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Supporting Timelines

SMMSMM ✭✭✭
I just updated the wiki crew list adding Five of Twelve. The addition looks like this.

{{MPCrewList
| CrewName = Five of Twelve
| CharName = Axum
| Stars = 5
| CMD = 73
| ENG = 31
| SEC = 53
| Race = Borg
<!--Traits-->|Borg|Inspiring|Desperate|Saboteur|Crafty|Undercover Operative}}

DB could easily and quickly write a routine to create text, copy it into the clipboard so that could be pasted into the wikki. This would have the additional benefit that all entries could be updated at the same time, minimising the chances of error and ensuring that all entries were up to date. Once the routine was written, the time it would take to update the wikki would be less than 60 seconds.

The point of this post is to emphasize the unpaid playing community that supports Timelines and that a lot more happens than most players may realise. We need to hold DB to account for their inaction as their actions.

Comments


  • SMM wrote: »
    The point of this post is to emphasize the unpaid playing community that supports Timelines and that a lot more happens than most players may realise. We need to hold DB to account for their inaction as their actions.

    This.
    [DCC] bebe
    Privileged to be Admiral of the Great Fleet
    Dilithium Causes Cancer, maxed Starbase level 134
    Featuring photonic flee free holodecks and
    All you can drink Neelix's Even Better Than Coffee Substitute!
  • DScottHewittDScottHewitt ✭✭✭✭✭
    SMM wrote: »
    I just updated the wiki crew list adding Five of Twelve. The addition looks like this.

    {{MPCrewList
    | CrewName = Five of Twelve
    | CharName = Axum
    | Stars = 5
    | CMD = 73
    | ENG = 31
    | SEC = 53
    | Race = Borg
    <!--Traits-->|Borg|Inspiring|Desperate|Saboteur|Crafty|Undercover Operative}}

    DB could easily and quickly write a routine to create text, copy it into the clipboard so that could be pasted into the wikki. This would have the additional benefit that all entries could be updated at the same time, minimising the chances of error and ensuring that all entries were up to date. Once the routine was written, the time it would take to update the wikki would be less than 60 seconds.

    The point of this post is to emphasize the unpaid playing community that supports Timelines and that a lot more happens than most players may realise. We need to hold DB to account for their inaction as their actions.

    Please stop beating that deceased equine........




    https://youtu.be/UcZzlPGnKdU
    "The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
  • DScottHewittDScottHewitt ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2019
    SMM wrote: »
    I just updated the wiki crew list adding Five of Twelve. The addition looks like this.

    {{MPCrewList
    | CrewName = Five of Twelve
    | CharName = Axum
    | Stars = 5
    | CMD = 73
    | ENG = 31
    | SEC = 53
    | Race = Borg
    <!--Traits-->|Borg|Inspiring|Desperate|Saboteur|Crafty|Undercover Operative}}

    DB could easily and quickly write a routine to create text, copy it into the clipboard so that could be pasted into the wikki. This would have the additional benefit that all entries could be updated at the same time, minimising the chances of error and ensuring that all entries were up to date. Once the routine was written, the time it would take to update the wikki would be less than 60 seconds.

    The point of this post is to emphasize the unpaid playing community that supports Timelines and that a lot more happens than most players may realise. We need to hold DB to account for their inaction as their actions.

    Please stop beating that deceased equine........




    https://youtu.be/UcZzlPGnKdU

    If the topic doesn’t interest you or you have nothing to add, then please feel free not to read it. Thank you.

    +1 to OP. Just one good example of the amount of work the community put in to help others enjoy the game.

    Whatever. @Shan has Locked several of the threads on this {thinly veiled} topic. We get it. Everyone supports the developer in question. And, certain ones blame DB for what third parties did to that developer.


    Have a nice day.
    "The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
  • Cranky (SC) Cranky (SC) ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2019
    Dispater wrote: »
    My whole family plays STT. I pay money to enhance our game and support 3 accounts. All of use use iPads to play. To my knowledge there is no iampicard app in the App Store. So not everyone has access to these resources. So using 3rd party software to “calculate” percentages, press buttons, time saving, whatever, is cheating how the game is played for many customers. At that point the software is doing the decision making for you. How many top 1k events have you made using the calculator? It’s the equivalent of me vs Data in a game of strategema.

