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Scripted mouse movement

Started by N-kay [1947169] on in Tools & Userscripts.

8 replies · 684 views · thread synced · 3 days ago · View on torn.com
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N-kay [1947169] · #1
If I read the rules correctly, it would be completely allowed to automate mouse movement, as long as you do any clicks manually? No script would technically interact with torn.

So I could have hotkeys move my cursor to specific locations to speed up actions in the game?
Acarya [2243227] · #2 · edited
Nobody says that you have to use the mouse to play this game. It is also geared towards accessibility, so you can use your keyboard.

In reality, click is just a synonym for activate element. It can mean any of
  • move cursor to desired position, mouse button down, mouse button up
  • use [TAB] to move focus to desired element, then [SPACE] or [ENTER] to activate it
  • use hotkeys to perform your element activation directly
IMHO the essential thing is that you yourself have to perform this action. You MUST NOT use any kind of automated activation.

So to answer your question: yes. But it would also be admissible to use hotkeys to select an element and perform a 
click()
on it.
N-kay [1947169] · #3
That's an interesting interpretation.
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.

I can read this both ways.
1) Software doing the clicking is not manual, therefore not allowed.
2) The software click being triggered through a hotkey makes it a manual action, therefore allowed.

This ambiguity is exactly why I started this discussion.
In my mind, the second one creates a million more questions, slippery slope style. As long as you initiate the script/software yourself, anything goes? One click or a million, where's the line? As long as the actions are pre-programmed and there's no decision making logic behind it? This would basically allow scraping.
Acarya [2243227] · #4
They could've worded it more legally binding, but the gist of it is pretty clear to me. Especially if you switch roles for a moment.

Every single "click" == non-API request has to be manually triggered by one single action. That action can be direct via a mouse click or one level away via a hotkey mapping. By its very nature this game is designed to be interacted with with "clicks" and the occasional textual input, mostly numbers.

Once such a software receives a manual trigger and as a consequence performs more than a single click, it is obviously not allowed. So you cannot have software play (perform more than one consecutive click without a corresponding consecutive manual trigger) for you.
Untouchable [1360035] Committee Committee · #5
As far as I understand it, you just can't use the javascript .click() function, or anything similar. So actually performing the action is a no no.

However, there is a legal script that detects when your money on hand increases, gives you a pop-up notification that is has, and prompts you to navigate to your vault, inputs all your money on hand as the input amount, then changes focus to the deposit button.

So how it works in practice: money goes up, spam enter twice and your money is vaulted. No action was taken by the script, so that's totally legal. I believe it was cleared with IBF before going public.

Hotkeys to focus on elements, then you hitting enter to activate them would absolutely be legal. If in any doubt, write the script you want to, then mail it to IceBlueFire and ask if it breaks any rules, he usually gives pretty definitive answers.
SirEdge [2609907] · #6
I read it pretty carefully a couple months ago and here is what I got from that reading-

It is the clicks that interact with the game servers that need to be manual. Scraping/Manipulation of the page being displayed is not a violation. Scraping pages without displaying them is a no-no.

I specifically saw an example that moved the buttons (and made them bigger) to be under the mouse. It would be quite a double standard to allow that and not allow the script to repoint the mouse, which is basically just a different way of accomplishing the exact same thing.
Aezur [1950769] · #7 · edited
Honestly, to a programmer, there is no ambiguity in this rule. The intent and effect is very clear. That doesn't really help other peoples, but eh, the people making the tools would know at least.

If you were a philosopher or politician, you could probably attack the word "trigger", since as long as you perform the action that starts a sequence that ends in a non-API call, you could argue that you still triggered the event. But you would be wrong, and fedded for it. So don't do that. Everyone would laugh at you.