Firefox Extension

DeletedUser

I've created a Firefox extension for use with The West and I'd just like to check that I'm not breaking any rules with it. I'm fairly sure that it's legal but I'd rather be perfectly sure.

The extension is a sidebar which reads my inventory and stats and presents the list of jobs which are accessible. If any of these jobs are clicked upon, then another list will display the equipment in my inventory which is best suited to that job. It also gives the option to sort the list of jobs by money, experience or luck.

In short, it does nothing that isn't already covered by the West Stats job calculator. Functionally, it's equivalent to the following web pages:

I created it because I got bored of switching between tabs/windows.

Anyway, I am still playing the game through a conventional browser and this tool provides no automation (e.g. it does not set up jobs for me). It reads data from The West only - all actions (e.g. changing equipment, setting up jobs) are still performed manually.

As I see it, I'm not breaking the letter of the rules but I figured I'd just run it past you folks to make sure I'm not breaking the spirit of them.
 

DeletedUser

This extension sounds really useful.

I don't think you are breaking any rules.
Rules only mention you are not allowed to use bots that allow automatic login and triggering game actions.

Looks like your extension is only doing what is weststats doing, except you can see results in game window which is awesome.

Can you share it with me on pm so i can test it, pretty please? :)
 

DeletedUser8627

An extension like this would not be illegal.

As mentioned, you will only be banned by using something that can automate actions to advance your character.

If your extension is solely to view information from west stats then it won't do any harm.
 

DeletedUser

Well, it doesn't view information from West Stats exactly. It does the calculations itself. The information you get is equivalent to West Stats' job calculator, that's all. Everything is done locally - so there's no 'net lag and no waiting for the server to recalculate things in a new order.

That doesn't make any difference to what it does - just how it does it. Which isn't really relevant to whether it's illegal - I just like to be precise.
 

DeletedUser8627

Well if you are really unsure and would rather play it safe then I would suggest sending it to one of the moderators to have a look at first before you using it.

If The West Team are happy with it then you will get the go ahead to use it. ;)
 

DeletedUser

I guess that's what I was hoping to get by posting here. ;)

Having checked out the forum rules, I could see that there are forum mods and in-game mods. Unfortunately, I can't see any way to identify in-game moderators so I've got no idea who to pester.

You can, at this point, feel free to call me n00b or soemthing like that. :indian:
 

DeletedUser8627

This extension, is it world specific meaning that you can have your profile imported from each world?

I'm currently playing 4 worlds, one for each class and it would be nice that each world you log into can have it's own information imported.
 

DeletedUser

It's domain-specific. So, yes, it'll display different information depending on whether you're looking at World 1 or World 9. It might also work on the German servers but I've not gone to that level of testing.

At the moment, I'm playing on 7 worlds. I've got a Firefox window with 7 tabs open - each with a different world loaded. When I switch between tabs, the sidebar automatically updates to display the appropriate jobs/equipment for that world.

At the moment, it doesn't store any information and needs to be initialized every time you start up Firefox. That means you have to open your inventory, click a button and wait whilst it crunches the numbers.
 

DeletedUser8627

Sounds like a very handy tool to be using actually.

Would like to have a look at this if you do release this to the public. :)
 

DeletedUser

I don't see why it would be illegal, as long as it doesn't automatically change gear and schedule jobs (that would be nice), but you'll have to wait for Morthy or possibly Gem to comment on it for an official opinion. If you want to make it public, start a thread in Saloon.
 

DeletedUser

I'll probably make it public at some point in the future - given that there's no dispute about it being legal. It's still at an early version though and there are a few rough edges that'd need to be smoothed off before it'd be suitable for the world at large.
 

DeletedUser

No, it doesn't currently support set use.

I've worked out the algorithm to use for it but at the moment my motivation for further development is down around 60%. Give it a few days and I'll have a go at it when my motivations back nearer 100%. ;)

Seriously though, there were three obstacles to supporting sets which mean that I haven't done them yet.

Computational Complexity
In other words, it's a bit difficult and not immediately obvious how to work out what's the best to wear. The brute force method would be to work out the best equipment without sets and then work through every permutation and combination of set items to work out whether that's an improvement. That'd be horribly inefficient. If a user had 5 items from a given set then that would be 26 different possibilities to check out - for every job.

Lack of Data
Obviously, if I don't know the benefits of sets then I can't make any calculations for those sets.

Lack of Motivation and Time
The most set items I've got is 3. The advantages they give me are fairly obvious and I can pretty much remember or work out where it's best to take advantage of sets. In other words, I don't currently need a tool to help me with sets - so I haven't bothered. :D
 

DeletedUser

I would totally use this and see nothing 'rule breaking' about it. A lot of other browser games allow user scripts via a browser add-on (like grease monkey for Firefox) as long as the add-on doesn't add anything the user couldn't already do.

Double thumbs-up from me!
 
nashy19

nashy19

Nashy (as himself)
I have an idea if it's allowed/you know how to do it. A world timer to show when jobs finish without having to keep the game open.
 

DeletedUser1105

I think this would be an excellent tool to release to the public (once item sets worked well, of course). You could seriously put a dent in West Stats traffic though!
 

DeletedUser

Zehava said:
(like grease monkey for Firefox)

Double thumbs-up from me!
Click to expand...

One reason I would make sure it gets the go ahead from the Dev's as using it on Tribal wars cost me half my villages on one world as punishment !!!


Does sound like a good idea though and if you want any Beta testers give me a shout :)
 

DeletedUser

A world timer? Without keeping the game open?

So, you're talking about something like a Firefox sidebar which has a countdown of the time remaining on jobs in each world without having to have the game open in the browser?

That's a possibility. The information on how long you've got remaining on a job is there for the taking.

Obviously, as soon as you close Firefox, though, all bets are off.
 

DeletedUser

Bevoir said:
Computational Complexity
In other words, it's a bit difficult and not immediately obvious how to work out what's the best to wear. The brute force method would be to work out the best equipment without sets and then work through every permutation and combination of set items to work out whether that's an improvement. That'd be horribly inefficient. If a user had 5 items from a given set then that would be 26 different possibilities to check out - for every job.
Click to expand...
And that does not even take into account that you could mix stats from two different sets (e.g. best scenario if you have 6 items of two sets, you can wear any 3 of one, and any 3 of the other, or 2 + 4, etc). Have already had this with a lvl 24 character.
 
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