#support3rdparty - Why we temporarily shut down our sites.

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DCLXVI your God

DCLXVI your God
Edward Lewis said:
Hey mate! Honestly... we had a really good chat, it lasted nearly five hours! They're well aware of how we feel about the initial post... I think we both learned valuable lessons today. We should try to be positive... hey those websites are back up now!
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You are a true rep-collector today, Ed.
Well deserved. :)
 

[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
Genar-Hofoen said:
After a very fast approach from Frontier - especially Ed Lewis who as we all know does a great job under tough circumstances, we in the EDCD feel that Frontier have been earnest in their positive response to the third-party developer community today. As such, and so as to not cause further disruption to the playerbase or upcoming game events, we thought it would be a good idea to reopen our web sites in good faith of their announced commitment.

We thank Frontier for their frank and honest exchanges, and very much look forward towards a continued symbiotic relationship between Frontier, the fantastic game Elite: Dangerous, and the third-party developers and the tools they create.
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Well repped, and FDev (Ed) too.
 

Mohrgan

Mohrgan
Edward Lewis said:
We worked closely with them to come to a decision together that benefits everyone... most importantly, it benefits the community and Elite Dangerous. Getting those sites back up was important to us, but also making sure the community developers trust that we want to help. We don't see it as extortion, but we made it very clear that we thought it could have been handled differently.

The important thing is that lines of communication have been opened up.
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Stern words indeed.... You don't suppose this successful extortion was not informed by the Heat Meta actions, or the like? This extortion was more successful because of the underlying issue. Murder is unpopular, while EDDB is popular. You are just reinforcing the notion that all one has to do to get their way, is to cause drama, and to use our collective voice to bully the Dev's.
 

VR jefranklin18

VR jefranklin18
I do think that Howard Chalkey did an excellent job with the journal. He engaged the team well, took on board suggestions and was able to explain where things weren't possible or whatever. His interaction with the community should be held up as a good example, and I for one am grateful. Regarding this in the OP:

although we were baffled by his odd comment that the Journal “was not designed as a mechanism to export data into other databases.”
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I always thought that was regarding the bulk export of data from central servers and Howard didn't want too stress them. I can't remember the data being asked for at the time, but it was something about it not being available to the client.

In contrast, the API thread is an utter embarrassment for Frontier (or should be) - started by Michael Brookes and locked after a month with no indication if anything was ever to be done with it.

Overall, I am not in the least bit surprised that the ED developer community have had to resort to such extreme measures to garner any response from Frontier; it's pretty sad that they were considered necessary.
 

Infidel Deity

Infidel Deity
Edward Lewis said:
After speaking in private with the OP and other involved community developers, we have all agreed that it was best for the community to bring the websites back up as soon possible. This will be happening simultaneously at 19:00 UTC (where possible) for all the sites.

We have made a commitment to work more closely with the third party developer community to address concerns and support these features which the community use and value on a daily basis.

These ongoing communications will include developers from other third party websites who may be interested, not just those listed in the OP. If you are an active and established third party Elite Dangerous developer, get in touch with community@frontier.co.uk

We all hope that clears things up!

Thanks everyone,

Ed
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Good news!
Good going, FDev.
Thanks a lot, Ed! :)
 

Sardu

S
Edward Lewis said:
After speaking in private with the OP and other involved community developers, we have all agreed that it was best for the community to bring the websites back up as soon possible. This will be happening simultaneously at 19:00 UTC (where possible) for all the sites.

We have made a commitment to work more closely with the third party developer community to address concerns and support these features which the community use and value on a daily basis.

These ongoing communications will include developers from other third party websites who may be interested, not just those listed in the OP. If you are an active and established third party Elite Dangerous developer, get in touch with community@frontier.co.uk

We all hope that clears things up!

Thanks everyone,

Ed
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Thanks for the reply Ed. However, doesn't this highlight a fundamental problem with Elite Dangerous? These 3rd party support sites exist out of necessity. The game is practically unplayable without them. Are there plans to make this type of information more accessible in-game?
 
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Lucifer Hate

Lucifer Hate
EUS said:
I remember using screenshots, and OCR, and at the time was deemed fine, as it didn't "hook" into the game itself.
But again, FD's communication was terrible.
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As I remember it Slopeys was hooked into the game at first then I think Slopey said it was asked it not be hooked and that's when OCR became a thing to use
 
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IcePic

IcePic
IndigoWyrd said:
A thought just occurred to me, and this may be a result of the fibrous growth that connects my optic nerve to my colon and gives me a s___ty outlook, but hear me out here...
What IF this breakdown in communication is intentional, and the first step toward Frontier deciding to monetize the sort of data these various 3rd party sites have been providing freely, in form of a paid companion app for PC, Android and/or iPhone?
Given the sheer number of people who simply cannot seem to find a way to play without these, it certainly would make financial sense, as they'd HAVE to buy these apps to continue to do the things they've done all along.
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Yeah, what if they decided to make an IOS app? Oh they did. And abandoned it. And left the API on. And didn't tell the ones that had been using the API for years about the changes.
Seems like a very weird way to prepare for something as simple as "lets re-release the app again, and charge for it". If that was their plan they could have just done that.
 

Kosmetas

Kosmetas
I still believe they should be cutoff after this aggressive action. Loss all respect for these entities, they held some hostage from the full enjoyment of this game, to prove their point. Never negotiate with digital terrorist.
 
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robbyp

robbyp
Sardu said:
Thanks for the reply Ed. However, doesn't this highlight a fundamental problem with Elite Dangerous? These 3rd party support sites exist out of necessity. The game is practically unplayable without them. Are there plans to make this type of information more accessible in-game?
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Considering the size of FDev, the number of programmers they have on Elite, vs the number of programmers in the 3rd party eco-system, I don't think that's realistic.

For instance, the journal. Coded by 1-2 people say at FDev, used by 10's of programmers in the 3rd Party eco-system. Thats the sort of gearing they get from helping us.
 

Mohrgan

Mohrgan
robbyp said:
Really, you are on another planet. We provide free tools which enhance their paid product. They should be paying us.. expect we do this for the love of the game, for free.
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Until you don't get what you want, and you choose extortion to get what you want.
 
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