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

Philip Coutts

Volunteer Moderator
Philip Coutts
No it's not cheating, it's getting help. That said I don't use any of the tools, I like to do it the old fashioned way by scouting around and noting prices. I have nothing against anyone using the various tools it's all about choice really and allowing everyone to make their own way using whatever help they want to.
 

wolverine2710

Tutorial & Guide Writer
wolverine2710
HarlequiNQB said:
1) In order to be 'cheating' it has to be pulling information it shouldn't be from the game, or putting information it shouldn't be into the game. Something that sets your ammo to infinite is cheating for example. Originally Slopey's and Thrud's both pulled information directly from the game - FD asked them to stop because that was essentially cheating and in violation of the EULA. They stopped, and are considered legit if unsanctioned.
2) FD are working with these coders to come up with an API so they will be able to pull certain types of information directly from the game without breaking the EULA. This does not seem to be the action of a company who considered them to be cheating (that's been going on for a while - no idea what the status of the API stuff is).

So no, it's not cheating. If you personally feel it's an unfair advantage, or it makes trading less interesting then don't use them, otherwise go ahead. How you play your game is up to you.
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Status ED API: Any news on the official ED API ?
Michael Brookes has posted in there. Post #2 and post #19.
 
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wolverine2710

Tutorial & Guide Writer
wolverine2710
Justicarab said:
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 kind of a general tip?
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There are multiple good (trading) guides out there. If you take the time to read this thread you will find them.

But in a way for the real purists this can also seen as cheating. As in you are not using your own knowledge you gained when using ED. Because your are using knowledge of someone else (guides/threads). But lets not get down that road ;-)
 
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Lupin

Lupin
For me it's an aid to memory as saves a lot of paper.
Also happy to submit information on stations I visit so others know what to expect there.

Even with these programs they still requires some intelligence and planning, as eveyone one has access to same information. And that go's for any marketing program.

Still think it funny that the drive for money in ED, people consider the most important.
 

Slopey

Volunteer Moderator
Slopey
mojoflow said:
Now, quick question. For those wanting to run BPC in a standalone mode, how do you set that up exactly, I can't really find any instructions on it.

Cheers!
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Install the BPC, let it update. Untick Auto-update, go into Options and "Clear database" - voila - only the data you personally enter.
 

Yabba Addict

Yabba Addict
It was pretty clear at the beginning that FD didn't want us to really use these tools. First thing they did was create a market system that actively resists crowd sourcing by linking price with supply and demand. Then they forbade file scraping. They even tried doing something similar with the fitting screen to avoid the 'where do i find xxxx' posts, having them change randomly. But it's not cheating. FD gave in.
 

CMDR Reza Malin

CMDR Reza Malin
Justicarab said:
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?
Click to expand...

In a game that features supply and demand, its not cheating as such, but it is certainly poor behaviour in my opinion. I despise these tools. Mainly because you might find a trade route with a great profit stream, and of course you wont be the only one to discover it, i'm totally cool with that. However when one of the other people decides he has had enough and is moving on, or that he is going to just be an overly good Samaritan and uploads the data to a trading tool, the other people who might not use such a tool miss out. Then said trade route is swarmed, by type 9's and anacondas, making profit drop through the floor. You are then forced to take reduced profits or move on. Meanwhile, Mr slopey user, just inputs another search and goes and ruins someone elses legitimately discovered trade routes. Parasite behaviour basically.

Its just leeching, pure and simple. people that use it will try and dress it up to make themselves feel better, but you can't get away from the fact it is leeching people's hard work, in order to make faster money ruining other people's possible hard work.
 

SilverbladeTE

S
After having played the X games for years I find E : D incredibly BACKWARDS in this regard :(
sorry it's just stupid, you are playing a futuristic game but the game itself doesn't have things that exist today?!
Like X3 and onward, it should have a TRADE COMPUTER un game, it should be software, give me a damn break it doesn't take tons of mass!
but it should require various versions, cash and faction for better versions
~
in "X" games the way the trade computers work is that you can scan ALL the stations in a system for all their prices
HELLO! RADIO!!! having to land to get that is stupid beyond belief
and frankly shut up extremist "fanbois", you've helped keep this game from being what it should in this area, keeping it exactly like "Frontier" is silly! :(
advanced versions of the trade computer should keep records of past visits to other systems
better versions give recent updates on other systems etc

[video=youtube;ui6syltxw4k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui6syltxw4k&list=PLF945EEF26AD3BCC6&index=4[/video]
 
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Lucifer Hate

Lucifer Hate
EUS said:
I'm under the impression that 3rd party tools are welcomed by FD as long as they do not hook into the actual game.
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This exactly. After all if ED had a problem with this why would they have made the creator a mod.

BTW Slopey I know you said don't let the fact you're a mod act as an endirsement from FD, but I said this to show that obviously FD don't consider it a cheat or they would not make you a mod
 

Schmack

Schmack
I've used the tool and all it does for me is tell me which stations have which commodities (most of the time). The prices are often correct, but the differential is often wrong, especially if you look only at the highest return items and try to run those. It becomes quite obvious that these numbers are manufactured, not real.

I found my route by happenstance before even getting this tool, and though I've used the tool to try to find a better one, it's all fool's gold at this point. It's as if a group of people are trying to sway the market by having suckers haul goods to a station and take a small profit or even a loss. Then you're at that station so you have to buy something else to make your trip worthwhile, and you end up changing the economy of that forced "loop" as it were. The wild geese chases I've been on were always with the understanding that it's probably a wild goose chase, and if it's just a few LY away I will often go inspect anyhow, empty (Python) just to get a feel for what the market has. Invariably I have returned to my tried and true route.

So I don't see how that's a cheat. If anything, it sends you away from profit unless you know how to read into things and only take from it what you need to build your own route, not cherry pick the mainstream.
 

Agarthan

Agarthan
Justicarab said:
i read on a youtube comment
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That's pretty much all you needed to say. Every video game comment stream I ever participate in on youtube is rife with misinformation and the little morons pass the bad information around to each other in youtube comments like a venereal disease of stupid.
 

TranZdog

T
Slopey said:
Install the BPC, let it update. Untick Auto-update, go into Options and "Clear database" - voila - only the data you personally enter.
Click to expand...

How do you remove the System names??

I guess it does not really matter, I just want to know what how many I have been too :)
 
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