Public API to access MCOC

Hi,

I was curious if there is a sort of public API so that 3rd party apps can access MCOC in-game content? Would be nice since many of us can develop utility software to interface with the game content.

Comments

antpowell

YES! Please make this a thing!

FingerPicknGood

Unfortunately not too many games bother with this.

The whole point of an API is third party integration, which basically means you're creating an ecosystem where other companies profit. APIs are kind of tricky to describe in terms of business value anyway, and for video games, I'm not sure what the business strategy would be. "We want an API for... stuff... that we suck at" is not a strategy.

Over the long term, it could be feasible to create an underlying service platform that each game can utilize, and that underlying platform has an API. This might handle things like notifications, data warehousing, etc. But to have that make business sense it'd have to save the game development company a ton of money, and I'm not 100% sure it makes sense from a business perspective.

BattlecryGWJ

FingerPicknGood wrote: »

The whole point of an API is third party integration, which basically means you're creating an ecosystem where other companies profit.

Actually APIs tend to be pretty beneficial for most games as it allows the users to expend their energy to make the the game content more valuable. MCoC for example has a lousy chat system and no good way to check your individual prestige for AW, hence the use of things like LINE and CHQ. Sure, this benefits the supplemental apps, but it benefits MCoC as well since it helps to facilitate play.

If there was an API available then I could potentially log into CHQ, or some other app, with my game login where all the data about my account is automatically pulled into that app, which I could see being beneficial. Of course the downside of that is it could be used to pull data to target accounts for theft, so there does need to be come concern with how the API is designed and made available.

FingerPicknGood

BattlecryGWJ wrote: »

Actually APIs tend to be pretty beneficial for most games as it allows the users to expend their energy to make the the game content more valuable. MCoC for example has a lousy chat system and no good way to check your individual prestige for AW, hence the use of things like LINE and CHQ. Sure, this benefits the supplemental apps, but it benefits MCoC as well since it helps to facilitate play.

If there was an API available then I could potentially log into CHQ, or some other app, with my game login where all the data about my account is automatically pulled into that app, which I could see being beneficial.

All you've listed are things that are beneficial to you as a user, but not to Kabam. An API won't be successful until the it's existence benefits the business that's providing it, regardless if users would like it. Maybe people would hang out a little longer, or core players would be slightly more engaged. But good APIs tend to enable access to things, as opposed to providing alternative ways of doing the exact same thing.

Good APIs tend to broaden the accessible market. Netflix's APIs, for example, are used by vendors to integrate Netflix with new devices that the company would otherwise not support.

Say Kabam opens up an API providing metadata about it's alliances and players. If this gets used widely, how does this benefit them? How does this increase spending?

Keep in mind I'm saying all of this as someone that would appreciate such an API. Being able to create "alliance rules" notifications, like someone not being active, another person spending too many items, etc, would be fantastic.

But... would I end up spending more money? I'm already pretty invested in the game as it is. Would this really bring in thousands of new players? Doubtful.

I do think Kabam could take it's license with Marvel and make an API platform that could be pretty interesting. But it probably wouldn't so apps like CHQ could just become a bit cooler. It would be the platform for other future ventures, since this game will end at some point.