I don't disagree with you at all. The OP wanted clarification, and I was trying to help out. I don't think we'll get any more than what we've already gotten.

CCP is divided on the issue. Screegs has an opinion. My guess is that his opinion will win in the long run and you're taking risks by cache scraping. But for an official statement, I doubt we will see one until some consensus is reached within CCP.

Until then, I interpret Screegs as meaning, "Do this at your own risk."

Almost certainly. But then again, I would've thought CCP would announce major changes to skills like orcas and command ships as early as they announced the dessy/BC changes. So who knows what they will announce.


But I digress . . . .

Does it really matter what Screegs opinion is?

CCP needs clear definition on these issues and not let wild GMs and guys who call them self "Screeg" making bannable decisions on their whim at the time.

I believe my point was, that it shouldn't.

So what if I copy the data into a different directory then scrape it?
Or even better what if I play EVE once on a hdd then switch to another EVE client and use that on a separate hdd, reformatting and reinstalling EVE between each switch?
Or worse setup a raid backup then use the data written to the backup and thus never touch the game cache that is used in the first place?

I agree Liang.

There have been previous petitions to GMs about cache scraping, and they have come back saying it is legal, so long as it doesn't modify the files, which it doesn't.

This can be found in the forums if you search a bit.

Using the In Game Browsers in-built functions is surely legal, otherwise why not just remove them..

And it really is so simple to put the two together to make some very powerful tools by opening the market pane through the In Game browser, then scraping the prices from the cache.

People are using this method everywhere to update spreadsheets, buy/sell orders, etc

I find it hard to believe that CCP are now calling this 'botting'.

Or at least CCP Screegs, who is the final arbiter, is calling it botting.

Couldn't they just encrypt the cache if they didn't want you to use it? They did that with BACON I think.

Re. cache scraping:

1. Explicit permission is explicit

2. Back then I sent my cache decoder library Reverence (shameless plug) for review and release approval to CCP. They approved it, or it wouldn't have been released. Heck, the whole project is quite cheeky about it ;)

3. Sreegs merely stated his opinion. I don't think he should have stated this opinion because of the whole leaving-the-third-party-developer-community-in-uncertainty factor, but it is merely an opinion regardless. A moot opinion at this point in time.

In case they want to "stop" (uhuh) people from reading the cache, CCP's options are extremely limited. I could go in depth as to why it is impossible to prevent access to the cache files, but anyone with an interest in this activity knows why so I won't bother.

Another point is, that an outlawing of cache decoding would do nothing to stop people abusing it, but would severely cripple 3rd party developers that play by the rules.

So, in short, I don't think there's anything to worry about.
If CCP backpedals on points #2 and #1 above, they're 5 years too late. The technology is already out there seeing widespread use, and permission was already granted (sure, could be revoked, but again, what is the point?).

The API can't even vaguely support the amount of constant throughput it's needed to do that job.
They need to implement a real time mail slot protocol and considering how long they take to implement the hugely simpler REST, you'd see something coming out by 2030.

This is actually a useful feature of EVE-Central, where it'll feed the IGB a list of items that haven't been checked for a while in the region you're in (in turn activating the corresponding market pane), while the application eve-central provides, Contribtastic, fetches those prices from the cache. You can turn this process on, and minimize the client while you go do something else. This has been perfectly possible since the first new version of the IGB.

But guess what?
- setting the market pane can only be done every second or so
- the cache contains the same information as clicking the 'export' button

I wouldn't be very inclined to provide my fellow players with more recent prices on accord of me getting a serious case of repetitive strain injury. Also, in light of the recent enabler discussion, I don't think banning the use of the cache would benefit anyone. Like Entity wrote, banning the use doesn't actually hinder anyone not playing by the rules.