Does SE do anything about the bots?

There has been this lalafell white mage bot on Exodus in a FC of just two people, every single day; just standing at Western la Noscea ( 15.7, 14.7 ) casting the same spell over and over again, day in and day out killing the surrounding mobs. I've reported them and nothing ever comes of it.

x_x

It is against the terms of service to name-and-shame somebody like that. I don't disagree with you, but remove the name before you get yourself into trouble.

They do, it seems mostly in batches. Thousands of accounts get perma banned each month. So all you can do is report and carry on. Or do what I do sometimes when I see rmt appearing and disappearing killing specific mobs for quest chains, kill them first. I had a whole bundle of rmt stacked on top of each other once just cause they could get nothing killed. But it got boring. Took them awhile to clear out. more kept coming and not all could get the kills each time. If nothing else its amusing.

They release a monthly report with all the numbers. On the bright side, with the restrictions they put on trial accounts, most those accounts are paid for, which means more money for SE that will hopefully trickle down into the game itself and not bonuses for the higher ups.

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Originally Posted by xJimmehx

It is against the terms of service to name-and-shame somebody like that. I don't disagree with you, but remove the name before you get yourself into trouble.

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Thanks, removed the name.

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Originally Posted by AnimaAnimus

They do, it seems mostly in batches. Thousands of accounts get perma banned each month. So all you can do is report and carry on. Or do what I do sometimes when I see rmt appearing and disappearing killing specific mobs for quest chains, kill them first. I had a whole bundle of rmt stacked on top of each other once just cause they could get nothing killed. But it got boring. Took them awhile to clear out. more kept coming and not all could get the kills each time. If nothing else its amusing.

They release a monthly report with all the numbers. On the bright side, with the restrictions they put on trial accounts, most those accounts are paid for, which means more money for SE that will hopefully trickle down into the game itself and not bonuses for the higher ups.

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That is true. What in the world can anyone even hope to gain from killing those things though for weeks on end? Far as I know they just drop- absolutely nothing, went back again, looked at the mobs they were killing, killed the same ones and didn't get anything from it. They're not leveling a chocobo either. Just standing there AoEing them down. x_x I've noticed them even blink out of there the other day, only to be back later. I literally see them every time I look for Nahn throughout the day though.

Either they are farming an item that they are selling in mass quantities. They are getting exp for themselves or a stash of other bots hidden in the walls or under the floor nearby. Or they are simply trying to be an annoyance if it is in a highly populated area.

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Originally Posted by AnimaAnimus

Either they are farming an item that they are selling in mass quantities. They are getting exp for themselves or a stash of other bots hidden in the walls or under the floor nearby. Or they are simply trying to be an annoyance if it is in a highly populated area.

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Well, it's almost midnight and they're just sitting there blasting them down as a level 60, but I guess you can be right, perhaps they're leveling other bots nearby.

I hear they pour water on them every now and then.

They do!

If you're completely sure, report in-game, then VERY IMPORTANT; report from the website in support. They have a special team and they check website's reports before in-game ones.
Then, if they're still there, call a GM to talk with you in-game and tell him you've been reporting them, so the GM will check it and talk with the team that investigates this stuff.

It worked for me and got some botters banned.

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Originally Posted by Teirdalin

Does SE do anything about the bots?

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On the front page of the Lodestone, click on "Notices" and check out the links with the name "Actions Taken Against In-Game RMT & Other Illicit Activities ([Month] [Day])". These are reports that SE releases every one or two weeks that include statistics as to actions they've taken against bots and RMT. They generally report a thousand or so accounts banned as part of their efforts.

The fact that SE can ban so many accounts, and yet we still see RMT at large, should give you an idea of how relentless RMT is. Low level bots like the ones you mentioned are by far the easiest to replace, as well; there's simply no point in trying to ban those, as RMT can have a new bot running within seconds of the old one being banned.

While S-E deals with bots, botters simply replace them in what seems to be a very short period of time. Ergo, the Lodestone numbers posted each week are more or less a moot point.

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Originally Posted by Teirdalin

Does SE do anything about the bots?

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My understanding is Square is actively accepting a monthly sub payment from bots.

Joking aside, they often do bans on RMT stuff, just keep reporting.

I report each and every bot I get whispering me about gil, and in most cases they get banned very quickly. Just give them a good report and it should be resolved easily.

