PSW Hunt For The Rares

PSW Hunt for the Rares v0.15.1

---

v0.15.1 expands the HFTR Core architecture beyond the current expansion and lays the foundation for full legacy-expansion support, beginning with **The War Within**.

This release also introduces the new **Rare Research** system: a targeted telemetry pipeline designed to help replace uncertain legacy fallback behavior with verified in-game evidence over time.

Midnight remains on **v0.8.8** and continues to use the existing full-fidelity tracking system.

## Legacy Expansion Support

- Expanded the shared Core content contract for legacy expansion modules.
- Added support for richer encounter metadata without changing the existing Midnight content model.
- Current expansion content remains full-fidelity and is not downgraded when legacy support is added.
- Legacy modules can explicitly identify encounters where mechanics or availability still require live validation.
- Preserved the separation between:
  - encounter type
  - reset policy
  - availability
  - activation requirements
  - live tracking state
  - research state
- Added groundwork for legacy mechanics that do not fit a simple DAILY / EVENT model.
- Preserved the modular architecture: Core remains the engine while expansion addons own their own rare and zone data.

## Rare Research

Added a new targeted **Rare Research** telemetry system for expansion encounters that still need live evidence before their tracking logic can be considered fully verified.

Rare Research can capture technical encounter observations such as:

- rare / NPC ID
- map and zone context
- live detection source
- encounter state
- confirmed kills
- observed rare deaths
- vignette evidence
- spawn / shard information where available
- player map position
- availability and requirement results
- relevant expansion-specific encounter context

Research observations are only generated for rares that the expansion module explicitly marks as requiring research.

**Normal verified rares are not included.**

The goal is not to keep legacy encounters in fallback mode permanently. The collected evidence is intended to help improve the expansion module until the encounter can use the same reliable full-fidelity tracking model as current content.

## Rare Research Sync

Rare Research integrates with **PSW HFTR Companion**.

- Research observations are stored locally in WoW SavedVariables first.
- Companion uploads pending observations after WoW has written the SavedVariables data.
- The server acknowledges individual observations.
- Successfully accepted or already-known observations can then be safely removed from the local queue.
- Failed, rejected or unacknowledged observations remain local rather than being silently discarded.
- The local research queue is bounded so it cannot grow indefinitely.

## Privacy

The Sync and About sections now explain HFTR's data boundaries more clearly.

Rare Research is intentionally limited to technical rare-encounter information.

It does **not** collect:

- BattleTag or Battle.net identity
- account identity
- guild information
- chat messages
- unrelated gameplay activity

Character-name sharing remains a separate optional community-sharing setting.

Personal kill history and Rare Collection progression remain local and are not uploaded as part of Rare Research.

## Detection Improvements

- Research observations can now be generated from normal supported rare detection.
- Added research capture from vignette detection.
- Added capture from confirmed rare kills.
- Added capture when HFTR observes a supported rare already dead.
- Observed deaths caused by other players can contribute evidence when the WoW client exposes the encounter locally.
- Existing protected / secret-value safety remains intact.

## Compatibility

- **Midnight v0.8.8** remains fully supported.
- Existing Midnight DAILY / EVENT behavior, Hunt Mode, navigation and tracking remain unchanged.
- Core continues to enforce expansion Content API compatibility.
- Legacy expansion modules remain separate addons rather than being merged into Core.
- Development-only research/test tooling is not loaded in the public release.

## The War Within — Now Available

v0.15.1 provides the Core architecture required by the first public release of **PSW Hunt for the Rares: The War Within v0.1.0**.

The War Within has now reached a state where it is ready for public release, but it should still be considered **actively tested and refined**.

The initial module includes researched rare support across:

- Isle of Dorn
- The Ringing Deeps
- Hallowfall
- Azj-Kahet
- Siren Isle
- Undermine
- K'aresh

A significant amount of the expansion data has been researched and implemented, but unlike Midnight, the entire expansion has not yet been personally live-validated encounter by encounter.

Where behavior could not be proven confidently, HFTR deliberately avoids inventing mechanics, timers or availability rules. Those encounters can instead use conservative fallback behavior and, where appropriate, the new Rare Research system to collect real in-game evidence.

This means **The War Within v0.1.0 is a public release, not a finished research project**.

During the initial release period, players may encounter:

- rares whose availability rules still need refinement
- event or summon requirements that need additional live validation
- encounters where HFTR knows the rare but cannot yet determine every state with the same confidence as fully verified Midnight content
- coordinates, hints or special mechanics that may receive corrections as more live evidence becomes available

The goal is to progressively replace these uncertain cases with verified full-fidelity tracking as they are tested.

Players using The War Within module and PSW HFTR Companion can help with this process automatically through Rare Research where supported.

The War Within is distributed as a **separate expansion addon** and requires PSW Hunt for the Rares Core.

---

Created by **PandaSaidWhat**