Blitzbot

[Ludthen]

This idea may already exist, and I just don't know of it, or it may have been tried and failed horrible, again I'm unaware if so.

Anyway was sitting in TG minding my own, watching shop channel, trying to shift some items and noticed the usual spam of WTB items. I also started to notice that most of these items, as usual, were blitzable, and got me wondering where are all the blitzers?

Maybe offline, playing alts or whatever.

What if, all these potential customers had somewhere to send these requests to, what if they would like it blitzed, but were unsure how much it would cost, or just didnt know any blitzers well enough to ask?

What if all the blitzers who decided they needed a bit of cash, or just fancied a bit of blitzing had somewhere to pull jobs from rather than pick random people form trade channel, or our newest blitzers who are still unsure of their abilities, not taking on jobs for fear of failing and an irritated customer moaning at them?

Blitzbot

Anyone who wants to blitz, registers with the bot, gets a job, gets the item. Anyone looking for an item, sends it to the bot, hopefully doesn't have to wait for days spamming shop channel, gets item.

My only problem, I lack the programming knowledge to make this bot. I have spent a lot of time thinking about it, how it would work etc, and I know exactly how I would like the bot to operate, both to clients and the blitzers, the way I'd like jobs to be done, given out etc, but just don't have the skills to make it. Tp be honest, don't even know if bots can be made to do this, just an idea at the minute.

I don't know how blitzes are done by most, other than watching shop channel, or people you've worked with before contacting you, but I like the idea of being able to log into blitzbot and just pulling a job that may already be waiting, blitz it, get paid, job done nice and quick and hastle free.

Anyway, if you all like the idea, let me know. If you all hate it, equally let me know

If this type of bot doesn't exist, and you all like the idea in general, and someone with a bit of bot making knowledge fancies having a stab at it, let me know, I'll draw up all the commands, functions etc I'd like the bot to have.

[Breaks]

in an ideal world this would be the equivalent of unionizing blitzing, setting a standard fee for everything.

But really, in AO there's no minimum wage at which a character can survive - there's no rent to pay, no food to buy, no clothes that are mandatory. So someone would just underbid the bot.

And then the bot would have to lower it's pricing scale.

And then someone would underbid the bot.

And in the end we'd all make less money blitzing.

It already happens some on the market forums - I've seen friends post "now offering blitzing services" posts and then immediately seen competitors post with just slightly lower prices to steal their business.

Most sales in AO are based on the market value of the goods, or the need to make a profit off of wares that were bought for resale. Blitzing is priced soley at the discretion of the fixer (well, to be fair, several other profs can blitz too, we're just fastest at it), and his evaluation of what his time is worth in terms of credits.

I think a modification of this bot could be hugely useful.

1) give it a searchable database of all rollable items that would take either an item ref or the partial/complete name of an item. - possible syntax: !rollable [item ref] or !rollable organic

1a) Since the above would be based heavily on the master blitz list anyway, it may be possible to build in pre-compiled outcomes to queries such as !rollable trader for trader nanos, or !rollable pistol to look at a list of rollable pistols. (the nanos would be less of a pain in the ass than guns or armor to list out in this way)

2) rather than allow potential buyers to post offers/queries, merely allow fixers or others to register as publicly available blitzers, and provide them with a toggle to set themselves as currently available or currently busy. There could even be a separate status for "currently working on an order for [name of customer]"

Potential customers could merely issue blitzbot a standard !online command to see the names, professions, levels, current rolling range, and availability status of blitzbot registered blitzers.

This would allow people to use the bot after looting some nano off of a dyna to see if it was worth something or if it was rollable, would prevent price-decay for blitzers across the board, and would facilitate both finding customers and finding an available blitzer of an appropriate level. There would be no on-bot communication channels, except perhaps between blitzers, keeping all client-blitzer communication private to perpetuate individual pricing and service terms.

[Ludthen]

Thx for the quick reply

1, 1a were similar ideas I was going to have included.

2 I like and hadn't thought of, I was merely thinking along the lines of having the blitzers log in, see a list of blitz requests their lvl range and requesting one from the bot, which is then removed from the list to stop multiple runs. If completed, using !complete or other such command, its then permanetly removed, if for whatever reason they couldn't, r/l issues or whatever, then !abandon or similar could be used to put it back into the pool. The customer therefore won't choose not to use that blitzer again, as he doesn't know who it is, and is unaware it was even taken in the first place.

