Vale, Staticmapper, wormhole.es, wormnav.com

So, it seems that API based NPC kill information available to the above IGB based tools (also, Siggy, ExCAM) will be deprecated by CCP because the API is not intended as an intel gathering tool, and none of these tools are available in the client itself, hence it's an unfair advantage for those with Siggy against those without. Or something - FoxFour's logic about why is a little sloppy.

Now, given some people live in wormholes and don't even know about doubletap, cannot read up on eve-survival.org about how to run their sites, and do not add their targets to watchlist via using eve-who, I really doubt that using an out-of-game widget is unfairly advantaging someone.

I mean, yes, Siggy is a little unfair. Being able to see in real-time ratting, combat or derping occurring in any system you have scanned out within the past whenever, that's a little bit much. That, as pointed out by someone else, allows you to scan a chain and just leave Siggy running and wait for derp to occur, and you make your way down the chain to collect "PVP". The broken part is being able to see this whilst not necessarily in the system at the time.

However, the way I use Staticmapper, wormhol.es (or wormnav, which is now gone) is to gather intel on the patttern of behaviour. After all, you can remove out of game widgets, but it won't protect people who are too idiotic to crit their entrance or put an alt on it. For the people who are smart enough to do this, you need to lurk. To determine whether to lurk, especially in the AU TZ where activity is 10% of the EU/US, you need evidence of past activity spanning 48 hours.

Now, in k-space you get this via the map. Apparently this is going to remain, because it's in the client. It will also presumably remain for API pulling, too, eg DOTLAN will show 48 hours of NPC, jumps, ship and pod kills in a handy little graph. Take, just randomly for example 3BAD-Z. You can hopefully see a daily peak of ratting occurring as carebears log in and smash a few sanctums or havens in their cyno-jammed nullsec bear den. This is API generate information which someone can use out-of-game at any time to plan activities in game.

I don't get the logic that information should be only available in-game. Well, I do - but if so, CCP must remove the API info from k-space as well, effectively shutting down intel gathering except via the starmap in-game. 

It is clear CCP wants to encourage gameplay by making people log in (and theoretically decide they want a 4 billion ISK ratting Nightmare and pay for it with PLEX, I think, is their idea) and not spend their time logged out trawling API information to decide when to log in or if to log in at all.

That is fine, however i question whether this is counterproductive. People play EVE as much on the forums (via recruiting, smacktalking) as they do out of game (at Fanfest, EVE Vegas, EVE Downunder, etc) or over a drink at the pub. This is a community thing, and a metagame, wherein the game occurs outside the game as well as in.

To be facetious in proving my point, for example, CCP could remove all EVE Wiki information, forcing you to show info on all items in-game and construct your own database, in order to construct pyfa or EFT. This way you'd have to do all your ship fitting in-game (mmm, tempting to PLEX up for that 'Mare!) and it would stop all those theorycrafters from creating the next great FOTM doctrine. This would be a pure MMO experience, everyone derping about in shitfit ships, aside from the guys who spend their lives logged in and who figure out how to fit their ships in-game.

It's ridiculous. So, too, is removing API kill info from w-space because you should do it for k-space as well, otherwise it is actually just a nerf to one third of EVE space.

Of course, CCP needs to articulate why w-space in particular doesn't get API support. Is it because of the great unknown? is it because they feel Siggy or ExCAM or other API tools are breaking immersion, or resulting in lazy gameplay, or an uneven playing field?

I don't know. But if my use of Staticmapper, Wormnav and wormhol.es is an unfair advantage, then so be it. They should nobble watchlisting, which is as effective at setting login traps as anything else.

I am connected to Lowsec, where you get Local and idiots and pirates. All I have to do to get pew pew, now, is go out my static and sit in top belt. I fear, however, that w-space is going to suffer, until someone finds a way around it or CCP puts features into the game.

Or maybe people will stop blobbing together in gigantic 200 man fag collection corps, hiding in the long grass of massed numbers and fleets with 50% Guardians, and do what w-space should be doing - small gang covert roaming.