I'd say it's pretty unlikely something like this will be added for direct recording in the node database..

the current system needs you to be next to the node to register for 2 major reasons:

• first, it keeps the coordinate code simple (coordinates from the a minimap ping would require much more work and are thus more prone to errors when placing node, which may lead to duplicate entries when you finally do the actual gathering due to the decreased precision of the recomputed zone coordinates)
• second, it preserve the immersion factor by compelling people to get close to the nodes they want to record.

It took me an hour or so, but I managed to tinker together a workable "gather by ping" solution. The conversion of the ping coords isn't that hard, come on. The "ping" gathers are logged as type:treasure, name:"Ping" - so that I can perhaps code in a "purge all pings" command for cleanup.

Also... I certainly do not think this an unfair advantage. By pinging, I am not noting things that I have never seen or could not know of - I am noting things my character has seen and (by way of the ping-gather) decided to remember precisely. If my character has a pencil and notebook handy, they can easily note down what herbs/veins/interesting objects they have seen from the safe back of the gryphon or hippogryph. And, without actually visiting the location, the note remains just a note, a splotch clumsily scribbled on a map, giving no-one an advantage over anyone. For a person with as bad a memory as mine, the possibility to note NPC locations, shops, inns, etc. directly on the map is invaluable help.

Unless, of course, there ARE already addons recording pings in a nicely visual way, than one could use in tandem with Gatherer. I have found none, however, so far.

So, devs - should I make my modification public, once I complete it to a usable form? Or would you rather I kept my modification of your code to myself?

Posted by: Islorgris on May 24 2006, 05:43 AMnotice we didn't say it wasn't technicaly possible, read the second point mentionned in post #2 of this thread.

I never said it was impossible, just that the hassle of converting ping coords into map coords wasn't really all that troublesome as the first point of post #2 implied. If it sounded as if I accused you of incompetence, I am sorry, that was not my intended meaning.

As for the immersion factor - seriously, how is it less immersive? A character drawing a makeshift map and putting anonymous markers on it, only to return to those locations at a later date, seems quite realistic to me. That is exactly what I would do in real life, to aid my memory. If you were on a bus, and noticed a very interesting shop on the way, and you had a map handy - would you not place a nice large X there, to remember where to return? That would not allow you to teleport to it, or interact with it from afar (think clicking a mob during flight and exploiting some fictitious bug to cast spells at it from another continent). You would still have to go there on foot.

Posted by: Islorgris on May 24 2006, 11:09 AMthe main thing there is "more error prone", with scaling you can get off by a large margin from the real coordinate depending on the zone you're in (and in the context of clicking while moving, speed would be a factor too).

Indeed, I still have to work a little on it

Quote:since you don't have to go there and eventually clear mobs around the node, it is less immersive and it would in our opinion violate the Blizzard ruling that you must have accessed the content directly to be able to use it.

But I _do_ have to go there and clear the mobs - if I want to do anything with my so far purely theoretical knowledge about the herb. Suppose I use no ping-marks and just the tracking - I walk up into the detection range, I see the herb on the map, a tooltip over the golden marker tells me what herb hides there, and..? And I can do nothing at all about it, I can just stare at it, as long as high-level mobs prevent me from reaching it. So, even if I act all smart and mark it on my map, no "using content" happens - it's just a reminder, a pencil mark on the map, I'll still have to fight my way through if I want to grab the herb and not just admire it from afar.

Quote:(you don't see map areas suddenly discovered as you flyby, our reasoning in this case is similar to this)

Now this might be relevant. Perhaps tracking should be inactive during flights as well... But so far Blizzard left it active, which - for me - is a clear signal: look below you, there are herbs/veins/mobs there for you to return to, remember them. So, I do remember, I even make a note: I jot them down. Manually, not automatically, perish the thought. It's just that my pencil is electronic I think of my ping-marks as a "landmark friend-list", which is a clear specimen of a "you don't have to remember everything yourself" point of view.

If all of those examples still haven't convinced you, then I gracefully back off and shall just use my modification myself, as in my view it breaches no aspect of the EULA/TOC. I might ask a GM one day, however.