Just so this thread doesn't spiral out of control, allow me to make a few points:
TL;DR: The major compiler change completely broke our project. We're fixing it, while making changes to hopefully reduce future downtimes after large expansions (as they will keep coming).
1. The current extended downtime was inevitable once the
2.1.2d Patch was released. For the type of project Exilebuddy is, a major compiler change like that is major downtime no matter when it is deployed. It just so happened to be at the same time as the new expansion, which worked out better for us. It's hard to compare other buddy projects, since other games' clients are a lot different from PoE's, but it's one of those major project breaking events that we just have to deal with in the bot development world.
2. Exilebuddy isn't a simple memory/pixel/macro bot. We don't just change a few values each patch and everything magically works again. We are providing a nearly complete API to the Path of Exile client itself, so when the client undergoes major changes, so must our API. The bot implementation we provide is simple however, but it's built upon a very large API that allows other people to make bots with the game if they so choose, through Exilebuddy itself so they don't have to reverse the game and do all the low level work themselves. A lot of people already know this, but this is why Buddy products are a lot different than any others out there: we focus on bot frameworks, others focus on actual bots. Each has their own pros and cons, but that's a different topic.
3.
Brooks’ law is why more people working on EB wouldn't speed up this update process. Most of EB's code is now mine, and the time it'd take to help other people understand the way the Path of Exile client is (it really is a lot different than most other of our projects) would far exceed the time it takes me to do the updates. The fact there was a compiler update that broke every single tool and changed the layout of just about ever single struct further illustrates the issue. If I need help with anything, it's available so it's not a case of any project mis-managing.
4. We write and maintain our own set of tools for working with the game to help speed up updates and catch things that change. That is why we caught both ***** detection systems, and why we can provide an API for the game. However, once again, due to the compiler changes, all those tools broke, and need to be updated, so that adds a lot of extra update time as things are readjusted. Before we can do a beta release, all this stuff needs to be updated and verified so we don't miss anything that is pushed out.
5. The major GUI system changes are being done because the old GUI system itself was broken from the compiler changes. It was either update the old system, and continue to have month long updates on large expansions, or try to find a way to setup things better in hopes of having significant less downtime in the future. In either case,
we're still looking at over a month of downtime. The idea that EB could have been updated in a few days or a week is silly, as that was quite literally impossible, which is why downtime started
before the expansion client was released.
I'm sure there's more I can point out, but you guys should get the picture. The only way we could have avoided the current situation is by not having a bot for PoE in the first place.
We truly are incredibly sorry for this downtime. It's just one of those things that can happen in the bot development world that is unavoidable though. When it happens, all we can do is take the time required to update everything, then get back to botting.
It is a shame we're missing out on Perandus, but if anything, the success of this league just opens the doors for even better leagues in the future, which we hope to be able to target for once with the new changes being done now. There's no guarantee though, since this is PoE and GGG is always unpredictable, but we'll try our best as always.