Is Slopey's Calculator BPC Cheating [and other like programs]

[Justicarab]

I'm very against cheating, more so i would rather stop playing a game than submit to cheating if it's dominating the game, even if it's my favorite game.

i read on a youtube comment that it is cheating and i want to make sure i follow the rules. if so what is the best way to find good prices? is the info tab that displace imports exports very handy? or is it kindof a general tip?

 

[Valethar]

.....

No. It's not cheating. And it's not the first thread about this either. Devs are cool with it, you won't get banned, hacked or otherwise penalized.

 

[COOPER TTE]

It's not cheating at all, although some hard-core players say it is. To me these tools are just a Labour-saving device, like someone else took down all these notes so I don't have to.

 

[{SAS}Stalker]

Its as much cheating as writing prices down on a pad and sharing it with your mates.

 

[Kramster]

Wouldn't say it is cheating but, for me at least, crowd sourced trade information detracts from the trading game. I feel part of trading in a hostile galaxy is searching for those lucrative trades and with that search comes the satisfaction of benefiting from my own exploration, my own knowledge.

I use Cmders Log which, while being a 3rd party app, does not utilise the information of others but instead records the information I discover when I enter it, a replacement for pen & paper. It gives me the tools to record and analyse without stepping outside my preferred game style.

Each to his own within the bounds of what FD and indeed you the player find acceptable

 

[Whiterose]

Anything crowd sourced cant be cheating. Its just gathering information from a lot of people. Helpng yourself to the bank when people leave the room in Monopoly...thats cheating.

 

[Sanderson]

There's a plethora of threads on this already, no offense but, forum rules state you must use the search feature before posting a new thread to avoid duplicating them. There's a ton of opinions and discussion on this in various places and a good read if you're interested in this topic.

 

[BadSector]

No its no more cheating than letsay EVE's spreadsheets or edshipyard.com , its a useful source of information.

 

[Zplintz]

FD is so behind these 3rd party apps that they are in discussions with the authors about the best way to provide an api for these apps to use. In other words the people who decide the rules (FD) and therefore whether players are cheating say the apps are not cheat tools nor are the players who use them cheating.

 

[Slopey]

It's absolutely not cheating. The BPC has been, and continues to be tolerated (along with all the other tools - I'm not alone in this regard remember) by FD, since they were created back in Alpha.

The API discussions which will hopefully start in the next few weeks will further legitimise these tools, otherwise FD wouldn't be entering into the discussion.

 

[Sanderson]

Shouldn't this be merged with one of the other threads on this topic? Nevermind, just spotted the mod post, so I can assume it's ok. Sorry for the interruption, carry on.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

.....

No. It's not cheating. And it's not the first thread about this either. Devs are cool with it, you won't get banned, hacked or otherwise penalized.

Devs are indeed cool with it. Even though it breaks the EULA. I think it is cheating, but cheating in a moral sense, not a 'is it against the rules of the game', though even then it does break the EULA. It is up to you. But in an environment where trade information is deliberately not universally available, and there are mechanisms for acquiring trade information for systems you have not visited, getting that trade information outside the game for free is, well, cheating.

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Its as much cheating as writing prices down on a pad and sharing it with your mates.

Agreed. That is cheating, too.

 

[Eagle Eye]

Seeing that Slopey himself is a MOD here... (That's the same Slopey posting up there)

 

[daddyNumbers]

It's applying crowd wisdom, not cheating IMO

 

[Slopey]

Seeing that Slopey himself is a MOD here... (That's the same Slopey posting up there)

My being a moderator should not be seen as an endorsement of the BPC by FD. Just saying...

 

[Eagle Eye]

Its probably cheating when there is £1000 up for grabs and some poor suckers are trading using the in-game mechanics and others are using this 'tool'. You can guess who will end up with the £1000.

Someone doing his own research and spreadsheet? Any good route found using BPC got swarmed within hours and got its profit margin reduced. A good unshared route with minimal CMDR presence would be much better instead of the ones shared to hundreds (or is it thousands?) of other CMDRs.

My being a moderator should not be seen as an endorsement of the BPC by FD. Just saying...

At the very least they did not find it objectionable hahaha.

 

[Zplintz]

Devs are indeed cool with it. Even though it breaks the EULA. I think it is cheating, but cheating in a moral sense, not a 'is it against the rules of the game', though even then it does break the EULA. It is up to you. But in an environment where trade information is deliberately not universally available, and there are mechanisms for acquiring trade information for systems you have not visited, getting that trade information outside the game for free is, well, cheating.

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Agreed. That is cheating, too.

How is it against the EULA?

 

[Iskariot]

Its probably cheating when there is £1000 up for grabs and some poor suckers are trading using the in-game mechanics and others are using this 'tool'. You can guess who will end up with the £1000.

That does not make it cheating. It is not a gameplay rule that you can not use information gathered by others. It would be cheating if that was the case, but it is not. The tool enables those who want it to get trade information that otherwise would be very time consuming to gather. Players who like to gather the info manually can do so.

The problem I have is that it is an external tool and that it can be used without having to pay in-game credits.
I feel Slopey's tool should be incorporated in the game as a Galactic Trade Databank. It would be a great way of creating player involvement and a great way of having a player driven Galactic institution.
Players who feed the database should get payed in-game credits and when you extract information you should have to pay in-game credits per information item. That way Slopeys tool would become a cool gaming mechanic instead of a more disconnected outside tool.


For clarification (Because of Zplintz question below):

It is not specifically about Slopey's tool. It is about the general mechanic, about what it offers. FD could and should create their own, but similar mechanic.
I feel it is a shame that this is not an in-game mechanic. As I described, I believe this kind of tool would fit in very nicely with the gaming universe. People who put in info get payed credits, people who take info pay credits. I think it would be great to have an in-game Galactic Trading Database that is driven by players. It would involve players in a very positive way. When incorporated in the game it would become a truly immersive part of the game world.

The amounts of money that are exchanged in this service should not be huge. It should be an accessible service. Feeding the databank with info could also count towards the players trading rank in a small way.

 

[Zplintz]

That does not make it cheating. It is not a gameplay rule that you can not use information gathered by others. It would be cheating if that was the case, but it is not. The tool enables those who want it to get trade information that otherwise would be very time consuming to gather. Players who like to gather the info manually can do so.

The problem I have is that it is an external tool and that it can be used without having to pay in-game credits.
I feel Slopey's tool should be incorporated in the game as a Galactic Trade Databank. It would be a great way of creating player involvement and a great way of having a player driven Galactic institution.
Players who feed the database should get payed in-game credits and when you extract information you should have to pay in-game credits per information item. That way Slopeys tool would become a cool gaming mechanic instead of a more disconnected outside tool.

And what about all the other tools, should they all be incorporated into the game to? Slopey's BPC whilst very good is not the only tool available.

Personally I would prefer it remained independant.

 

[Eagle Eye]

Slopey's tool (or all the others) would not be so popular if the game itself have a robust trading interface to begin with. But with available info being so unreliable (it actually punishes you to use the info available ingame) and practically no in-game trading tools, people reverts to these external tools.