Signs of hope
Killer Rhino.6794:
Like many of you, I’ve been very annoyed by the lack of updates regarding the APIs. That being said, the changes so far mentioned in the upcoming September feature pack (Sept. 9th) suggests that ArenaNet is dog-fooding the mythical API v2.
Things like the new crafting UI and more sophisticated, fine-grained improvements to the wardrobe all suggest that the back-end has been upgraded with services which and improve the client experience.
The biggest indication IMO is that, in two days, we get to see what “Trading Post 2.0” is all about.
I’m not saying this means that we, the public developers, will get to use any of this by the time September feature pack is released. But it might demonstrate that there has been progress on the APIs.
AysonCurrax.3254:
ha, the exact same thing i thought when i saw that whole 2.0 thing apart from the content of the blog post itself. they did it for skins, so i dont see why there wouldnt be, say, a finisher api, or something. Here is hoping v2 finally comes around and doesnt keep us waiting for another year or so.
StevenL.3761:
Trading Post 2.0 will use /v2/commerce APIs? I’m sceptical, but I hope you’re right.
Killer Rhino.6794:
Trading Post 2.0 will use /v2/commerce APIs? I’m sceptical, but I hope you’re right.
I didn’t say any of that. But if you think so, I hope you’re right. We shall see today.
StevenL.3761:
Sorry, I thought that was what you were getting at. Can’t wait for the news post to find out.
Alcarin.9024:
Ok, no TP API yet…
We will be discover the API on 9/9? It’s very frustrating the lack of info from AN. I think that they should give us more info, and in advance. I know that probably developers are busy, but are months that developers don’t write in this forum….
Should we create a post on general forum?
AysonCurrax.3254:
!(faith in anet restored)
StevenL.3761:
http://www.twitch.tv/guildwars2/b/565458903
Skip to 32:00 where they talk about the APIs.
Ekhetrima.9651:
Yeah, be sure to listen in around the 23:50 min mark as well. They show off the quaggan API.
Here are the relevant details I caught:
As they wrap up the quaggin api demo, Josh Galvin (Web Programmer) says “I highly recommend you check out our apis. We have apis for maps and a random assortment of stuff you can do. It is really cool and easy to use. We have good documentation up on, I think, reddit and on the forums. Highly recommend checking it out.”
Evan Zynda (QA Principle) then states “Although I’d like to point out, this isn’t a major feature or anything… right, its like, we..we are here for the new trading post.”
After a few comments, Evan states “I feel like not enough people fully use all of our apis that are available to the public and we should really call them out so that people can really start utilizing them to the fullest abilities.”
At the 32 min area, Josh answers the question “Will the new TP change the APIs and break sites that currently use the api?”
Josh answers, “Yes.” before the question is read, but after the question is read, he states “We are currently reaching out to some of them right now, but yes… I don’t want to talk about it.”
There is a bit more at the very end, but nothing new.
Pretty sad to be pushing the api in its current ignored state.
poke.3712:
After a few comments, Evan states “I feel like not enough people fully use all of our apis that are available to the public and we should really call them out so that people can really start utilizing them to the fullest abilities.”
Unfortunately, the API does not really give us that many more options than we are already using. One of the biggest opportunities for tools was the event API, but with the mega servers it became pretty useless.
At the 32 min area, Josh answers the question “Will the new TP change the APIs and break sites that currently use the api?”
Josh answers, “Yes.” before the question is read, but after the question is read, he states “We are currently reaching out to some of them right now, but yes… I don’t want to talk about it.”
Sorry to disappoint you here, but they were not talking about the public API but the internal API the trading post internally uses. Sites like gw2spidy and gw2tp have been using that before to access trading post information. That API will change, breaking those pages (and likely any other site that uses those undocumented internal APIs).
As for API v2, as far as I am aware, it will only allow us to get sell/buy listings and gem exchange rates. So for sites like those mentioned above, they should be able to switch to the official API that way and still get all the content (albeit with a faster and easier interface).
Apart from that, v2 is mostly a interface update, no new features are added (except for the quaggan API); at least that’s what I know.
Nabrok.9023:
Apart from that, v2 is mostly a interface update, no new features are added (except for the quaggan API); at least that’s what I know.
There’s a few new things listed there. It’s not just an interface update.
Pat Cavit.9234:
A few, most of /v2 is just exposing existing /v1 data in a cleaner & more useful way. We’ll keep adding new APIs as they make sense to it, but don’t expect seismic shifts in the data you can get out.
smiley.1438:
Hey Pat,
thanks for the sign of life!
I noticed there’s no guild endpoint listed over here: https://api.guildwars2.com/v2/
Is there a specific reason for it? I hoped that this one would be available including bulk requests, which would help speed up my upcoming Overwolf app.
Pat Cavit.9234:
Unsure, I wasn’t involved in the original genesis of the /v2 APIs and only tangentially involved in /v1.
Worth looking at, but I suspect there’s some privacy concerns there until we get authenticated APIs in place.
smiley.1438:
Well, the current guild API just returns guild names and logos, which would be enough for this purpose, though.
It’s currently a pain to call the API x times to get the guild names for a WvW match – bulk requests for guild IDs would be greatly appreciated!
Teranas.6150:
Worth looking at, but I suspect there’s some privacy concerns there until we get authenticated APIs in place.
So… Authenticated APIs is still a thing? I’m glad to hear this…
StevenL.3761:
Pat, is it just you maintaining the public API now?
Pat Cavit.9234:
Pat, is it just you maintaining the public API now?
Nope, I did a bunch of work on a first version of the /v2 commerce APIs (& the quaggan API because quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggans). There’s another programmer working on that stuff now fortunately.
StevenL.3761:
I found the quaggan API very useful for testing different API options. My code had full support for /v2 request syntax by the time that the commerce services were enabled. I’m a happy Quaggan.
