Some questions brought up about SphtBotv3 along with answers

[Spht]

Here are my replies to some questions / comments that was posted on a thread about SphtBotv3 on a different forum, which got locked because someone went off-topic (I guess that's what happens when you have confused teenagers moderating a forum)...

The question was, Why aren't you using SphtBotv3?.  Some people made pretty strange non-sense replies, but my response was very informative so I'll post them anyway.

Ignore quote link and date.

because.. it wont run on 98.. at least the last time i tried to dl it

I dropped support for 9x a while back so I would have more freedom with the features I wanted to support.  Upgrade your system.

How about a "Disconnect" button?

Could you tell me what purpose this button would serve?  If you no longer want to be on Battle.net, close the bot.  If you want to disconnect from Battle.net but keep the bot open, set server to "none" and press reconnect.

link=# date=0]I won't use it because of egotistical statements such as that.  Oh yea, and because your bots lack originality because you're always following Skywing - hell, this bot is just a wannabe Binary Chat.

Could you be more specific?  I find it hard to understand how you can make that comment when all you (and most people) have seen of BinaryChat is its GUI from screen shots.  So, from comparing the GUI of SphtBotv3 and BinaryChat, all I can see that's alike is it has a black chat window, chat input box, and a channel list on the right.  Wait... so does all Blizzard's clients!  Alright, let's try something else --  maybe you've been reading up on BinaryChat commands and noticed they're the same as SphtBotv3.  I did this for compatibility with the BinaryChat emulation layer.  If I didn't make them the same, users (and me) would become very frustrated when trying to use aliases and plugins which have overwritten internal commands.

As for the lack of originality part, I find that all my bots have introduced new and original ideas to the public (web chatting, clan management, short visit protection, plugins, style scripting, many more), which I later see incorporated in other clients that show up.

mmmmmm would be good if u make a super fast moderation bot I guess for banning the latest floods, but I guess not  :? about ur bot, dunno why no ones using it, looks kinda good I guess.

SphtBotv3 was designed as a chatter bot.  There is a plugin API which would allow you to add a fully functional moderation layer to it.  In fact, I created a plugin a while back from code taken out of DarkMinion's DMBotOp which adds all the moderation functionality of DMBotOp to SphtBotv3.

Plugin Framework
The plugin framework is much too complex for something as simple as a battle.net chat client and is most definitely not friendly to those wishing to write their own plugins. There have been many bots before it that use a similar framework, don't think it is the first.

Elaborate?  By complex do you mean powerful?  How's it not friendly?  Plenty of examples are provided on the SDK, and there is even a plugin template created by Yoni freely available which makes writting plugins extrememly fast and easy (ask the plugin developers).  Many bots use a similar framework but you don't think mine is the first?  Elaborate on this also?  Are you telling me they copied Skywing's framework?  Or are you referring to other bots like BinaryChat?  If so, we use the SAME framework...

Interface
The interface is extremely plain and definitely not easy on the eyes, even with the "style scripts" which you pitch often, even though they serve little actual purpose because they don't allow you to reposition objects and/or controls, just change colors.

Plain, but not easy on the eyes?  Aren't plain things typically "easy on the eyes"?  After a brief discussion with you on Battle.net, I realized this is a personal medical problem you have:
[23:02:00] <Ersan> because
[23:02:03] <Ersan> they're misplaced
[23:02:07] <Ersan> and the gray between them hurts my eyes
Reading up on a MSDN article about how Win32 GUI are traditionally designed, objects should be spaced that way for EASIER viewing.  I suggest you stop using Windows if these things bother you, before your condition gets worse.  Or at least visit the doctor about it.  If your condition is so horrible that the position of my three objects (channel list, chat window, user input) is causing serious damage to your vision, I suggest you write a plugin to fix it.  If you don't know how to write plugins, you could try to get someone to write it for you, but I doubt you'd have much luck considering your eye condition sounds extremely rare.

Connections
It forces you to use the vL-Based "Battle.Net Logon Server", which is down more often than battle.net.

