25.05.2013
[+]
External Access to Waypoints Database
By Khuri
Since for a while now we have had Waypoints in our Guides, the next obvious step was to give you the possibility to access that data using third-party applications as well.
Just like the
Knowledge XML-Parser we now have a
Waypoint XML-Parser (found in the menu under Multimedia -> Tools).
This parser gives you the ability to view all the waypoints on a defined playfield, inside a guide or search for Waypoints matching a name for example.
This new feature has been implemented already in the
AOU-Guide Plugin for VhaBot by Llie and will soon be a new feature for
The Leet for Android.
16.05.2013
[+]
Outdated Guides And You
By Silvana
Hello everyone :)
I wanted to write a message about information in guides that may be incorrect. This can be due to a recent patch, information that has been incorrect from day one, information another player may have provided that ended up being false, or a different (sometimes better) way to perform a task has been discovered or changed.
We currently have 556 guides and 169 articles available on the site. Checking these one by one is just not feasible with the size of the AOU team (or really, even a team 10 times the size). If a patch comes out and changes are made that are not mentioned in the patch notes, we have little way of knowing. We rely on the AO community to let us know if we're providing bad/outdated information, so that it can be corrected. We use these guides as well and know the ill effects having incorrect information can be harsh.
On a similar note, some things being out of date are not within our ability to fix. As with the recent changes of NODROP items to YESDROP, we are combing through to find instances where we have stated an item to be NODROP and change it if it has been changed to YESDROP. However, when a database site is not updated after a patch, or no longer updates their database version at all, there can be a disparity on the information you see. Items that are now YESDROP may still show on those sites as being NODROP, as their version is not current and conflicting information is present.
We're doing what we can to help alleviate this issue, but our most formidable tool in keeping guides up to date is the community itself. You are far more likely to notice a flub in a guide than we are. Each guide has a COMMENT link at the top and bottom of the page that we encourage people to use when reporting misinformation, and this is by far the best and fastest way for guides to be updated.
Errors that are noticed but not reported, can only hurt the community as a whole, which is something AOU tries to prevent. We do hope that if you notice an error, you'll report it and provide information (first hand is best) about what the change is, how you noticed it, and what the correct information should be.
While dates are not set, the new graphics engine and the inclusion of AO on Steam, makes our ability to provide correct information to an influx of new players becomes imperative in getting them to stick around. Following a guide for a mission that may take several hours, only to find out it was for naught due to outdated information could easily hurt retention.
In closing, AOU is nothing without the community, and we encourage the community to report errors in order to help others using the guide.
Thank you!
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