Graduate Student looking to programatically read data from Wentworth interface

[sprcow]

Does anyone know if this is possible?  I'm trying to do a study of Wentworth market prices and apply Stock Market machine learning techniques on them to see if the predicted results correlate to real life experience.  The main problem is just gathering the information.

I know we are already to read data whenever our characters actually perform transactions with Wentworths, but I'm interested in reading the 5 recent sales data for specific enhancements.

I see that HeroStats has an option to read data from log files vs. machine memory.  I've been browsing the source code a bit to see if I can find out more about whether this approach would allow me to do what I am envisioning. 

Another option would be some kind of overlay that tries to skim the information visually, but that sounds a bit more tiresome.

Any tips would be appreciated!

[TonyV]

Acquiring market data programmatically would be extremely difficult.  It is only sent to the client when specifically requested, which only happens when you expand an item in the market UI.  Because of that, the only opportunities I know of to collect this data is 1) on the wire, via a network sniffer trace, or 2) by directly accessing the executable's memory.  Even if you were able to do one of these things, though, you'd only get the data associated with one item.  To get an accurate representation of the market, you'd have to expand all of the items to collect all of the histories.

I propose that it might be much easier to send a PM to Avatea and ask if she can get you into contact with someone who can provide that data to you directly from NCsoft.  For educational purposes, they may be willing to, though they might have you sign some kind of NDA to get it.  Of course, they may just say, "No, sorry" also, but it would probably be a lot easier to get it that way if they're willing than to get it by scraping the client.

[sprcow]

Thanks, TonyV.  That is an excellent suggestion.  Obviously this study would be greatly simplified if I did not have to gather the data myself!  I will message her forthwith.

It seems like it might still be technically possible to gather representative data using a combination of exe memory access and some kind of automated program to open items through the in game interface, but I am concerned that would be a great deal of work and also potentially in violation of my TOS (albeit for a good cause!).

[Fleeting Whisper]

It's absolutely possible. It's also possible to query the market server directly... if you knew where the market server was and you could spoof being a client.

Honestly, assuming NCSoft won't give you a log of market server activity, I think it would be easier to check the market manually every 10-30 minutes. Also, though I haven't checked, the Market forum on the official boards may have historical data, at least on individual items.

[LidFlipper]

     I know less than nothing about tracking WW, and even less about market science...but I am curious about something since you folks seem to know a lot: I notice quite a bit of  what might be considered 'griefing', but only because I don't have a real word for it! I'm meaning the phenomenon of people randomly overbidding, being incredibly generous with bids, buying an enormous amount of items to immediately resell and set lower standard of prices for a short time.....behavior that doesn't seem intuitive to playing the 'auction game' where players want to buy for the best price, sellers want to make bank. I have no problem with people doing that, but I wonder how that kind of stuff skews stats; possibly creating a challenge in getting accurate trends.

    This is undoubtedly a noobie sort of question, but I am intensely curious to see whether the WW is stable enough that deliberate and persistent 'price-pranking' is any effect at all. Or, if that kind of thing happens irl with trading, and how it's factored in.

    Consider it, or ignore it if it's off-topic! Thanks!

[GuyPerfect]

Over-paying occasionally happens in the form of a typo. Sometimes you just hit one too many zeroes, other times the price you paid on the previous item stuck around a little too long. There may also be times when the buyer thinks he's placing a bid on an entirely different item.

In other instances, players might not care that they're over-spending. I know I personally do this some times, where I might buy an Uncommon Salvage for 10,000 then just buy the next Common for the same amount. It's not so much inf that it's worth pinching my pennies.

As for "reverse flipping" by buying low in bulk and selling back at a lower cost, that has Power Seller written all over it. The badge requires the character to sell 7,000 items to other players, and the quickest and easiest way to do that is to buy stacks of cheap items and resell them for 1 inf apiece. It's not the most efficient from an economical perspective, but I can tell you first-hand that it's definitely not a bad investment for earning some badges.

[Fleeting Whisper]

As for "reverse flipping" by buying low in bulk and selling back at a lower cost, that has Power Seller written all over it. The badge requires the character to sell 7,000 items to other players, and the quickest and easiest way to do that is to buy stacks of cheap items and resell them for 1 inf apiece. It's not the most efficient from an economical perspective, but I can tell you first-hand that it's definitely not a bad investment for earning some badges.

Yup. I'm currently at Black Marketeer, working towards Power Seller. I pick a common salvage with LOTS for sale, put up bids for 200 of them at 100/ea, and then list at 1/ea. Without trying too hard (and even picking salvage that doesn't have a huge demand), I can advance around 400 towards my badge a day. And I usually don't even lose money, as people tend to go and overpay.