Maple.FM - Free Market Search Tool

[Bacon]

Hey Southperrians,

Has anyone used Maple.fm and have any idea how they're able to mine the Free Market's data? I'm curious from a programming perspective about how the website works.

For those of you who are hesitant to click on the link about, it's a website that allows you to search through the FM in semi-real time. Sounds like it would be an awesome tool for merchants and those of you who don't want to spend hours in the FM. It also seems to get rid of the need for Owls, so I wonder what Nexon will do when they find out about it.

Since it's also relatively new site, I'm a little unsure how legitimate the website is so if anyone has any information please do share! It seems to work quite well for me, so I'm very curious how it works.

[Marksman Bryan]

They have bots going through every single FM room in every single channel every few seconds that catalogs the contents of stores. Go sit in a random room and you'll see someone pop up floating, disappear, then come back a few seconds later. If there's no shops in the map they'll only pop up for a frame or two.

[Razmos]

I'd... imagine that Nexon will take this down pretty quickly, due to it potentially cutting into their Owl of Minerva profits.

..of course they shouldn't be charging us for pomegranate like that anyway, but that is besides the point.

[DavyJonesx]

They have bots going through every single FM room in every single channel every few seconds that catalogs the contents of stores. Go sit in a random room and you'll see someone pop up floating, disappear, then come back a few seconds later. If there's no shops in the map they'll only pop up for a frame or two.

I thought that was the other site doing that?
Spamming all shops with the link?

[Jedward]

I thought that was the other site doing that?
Spamming all shops with the link?

This seems newer. My shop's listing is up and I didn't get a message on it.

I really like this, both as a person buying and a person selling. It's not detailed enough that you still have to go to the shop to see the items' stats, but it provides enough information for comparison.

I have NO idea how Nexon's going to deal with this, though. It's a huge quality-of-life improvement as long as it doesn't get more intrusive/malicious.

[DavyJonesx]

This seems newer. My shop's listing is up and I didn't get a message on it.

I really like this, both as a person buying and a person selling. It's not detailed enough that you still have to go to the shop to see the items' stats, but it provides enough information for comparison.

I have NO idea how Nexon's going to deal with this, though. It's a huge quality-of-life improvement as long as it doesn't get more intrusive/malicious.

It's shows all the info possible afaik?
Even has the color of potentials around it ._.

[Jedward]

It's shows all the info possible afaik?
Even has the color of potentials around it ._.

So it does. I didn't try clicking on the items; that's super helpful and really does eliminate any use owls have (besides being readily available in-game). Even more reason for Nexon to get rid of it.. augh.

[snowie72]

Auction house is coming anyways or am I wrong? :/

[DavyJonesx]

Auction house is coming anyways or am I wrong? :/

According to nexon it has some bugs, so we'll have to wait a bit more for the Auction House.

[Stereo]

Auction house is coming anyways or am I wrong? :/

Is that gonna display historical sale values though?

I don't just want to know what's currently for sale, I want to know how much it's sold for in the last 24 hours if at all possible.

[Justin]

I'd still be careful about using that website, as the owner is very sketchy.

[Faytth]

Is that gonna display historical sale values though?

I don't just want to know what's currently for sale, I want to know how much it's sold for in the last 24 hours if at all possible.

Yes, I plan on adding a histogram as well as a 30-day median price. Later on I want to add a price checker powered by machine learning for really accurate price estimates.

I'd still be careful about using that website, as the owner is very sketchy.

Sketchy? That hurts. I'm only trying to help (unless you're referring to who owns the domain?). :/ Or maybe you're referring to the other Maplefm site? The one by JDR? I dunno :X

[Satellite]

For once I'll admit this is botting that doesn't break the game economy in any way and helps players enormously instead. Even if one of the motives is to bring in ad revenue for the site owner or what-so-ever.

It's a shame there's even need for 3rd party services like this though when it could be easily implemented by nexon. Cant believe that Nexon profits that much off owls, at least outside the biggest servers.

[Justin]

Yes, I plan on adding a histogram as well as a 30-day median price. Later on I want to add a price checker powered by machine learning for really accurate price estimates.



Sketchy? That hurts. I'm only trying to help (unless you're referring to who owns the domain?). :/ Or maybe you're referring to the other Maplefm site? The one by JDR? I dunno :X

You know your own past better than I and you'd know exactly why I would say that ANYTHING you or JDR do could be considered sketchy.

Also, this is against the terms of service and is considered cheating. Shouldn't even be allowed to be posted or endorsed here.

[Faytth]

You know your own past better than I and you'd know exactly why I would say that ANYTHING you or JDR do could be considered sketchy.

Oh, alright. I was just making sure what you were saying was directed at me. You of course have the right to say such things about my past. I'm not proud of what I did a few years ago either. Thank you for the clarification.

My goal for Maple.FM is to contribute positively to the Maple community. Hopefully I can make the best fansite out there. :)

[Dark Link]

NoScript + AdBlock = win.

[dems]

For once I'll admit this is botting that doesn't break the game economy in any way and helps players enormously instead. Even if one of the motives is to bring in ad revenue for the site owner or what-so-ever.

It's a shame there's even need for 3rd party services like this though when it could be easily implemented by nexon. Cant believe that Nexon profits that much off owls, at least outside the biggest servers.

this forces a lot of price stabilization that wouldn't be there normally. it'll create mass amounts of undercutting and competition. i'm cool with all of this but i have a feeling most people aren't(ruins greed). it'll also makes the free market less "free". it is pretty gamebreaking, or game altering if you prefer, and is against the terms of service, takes away from their profits while creating someone else's, and isn't likely moderated well enough to prevent account stealing/drive-by's etc.(ITS FAYTH FFS). all in all, it's bad, it shouldn't be here for sure, and nexon will likely take it down. hopefull this thread will be removed soon at least.

[Nomad9375]

NoScript + AdBlock = win.

Ya gotta take it to the next level man. Setup a computer at another location where you don't play the game from with a virtual machine. Then remote control that vm and browse stuff from there and after you're done purge the differencing disk and start again from scratch.

[ChronosXIII]

Well this explains why there's so many random low levels popping up in random FM rooms.

Edit: Wait what? This was made by Riu? Haha, oh wow.

[Faytth]

this forces a lot of price stabilization that wouldn't be there normally. it'll create mass amounts of undercutting and competition. i'm cool with all of this but i have a feeling most people aren't(ruins greed). it'll also makes the free market less "free". it is pretty gamebreaking, or game altering if you prefer, and is against the terms of service, takes away from their profits while creating someone else's, and isn't likely moderated well enough to prevent account stealing/drive-by's etc.(ITS FAYTH FFS). all in all, it's bad, it shouldn't be here for sure, and nexon will likely take it down. hopefull this thread will be removed soon at least.

For clarification, I have never in my life (that I know of) stolen from another person. It's morally wrong, and I don't appreciate you sullying my name like that. What I did in the past was bad, but it was not theft.

I take security very seriously. I use raw SQL only when absolutely necessary (which is almost never), and I sanitize it usually far beyond what is necessary. I even HTML encode shop names, item names, and item descriptions to prevent XSS attacks.

I didn't consider market stability that could come with this, mainly because of JDR's site. I made Maple.FM in reaction to his paywall / adwall content, which I thought went against Nexon's free-to-play model. Nexon has said in the past that AdSense is fine on fansites, but that accepting payments is not.