The last time I recall BNLS being "down" (as in not running) is about a year ago, because hardware was being moved around on our server.  Whenever the server is inaccessible through the DNS (which is what causes other bots to stop working and makes everyone think BNLS is down), I provide the correct server information on the SphtBotv3 web site so users can access BNLS.  The last time BNLS was inaccessible (a couple weeks ago) due to a DNS being redirected, I posted on my web site the correct address for people to use for their BNLS server and all SphtBotv3's could connect fine afterwards, while other bots were stuck connecting to an incorrect address.

Realms
Diablo 2 realms are unsupported in the base sphtbot package (whether a plugin CAN support them is irrelevant, as there is not actually one that DOES). If it actually does support realms, I apologize, but if this is the case then the documentation is poor.

I'm fairly certain someone has written a plugin for this.  Maybe if you ask nicely enough they'll send it to you.

Included Plugins
You included a plugin written by Skywing that is no longer functioning/never was functioning (StarcraftGameList.bcp). Also the /motd command from ClanMOTD.bcp gets you immediately ipbanned from battle.net.

Do you honestly think I'd post plugins on my web site which don't work?  They've obviously been tested.  If something doesn't work, you should assume it's a problem on your side and try to figure out the cause on your own.  I just typed /listmelee on one of my SphtBotv3 profiles that is logged on Brood War, and here's the result I got:
[23:39:31] Game "3v3!!!" on map (3v3) Zero Clutter! hosted on 66.27.140.188:3136 by RCsam.
[23:39:31] Game "1:1 ·ÎÅÛÃÊÃʺ¸Àü" on map The Lost Temple hosted on 210.93.101.212:6112 by jhve.
[23:39:31] Game "2:2Ãʺ¸ÇåÅ͸ðÀÓ...." on map The Hunters-Gamei hosted on 218.159.220.156:63004 by aqswde1234.
[23:39:31] Game "3/3 ÇåÅ͸ʿ¡¼­....." on map The Hunters-Gamei hosted on 218.48.110.47:6112 by c.s.c..
[23:39:31] Game "1:1·ÎÅÛÃÊÃʺ¸Àü" on map The Lost Temple_Gamei hosted on 219.250.205.142:6112 by J.H[Lo_Ve]H.L.
[23:39:31] Game "3v3 fastest ~" on map •Fa§te§t Po§§ible Map• Jungle hosted on 24.205.147.99:6112 by MRSOLO23.
[23:39:31] Game "1:1·ÎÅÛÀÔ´Ï´Ù." on map Neo The Lost Temple hosted on 218.235.162.126:6112 by dhwoqkfdmlwkdk.
[23:39:31] Game "1:1¹«ÇÑÃʺ¸¸¸¿ä" on map NEW YELLOW HUNTER BY  MAN GUILD hosted on 82.35.9.153:33236 by eddiecool.
[23:39:31] Game "3:3¹«ÇÑ ¾Æ¹«³ª" on map @PADO@1100MAP hosted on 61.37.140.142:6112 by cmsjjs.
[23:39:31] Game "3:3¹«ÇÑ¿ÕÃʺ¸~!" on map ¡Ù¹«ÇÑKor-Jim2¡Ù hosted on 218.39.192.216:6112 by eee-eee.
[23:39:31] Game "1/1Àú±×À¯Àú¸¸¿©~~" on map The Lost Temple_Gamei hosted on 220.83.44.227:6112 by [with]p-w-lim.
[23:39:31] Game "1:1·ÎÅÛÃʺ¸¸¸@!" on map The Lost Temple hosted on 210.183.156.140:6112 by dksehospwpswkd.
[23:39:31] Game "3:3ÇåÅÍ choboÁñ°×¿ä¿ä¿ä" on map The Hunters-Gamei hosted on 61.85.191.144:6112 by hwan1391.
[23:39:31] Game "3:3±Ù¿µÀÌ¿ÍÇåÅ͸¦" on map The Hunters-Gamei hosted on 61.75.41.79:6112 by sawon041.
[23:39:31] Game "2/2 ·ÎÅÛÃʺ¸ÀüÀï" on map Neo The Lost Temple hosted on 221.165.108.14:6112 by 11.07.
[23:39:31] Game "3:3ÇåÅÍÇǹٴÙ~" on map The Hunters-Gamei hosted on 211.37.104.127:6112 by [u.n.i].
[23:39:31] Game "2:2Ãʺ¸ÇåÅÍ¿¬½ÀÁß!" on map The Hunters-Gamei hosted on 61.35.48.217:6112 by seo_pronim.
[23:39:31] Game "1:1·ÎÅÛÇսôÙ" on map Neo The Lost Temple hosted on 218.233.145.105:6112 by T.F)yucCa.
[23:39:31] Game "3v3 Fastest NO RULES!!!" on map •Fa§te§t Po§§ible Map• Space  hosted on 24.141.185.121:6112 by YoU_SeE..
[23:39:31] Game "[ÇÑ] Ǫ¸¥ÇåÅÍ3:3" on map ¡Ú¡ÚǪ¸¥ ÇåÅÍ¡Ú¡Ú hosted on 218.157.142.226:6112 by sdofsdokfasjfkl.
[23:39:31] UDP ping received from 66.27.140.188:3136.
[23:39:31] UDP ping received from 24.141.185.121:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 218.235.162.126:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 210.93.101.212:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 218.48.110.47:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 61.37.140.142:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 220.83.44.227:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 211.37.104.127:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 210.183.156.140:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 61.75.41.79:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 221.165.108.14:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 61.35.48.217:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 61.85.191.144:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 219.250.205.142:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 218.233.145.105:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 218.39.192.216:6112.
[23:39:32] UDP ping received from 218.157.142.226:6112.

