. Will that stop me from playing the game? Probably not, but if I ever do stop playing the game, should the App be taken away because of DB's judgement on the matter, this will be one of the pivotal moments that led me to that end. In Trek terms, it would be as if the borg sphere had just made the jump back in time to the launch of the first Warp vessel. The outcome is still to be determined, but things are in motion for a bad ending. Perhaps Picard will save the day... perhaps not.
DB: If you hear me, please do not force the removal of this tool.
It has just recently been announced that the much loved IamPicard App that offers a different GUI and offers tools to help you sort through your crew is coming under review.
Disruptor Beam has been making great efforts to curb the use of macros which could give a player an edge in events over a player who does not use a macro. This is to be applauded.
The IamPicard App creator has already confirmed that there has never been any attempt to contravene STT's ToS and that if DB asks for the App to be removed there will be no effort to fight DB over the issue. This too is to be applauded.
What we do not know:
We do not know where Disruptor Beam will land on the subject.
What we can do:
Voice your desire that Disruptor Beam would not lump all tools together and judge the IamPicard App fairly.
Tell your story about the App and it's helpfulness to you so that DB can make their decision in an informed manner.
My IamPicard story:
I was skeptical about the tool myself when it was first discussed in our fleet (Noobs of the Delta Quadrant) but eventually gave it a try. When it first loaded, I was surprised at it's usefulness and immediately felt a sense of relief over much of the mundane tasks that STT had previously demanded of me but that were now offloaded onto a tool. Many captains out there will attest to owning some sort of a spread sheet that they have used to keep track of their crew, traits, relative strengths, usefulness across missions and to overcome weaknesses in the default GUI of STT. IamPicard came to my rescue by giving me the freedom to enjoy the parts of the game that were fun while doing much of the heavy lifting for me that I had previously been doing in spread sheets.
At the same time, I began using the IamPicard app at the same time as skirmish events were introduced to us and the use of Macros became a serious issue. I found myself relieved that the creator of the App was careful to not allow the App to go against the ToS like macros do. The App does not give me a competitive edge over others in STT and I hope that Disruptor Beam is able to see that the creator has been specifically careful to make sure that it cannot be used in that fashion.
What it would mean to me if the App was to be ruled against the ToS? I honestly do not know. I have been a three year player of STT and find myself staying with the game for the community in my fleet rather than the game itself. When I installed the IamPicard app, I took a great step forward towards making my time in the game a lot less frustrating and it will feel very bad to have to take such a leap back. Will that stop me from playing the game? Probably not, but if I ever do stop playing the game, should the App be taken away because of DB's judgement on the matter, this will be one of the pivotal moments that led me to that end. In Trek terms, it would be as if the borg sphere had just made the jump back in time to the launch of the first Warp vessel. The outcome is still to be determined, but things are in motion for a bad ending. Perhaps Picard will save the day... perhaps not.
DB: If you hear me, please do not force the removal of this tool.
32
Comments
IAmPicard is automation. It does things for you. Automatically! It chooses voyage crew, and sends your voyage. It turns seven taps (iirc, it's been a while since I counted) for a successful gauntlet round into one. A ship battle might be seven taps. If I sit there and tap for my macro to start at the beginning of each skirmish battle, would you suddenly be okay with my macro, because it only does as many clicks as an IAmPicard function?
My money is on "**** no!"
Does that mean DB should condemn it? That's not my decision.
Does that mean that you shouldn't use it? I honestly don't give a single flying ****.
I only ask that if they want to start prohibiting it and things like it, they give everyone a notice, to avoid unnecessary grief.
Honestly, I think allowing it is allowing future potential additions to it, and would be a complete double standard.
People draw their personal line in the sand wherever they want to.
You've chosen where you want yours, and you think IAmPicard should remain, but please do keep in mind that your line is just as arbitrary as anyone else's.
As with everything else, enjoy it while it lasts.
If this is against the ToS, one could argue that the wiki is too - it’s just a convenient aggregator of information that is already available and presents it in a way that mitigates the tedium of certain tasks. The only thing the Iampicard tool does further than this is to save you a few taps by selecting voyage crew or dismissing crew in overflow.
Without the tool I probably wouldn’t bother with the gauntlet at all, and wouldn’t send or extend nearly as many voyages because updating spreadsheets or calculating the math myself is more work than I’m willing to put into something I do for fun.
Without it, we would all need to keep multiple spreadsheets full of stats to choose voyages and gauntlets.