    Iampicard, before it was discontinued, was used via a web browser. So yes, it was available to everyone. There was a windows version and one that you could build for other operating systems too.

    Whether you choose to seek out tools like that to help you or not is up to you.
  • Using a spreadsheet is a lot different than allowing a 3rd party access the game server to manipulate it. If that’s the case then yea that’s cheating, i don’t think all this would be happening over a simple spreadsheet.
  • Dispater wrote: »
    Using a spreadsheet is a lot different than allowing a 3rd party access the game server to manipulate it. If that’s the case then yea that’s cheating, i don’t think all this would be happening over a simple spreadsheet.

    Considering he was initially given blessing from DB, when he approached them about it and they had a stickied thread on these forums for everyone to see, I don’t understand why people had a problem with it in the first place.
  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    Dispater wrote: »
    Using a spreadsheet is a lot different than allowing a 3rd party access the game server to manipulate it. If that’s the case then yea that’s cheating, i don’t think all this would be happening over a simple spreadsheet.

    It wasn't just a simple spreadsheet, it was definitely an advancement on that, and where the line is drawn for 3rd party tools had not been arbitrated on by DB. Still hasn't. Your charge of cheating is hostile and ill-informed. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't debate the merits of the app, but it is tiring to argue with people who immediately take an extreme position.
  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    Please don't close this thread Shan. This is a discussion that needs to happen. The death of 3rd party support for the game is a terrible thing for a game such as this. I've played my fair share of MMOs and when the 3rd party supports starts to go, it's very hard to maintain the game population. There is definitely a question over the causal direction of that, but why risk it?

    IF you are going to close the thread please give a detailed explanation of why you are doing so. So far, the thread closures have only added to the silence from DB on these issues.
  • Ill informed? Hostile? I didn’t accuse anyone of cheating. Seems like you were the to immediately step on me by taking a radical position of a legitimate concern.
  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    Dispater wrote: »
    Using a spreadsheet is a lot different than allowing a 3rd party access the game server to manipulate it. If that’s the case then yea that’s cheating, i don’t think all this would be happening over a simple spreadsheet.

    Your words. The app did allow you to interact with the game servers in a limited fashion.
  • Just as an FYI.... I play another mobile game (Animation Throwdown) that had google spreadsheets that accessed the game server and did play every aspect of the game for you including events. Thankfully the devs shut them down, but my point is this. Don't underestimate the power of a spreadsheet. If given access to the games API, it can be used to cheat. I know that the spreadsheets people are referring to here do not access the STT servers through API, I just felt it necessary to state that spreadsheets are not always benign.
  • ThurthoradThurthorad ✭✭✭✭✭
    Dispater wrote: »
    Then that’s cheating. You have an advantage over someone who does not use 3rd party software to manipulate the game mechanics. Now you justify it by saying anyone could’ve done it.

    It isn't, but see what I mean about going straight to an extreme position?

    The actual counter to this argument is that every 3rd party addition to the game gives some sort of advantage otherwise no one would use any of them. You are choosing to draw a line somewhere arbitrary and in a situation where you have no direct understanding of the situation. If DB had declared it as cheating then that would be one thing and the app developer is on record as stating that he wanted to work with DB to set the app to their guidelines. Their guidelines have never been forthcoming and players on your side of the argument took in upon themselves to terrorise the poor guy into withdrawing the tool.

    At the end of the day, this is something that DB should have approached in a more constructive manner than they have. Ongoing third party developers of resources are understandably concerned about these developments.
  • Captain_WhoCaptain_Who ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2019
    gobolts07 wrote: »
    Dispater wrote: »
    My whole family plays STT. I pay money to enhance our game and support 3 accounts. All of use use iPads to play. To my knowledge there is no iampicard app in the App Store. So not everyone has access to these resources. So using 3rd party software to “calculate” percentages, press buttons, time saving, whatever, is cheating how the game is played for many customers. At that point the software is doing the decision making for you. How many top 1k events have you made using the calculator? It’s the equivalent of me vs Data in a game of strategema.

    I have all Apple products, there was a web based version.

    It didn’t help in events, it has nothing to do with them. Only could be used to set voyages, clear dilemmas (which I always forgot about) and play gauntlet. Also as a crew management tool like many of the spreadsheets out there.

