You guys are way too strung out.

You need to relax, unplug, and find some other NM to kill if people don't want to cooperate with each other.

Yes, there are still "claim bots" out there, because the botters have been living with them for so long that it has become a drug to them, they forgot how to play this game without the bots doing everything for them.

Are there botters all of the place? Probably not. You might find one or two linkshells on every server whose members are majority botters, but even then those players are getting out of the game because now that you don't need a bot to play this game to its fullest, they quit because of various reason, one of my favorites is "FFXI is too easy now that other people have better gear than me" excuse.

As for terminology, both of you guys are correct, and both of you are wrong at the same time. Terms have different meanings to different people, so just accept that your idea of what "instanced" means is correct in your mind and move on with your life.

Enjoy the way you play this game, and don't let others dictate how you play your game, otherwise you will not like playing this game anymore and quit. Nobody really wants other players to quit this game, not at this stage of its life.