Guild Wars 2

ANet has taken a strong and active position against botting, which they have generally defined as the performance of more than one action with one keystroke.

I don’t see how this site can remain current on so many data points without running some sort of script against the client.

Its this an ‘acceptible’ Bot? In which case the above definition used by the Devs themselves may need some provisions…

Well, if they created the TP using web browser technology (looks like that to me), there really isn’t much they can do about it. No way to stop web crawlers if they’re not made to be stopped.

The author of the script asked the devs during BWE if they had a problem with it and they said they didn’t. His script doesn’t go through the game at all, but simply crawls the web site that hosts the TP.

If they didn’t want that to be done they probably would’ve made it a bit more difficult to do. And as it doesn’t actually buy or sell any items automatically I don’t think anyone really sees a problem with it. It merely gathers statistics, doesn’t make anyone richer or poorer.

Yes, but as another poster pointed out in this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/Why-would-a-gold-seller-even-farm-mobs

that data could be used to feed bot programs that actually do post buy and sell orders, and that IS a problem.

Unfortunately, I don’t see what can be done, since TP is based on web server technology, and thus there is no foolproof way to prevent crawling.

Gaudrath.6725:

Yes, but as another poster pointed out in this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/Why-would-a-gold-seller-even-farm-mobs

that data could be used to feed bot programs that actually do post buy and sell orders, and that IS a problem.

Unfortunately, I don’t see what can be done, since TP is based on web server technology, and thus there is no foolproof way to prevent crawling.

There is certainly some merit to this statement. I think it boils down to how quickly Spidy is updated. The TP market is big and fast enough that Spidy may not be effective as a decision tool. Sure it shows trends, but if you’re always an hour behind your risk is going to escalate quickly.

Traditional Bots are safer is my thinking.

You can’t buy/sell directly through gw2spidy. So no.

Keep in mind that gw2spidy is crawling the whole TP database using an open API. It’s a good resource, but it’s not quite real time.

If you just wanted to watch maybe 100-200 items, you could probably just make your own script to update much more often and give you better, real time data.

I’m not sure how allowing 3rd party programs access to in-game information, such that other players can gain an in-game advantage via automated analysis of the Trading Post (which may or may not be negatively impacting the game economy) be considering botting.

/sarcasm

ironzerg.3196:

I’m not sure how allowing 3rd party programs access to in-game information, such that other players can gain an in-game advantage via automated analysis of the Trading Post (which may or may not be negatively impacting the game economy) be considering botting.

/sarcasm

You mean going to the website and sorting after margin? Sounds like rocket science so only a small crowd of the gw2 players can do it. And that small crowd must use bots and scripts for sure to do so!

goldi.3129:

ironzerg.3196:

I’m not sure how allowing 3rd party programs access to in-game information, such that other players can gain an in-game advantage via automated analysis of the Trading Post (which may or may not be negatively impacting the game economy) be considering botting.

/sarcasm

You mean going to the website and sorting after margin? Sounds like rocket science so only a small crowd of the gw2 players can do it. And that small crowd must use bots and scripts for sure to do so!

Yeah, and Goldman Sachs is using E-trade for all their operations…

You understand that it’s extremely likely that the real robber barons of the TP are using their own, more complex programs to analyze the TP and take advantage of it from there, right?

If the information is attainable, people with the correct talents are going to take advantage of it. And with access to the information, they can essentially automate analysis piece, which gives them a huge advantage over people who aren’t relying on third party tools.

ironzerg.3196:

goldi.3129:

ironzerg.3196:

I’m not sure how allowing 3rd party programs access to in-game information, such that other players can gain an in-game advantage via automated analysis of the Trading Post (which may or may not be negatively impacting the game economy) be considering botting.

/sarcasm

You mean going to the website and sorting after margin? Sounds like rocket science so only a small crowd of the gw2 players can do it. And that small crowd must use bots and scripts for sure to do so!

Yeah, and Goldman Sachs is using E-trade for all their operations…

You understand that it’s extremely likely that the real robber barons of the TP are using their own, more complex programs to analyze the TP and take advantage of it from there, right?

If the information is attainable, people with the correct talents are going to take advantage of it. And with access to the information, they can essentially automate analysis piece, which gives them a huge advantage over people who aren’t relying on third party tools.

Yes everyone and there mother is using 3rd party programs and tools to rip you of.