Price I was leaving for the time being, if someone posts a request offering 500k, and noone wants to take it, then they would have the option to repost for more or remove it. Wasn't sure about the whole price thing, was planning on leave it open to customer to set, and ultimately if too low then noone would accept the job, meaning blitzers do still control how much is paid, as it works now now. Setting what people should pay or accept as payment wasn't going to be set by the bot, the bot doesn't intervine in this part, simply helps the process of a customer finding a blitzer. Its still between the customer to set, and blitzer to accept or not. Different people work for different prices, this I don't want to change.

No communication on the bot was my thinking also. Was thinking until the blitzer actually has the item, then he is told who to deliver it to, no actual communication between customer and blitzer until then. All registered blitzers would be invited to the blitzbot channel of course, entirely optional.

All just ideas atm, and thx for yours

Anyone else have some ideas what they would like if this bot ever does see the light of day, feel free to post em.

[EDIT]

If we get a coder to comfirm they would like to create this bot for all us blitzers, then Ill post all the details about what I'd like to see it do. Hopefully all blitzers will give their likes/dislikes for the propsed system and we can go from there, maybe make a bot everyone likes.

[EDIT]

Blitzbot is taken on RK1 so I've registered blitzerbot on RK1 and RK2 in case this bot ever does come into existence.

[Ludthen]

Home from work, so figured if I'm going to try and get help creating a bot, best explain how I would like it to work.

Going to place a few post holders in case this runs on a bit.

Client Side.

This is the basics of what someone looking for a blitz to be done would do.

1. Check item is blitzable with the !item (name), works on partials, reports back any multiples asigned a number, client then chooses !number X
2. If it is then they !request (name) a blitz to be made
3. If more than 1 QL is available bot will ask which ql, response from client expected !qlxxx
4. Just to be sure, bot will ask for confirmation of item and QL, !yes !no answer expected from client.
5. Bot will check the online status of any blitzers that fall into this items range, if any available, request sent to next free blitzer in range, once accepted client told.
6. Once item is blitzed, and blitzer has reported in client contacted and asked to meet blitzer.

Thats pretty much all thats needed for a blitz request from the clients point of view. Other commands will be needed, such as

!offline - bot will pause the blitz, but not remove it until client comes back on and a request will be sent next time client talks to bot, reminding them of last request(s). Ideally noone will request a blitz that plans to leave anytime soon. If someone decides to play an alt while they wait, a

!logon (origional name) may be used to add this alt to contacts bot will tell when job is complete. These will all be wiped once the job is complete. A confirmation will be asked to stop random ppl messing with the bot. A work number, or some other identifying code (leave this one to the coder) will be assigned for each requested job. Any contact with bot concerning that job will require it to be identified.

If for whatever reason the client decides to cancel the blitz, a !cancel (name) command can be used, but only if the blitz is not already assigned.

Breaks idea of !rollable (name) is a nice one, I'd like it included, since I never even thought of it

Other commands will be needed, but thats pretty much enough to do whats is needed client side. Anyone see any fatal flaws, or something not right/missing? feel free to add.

[Ludthen]

Ok, I'll do the same as the client, do a typical blitzer logon then extra commands at end. This assumes blitzer is registered with bot.

Blitzer Side.

1. !logon - easy enough, tells bot blitzer is available, then assigned a number. First fixer to log in, gets first request sent to them in their range, then next blitzer etc.
2. Bot sends a request asking acceptance of a particular blitz. !yes !no expected. If !no is given, then next one will be sent etc.
3. Once accepted, blitzer goes and rolls.
4. Blitzer notifies bot hes got a hit !hit
5. Client is told a blitzer is assigned, blitzer goes and does his thing
6. Once complete, blitzer informs bot !complete
7. Client and Blitzer both told each others names, can now arrange a drop off and payment.
8. Once transfer is complete, blitzer sends !complete to bot, bot aks client if its complete, !yes !no expected, job closed.

As this system stands, the blitzer won't see a list of blitzable items requested, he will just be shown the oldest, therefore preferably the one needed to be done first request, try and cut down on some requests staying in system and always getting ignored. Of course, if the terms just arent right, i.e. payment, then it will be !no quite a lot till someone decides its ok for them.

