Item Market Mugbots - An Inside Look

This was the reasoning I was given for why I was not allowed to use a screen scraper in order to make a more responsive mugbot. Because it bypasses the Torn API system.

But this entire thread just gives a green light.

see you in fed soon :)

maybe put some merits in reading comprehension

He'd be around 18 BBS. Not the best, not the worst, but the people will take anything these days!

Thats straight up cheating. Same goes for anti buymug script.

Oh I definitely agree it is cheating.

It'll be interesting to see how they counteract screen scrapers realistically; most solutions wind up being band-aid solutions.

OPs been doing it for months, he's not in fed

It's the exact thing I brought up

That was in reference to a coffee cup. Get your mind out of the gutter.

You might want to read up on the rules again:

The use of scripts, extensions, applications or any other kind of software is allowed only if it uses data from our API or a page you have loaded manually and are currently viewing. They cannot make additional non-API requests to Torn, scrape pages that you're not currently viewing, or attempt to bypass the captcha. If the software you're using makes non-API requests that are not manually triggered by you, it is not allowed and can be tracked. Furthermore, releasing software which has malicious or undisclosed abilities is forbidden.

Scraping is 100% allowed, as long as it's not automated and only done on the page you are viewing. As in you can not have an automated scraper continuously scrape the page every X seconds. Same goes for non-API requests - they are allowed, as long as they are triggered by you (one user input = one request to server). What OP has described is perfectly within the rules:
1) he clicks on a listing to see the seller
2) he clicks a button to add the listing to the database (most likely makes a custom API call)

Both of these actions are within the rules. If bogie told you your script was illegal, it's probably because yours was doing something else, or because bogie is not the right person to ask about scripting rules to begin with...

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Good thing the one I'm writing doesn't use listing id.

:)

Much better than folding to the people who wanted the entire API nuked and blocking all userscripts, bots, and usage in general! 

Good update :D 

Why are you crying? They haven't patched the broken websockets yet, you should be happy with less competition ;)

Time will tell if this is going to be enough but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Let's not forget the vast majority would prefer a level playing field in torn (some just want mentos though xD)

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Appreciate the effort and hope it continues.

I am still mugged by those using a different method to API. The Same 4 Seconds 

05:34:20 - 27/02/25 You sold a Kodachi (Bleed) on the item market to xXxxxx at $532,121,420 each for a total of $526,800,205 after $5,321,215 in fees

05:34:24 XxxxxxxX initiated an attack against HarryWho

I know who is the programmer of that bot and we had a cordial chat about it. In his words ....

Programmer..... "Doesn't matter much it will be patched out soon anyway"

Programmer..... "Everything I do is fully legal, BUT admittedly pretty.. cheesy

Programmer..... "And it makes sense that it will be removed"

Really hope it is patch but I don't think this will be an easy job.

Four seconds response time is too fast for me to get notified, open vault page , and put money away.  Only a long fight will be my saving grace or maybe I am already at vault page and notice the money changed.

Can understand how the others were subjected to getting mugged upon landing from Cayman with no chance to putting their money away, some years ago. Luckily I wasn't active then.

bro fkin self hosp instead of crying about every thing if u don't want to get mugged

if official system alerts you slower than self made bots then shits f**ked up :D

ppl could argue the similar logic:

"bro fkn put some brains in it and actually watch the market not cry about not finding targets and proceed to make a bot for yourself"

Shit, with few exceptions, majority of muggers rely ONLY on those bots - pussies! :D

Don't need to get work up over it. I am just reporting what I experience on the ground. 

If staff sees it as a problem, then all good. Even the programmer admitted it needs to be address. If it is not problem as you rightly deem it so, then so be it. 

And if you don't know yet, I seldom self hosp even when I am offline. I believe you have mugged me a fair few times.  Don't get what is "everything" crying you are referring to.

Random quoting here, nothing directed at you :)

I haven’t tried mugging in a LONG time

but I gave the old fashioned a try the other day, granted I didn’t try very long, just enough to check the scene 

and this was only watching the item markets for buy mug targets so not anything majorly comprehensive 

I used to trade a lot and buy items a lot for flipping, so way back then, I would come across many many mug targets just going about my day.

now, compare to today… yeah a lot more protect themselves with self hosp’ing but, you know, there are still some buy mug targets around.

However, the speed at which these mugs occur is pretty wild now.  I can’t imagine how much time one would have to spend to be successful at this without tools and enhancements. Kudos to any who do, and do it well!. I guess it’s worth it to some. But like I only spent 2-3 hours looking around, got  1 mug for like 2m btw! Woo!  But every other potential target I saw…. By the time I saw the item gone on market and clicked to their profile which was mere seconds in many cases, they were already in hospital mugged.  I can’t compete with that. And I have no desire to spend that amount of time needed to be that successful in the mugging game these days. My days of spending 8+ hours playing in the trading/mugging game are over.  I can see the desire for the good people of torn to want use tools to make this less time consuming and easier.  And I fully know it’s a skill issue on my end, my lack of skill. Even if I wanted to use the tools available, I would still lose out to all the super stars out there.  Sure, I’d still love to get some juicy mugs, but I’m just not good enough and don’t have that drive anymore to do the things necessary to be successful at it here.  Good luck out there to all that do!!  Oh and hey, if anyone out there comes across a good mug target you can’t beat, message me!! Maybe I can take em…?  :)