ClanMOTD.bcp's /motd makes no check to verify that you're actually on a clan-enabled product since it assumes everyone knows that Warcraft 3 is currently the only product which supports clan functions.  Plugins are typically quick attachments for the bot which don't necessarily require lots of error checking since you're usually using them for a specific purpose, and the user knows which purpose that is for so wouldn't do silly things like try to request their clan's message of the day when they're logged on Starcraft.

DMBot Plugin
Floodbots... The amount of times it takes for the plugin to communicate with sphtbot and generate a response makes it extremely inneficient for banning floodbots (duh.)

First, if the API was that slow, I wouldn't use it.  Second, I didn't write DMBot, so I don't know how efficiently he handles these types of things.  Third, after all this time, people still think the only reason why they can't ban "flood bots" is because of the speed of the program?  I'm not going to bother explaining any further, because this has been explained WAY too many times.  Someone else can elaborate if they like.

Documentation
Poor documentation of actual features. How about some freaking descriptions of the commands?

If you have a specific question about a specific command, ask on the forums.  I listed most of the commands, and gave descriptions for some, but I never gave descriptions to ones which I thought are either a) obvious, b) obvious if you run the command, or c) does something the average user wouldn't care about.  The change log also provides descriptions for commands that were added since the bot went public.

[Newby]

Don't worry Spht, I unlocked it for you.

[muert0]

It sucks that you offer a free service and people that couldn't produce half the product you've produced bitch and moan about it. Do you hear any good things about it?

[UserLoser.]

It sucks that you offer a free service and people that couldn't produce half the product you've produced bitch and moan about it. Do you hear any good things about it?

One reason why I don't release things publically

[Eibro]

It sucks that you offer a free service and people that couldn't produce half the product you've produced bitch and moan about it. Do you hear any good things about it?

He asked why they didn't use SphtBotv3. Of course people are going to list flaws in the bot.

[Newby]

It sucks that you offer a free service and people that couldn't produce half the product you've produced bitch and moan about it. Do you hear any good things about it?

He asked why people didn't use SphtBotv3, and what it couldn't do. And his attitude combined with that spawned a bunch of posts about why it couldn't do <something here>.

[Spht]

Yes, that was the point of the thread -- to get people to tell me what they think SphtBotv3 can't do.

As it turns out, the bot could do everything people thought it couldn't do, which I knew was going to happen, which is why I made the topic.

[muert0]

Yeah I realised that was the point after I had posted. Most the kids modding that site are a-holes.

[Falcon[anti-yL]]

Newby and Sidoh are cool though.