Hopefully noone will accept a blitz and have to go offline, this is why I think the !hit command wil lbe handy, rolls as you all know can take some time, and until we get a hit the time needed for the blitz is generally unknown. Once you get a hit, its pretty much job done.

This bot doesn't have to be complicated, with a wealth of commands, just whats here, maybe a few extras as we progress, but this is about the height of it as I can see so far.

Again, open to suggestions/corrections.

[Ludthen]

future place holder

[Breaks]

See, I still think it should do nothing more than list the names of the blitzers that are logged in, and that the clients should have to contacts us directly. It just seems more personal that way and less in danger of someone or a group of people drastically affecting the prices we could command, in either direction.

[FixerPorta]

I actually had a similar idea about 6 months ago. Even went as far as creating the bot (Blitzingbot RK1), and setting it up privately for my orgmates and friends. It was very limited in it's functionality though, as I have very little knowledge of how to set up bots to do the different things that I wanted it to do. When it came down to the time where I was going to launch it to the public so people could place orders for blitzes, I decided I did not want to put myself in the position where I was constantly working for other people whenever I logged on. So I scrapped the idea, and decided to put it off indefinately.

I like the idea of a bot where you can put your name on a list of people willing to blitz at any given time, and remove yourself whenever you want as well. I do pretty well without a bot just from word-of-mouth, but I would not shrug off a way to get more business.

It would be awesome if we could standardize prices (Unionize Fixers!!), but I really don't see it happening. From what I have seen in my own experience is that people pay according to their means, and need, and often that is very good money.

I would join the bot if there were one.

See, I still think it should do nothing more than list the names of the blitzers that are logged in, and that the clients should have to contacts us directly. It just seems more personal that way and less in danger of someone or a group of people drastically affecting the prices we could command, in either direction.

I agree, although we should be able to list the ranges we are capable of blitzing somehow too, as I have alts who can blitz in all ranges.

[Ludthen]

Would make it a lot easier to make having it just list people available at any given time, and maybe their current status, free, busy etc as mentioned by breaks earlier. Range would also be nice, saves the client having to figure out who can blitz what.

One thing I think I'd like is to slighty modify the range for lower lvls. I think 135 is when 250's begin to be rollable (at work atm, can't recall), I'm sure not everyone is capable of this at that lvl, or willing to risk loosing any buffs etc they got to run it in the first place. Maybe an option to let people set their max level they are willing to work to if they want?

[EDIT]

A !level command for the blitzer is needed, any bots I've used more than not get my lvl wrong, so telling bot your lvl would help for people looking specific ql items, like armor.

!max could be used to override the bots setting of your max level, if it is too high for you to work at.

Just thought, if someone requests a list of blitzers currently online, and bot reports all blitzers, theirs min/max lvl and all the specific ones inbetween then that could be a lot of spam, filters on the client side could be handy.

!item xxx reports only blitzers who can hit that specific ql, possibly a percentage either side, can't always get the exact ql armor you like I suppose.
!nano xxx reports any blitzers who falls in that range. Could be name also, bot will check ql.

[Omalesh]

Would make it a lot easier to make having it just list people available at any given time, and maybe their current status, free, busy etc as mentioned by breaks earlier.

You know, you can probably test this idea by putting this in your lft string, such as 'hire me for blitzing ql100-ql150 items!'. Since we all know people are perfectly happy to grab us off lft for whatever little errands they might have anyways, regardless of what we are looking for.

[Breaks]

Omalesh has a point.

[Ludthen]

He does indeed, good point at that, save on the usual posting in shopping hoping anyone needing blitzing happens to be watching. Sort of negates the need for a bot at all, must try it tonight.

[Tarook]

I prefer the original idea because even if I'm not (supposing im a blitzer) available to get a specific item at that time I will still be able to do it once I logged on and noone else has taken it. I think this is more convenient for the person who's looking for the item also. Though maybe both options could be added and leaving it to the buyer to decide which option to use.

As for my own thoughts on this, maybe instead of sending logged on blitzers a /tell maybe it could give the blitzer a list of available jobs in her range if she asks for it. I think this would make it more easy going(less of a treadmill) and also prevents you from missing a job because your name didnt come up first. Also it would be nice to include grouped orders so that the placer gets contacted by just one person. And maybe adding a time-out on each job for example 3 hours per item would be nice to prevent people from taking an order and then not completing it without notification.

