Sunday, October 26th, 2008
Issue: 97   Editor: NYX2000


Bootcrews - is a private script fair? AntiStalkFeature
This article won't be discussing the typical fairness of the stalk feature in and of itself. Instead, it will be discussing the fairness of the information the bootcrews bot gathers being provided only to a private audience instead of to everybody, and that the only way to gain access to that information is to get an invite from another site entirely.

Let us assume for a moment the stalk feature on the site bootcrews.com is fair. Many (including myself) believe it is not fair to crew holders and their members to have a script running on their crew at all times, picking up potential out of crew bullet holders shooters being let in to pick up bullets. However, assuming the stalk feature is fair let us examine how fair the script and the accessibility of the information it records are.

If it is fair to monitor crews with a script, wouldn't it only be fair if everybody was given access to that information in a public way? As many know, bootcrews.com runs an automated account called bootcrews which detects crew information. (change in players' wealth status, rank, crew members who join and leave crews and changes in crew leadership. I am personally fine with all of it but the recording of who comes and goes). After collecting this information, it is added to a database and only provided to a private audience of people who have a bootcrews account. On top of this, if anybody wants access to the same information they have to either try to get a bootcrews account (which should not be necessary) or break the rules of Bootleggers and create their own automated script to pick up the same information. I think we can all understand the need to limit the number of scripts which are run on bootleggers.us to prevent over-using bandwidth, but if a script is run, I think it's only fair that the information it gathers is made public since many people have the ability to write an identical script but aren't allowed to. We all appreciate the time Sabin and others put into this game, but we also appreciate a fair gaming environment.