    This is far more work than most will go to, but the app was designed on a Mac, and the github had explicit instructions on compiling it and you could have compiled a mac version.


    Just as an FYI.... I play another mobile game (Animation Throwdown) that had google spreadsheets that accessed the game server and did play every aspect of the game for you including events. Thankfully the devs shut them down, but my point is this. Don't underestimate the power of a spreadsheet. If given access to the games API, it can be used to cheat. I know that the spreadsheets people are referring to here do not access the STT servers through API, I just felt it necessary to state that spreadsheets are not always benign.

    And how many apps and overlays are out there for games like WoW and LoL? We'll just leave it at a lot. I don't see people calling those cheating. Or calling a gamepad that lets you put macros on keys for quick casting, etc cheating. Pretty sure companies like Razer and Logitech have entire product lines devoted to such things.
  • IkritIkrit ✭✭✭
    SMM wrote: »
    I just updated the wiki crew list adding Five of Twelve. The addition looks like this.

    {{MPCrewList
    | CrewName = Five of Twelve
    | CharName = Axum
    | Stars = 5
    | CMD = 73
    | ENG = 31
    | SEC = 53
    | Race = Borg
    <!--Traits-->|Borg|Inspiring|Desperate|Saboteur|Crafty|Undercover Operative}}

    DB could easily and quickly write a routine to create text, copy it into the clipboard so that could be pasted into the wikki. This would have the additional benefit that all entries could be updated at the same time, minimising the chances of error and ensuring that all entries were up to date. Once the routine was written, the time it would take to update the wikki would be less than 60 seconds.

    The point of this post is to emphasize the unpaid playing community that supports Timelines and that a lot more happens than most players may realise. We need to hold DB to account for their inaction as their actions.

    If it's that easy to update the wiki, then why are we talking about how much work is done to update the wiki?

    Obviously, the page was not created, nor was anything else linked to that page. Please don't undermine your own argument by saying that it is easy to update the wiki, because it is a ton of work to create all of the pages related to a new character, especially when they have a lot of new items.
  • I didn’t terrorize anybody. So when the developer reached out regarding his program and got no response, he and everyone else “assumed” that it was legit. Do I understand that right?
  • I’m tired of arguing over something I have no control over. I’ll wait see what happens. I’m being assimilated by a pretty blonde haired woman.
  • Captain_WhoCaptain_Who ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'll say, IAP doesn't even give an advantage, except maybe in getting longer voyages.

    You have to create your own advantage by being able to use the better sorting and more complete visual access to your crew. There's nothing that tells you to select anybody for faction events, nothing that places crew in galaxy events, nothing that orders or suggests crew for expeditions, and no visibility for skirmishes.

    What happens is you can see your active and frozen crew side, by side, search and sort by traits and skills, and make the same decisions with the same information as you can with just the STT app only. You just get an easier and more complete way to view your crew, items, ships, etc.
  • DScottHewittDScottHewitt ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thurthorad wrote: »
    Please don't close this thread Shan. This is a discussion that needs to happen. The death of 3rd party support for the game is a terrible thing for a game such as this. I've played my fair share of MMOs and when the 3rd party supports starts to go, it's very hard to maintain the game population. There is definitely a question over the causal direction of that, but why risk it?

    IF you are going to close the thread please give a detailed explanation of why you are doing so. So far, the thread closures have only added to the silence from DB on these issues.

    Actually Mods on most Forums do not "justify" themselves when they close a thread. Nor, should they have a need to. Especially a thinly veiled dupe thread, on a topic where multiple threads have already been Locked........
    "The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
  • In the statement by the developer even HE said that ppl hijaked his work and used it to cheat. That’s a fact. Calculate your own voyage. I’m out.
  • <TGE> Clifford<TGE> Clifford ✭✭✭✭✭
    Man, unless you're trying to pressure TekmanRO into coming back to the game and continuing to do unpaid work for us, you're really not accomplishing anything with these threads about it.

    This wasn't DB's decision. This wasn't because of some people complaining about it on the forums.

    This is because people hijacked it to create exploits, and other people did worse things because of it.

    You know what I say?

    Good for you, anyone who's taking resources down. Take back another part of your life you spend on this game.

    Continue ranting, please.
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