Perhaps cellsafemode and Ore would like to volunteer to help out at PCC?

Plugins are a Guild-Software-unsupported methodology of experimentally developing modifications to the game UI and onscreen data. We do not consider them exploitative. We are also not responsible for their content, as many of them historically have been poorly written, or hugely sub-optimal (with major impacts on performance), and we aren't going to be taking responsibility for them.

About the last thing I need is someone developing a security-exploitative plugin and getting it into a "production" repository of some sort. So, at the moment, plugins remain an unsupported "use at your own risk" option.

I do not consider the disparity between haves and have-nots to be game breaking. Plugins exist within a secured "sandbox" that has limited information. The scope of potential plugin amazing-ness is similarly limited.

Installing plugins on mobile platforms is a bit of a hackjob, whether iOS or Android or Amazon or whatever. But, it isn't a core game feature either, it's an unsupported and optional feature. There are lots of things that need to be fixed and improved on iOS, plugin-installation being roughly the least of them.

I'm not opposed to some kind of user-based oversight and community review of features that are posted to a repository and so on. But I don't consider it to be a huge priority.

Also, everyone calm down.

Also why in the hell would GS want amateur code running on their production server in the first place?

Plugins do not run on the server. They run on the client. This is a non-issue.


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".

Sorry if I wasn't clear. No, what I'd do (assuming they aren't using github, bitbucket, or similar) is post instructions on making the needed changes in the appropriate forum thread, possibly including a diff file if the changes are non-trivial. I would only post an alternate version if it was clear that the original developer was no longer intending to continue maintaining their code. Anyway, the point is that currently, bugfixes can be applied immediately, as soon as somebody (whether the original developer or somebody else) posts them. The OP would introduce a delay while the updated plugin sits in limbo waiting for people to vet it.


You want transparency and ease-of-use. That's fine. Those can both be accomplished without the burdens the OP would place on us.

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.

We have that, it's the Community Projects board. Honestly most plugin authors are really good about fixing bugs, and thanks to the fact that it's not handled by some kind of verified controlled "app-store" style distribution system, anyone can pick up an old junky plugin, fix it, and release the fixed version for everyone to benefit from.

What I don't understand is how you think the playing field is so unlevel. If you think some other players have some magical pwnz-j00 plugin and that's why you're getting blown up all the time, think again.

I do not consider the disparity between haves and have-nots to be game breaking.

Inc, I'd agree with you except that the tools available in the default game client for situational awareness are totally inadequate for dealing with any kind of PvP interaction. You can't tell the difference between the friendly NPC convoy or the pirate-in-good-standing on the default radar until said pirate opens your hull like a can of spam. Just about the only use-case where it isn't completely wrong is Serco vs Itani in a Border Skirmish mission.

Fortunately though, the plugins that help with that are, and have been public for years.