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I'd like to get some information about my character from the game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Is there some API available? If not, has someone reverse-engineered their protocols, so that I could get the same information by capturing the communication between the game servers and my computer?

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@downvoter, care to comment why you think this question is bad? – svick Dec 20 '11 at 0:15
-1. Off topic, as it's not a game development question. Probably better suited to be asked on the TOR forums. – Trevor Powell Dec 20 '11 at 0:15
The FAQ says that this site is about “game-related APIs”, among other things. Which is exactly what am I asking about. – svick Dec 20 '11 at 0:16
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It's really not. Game-related APIs include things like OpenGL, DirectX, Havok, SDL, FMOD, SFML, and out into territory such as UDK, Unity, Flash, GameMaker, etc. That is, APIs used for the purposes of creating games. I'm not convinced that requests for assistance in intercepting the network communications of a single specific MMO not for game-making purposes falls under that category. Others, of course, are free to disagree. Mine is only one vote, after all. :) – Trevor Powell Dec 20 '11 at 0:21
Download Cheat Engine and read a tutorial on memory scanning – kisplit Dec 20 '11 at 0:22
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closed as off topic by Trevor Powell, Nicol Bolas, Tetrad♦ Dec 20 '11 at 8:10

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2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Here are some quotes from the END USER ACCESS AND LICENSE AGREEMENT (Part 2-B) you probably signed as it is required in order to play the game.

Except to the extent permitted under applicable law, you may not decompile, disassemble, translate, derive source code from, create derivative works based on, or reverse engineer the Software by any means whatsoever. You may not extract code from all or part of the Software, or authorise any third party to perform or to attempt to perform such operations on the Software. You may not remove, alter, circumvent or obscure any product identification, copyright, or other intellectual property notices in the Software.

...

It is also strictly prohibited to use any third-party software or any other device with a view to modifying the Software in any way, intercepting or scanning Game traffic or communications, changing the way the Game plays or playing in an abnormal manner or in a way that could impair the correct operation of the Game. Such prohibited third party software or devices can include, but are not limited to, those in the nature of "addons", "hacks", "cheats", "trainers", "mods", or the like by any name. The authorizations granted to you in accordance with this EUALA may under no circumstances be used for the purpose of creating or supplying any opportunity for third parties to access the Game, including through server emulators or similar devices. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree that EA may scan your computer’s memory or hard disk drive to detect or locate any such unauthorized third party program or devices, with or without any prior notice to you at any time.

So I definitely do not think gamedev.stackexchange.com is the good place to ask this question as people evolving here are probably prone to respect game licenses as they are mostly game creators themselves.

However, technically speaking the question is interesting and could probably have some instructive answers on stackexchange.com

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up vote 0 down vote

Most of the hacking you describe, though I don't recommend you do it because it's illegal, is actually not hard to as far as interrupting their network goes. I don't know how they have theirs set up, but it's likely that due to it being a modern MMO, has powerful prevention methods, not to mention the legalities that I mentioned before hand. I doubt there is an API for it sorry.

NOTE: MY DISCLAIMER ABOUT THE LEGALITIES, AND THAT I'M NOT ENCOURAGING YOU TO TRY THE HACKING

That being said, through hacking there are various work arounds that I won't discuss here. That you could find online with some googling.

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Why do you think doing that would be illegal? I just want to get the same information they are showing me, but in another form. And I know how capture the packets that arrive to my computer, that's not hard. Recognizing what they mean could be. – svick Dec 20 '11 at 0:06
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Even if it's not illegal, it would certainly be against that EULA you agreed to when you installed the game. – Nicol Bolas Dec 20 '11 at 1:31
As far as I know, EULA is "end user license agreement" which means that you're binding yourself by law, to their terms. Or, essentially "I agree that I won't do these things if I use your software, and that I won't use your software if I intend to do these things". That is all I meant by being illegal. – FullyLucid Dec 24 '11 at 21:24

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