So, such programs as Trading Post Notifier are not considered as bots?
Use of these programs is governed by several instruments. I’ll include relevant sections from two of them, below, namely the User Agreement and the Third Party Program Policy.
User Agreement
1. Definitions
p) Service — Any online service provided by NCSOFT for the Game.
q) Software — Any software provided by NCSOFT related to the Game, including but not limited to software installed on a computer owned by You or someone else, along with any subsequent versions, enhancements, modifications, upgrades or patches to such software.
8. PROHIBITED AND IRREPARABLY HARMFUL ACTIVITIES CONCERNING NCSOFT
You acknowledge that You may not, without signed written consent from a legally authorized representative of NCSOFT, do any of the following:
(h) Use, or provide others with, any service related to the Game, including but not limited to:
- any service that interacts with the Software; or
[…]
(i) You acknowledge that You may not, without signed written consent from a legally authorized representative of NCSOFT, do any of the following:
- Use, obtain or provide data related to operation of the Game, including but not limited to:
- software that reads areas of computer memory or storage devices related to the Game;
- software that intercepts or otherwise collects data from or through the Game;
- software that redirects communications from any Software or Service; or
- software not provided by NCSOFT which creates or maintains any communication to the Software or Service, including but not limited to any software that emulates the Software or any part thereof as well as any server that emulates the Service or any part thereof;
Source: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/guild-wars-2-user-agreement/
Third Party Program policy
“Our general policy is that anything that gives advantage is forbidden; anything that imbalances the game in favor of one player over another is strictly disallowed.”
“Does this program allow someone to play faster, better, longer, or more accurately than someone who doesn’t use it?”
“Does this program allow someone to ‘play’ when he/she is not at the computer?”
“Does this program allow the user to gain undeserved rewards?”
Source: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Policy-3rd-Party-Programs-Multi-Boxing-Macros
Trade post notifier
From Zicore’s website, although this service is not exclusively offered by Zicore, the notifier is described as follows:
It now also notifies, when you have sold or bought stuff. You also can enable notifications of transactions, when someone is over/under-cutting you.
Source: http://notifier.zicore.de/
You can be notified of being undercut in 2 ways: with, or without using your “session key”. If you use the session key, the notification is based on “live” information. If you don’t use the session key, you’ll be notified based on information from GW2 Spidy, which is “old”, cached information. People that download this program obviously want an edge over other traders, so one can safely presume they will use the session key to get live notifications.
Conclusion:
I believe the User Agreement and the Third Party Policy are crystal clear on this issue. Using the “session key” for live notifications of undercutting is a direct violation of User Agreement Rules 8 (h) and (i), as well as the Third Party Policy.
People that use a notifier create a huge advantage over players that don’t use a third party program. This a no-brainer any way you look at it.
The only possible reason I can think of why nothing is done to combat these clear violations, is that there is no way to enforce them.
Never issue a warning you can’t enforce. And since it can’t be enforced, no warning can be issued, either.
