A great big thanks to FDEV for 1.3.08... Not..!

mc1903

mc1903
I am sure this post will be found to have broken a forum rule and will get removed/redacted by the mods, but to hell with it!

So it seems with the release of 1.3.08 yesterday, one of the glaring omissions from the change log was the nobbling of the iPhone 'companion app' API to prevent the non-FDEV community apps (EDMC/etc) from retrieving commander statistics.

8 months ago you asked the community (*1 - links below) if they wanted an API & what they would like it to provide. You had lots of positive responses with some really great ideas, but then you stay almost silent for 3 months; seemingly ignoring any followup questions that ask about its progress.

The only subsequent official mention (*2) I can find is that the official API is 'low on the current priority list' (post #37 on that thread) for development and that was in response to fact that the community had already reverse engineered the companion app API and were respectfully seeking clarity on any likely future sanctions for using it in their own apps. I cannot find a follow up to post #39 with an actual answer to the 'its being discussed' response.

Blocking the commander stats whilst you do not have an official API to offer is just puerile. It speaks volumes to FDEV's lack of respect to the people who have paid a lot of money to make this game possible. Remember without the 25681 kickstarter backers, giving you over £1.5 million of OUR hard earned cash; all you would have to look forward too would be another update to RollerCoaster Tycoon!

Please just switch the companion app stats back on until you can sort the official API out.

Thanks.
M

*1 - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=99437

*2 - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=139163
 

Frop

Frop
Well, incomplete and/or vaguely worded change logs are their forté, I'm sure they just forgot to mention this little tidbit.
 

Commander Salter

Commander Salter
mc1903 said:
I am sure this post will be found to have broken a forum rule and will get removed/redacted by the mods, but to hell with it!

So it seems with the release of 1.3.08 yesterday, one of the glaring omissions from the change log was the nobbling of the iPhone 'companion app' API to prevent the non-FDEV community apps (EDMC/etc) from retrieving commander statistics.

8 months ago you asked the community (*1 - links below) if they wanted an API & what they would like it to provide. You had lots of positive responses with some really great ideas, but then you stay almost silent for 3 months; seemingly ignoring any followup questions that ask about its progress.

The only subsequent official mention (*2) I can find is that the official API is 'low on the current priority list' (post #37 on that thread) for development and that was in response to fact that the community had already reverse engineered the companion app API and were respectfully seeking clarity on any likely future sanctions for using it in their own apps. I cannot find a follow up to post #39 with an actual answer to the 'its being discussed' response.

Blocking the commander stats whilst you do not have an official API to offer is just puerile. It speaks volumes to FDEV's lack of respect to the people who have paid a lot of money to make this game possible. Remember without the 25681 kickstarter backers, giving you over £1.5 million of OUR hard earned cash; all you would have to look forward too would be another update to RollerCoaster Tycoon!

Please just switch the companion app stats back on until you can sort the official API out.

Thanks.
M

*1 - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=99437

*2 - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=139163
Click to expand...


Now, I have never tried to plug in to the commander statistics, and have no particular interest in doing so at the moment - but even without such specialist knowledge, I'm fairly sure I can improve that tone for you:

"Dear Frontier, I have noticed that since yesterday's 1.3.08 patch yesterday, access to the iPhone companion app's API seems to be restricted to official code only. Of course, this has stopped community third-party code from being able to access this data. Could I just check, was this an intentional change, and if so, what was the reasoning behind it (e.g. security concerns, quality control, etc)? If it was intentional, and the concerns involved can't be addressed in some other way (allowing access to be restored), do you have any updates on the likely timeline for releasing an official API for this kind of thing? All the best - M"

At the moment, it skim-reads more or less as:

"I know this is out of order, but I'm going to post it anyway... to hell with it... glaring omissions... seemingly ignored... just puerile... we bought your product, so now we own you, and your otherwise pointless lives. Love ya, bye."

That seems unlikely to motivate anyone to make an effort to help you out...
 
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LeetNoob

LeetNoob
Commander Salter said:
Now, I have never tried to plug in to the commander statistics, and have no particular interest in doing so at the moment - but even without such specialist knowledge, I'm fairly sure I can fix that wording and tone for you:
Click to expand...

