Curse

bzzhuh · Mar 25, 2007, 03:38 PM // 15:38

There is a giant farming bot operation going on in the Granite Citadel.

I was searching for a way to report this type of thing, in case nobody had done so yet, and I found numerous threads talking about bots, but on top of claiming that bot reports don't accomplish much, they all either

a) talked about how it was hard to spot a bot
b) talked about how someone claimed to recognize a bot because it didn't respond to them, or some other reason that doesn't actually prove something is a bot
c) degenerated into ANET bashing and ANET defending about the bot problem
d) were simply dismissed because everybody knows there's bots

This situation is different just because these bots are so, so obvious. Also, I too was always aware that there were bots. In fact, on a couple of occasions I stood in droks and elona, watching the parade of monks and wondered which ones were bots. Today, while standing there and seeing these bots, the realization that there were SO many bots working all day long kind of blew my mind a bit. I think the creepiness of the whole thing in itself merits discussion.

Here's what happened: I was standing near the Spearhead Peak sign, and noticed there were so many monks around. I thought "hmm must be a lot of people trying to cap Spellbreaker for the UW/FoW weekend." A couple of monks in grey tattoos came right up to me and stood there a half a second and then walked away. I'm ashamed to admit I actually thought that maybe they came to take a look at my pretty character! Then more came, one after the other, touched the Spearhead Peak sign and walked to the merchant. I followed a couple to the merchant to see where they were going and found that after touching the Spearhead Peak sign and the merchant, they walked off to touch the Tasca's Demise sign. There (after some struggled a bit to get themselves turned around), they took a few steps to the right, paused, and went out the door.

There was an endless stream of them, and I know they didn't spend long out there, because I saw the same ones coming back in a manner of minutes to repeat their zombie-like ritual. The vast majority of them had the same grey tattoos on, with what some people argue is the tell-tale short name that makes no sense (and no guild). So... am I crazy? Unless I'm making this whole thing up, it seems like anyone should be able to tell they're bots. I even made a fraps movie out of them, although I've now been led to believe there's no use for this. This can't be dismissed as "hard to diagnose". If you actually care enough or are interested in bots enough to have read this far... I invite you to go check it out for yourself, even out of interest's sake. It's kind of creepy to watch.

Maybe this is some noob bot programmer making obvious bots or something and they're not all this easy to spot, but I do hope something can be done about it. Seems like an easy fish to catch. Right?

Mournblade · Mar 25, 2007, 03:52 PM // 15:52

If you read the other bot posts then you'll know what's going to happen to this one. There is nothing we can do about it here (apart from complain). If you see evidence in-game then submit it to ANet.

Divinus Stella · Mar 25, 2007, 04:12 PM // 16:12

Just keep making a fuss about it, anet only take care of things that they think people care about, for a while botting was getting a lot of attention so they started banning, since people stopped posting they havent done much.

Dzan · Mar 25, 2007, 04:19 PM // 16:19

How does this affect you again?

Zorglubb · Mar 25, 2007, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dzan

How does this affect you again?

Screws the economy by adding a lot of gold, which makes gold less valuable, which makes everything more pricey, which means casual players (as in not farmers, not gold buyers) purchasing power drops.

BlackSephir · Mar 25, 2007, 04:59 PM // 16:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dzan

How does this affect you again?

If you want to achieve smth in game, you do it, not bot

Mr. G · Mar 25, 2007, 05:19 PM // 17:19

/yawn...........

Guildmaster Cain · Mar 25, 2007, 07:18 PM // 19:18

If you visited Beetletun about 1/2 year ago you would have seen this picture: (well i have the real screen somewhere stashed still)

At any time, there were at least 10 monks, all level 20 in town (most players visiting Beetletun, if they are not farming ettins with warrior, are level 10-15). Every few secs, new monks arrived, ran off to the nearest trader (Beetletun has a fixed spawn spot, and traders are nearest NPCs), sold their stuff (probably), and exited the area via maptravel). All these bots were wearing the starter armor, had NO guild tag, all were having the same hairstyle.

I counted at least 20 different names, all being out of town for about 2 minutes.

Ofcourse I send the screenshots to NCSOft, in good hope they actually would do something bout it.

Nuthing.

Tachyon · Mar 25, 2007, 07:23 PM // 19:23

Congratulations, and welcome to last year!

Jeremy Untouchable · Mar 25, 2007, 07:37 PM // 19:37

that is a crappy farming spot anyway, i took my 55 out there and its only used for bots b/c its so close to the door. (I think)

Guildmaster Cain · Mar 25, 2007, 07:44 PM // 19:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azagoth

Congratulations, and welcome to last year!

DUH! if you read, I said it IS last year. And congratulations for showing how superior you are by saying nothing usefull at all and posting lame comments.

Chop it Off · Mar 25, 2007, 07:53 PM // 19:53

anet knows about this.

IF they had ANY plan to do anything about it, they would of by now.

so in short, deal with it.

MirageMaster · Mar 25, 2007, 08:15 PM // 20:15

Yeah,Reported all this year ago to Anet,they just dont do a thing,shame.
I think there should be Game Master.. something like police in game that you can call and show him/her the bots so GM would bann them on the spot.
Atleast 50% bots would be banned in a couple of hours.

Miss Persephone · Mar 25, 2007, 08:37 PM // 20:37

This has been going on some time, behavior has always been exactly the same... they stop at the sign, get stuck a minute, side step and move out. Check it happening in Yohlon Haven Int too

HawkofStorms · Mar 25, 2007, 08:53 PM // 20:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divinus Stella

Just keep making a fuss about it, anet only take care of things that they think people care about, for a while botting was getting a lot of attention so they started banning, since people stopped posting they havent done much.

Umm.. or since it has less attention now, a.net hasn't bothered to tell people about all the bots they have banned.

Lets try not to be so negative, k?

Besides, when a.net kills a bot, another one just takes its place when the gold farming location just changes its IP and starts with new accounts, so it seems like a.net isn't really doing anything even if they are.

Mercury Angel · Mar 25, 2007, 10:00 PM // 22:00

This is a frequently discussed issue, but unfortunately not something anyone on the forum
can do anything about.
(Sorry, I couldn't find enough to fill every single word with unique threads)

As with the bulk of the prior threads, all that can really be said is, please direct screenshots with names, times, and locations expressed clearly on them to the applicable PlayNC Support Site for your region.