User blog:Dragonjet/API Links: October 2015

Did you get a catbomb recently? If so, that's probably because your API Link has already expired. Yes, you read that right, as of the 9th October 2015 update, API Links now expire some time after acquiring it.

When in doubt, refresh your API Link Keep calm, and refresh your API Link

Terminologies
First we need to differentiate states of the API Link. (The wordings represent their nature to front-end users, and does not signify actual back-end processes.)
 * Working API Link - a newly refreshed API Link that can open the game and do in-game actions
 * Locked API Link - an API Link that will work in playing, but will not let your re-enter the game (F5)
 * Expired API Link - an API Link that will catbomb regardless of what you do

We also need to differentiate the two "refresh" terms
 * Refreshing API Link - the process of visiting DMM to extract a new Working API Link
 * Refresh (F5) - the act of refreshing the BROWSER or viewer (in this blog post, it will always come with the (F5) suffix)

Old API Link Lifecycle
Before the update, API Links do not expire. They can be used for YEARS and still work and be used for playing. One of the main reasons for refreshing API Links though, is to get monthly resets and new content. But for those not interested in those, then yes, API Links previously did not expire and could be used indefinitely.

So previously, you could just wake up one day, and re-use your old API Link without going to the DMM website, and loading all their slow website assets. One-click play as it is. Unfortunately, this has all changed.

In the act of Refresh (F5)
In contrast to popular belief, Refresh (F5) still works, BUT ONLY during the early minutes of the game. This has caused people to believe that only certain viewers are affected - due to the unfortunate situation people have tested it in, but in reality, VIEWERS ARE IRRELEVANT (to be further discussed in the Viewers section).

In the act of idling out
There are conflicting reports of the effects of being idle in-game. Some have lasted hours of idle time without getting catbombed, however, it was not stated if they had been using an API Link from before or after the update. There might also be environment differences, but it is generally accepted at this point that idle time does expire your API Link.

Viewers
Let's get this straight first, VIEWERS ARE IRRELEVANT. Before anyone posts claims of viewers that caused this, know your shit first.
 * Viewers listen to your interactions with the game and show you hidden data
 * API Link is a way to access the game and start playing

Now, there might be some viewers that might HELP work around this, which I am not aware of so far, but as I see it there's no 100% solution (except for api_start2 caching on locked, but not expired APIs, but we'll see).

But right now, all viewers are affected in terms of API Links!

Viewers that encourage DMM Gameplay is fortunate since as everyone knows, DMM gameplay is the OTHER way to access the game aside from API Link, and is unaffected.

Here are the possible effects of this change to the known viewers:

KC3改
To those playing via API Link
 * "The impact to KC3改 is that you cannot just wake up each day and click "Play via API Link". Instead, you will need to click on "Refresh API Link" and continue as usual."

To those playing via DMM website
 * No change in process

KCV
To those playing via API Link To those playing via DMM website
 * You will need to re-extract your API Link everytime it expires, as explained in the article above. You might want to use KC3改 just for easy extraction and copy-paste the API Link onto your KCV address bar up top.
 * This is when you use KCV cookies and login to DMM within the KCV viewport
 * No change in process

EO
To those playing via API Link To those playing via DMM website
 * You will need to re-extract your API Link everytime it expires, as explained in the article above. You might want to use KC3改 just for easy extraction and copy-paste the API Link onto the EO settings.
 * This is when you use EO cookies and login to DMM within the EO viewport
 * No change in process

Poi
need more info from its users

KCIC
KCIC's Launcher is fueled by DMM mechanisms and might be unaffected. This means each gameplay is naturally a new API Link so there will be no change to process. (This is unconfirmed as of its latest version)

KcTV
Unfortunately, KcTV only works with API Links, and no Direct DMM gameplay option. You will need to refresh the API Link each time you play, as all other viewers do.

Things to look out for
Since API Link users would now be eager to avoid catbombs (since a catbomb will require them to refresh the API Link again -_-), here are a few things to watch out for:
 * "Switching to the fleet screen while dismantling a ship" will certainly trigger a catbomb, "Until then, avoid clicking on the Fleet screen until a ship is FULLY dismantled to prevent one source of catbombs.".