I have it on good authority that cellsafemode isn't an Apple user. That said, the devs are rushing to complete a port to the iPhone which of course won't be able to load these plugins. I get that you all feel the need to defend your little hobby, but it's come to a breaking point hasn't it? iOS users aren't going to stick around when there is a an ever growing divide between the haves and the havenots. There needs to be a in-app repository.

No, Apple just needs to get their head out of their collective asses.

Movement is already severely restricted and limited on android/iOS because of the touch design. PC users have a HUGE advantage in PvP regardless if a plugin is installed or not. The whole point of F2P on android/iOS is to allow people to sample the game, then if they like it, start paying for lite or premium subscription. They gain the ability to play on PC, where they are able to install all of the plugins that the rest of us have. Any user who falls in love with VO will eventually sub, so that they can build up levels and access better ships and weapons. Plugins are probably the last thing on their minds, and just a bonus.

So, Ore, your point is kind of moot.

You can (or could) load plugins on iOS devices with DiskAid. I don't know what the replacement "iMazing" application is capable of, but if it lets you copy files to your device it should work just as well.

If people feel the need to buy and use heavily restricted iToys instead of real computers, that's their problem. There is no reason this game should be crippled just to make those idiots feel like they didn't make poor life choices.

Sounds like your scripts and computer choices are more important than the survival of Guild Software. Holier-than-thou much?

Ore, you're missing the point. If you're playing on an iOS, the worst limitations and disadvantages that you suffer has nothing to do with plugins.... Being able to install plugins on an iOS will not make your PvPing any better, if you cannot dodge and aim as well as on a PC. So, any serious player will eventually upgrade to PC anyway, from where he would be able to install plugins.

There's no need to make a scapegoat out of plugins.

I always use

shiploadouts manager - lets me save custom ship setups in each station (should have been in the game from the start)

AutoRR - Repairs and reloads you when you dock (should be an ingame option)

FullChatLog - lets you type a full 255 char text line into chat (should work this way from the start)

Targetless - Lets you see ships and their distances on the hud without hitting U (once again, something like this should have been put in to begin with)

Turrethop - lets you assign keys to ship turrets for better switching (see a trend with the brackets yet)

and I also have a guild plugin which shows me the last time someone ran into a player and where and has a database of item prices and minerals

Plugins fill a hole the devs dont have time for and beyond that they provide information in an organized way that was already available in some manner

There is no magic "kill all the players everytime" plugin. You die easily because you are skill less or on mobile not because of any scripts

This thread is started by an idiot. And is supported by even more technically challenged idiots.

"Sounds like your scripts and computer choices are more important than the survival of Guild Software. Holier-than-thou much?"

False dilemma. It is already surviving, therefor survival is obviously not dependent on degrading plugin support. Nor are iToys the only avenue for new subscriptions on the horizon -- Steam users will be able to install plugins normally (the game will just be installed in a different spot).

Depending on how the devs do it, Steam users might even have it easier, which would be really cool.

Thank you all for your un-biased, value-added opinions. Especially you Shitty.

In all seriousness, why would you shoot down a perfectly good idea? Why would you not want this process to be easy and transparent for all users regardless of their operating system? Aside from the usual vitriol do you have anything to add?

Funny that ore is criticizing others for "vitriol". Very funny, actually.

Oh I'm sorry, was this the RP forum?

Because it's not a good idea.

All this suggestion attempts to do is make plugins useless. The devs don't have time to be reviewing thousands and thousands of lines of ametuer Lua code. That basically means nobody gets to use them on the production game, ever.

I'm all for making it easier to install plugins. If you want to have a semi-official curated plugin repository and installer to make everything really simple, that's perfectly fine. I have no issue with that.

What I do have a problem with is requiring people to jump through those hoops in order to use plugins. It needs to be optional. Right now I can write a new plugin and immediately start using it. I can post it on voupr and other people can immediately start using it. If I find a bug in somebody else's plugin, I can fix that bug and share the fix and anybody can immediately apply those changes and have things working again. A mandatory approval process to install plugins, on the other hand, loses all that immediacy; it causes delays. Not to mention the possibility of useful plugins being rejected for not being written well enough. If somebody wants to intentionally install a poorly written plugin because they personally feel that the problem it addresses is worse than the poorness of the plugin's code, they should have that ability. The OP would not permit that.

ARF, how does this make plugins useless? Why are your minions writing amateur code (note the correct spelling of amateur)? Why would the devs have to review the code? Wouldn't it make sense for the community–say the PCC, to review the amateur code? Also why in the hell would GS want amateur code running on their production server in the first place?

Rin, not much of what you said makes any sense. You're going to appropriate somebody's code that has bugs in it, "fix" those bugs then re-release it on voupr? How is that tracked? Is there a changelog for that? Do you give it a new name? "Rin's new super fantastic iScript".

What a mess.

A community vetting system would help with the amateur code that ARF is talking about, while not wasting devs time reading said amateur code. This would level the playing field.

I have no objection to some system of review on a voluntary basis. I do not support making it mandatory.

I don't get why this is such a big deal. The public plugins are readily available and can easily be read and modified by the end user if they so choose. I see no reason to make private plugins subject to public scrutiny.

Access to game data that could give players an advantage have in large part been removed to my knowledge. That removal having done nothing to make the game more or less fun or playable.

As far as what Rin meant about fixing bugs, I'm sure there are some out there that he's dealt with. However, I daresay more often than not, fixes that are needed for those plugins more often happen due to changes to the games software that force the plugin to do the same thing in a different way.

Also, why would we want to hold hobbyists, or players who program irl and are generous enough to share their talents with the community to some sort of production standard?

And what exactly is so uneven about the playing field? And how exactly does making the game less fun and rewarding solve this problem?

PCC review is sort of the perfect example of complete failure so don't try and sell a suggestion that depends on it

Secondly there used to be a PCC lua group that put things like all the stuff I bracketed into the official game but the devs stopped supporting it and it died

I am not sure why this thread continues there is too much arguing, -1'ing and past history of offical failure in processes just like this one proposed for it to ever even gain a slight moment of consideration

The problem with a mandatory community review of plugins by the PCC is that the process would be extremely slow. Just the other day, I posted feedback for one of Phaser's missions in the pipe from 2010 that had yet to receive any feedback, no joke. And any clown off the street (who is a member of the PCC) can give feedback for a mission. The reviewer has to have knowledge of lua, however, in order to be able to do a meaningful plugin review, and that further reduces the subset of players available.

And whenever I've requested feedback on any of my plugins in the Community Projects forum, I'd be lucky to get one person to give a brief response to 2 of 5 points I've inquired about.

"You're going to appropriate somebody's code that has bugs in it, "fix" those bugs then re-release it on voupr? How is that tracked? Is there a changelog for that?"

I provide bug fixes for plugins back to the original author, which can be incorporated in whatever way is appropriate to their tracking and/or revision control scheme. And don't be daft. Do you think there is tracking for missions on the PCC? Or a changelog? Furthermore, it would be a waste of dev time to implement such features for plugins when there is already a wealth of resources available on the web to do it. The devs have much better ways to spend their time.

I'm all for having a better interface in the client to facilitate installation and managing plugins, as do I support having the community provide feedback to improve upon plugins, but it should be completely optional. Mandating reviews only serves to needlessly cripple the creative process and offers no real benefit.