You’d have to scroll though hundreds of items to see if you had the right number of space cogs for the next galaxy, without any ability to search. Honestly, DB should be embarrassed about the simple functions (like searching items) that they’ve neglected and the tool provides.
For voyages, I can copy my stats out, write a function in a spreadsheet, and get the same lineup. But the tool just saves me ten minutes or so a day of flipping between screens to choose my lineup. Why anyone wants that kind of tedium, I can’t fathom.
The gauntlet UI in game honestly stinks. But this is probably the part of the game where the tool actually gives an advantage. Nobody actually does the math for each matchup against each of their characters. I know I just guess at the best matchup when doing gauntlet in the app. Having the odds viewable is something DB should add to the main game.
"All Software is owned by Disruptor Beam and/or its licensors. You acknowledge and agree that you may not sublicense, assign or otherwise transfer this license. You may not modify, alter or create any derivative works of any Software. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any Software, including any proprietary communications protocol used by such Software, except where and to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law"
The tool obviously is a derivative work of the game, and it had to be created by reverse engineering the game software. The fact that DB has chosen not to enforce the TOS yet, does not mean the tool does not violate it, simply by its mere existence and creation.
IAmPicard has also gone out of his way to abide by the spirit and letter of the terms of service, has tried to work with DB, and been a valuable participant in DBs forums, contributing much to the community.
It's a shame that DB has decided to insult him with this "investigation", and will be truly sad if they decide to take action against him or his tool.
DB, please listen to the pleas of your community, back IAmPicard, and and thank him for is work.
If what you are saying is true then it should have been banned from day 1. But then why did they put a link to it on their own website and even made the thread an announcement thread where everyone who had access to this very website could easily find it and use it? The tool wasn't found on some shady website that would infect you with more malware than stars in the sky. That blame should then be on them, they not only didn't enforce their tos but they essentially passively promoted the tool. Now after how many years they suddenly decide that it was ok previously (even if it according to you clearly broke the tos from day 1) but no it (potentially) isn't? This after many people have used the tool for a very long time and got used to using the tool for managing their crews which is still the primary function of the tool.
First off, I can live without it.
I like it. I use it. I recommend it to fleet mates.
It makes Voyages, crew and equipment management easier. The UI for item management in STT is, primitive, to be polite.
It makes the gauntlet less rage-inducing.
Does it provide an unfair advantage? Not if you have a decent grasp of math and odds.
If DB happens to suddenly take a hard line against this tool, I hope they at least do not make it an "all or nothing" ultimatum.
Though it would make things slightly less easy for me, I would be fine if the capability to automatically staff your Voyage or your Gauntlet was removed — but leaving behind the ability to have the crew help you choose who the best crew in your roster are for each of those. The latter is why the tool is so helpful to me; the former is nice, but if I have to make a little extra effort to note all the crew that the tool suggests, then fire up the game and manually staff my Voyage (or Gauntlet) with them, that's a compromise I'm more than willing to make.
I also would be okay with removing the ability to play Gauntlet rounds in the tool — even though it makes it far more fun for me to be able to get through them without waiting for the animation (when you play Gauntlet in-game).
I don't really use the tool to select Voyage dilemmas that often, so probably wouldn't miss that, either — but I understand the tool has helped some players who have gotten Voyages "stuck" at dilemmas to "unstick" things.
The other capabilities of the tool are great, too — crew management, inventory management, etc. And I'd hate to lose those. Plus, I don't think those parts of the tool are in any way controversial.
So, IF the powers that be at Disruptor Beam decide they need to curtail usage of this tool, as I said, I hope they give the author and contributors a chance to make changes which will satisfy DB, but still allow us players to employ an incredibly useful resource — featuring many things which DB really should have implemented themselves, if I'm being frank (but I'm not Frank, I'm Data).
Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.
~ Data, ST:TNG "Haven"
Bingo.
Example: the IAP needed-items feature is the single most important element I use every day. This is *no* different than the wiki, other than that it pulls the information directly from STT itself rather than having fleets of people manually harvest it (and then have the info become inaccurate when recipes get changed, often without notification). Exactly what is the TOS violation in having insight into correct crew stats, inventory and recipe information in a friendly and accessible way? (Especially since DB does not make any effort to publish its own authoritative database anywhere).
