WoW Petopia Community

The reason datamining has slowed down is because Blizzard have removed file names from almost everything in the database. So, we no longer have any handle on file purpose or directory structure, or whether two files belong to the same model. Imagine if every file on your computer was renamed to a random string of numbers and placed in a single folder and you had to go about your daily tasks anyway.

Major sites like Wowhead can afford to puzzle it all together, but for now the rest of us cannot. We’ll need to band together to make up our own names for models and link them to the numbers and make our own file structures, but that will be slow. If files are associated with each other in the database (like a skin file is referenced in a look entry for a model) we can determine that they belong together. But for others it’s going to be hard. Beforehand I could ascertain that an unused skin belonged to a certain model by guessing at its name and path, but now I can’t. It might belong to that model or it might just look like it does but belong to something else. It's a nightmare.

At this stage I don’t know how it’s going to affect us in the long run. For now I have to wait and see what solutions smarter people than me come up with. So I don’t know how long before we have images and data up.

It really is discouraging to hear how difficult they're making it. I guess if the intent is to try to limit datamining I could almost understand...but the big name sites are going to find ways around that no matter what, so it really doesn't make that much of a difference in the end. All it does is hurt the smaller fansites who don't have access to the specialized resources to dig in and decipher the models.

It does sadden me because I've loved WoW Model Viewer as just a personal resource program for years, and that enthusiasm let me spend some time doing model shots for Warcraft Pets (which was a fun job!). But I had to quit that because the technical capabilities started to get beyond my skills, and now it sounds like it's even worse.

You put so much passion into maintaining these sites Wain, I hope you know how much we appreciate that hard work. I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be held back by something like this, but I don't think anyone's going to blame you for it. Hopefully someone figures out a way around this new data.

Wow. It's a real shame that they've made it even harder now. :/

I second Vephriel. Your hard work is very much appreciated, Wain. This fansite wouldn't be what it is without you putting so much effort into keeping it updated and running.

Hopefully some solution will be made known soon.

Wow that's a real bummer! We appreciate your efforts !