Retro Achievements Brainstorming

[qzizzleferreal]

Just now, Shinryu said:

Probably next 2 or 3 stable releases as Jason wants to fully complete Launchbox.Next and have it replace normal Launchbox first. I'm also looking forward to further retroachievement integration. X-D

Awesome. Thanks for the reply!

[luchaos]

Hey there!

I was made aware of LaunchBox just a few moment ago and am excited to see both retroachievements.org and completionist.me mentioned in this thread as i happen to be one of the (ra.org) / the sole (c.me) backend developer on those sites.

One of the reasons I'm here is to check back whether the use of the personal API Key remains on the user's client or is sent somewhere else than to retroachievements.org directly.
We were made aware that there are some online third party tools asking for the private API keys of users which are then stored in a database which is against the (unwritten, more on that below) terms of use.
I'd love to get some information on how LaunchBox handles this - and maybe work out another solution with you in case it's needed.

As for updates to ra.org's api - we just recently moved servers and are currently working on the next version, which will include a new api but with legacy support until a much later (and communicated) deprecation date.
The new version will include some sanitisation of data and UI as well as infrastructure, including proper request throttling, an OAuth server, HTTPS only and said terms of use. 

The current API will remain the same until then. Feel free to contact me/us for any questions regarding the upcoming changes to ra.org - I'm sure we can work out something and maybe even enhance ra.org's integration in LaunchBox

Edit: I really like what LaunchBox offers there, glad i found out about it - keep up the good work!

Edited July 23, 2018 by luchaos

[neil9000]

40 minutes ago, luchaos said:

Hey there!

I was made aware of LaunchBox just a few moment ago and am excited to see both retroachievements.org and completionist.me mentioned in this thread as i happen to be one of the (ra.org) / the sole (c.me) backend developer on those sites.

One of the reasons I'm here is to check back whether the use of the personal API Key remains on the user's client or is sent somewhere else than to retroachievements.org directly.
We were made aware that there are some online third party tools asking for the private API keys of users which are then stored in a database which is against the (unwritten, more on that below) terms of use.
I'd love to get some information on how LaunchBox handles this - and maybe work out another solution with you in case it's needed.

As for updates to ra.org's api - we just recently moved servers and are currently working on the next version, which also include a new api but with legacy support until a much later (and communicated) deprecation date.
The new version will include some sanitisation of data and UI as well as infrastructure, including proper request throttling, an OAuth server, HTTPS only and said terms of use. 

The current API will remain the same until then. Feel free to contact me/us for any questions regarding the upcoming changes to ra.org - I'm sure we can work out something and maybe even enhance ra.org's integration in LaunchBox

As far as i am aware the api key is kept client side at all times. This would be a question for the developer though so i will tag @Jason Carr here so he can see this post, and hopefully offer a definitive answer for you.

[Jason Carr]

Hi @luchaos, good to have you here. Yes, the API key stays on the local user's machine; we have no need of it on our end and we do not collect them.

I'll be looking forward to ra.org API improvements. The API has worked out very well for us so far; the main thing that we're missing is notifications of some sort (which I know will probably be difficult from an API perspective). But the biggest request we have, related to retro achievements, is to be able to pop up a notification when an achievement is reached (of course). I don't know of any way to do that without some sort of an event or notification system with the API. If there's a way to conquer that, the whole community would be ecstatic.

[luchaos]

That's fantastic to hear @Jason Carr, thanks!

As for a notifications API - personally, i like the idea. I'll see what I can do about that  

Edit: sorry for the late reply - swamped with RL work atm, you know the drill.

Edited August 5, 2018 by luchaos

[Jason Carr]

1 hour ago, luchaos said:

That's fantastic to hear @Jason Carr, thanks!

As for a notifications API - personally, i like the idea. I'll see what I can do about that  

Edit: sorry for the late reply - swamped with RL work atm, you know the drill.

Awesome to hear. Very excited about a notifications API thing.

[qzizzleferreal]

Hey guys - just curious as to if we'll start seeing some further Retro Achievement integration in some upcoming betas now that .Next is done?

[qzizzleferreal]

Hey Guys - just curious as to if we'll see some updates to Retro Achievements in any upcoming releases. Also, any news on the notifications API? I love RetroArch, but the yellow text when you unlock achievements is still so underwhelming ha.

[Jason Carr]

2 hours ago, qzizzleferreal said:

Hey Guys - just curious as to if we'll see some updates to Retro Achievements in any upcoming releases. Also, any news on the notifications API? I love RetroArch, but the yellow text when you unlock achievements is still so underwhelming ha.

We will see updates, but not right away. I have not heard back on any API improvements as of yet.