Or you could let him speak for himself.
 

Otis B.

Otis B.
It doesn't matter how the OP words his post - we're not allowed to discuss the existing API on these forums (let alone post a bug report) so this thread will be deleted rather than answered.
 
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Monk

Monk
I'm a bit annoyed by this.

I'm hoping it means some performance improvement instead of just stifling community software development.

Because, other than that, this changes nothing about trade data getting to third party databases...we still have OCR
 

Otis B.

Otis B.
Monk said:
Because, other than that, this changes nothing about trade data getting to third party databases...we still have OCR
Click to expand...
To be clear, station data is still present in the data returned from the API. It's just Cmdr statistics that have been removed.

But since we can't post a bug report we'll never know whether this change is deliberate or accidental.
 

Ralph Vargr

Ralph Vargr
Monk said:
I'm a bit annoyed by this.

I'm hoping it means some performance improvement instead of just stifling community software development.

Because, other than that, this changes nothing about trade data getting to third party databases...we still have OCR
Click to expand...

EDDiscovery might depend on that for us explorers.

The third-party developers have been doing the work that Frontier should have been doing itself.
 

Commander Salter

Commander Salter
Monk said:
I'm a bit annoyed by this.

I'm hoping it means some performance improvement instead of just stifling community software development.

Because, other than that, this changes nothing about trade data getting to third party databases...we still have OCR
Click to expand...

Monk, may I ask you a few quick questions?

* What are the mission objectives?
* What craft will I be flying?
* What opposition will there be?

(Your avatar has got the 'Mission Briefing Room' music going around and around in my head - it'll stay there for days!)
 

mc1903

mc1903
Commander Salter said:
Now, I have never tried to plug in to the commander statistics, and have no particular interest in doing so at the moment - but even without such specialist knowledge, I'm fairly sure I can improve that tone for you:

"Dear Frontier, I have noticed that since yesterday's 1.3.08 patch yesterday, access to the iPhone companion app's API seems to be restricted to official code only. Of course, this has stopped community third-party code from being able to access this data. Could I just check, was this an intentional change, and if so, what was the reasoning behind it (e.g. security concerns, quality control, etc)? If it was intentional, and the concerns involved can't be addressed in some other way (allowing access to be restored), do you have any updates on the likely timeline for releasing an official API for this kind of thing? All the best - M"

At the moment, it skim-reads more or less as:

"I know this is out of order, but I'm going to post it anyway... to hell with it... glaring omissions... seemingly ignored... just puerile... we bought your product, so now we own you, and your otherwise pointless lives. Love ya, bye."

That seems unlikely to motivate anyone to make an effort to help you out...
Click to expand...

Thank you CMDR Salter, I very much appreciate your précis of my post. :)

I probably could have 'smoothed the bumps' off the post myself, but I was blowing off steam as I am fed up with the completely dismissive way FDEV treats its customers.

Cheers
M

- - - Updated - - -

Frop said:
Well, incomplete and/or vaguely worded change logs are their forté, I'm sure they just forgot to mention this little tidbit.
Click to expand...

#sotrue!
 

Commander Salter

Commander Salter
mc1903 said:
Thank you CMDR Salter, I very much appreciate your précis of my post. :)

I probably could have 'smoothed the bumps' off the post myself, but I was blowing off steam as I am fed up with the completely dismissive way FDEV treats its customers.

Cheers
M
Click to expand...

Man, that is classy!

People on the internet don't tend to admit that anything was less than perfect with their posts (such as mine, which was more heavy-handed than I wanted)

Rep to you, Sir or Madam!
 

Commander Salter

Commander Salter
WolfishHickory said:
Ahhh, mutual respect on the internet. *grows aroused*
Click to expand...

YES! I have accidentally been involved in the creation of a new (albeit incredibly specialised) form of pornography!

I WILL BE RICH!

<Rushes off to register the domain name 'www.potential-messageboard-arguments-diffused-by-mutual-respect.xxx'>
 
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