Overall I really like your idea and I hope someone who can make bots will pick this up because it would make it alot easier for everyone and add alittle depth to the blitzing profession.

ps.
I don't think putting yourself on /lft is the same because that way you only get people in your level range which in most cases would exclude (tl 7) players who're looking for nanos for their alts.

[Syreee]

There's another reason not to use LFT. It's the Looking For Team interface, not Looking For Tradeskill interface..

I understand it's usefull for the ones offering their services, but I myself find it highly annoying having to wade through all those people just offering tradeskills/blitzing, those that are looking to buy this or that item, etc. when making a team.

[Ludthen]

My idea of sending tells to the next in line was to try and give some of our newer blitzers as fair a chance as our experts, who can no doubt probably clear the list much faster than anyone else. Maybe the bot can remember how long from the time a job was accepted, to handoff of item. Those who obviously do it much faster could then be sent more requests in one go.

But yeah, the list idea is a good one. Maybe limit how many people can take at once, although I'm sure top blitzers might not like this idea.

Timeout on job might be good too, after all most blitzes, minus roll time should be in minutes rather than hours, so might be a nice idea.

Still all in early stages, more opinions we get the better, thanks again for all the input

[EDIT]

A friend has just got back to me, and while he doesn't know about bots, and won't commit fully at this time, he does know php and other such languages, and said if I can get a bot, or partial bot anything to show how to connect, send receive in channel etc, just some of the general syntax used, maybe some guides to check out he'd have a look see what he can do, but is making no promises.

If anyone has such info but just doesn't want to commit to this, let me know and I'll pass it on, in private if you so wish so not to be pestered about it.

[Hemsut]

you can find here:

HackersQuest

yours,
Hemsut

[Mjolklarse]

I see one of the most important features of this bot being the list of blitzable items. Many people simply doesn't know wheter an item is rollable or not, and there isnt as far as I know a good ingame bot to tell this, nor any really good and reliable web search. To get customers they must be able to check if the item is in fact rollable.

I think this is a great idea, and I would definatly start blitzing more if it was put in game. I like the idea of the bot notifying the blitzers that marked themselves as avaiable in some way when someone orders a blitz. Then the blitzers could contact the customer and work out prices etc. Only problem would be if the customer gets hammered with tells, he gets the ultimate haggling position, which is bad for us the blitzers

[Ludthen]

Well my friend that was going to look into making this bot has decided he doesn't have the needed skills after all, says his php only extends to webdesign and this is far to complex a job for him to take on.

So the request for a bot maker, or someone who can make a plugin for an existing bot, which my friend did suggest may be an easier option, is needed again.

[EDIT]

The problem of customers getting spammed by blitzers was one of the reasons behind the idea of the bot offering the job to one blitzer, whoever happened to be next in line, based on first log in, first offer etc, if they didn't want it for whatever reason, then it would choose the next blitzer, to prevent multiple contacts. Would also prevent the possibility of some fixers undercutting others to get the job, eventually dragging prices down.

[Vlain]

I think this is a very creative suggestion from a gameplay/player interaction standpoint, but I gotta play the devil's advocate and say why would I hire a blitzer when I can get just go buy the item right now (as opposed to waiting for someone to roll/blitz it) from a player shop?

I'm not trying to flame, derail, or otherwise criticize this idea because I definitely see some potential. And a service like this would be especially useful when the item you're looking for is not in the shops. But unless you undercut existing player shop prices I'm not sure alot of people would use it, unless they don't have the AI expansion.

[FixerPorta]

I think this is a very creative suggestion from a gameplay/player interaction standpoint, but I gotta play the devil's advocate and say why would I hire a blitzer when I can get just go buy the item right now (as opposed to waiting for someone to roll/blitz it) from a player shop?

I'm not trying to flame, derail, or otherwise criticize this idea because I definitely see some potential. And a service like this would be especially useful when the item you're looking for is not in the shops. But unless you undercut existing player shop prices I'm not sure alot of people would use it, unless they don't have the AI expansion.

I guess with that line of thinking you could ask, "Why would I hire a blitzer when I can go blitz the item myself?"

People hire blitzers to get things all the time now, without a bot, so a bot would just facilitate the process.