Curse

wolf-rayet · Oct 25, 2007, 11:44 AM // 11:44

Although I would never lower myself to use bots i have a curiosity about them. I noticed when Anet was letting them roam free they were always in groups of 8. Do these programs let you use more than 1 character slots at once or do these people actually have a few computers to run these programs?

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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

Onarik Amrak · Oct 25, 2007, 12:30 PM // 12:30

They probably have a whole bank of computers in a room with different accounts running.

Steboy93 · Oct 25, 2007, 12:41 PM // 12:41

They either have lots of computers in a room or have somehow managed to run several copies of gw on one computer...or something.

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(='.'=) Muhahaha!!
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Giga Strike · Oct 25, 2007, 04:03 PM // 16:03

if they had a strong enough computer they could do the latter. not many ppl know but pcs can run multiple operating systems simaltaniously.

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(='.'=) wtvr
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tenshi_strife · Oct 25, 2007, 04:24 PM // 16:24

prolly have a few comps running it, each comp running like 5 accounts. cause the real bot users prolly have like 15 or 20 accounts running bots to make all the gold they need to sell it

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(='.'=) (='.'=) (='.'=)
(")_(") (")_(") (")_(") OH NOES THEY IS MULTIPLYING

WarKaster · Oct 25, 2007, 04:28 PM // 16:28

i think A-Net tries but for the most part its hard to ban all the bot accounts because they are created faster than they can be deleted.

and I think this thread was created to get bunny a foot hold for his world domination scheme I for one won't take par......

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(='.'=) <--- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
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Onarik Amrak · Oct 25, 2007, 04:38 PM // 16:38

Alot of bots are stolen accounts aren't they?

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(='.'=) <--- Must be contagious.
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nebuchanezzar · Oct 25, 2007, 04:54 PM // 16:54

There are a few ways to have a group of 8 bots.
1. 8 machines each running one copy of the client.
2. 1 machine running multiple copies of GW
a. Linux for example has multiple "desktop environments" to effectively be multiple machines similar to example one.
3. A combination of them

I assume this is now happening as they adapt to loot scaling. Most bot programs afaik require very minimal actual user interaction(hence the name 'bot short for robot)
On a large scale Linux system with enough Ram/CPU power you could run 8 instances of GW quite easily I would assume. I myself occasionally run 2 accounts at once on a Windows machine(just getting into Linux moreso for Network Administration than home use atm) but the 2nd is usually just along for the ride in most cases.

A bot runner is looking for efficiency so my first guess would be a few Linux boxes running multiple desktops or OS's to load each instance of GW. Then group them all, start the bot scripts, check back occasionally for errors. I'm running on assumption though as I don't know any personally. Being in networking though I have a good number of programming friends and have mentioned the subject to them. The things I mentioned were just general thoughts/guidelines they said they would use.
There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

btw, not all those bot farmers are actually bots in the pure sense of scripted action w/o human control. Many companies hire individuals to run an account or even multiple accounts and farm with them. While the end result is the same(IG gold for RL money) they actually require some human interface.

Like I said though this is just bot programmers adapting to loot scaling as solo farming has taken a serious hit both to bots and actual players. Now take into consideration that rarely can a bot program simply zone to a new zone to farm(hopefully improving drops by not doing 1 zone a bazillion times) without using a new bot script they are trying to stay efficient by grouping them now.

I haven't been to any bot areas lately to see but they used to always be solo.

bilateralrope · Oct 25, 2007, 10:45 PM // 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarKaster

i think A-Net tries but for the most part its hard to ban all the bot accounts because they are created faster than they can be deleted.

I think that ANET has said a few times that a lot of the bot accounts are actually stolen ones.

As for the OP, I'm expecting that a lot of the bots have hacked the client to make it use less system resources (for instance, the bot won't need texture rendering). But even if they didn't, they will be operating them on the minimum graphics settings so they can squeeze more in.

But there is one disadvantage for running multiple bots on the one computer. Because they have the same ip address, that means that ANET can easily see that the accounts are linked. Though ANET can probably see that anyway from the transaction logs.

WarKaster · Oct 26, 2007, 02:34 PM // 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by bilateralrope

I think that ANET has said a few times that a lot of the bot accounts are actually stolen ones.

Even if they are stolen accounts does that not mean that new bot accounts are being created.

Giga Strike · Oct 26, 2007, 03:04 PM // 15:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebuchanezzar

btw, not all those bot farmers are actually bots in the pure sense of scripted action w/o human control. Many companies hire individuals to run an account or even multiple accounts and farm with them. While the end result is the same(IG gold for RL money) they actually require some human interface.

wait. what legitimate company would focus on making virtual money? maybe a small group of ppl but i cant imagine a large company doing this.

Etta · Oct 26, 2007, 03:10 PM // 15:10

Lately I've been thinking about buying gold. Is that make me a bad person?
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(='o'=) <--OH NO!!!
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Onarik Amrak · Nov 25, 2007, 01:17 PM // 13:17

Resurrected just to add ellipsis?