I went to go trading today.....so i went to go in EDDB.IO but wait....it's offline due to Fdev's lack of support, PLEASE FDEV SUPPORT THESE GUYS
#support3rdparty - Why we temporarily shut down our sites.
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I think this absolutely sums up everything the OP has said. It isn't the 3rd party developers doing the leeching. Did Frontier mention this tweet to the developers in any way? Of course not.
Posted by someone using a third party pilots license signature, and using a stolen image as an avatar.
I too am mixed, while I use a site now and then having been around since beta I don't really need to use it mainly just for outfitting and really an API isn't needed for that. While i think it's great for frontier to offer data, etc they are under no reason to have to do it. I've played many games with third party tools that got no official support from the developer yet we're amazing and highly respected. Having official support is an awesome bonus that should not be looked down upon. I understand their plight since the work has been done so at this point fdev should at least maintain since it was officially offered but I wouldn't expect anything more, anything beyond is again a bonus and something far above and beyond what I've seen from other developers. I just think the "strike" is hurting themselves more than fdev.
If you inconvenience people, some may just nope out, but a lot of people will complain. The company hears the complaints and is forced to act on them, or risk being seen as uncaring and inattentive.
Take this thread for example. It has sparked a lot of drama. A lot of people are vocalizing their support for the 3rd party developers, some are whining about being affected and threatening to stop using 3rd party products, and some are adamantly against 3rd party support entirely.
With the first group, the strike garnered sympathy, which FDev sees.
With the second group, the users are being inconvenienced and threatening to stop using these products. That tells FDev that these products are being used enough to be considered important. This further shows FDev that it's in their best interest to either work with the 3rd party developers to make better tools or to make these tools themselves.
There always exists some sort of opposition to an idea. This is the third group. The amount of people opposing this strike on the grounds that these tools betray the game and FDev's vision (or calling the users of these tools cheaters) instead of merely being inconvenienced is viewed alongside the amount of people in the other two groups, and tells FDev how to act - if the people in the other two groups are being reasonable and if the majority of players fall into these two groups, then it's in FDev's best interest to comply with the 3rd party developers' request.
So I stand by what I said. You inconvenience everyone, or the strike is pointless.
As for where I stand, I fully support the 3rd party developers in this.
You guys have all my support !!! FDev help 3rd party, your game is nothing without them.
I am fully in support of our 3rd party developers that create and maintain the 3rd party tools that all of us ED players use. I hope Frontier take notice and take steps to support the 3rd party developers as necessary because without them there would be no way to play Elite Dangerous as the game it is today quite frankly. These people and their sites deserve acknowledgement and support from Frontier.
They have created a lot of the essential missing parts of this game and they have done so at their own expense as volunteers! With their own time and without funding from Frontier. Without these 3rd party developers the ED community as we know it would not exist. Frontier, please show these men and women your gratitude, your respect, your love for what they do and your support for them in turn.
Thank you kindly.
They have created a lot of the essential missing parts of this game and they have done so at their own expense as volunteers! With their own time and without funding from Frontier. Without these 3rd party developers the ED community as we know it would not exist. Frontier, please show these men and women your gratitude, your respect, your love for what they do and your support for them in turn.
Thank you kindly.
That's right, because in the 4th Millennium, when we can get gossip from halfway across the galaxy instantly, we'll be reduced to sticking post-it notes on the dashboard of your spaceship to keep track of commodity prices.
Now I want a post-it '"bobblehead".
I just wonder how practical that can ever be, especially around major major code updates (of which 2.3 is DEFINITELY one). No matter how much love FD want to give it, the API is always bound to be in some way secondary to the main code, which generates it. I really do wonder if API development doesn't happen during beta live.
Did 2.3 break the API again (it happened around 2.2 iirc)? It's a tough one but I don't think it's because 3rd devs are unappreciated at all. In fact if I was being harsh, I might say 'counting on you'.
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reading OP's story is really hard, i know... -.-
I just started on a longer exploration trip. Without these sites that trip is not only very tedious, but also somewhat pointless.
I support your strike, even if that means I won't be able to play until Sunday.
As a professional developer, I sympathise with both sides actually, but the fact is - 3rd party tools like Coriolis, EDDB and EDSM have become an integral part of the Eliteangerous experience. They should be treated as such.
Amen!
Oh, we have a drama queen here! Well nevermind that it's the community of users like myself whose donations and free content creation makes the site work... HTH
I think that if you have ever contributed to any of these third party sites financially you would be quite within your rights to demand your money back. It is their choice to deny you a service that you have paid for , perhaps an issue of contract ? Just a thought
Are you serious?
Well that's exactly the problem. Frontier is working as they don't exist and it's hard for them to release content as it takes a lot of time to program new features.
Glad they went down when they did, I'm waaaaay out in the middle of nowhere, and have no use for my regular visits lol.
Still.
Without EDDB, I probably would never bother with trading. Also, finding modules would be a giant pain.
INARA is a big help with engineers, too.
Still.
Without EDDB, I probably would never bother with trading. Also, finding modules would be a giant pain.
INARA is a big help with engineers, too.
you're really flattering yourself.
woot?
how do you limit disclosure on something public?
the only thing frontier has to do is be consistent with their api: maintain and document it, like any other piece of sw. now, frontier is having a hard time getting this right even with the game itself, so i can see why api/log related issues get pushed down the list, and i totally understand the frustration on the tool maker's end.
however OP goes way beyond that ... 'requesting features'? an 'appointed liaison'? 'specific support channel'? that's a different game. afaik frontier does value and expect community contributions, but has never talked about a 'modding' or 'community development' program. this would indeed be cool, but if they do that it will be on them to define terms, procedures and limits.
otoh, the game might be lacking some desirable features covered by these tools, but saying the game 'needs' them is just delusional. the game is what it is. yes, it is designed to have you looking for that module or celestial body for hours, that's exactly the kind of game it is. it's rather a portion of the player base which has become dependent on those tools to automate features so they can match the game more to 'their' experience. they are actually skipping content. and that's fine, i've done so myself often and the tools are great. but the game would keep spinning without them fine ... until some other tools come around. people have been using spreadsheets for games since like forever.
frontier should decide if they want to provide support for third party tools or community development and to what extent, and should be serious and consequent about it. much like about their release cycles, if you ask me. they have clearly much bigger issues right now, this wasn't a good moment and i don't think a riot and a 'denial of service' on a social event is the best path to get there, plus it heavily smells of entitlement, but it seems to at least have succeeded in getting some attention.
tl;dr: bad manners, bad timing, let's see how it goes ...
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