Whats it with all the conspiracy theories about tp bots and the like in these days. Someone is making a profit which you aren’t/can’t so they must be cheating/having access to tools you don’t have. Or maybe they just have a degree in economy. Or played enough MMOs to understand the markets in them…

goldi.3129:

ironzerg.3196:

goldi.3129:

ironzerg.3196:

I’m not sure how allowing 3rd party programs access to in-game information, such that other players can gain an in-game advantage via automated analysis of the Trading Post (which may or may not be negatively impacting the game economy) be considering botting.

/sarcasm

You mean going to the website and sorting after margin? Sounds like rocket science so only a small crowd of the gw2 players can do it. And that small crowd must use bots and scripts for sure to do so!

Yeah, and Goldman Sachs is using E-trade for all their operations…

You understand that it’s extremely likely that the real robber barons of the TP are using their own, more complex programs to analyze the TP and take advantage of it from there, right?

If the information is attainable, people with the correct talents are going to take advantage of it. And with access to the information, they can essentially automate analysis piece, which gives them a huge advantage over people who aren’t relying on third party tools.

Yes everyone and there mother is using 3rd party programs and tools to rip you of.

Whats it with all the conspiracy theories about tp bots and the like in these days. Someone is making a profit which you aren’t/can’t so they must be cheating/having access to tools you don’t have. Or maybe they just have a degree in economy. Or played enough MMOs to understand the markets in them…

Some people are just insanely jealous. The casuals want everything handed to them right now – gold, legendaries, e.t.c.

“I want everything at the tip of my fingertips with zero effort”

Vol.5241:

Some people are just insanely jealous. The casuals want everything handed to them right now – gold, legendaries, e.t.c.

“I want everything at the tip of my fingertips with zero effort”

Which is exactly what 3rd party programs like GWSpidy do.

Chew on that irony for a bit.

ironzerg.3196:

Vol.5241:

Some people are just insanely jealous. The casuals want everything handed to them right now – gold, legendaries, e.t.c.

“I want everything at the tip of my fingertips with zero effort”

Which is exactly what 3rd party programs like GWSpidy do.

Chew on that irony for a bit.

Erm. Weakest retord ever.
Beside that what hinders you to use gwspidy and earn all that money? Maybe because its not as simple as that due to the fact that everyone visits gw2spidy anyways? So everyone should be a zillionaire ingame.

If you are interested in making a profit on the tp you do research. While you do that research you stumble over gw2spidy. So everyone has the same tools, if they put the same effort into it (its the first hit in google…. seriously…)

Sry but he’s right on spot.

As a market trader, I actually find sites such as GWSpidy really annoying, not helpful. Because I know my way around the market I can find lucrative deals by myself… and then those same deals show up on sites like that and a gazillion wannabe tradelings immediately pricewar the margin into oblivion, like piranhas.

Life would actually be easier (and more fun) without crutches like that.

Gaudrath.6725:

As a market trader, I actually find sites such as GWSpidy really annoying, not helpful. Because I know my way around the market I can find lucrative deals by myself… and then those same deals show up on sites like that and a gazillion wannabe tradelings immediately pricewar the margin into oblivion, like piranhas.

Life would actually be easier (and more fun) without crutches like that.

The standard truth of market traders is that if something profitable becomes public knowledge, it’s either going to require an investment beyond more people, or it won’t be profitable for long.

Hence why I’d like ANET to release tools to make flipping even easier, because they would kill the profitability of flipping.

You realize that it is no more difficult to crawl the TP yourself than it is to crawl the spidy DB?

The TP returns JSON after a simple webform authentication so any programmer worth his salt would be able to login, store the session ID and read the data directly from the server. Taking down “SUPER BOTS” like gw2spidy would actually just make it so regular people can’t obtain market data, and only people with a generally negative interest in the market would be able to.

I realize it’s no more difficult for me to farm barracuda for scales than it is for bots, but there are rules against it .

So, what I’m getting from the feedback here is that the in-world data for the Guildwars 2 universe is accessible at another point than through the client? GWspidy taps this other access method, and the Devs feel its OK to run scripts against that point of interface?

Is there a seperate EULA for this other access point that I can read somewhere?

What you should consider doing is not throwing your hat and opinions in on items you know nothing about. If you don’t know how a system works, or why it works OR whether it is allowed you could consider not posting allegations.

The author of the site has permission to run it from the developers. And there is nothing they are going to do to stop people from running scripts against their web site. If they wanted it to be difficult to scrape they should’ve used anything OTHER than a web server you can log into, so this is obviously intended.

Due to the inflammatory tone of this thread, it will be closed. Please keep in mind that if you want to discuss issues on our forums, you have to do it in a constructive way.