For the Voyage populator, if this goes away, I will simply build my own, on my desktop. There's nothing in it that can't be re-created with the tons of spreadsheets or databases people have already built. Ditto for Gauntlet. It's not that hard, the only impact will be to inconvenience and annoy a lot of dedicated players. Will my HP calculator and Excel license be up for TOS review, too?
There is such an enormous gap between IAP features and macro-ing to grind through days of skirmishes or whatnot that the comparison is, IMHO, laughable. One is making the daily housekeeping less painful, the other is getting an enormous advantage in direct, head to head competition for the most valuable rewards. C'mon, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see there's a difference between the two.
Now, having gotten that off my chest ... you tried to open this thread with a call for positive/affirmative action, so...
My IAmPicard Story
The easiest way to summarize my story is to note that my overall gameplay has increased since starting to use IAP, rather than decreased, and my spending has not gone down. This is because the tool, by providing deeper and richer ways to understand the game statistics, opens up new strategies to explore and optimize around, rather than reverting to rote and mechanical grinding.
Examples:
If there's a theme to my story, it's clearly that "a healthy ecosystem of tools which incentivize and enhance gameplay makes people more likely to play, and to spend more money than they otherwise would". STT is a weird mix, half mindless slot machine, half very deep statistics and related strategy. Mindless slot machine gets boring pretty quickly, which means player attrition.
(And yes, I am an IAP patron, and have enormous respect for the quality of work done by the developer. This tool should be welcomed by the developer as adding to the ecosystem begun by the wiki).
This game just takes too long and iampicard speeds it up. If it's removed, I just won't have as much time to waste on it, so I'll play less STT. Just item planning for crew I'm going to level with quick searches is hugely beneficial. As others have mentioned, the inventory in-game is HORRIBLE. I hope there's some middle ground to find for whatever reasons the game creators had concerns with the tool, and perhaps it will remain with a couple less features if necessary.
Perhaps both the TOS and IAP need to be "reviewed" in parallel.
Lol, this is exactly it right here.
Gauntlet takes too long, you wouldn't play it if you had to do it manually.
Don't people say the same thing about macro users? That if they weren't using a macro to skirmish, they wouldn't play it, and there would be less competition?
anyway.
i think iampicard should remove the voyage and gauntlet functionalities, but retain the spreadsheets. Essentially-- let it read DB data, but not send any to the servers, like it would need to to send a voyage or play gauntlet.
Would ruin the purpose of it for most players, but honestly, the justifications here are pretty weak lol.
But I do use another outside app during Faction events. It's a chronometer that sounds an alarm every 3 hours. Is this against ToS?
I find the Voyage part of the app useful for keeping an eye on my Voyage when I'm at work and can't use my phone. To my colleagues, it just looks like I'm browsing the web. I sometimes let the app pick my Voyage crew for me, but I actually prefer to do it myself in game.
But by far the biggest use of the app I use is the Gauntlet part... simply because it's interface is much better than the in game one. This to me signifies that the Gauntlet design is "broken". It's just not a fun game to play.
I posted a thread a few months back asking if IAmPicard broke the ToS. It got a large number of responses and divided opinion. My fear at the time was that my account would be suspended for using the tool. I was relieved to hear, at the time, that the game developers had "kinda" given it their blessing and that the developer of IAmPicard themselves had tried to comply with the spirit of the ToS.
Opening IamPicard takes about few seconds while it takes about 40 seconds for Star Trek timelines to start. Then you always get some big flashy messages then animations for everything and so one...
I just wanted to briefly point out that DB already stated the iampicard tool was under review back in October 2018. The announcement yesterday was just that they’ve also decided to remove a discussion over it in the Ready Room, while this review appears to be continuing.
See 2nd to last post from Shan here:
https://forum.disruptorbeam.com/stt/post/quote/11797/Comment_121049
This tool must remain as it is, no functions removed, it just speeds up the game by removing hundreds of useless animations.
I find there’s too many inefficiencies in the game which make things like selecting voyage crew, playing gauntlets, analysing crew and equipment just a really dull chore.
Without this aid, I’d definitly be cutting back purchases possibly even going to F2P.
Maybe, as others have said, there is room for some compromise if DB could work with the developer rather than do anything hasty.
It was. A CS chap publicly approved the use of the tool a while ago.
Until we hear what they decide from the review (which is now 4 months in), I think it’s fair to say their previous endorsement still stands.
As far as I can see it offers no advantages for events, which what would be the unfair competition element that some people seem worried about. That should be the main focus.