I have a sniper that I’ve been using for a year now. It’s a private build, takes me about 20 seconds to perform a full scan and the scan is automated so I can leave it running all day in another window. I’ve been running it for 8 hours a day across three realms, I’d like to expand my hold on the auction house economy. Will I get in trouble if I, say, buy 20 accounts and run this addon on as many realms as my pc can handle?
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Does it automate buying and selling, or does it require user input to accomplish those tasks? Automation would be forbidden. So it might be best not to, especially as it continually does scan the ah with out user input.
Also, does it run in Blizzard’s sandbox of LUA, or do you have to use an external program? The latter would be of course, forbidden.
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Id say yes this would fall into automation and could get u into alot of trouble.
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The scanning is automated, the buying isn’t and yes, it runs in Lua. No 3rd party or external programs needed.
Weren’t you railing against the same thing a few days ago claiming someone is doing what you are attempting to do?
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If you’re running it in the game as an addon, then you’re basically clear to do what Blizzard’s API allows you to do from my understanding. If Blizzard’s API is letting you do it then I see no reason to think it’s an issue.
I know other addons, such as Auctionator, can initiate automatic scans (at the very least when the AH is opened).
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I’d say this would probably be seen as disruptive or degenerate gameplay, especially if you expanded it with more accounts.
I would be careful with that.
There are no rules against AH market manipulation. Blizzard is extremely hands off when it comes to the AH and economy, and will generally only action someone if they’re violating a rule (e.g. using any form of automation that is not allowed through Blizzard’s LUA API).
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Something similar yeah…
That is why he wants to do it! 
This is why I asked. I know someone doing 30 accounts and the terms of service says you can’t be disruptive in game. Kinda seems like that’s disruptive as they control all full-high pop realms.
Being an AH goblin is not against the rules. Using external 3rd-party software that operates outside of the confines of the WoW API is of course against the rules, but simply controlling the AH market using in-game addons is not against the rules.
Disruptive gameplay often involves doing something that prevents players from being able to complete in-game activities, and even then I believe the bar is very high for that (think “PvP problems have PvP solutions” for example). Someone may be able to offer more clarification.
In the case of AH markets: if you don’t agree with the prices of items you wish to buy off the AH, you have the option to go farm them yourself. Nobody’s disrupting your ability to do so.
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Except they don’t. No player can block any other player from using the AH. They can’t stop you from posting items. They can’t stop you from buying items. The ones who “appear” to control the AH don’t, at least not in the way that would be considered disruptive. If they are the only one posting an item, it just means either that the item is rare or that they bought any that someone else posted and reposted it.
Undercutting is not considered disruptive. The AH can be as much a battle as PvP.
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If you are merely using an addon that functions within our API/LUA, and it doesn’t buy/sell for you automatically, that doesn’t violate policy.
As long as you are not using hardware/software to control multiple accounts, and are manually in control of each, it doesn’t sound like there is anything that runs contrary to our rules there.
Humanbeak put it fairly well, disruptive gameplay usually involves activities that impact other players’ ability to play the game (outside of most PvP activities).
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So you’re saying that if I run my automated sniper on every realm, controlling every cheap deal posted, and in turn artificially controlling the price of those items across a region, that isn’t disruptive?
Assuming you are the one that is actively buying and selling those auctions and you aren’t using automation to do so, no, it is not.
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I know user input is required for buying and selling but why isn’t user input required for scanning? Leaving that open to automation is dangerous and allows for all sorts of grey area addons to exist for the auction house. It would also kill the sniping scene if scans weren’t allowed to be automated.
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If you want to suggest a change to the WoW LUA API, I suggest passing your feedback in GD or the UI forum.
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That isn’t a question I can really answer. What is permitted through the addon/LUA system is determined by our Game Developers.
If you feel the policy and functionality on something like that should be changed you will want to submit a suggestion to provide that feedback. You are likely the minority in that opinion, so I don’t know how likely something like that would be to happen, but that is how you’d make your feedback known.
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Scanning is already an “automated” function within the default UI. All a player has to do is push a button and the AH is “scanned” for you. Scanning is not what crosses the line into “automation”. That would be a program that makes decisions and performs actions without the player’s input.
If you can explain why you think it’s dangerous for players to scan the AH, then click to spend their gold on items, please do so. You don’t have to do it here, as the best place to explain it would be in the appropriate forum (see below).
There are no “grey area addons”. So long as the addon operates within the LUA sandbox (and semantically, they wouldn’t be called “addons” if they didn’t), then it can only do what Blizzard allows it to do.
It’s fair to make a case for Blizzard to change the LUA sandbox to not allow certain actions, if you feel they shouldn’t be allowed. But if you make the case and it convinces Blizzard, then they change the sandbox to break that function. Players who used the addon prior to the change are not going to be punished.
There is nothing wrong with “sniping”. All sniping means is that another player bought the auction before you could. That is perfectly allowable, and quite frankly, will never change. In fact:
It’s best if you drop the masquerade here. You are not running this kind of program, as you have already been called out.
More importantly, trying to frame it as an “automated sniper” is simply an attempt to make it sound bad. But moving on…
Welcome to capitalism and a free market. The price is controlled by whatever someone will pay for it. If someone identifies an inefficient market, then that’s their gain.
I echo Humanbeak’s advice:
[quote=“Humanbeak-drenden, post:19, topic:1185697”]
If you want to suggest a change to the WoW LUA API, I suggest passing your feedback in GD or the UI forum.[/quote]
You are always free to suggest a change. But be honest about your intentions, and how you present the issue. Why do you think it shouldn’t be allowed? How do you think it should work?
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