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Originally Posted by Lunavi

I report each and every bot I get whispering me about gil, and in most cases they get banned very quickly. Just give them a good report and it should be resolved easily.

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Good on you =) Personally, I've never reported a bot. The process for reporting seems rather cumbersome for something that is easily ignore-able.

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/

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Actions Taken Against In-Game RMT & Other Illicit Activities (May 19)
RMT and other illicit activities upset the balance of the game and, as such, are prohibited under the Terms of Service.

Because we have confirmed the existence of players who are engaging in these illicit activities, we have taken the actions listed below.

Time Period: May 12, 2016 to May 18, 2016

・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT advertising: 743
・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT/illicit activity: 3512
・Action Details: Permanent ban from FINAL FANTASY XIV

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Actions Taken Against In-Game RMT & Other Illicit Activities (May 12)
RMT and other illicit activities upset the balance of the game and, as such, are prohibited under the Terms of Service.

Because we have confirmed the existence of players who are engaging in these illicit activities, we have taken the actions listed below.

Time Period: May 5, 2016 to May 11, 2016

・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT advertising: 1089
・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT/illicit activity: 4257
・Action Details: Permanent ban from FINAL FANTASY XIV

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Actions Taken Against In-Game RMT & Other Illicit Activities (May 6)
RMT and other illicit activities upset the balance of the game and, as such, are prohibited under the Terms of Service.

Because we have confirmed the existence of players who are engaging in these illicit activities, we have taken the actions listed below.

Time Period: Apr. 21, 2016 to May 4, 2016

・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT advertising: 1504
・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for RMT/illicit activity: 8081
・Action Details: Permanent ban from FINAL FANTASY XIV

・Accounts receiving disciplinary action for participation in RMT/illegal activity: 3
・Action Details: Temporary ban from FINAL FANTASY XIV

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Nope, nothing done.

I'm more worred about the RMT. At the launch we'd get a weekly reminder why not to buy gold with a whole list of banned people. I doubt it has been fixed completely.

Well, looking for Nahn again today, and I see the same exact white mage lalafell AoEing there. There gear doesn't even really make any sense, they're wearing all level 50 crafting gear and an ilevel 210 earrings. lol

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Originally Posted by Kaurie

Good on you =) Personally, I've never reported a bot. The process for reporting seems rather cumbersome for something that is easily ignore-able.

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It is not about me, it is about everyone else getting less gil-spammed. If I take one to two minutes to fill out a report and therefore saving 40-50 people the hazzle of BLISTing the person, I see that as time well spent.

They need to hunt some down on Ultros since every single guy on my blacklist is a gold seller.

The do a lot of stuff. They just can't say more than numbers. They can't say what they are doing, how they are tacking and what happens at the very moment such connection is found.

People must keep reporting them. I doubt the vast majority of players knows how reporting works and where to find it. They should make some functions of the game more visible and easier to find.

SE does ban RMT regularly, but most of them are low-level and can be replaced instantly. The only way to truly curb it is to remove the demand and aggressively seek out gil buyers. The problem is that most of them go through channels outside of the game to do so, which SE can't do much about, apparently.

I've noticed SE has started focusing more on banning the players who purchase gil or whatever then the bots themselves. Honestly, that's a far better long term solution. You'll never get rid of bots just by banning them since they'll just make new accounts. If, however, you eliminate their market. They won't be making as much money. That will actually hurt them. They still do ban bots though.

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Originally Posted by ChocoFeru

They do!

If you're completely sure, report in-game, then VERY IMPORTANT; report from the website in support. They have a special team and they check website's reports before in-game ones.
Then, if they're still there, call a GM to talk with you in-game and tell him you've been reporting them, so the GM will check it and talk with the team that investigates this stuff.

It worked for me and got some botters banned.

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That´s very much effort to put in for a taks which should by now be done by 3-clicks in a menu.

It probably takes 10 times the time for banning 1 bot, while in the same time about 100 of them are created anew.

Very sad

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Originally Posted by Teirdalin

Well, looking for Nahn again today, and I see the same exact white mage lalafell AoEing there. There gear doesn't even really make any sense, they're wearing all level 50 crafting gear and an ilevel 210 earrings. lol

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Sounds like they are using their bot to spam an AoE to spiritbond the crafter gear, convert it to materia, and make lots of gil. The 210 earrings would be for stats since they are probably aiming for crafting materias since right now it sells the best.

My only guess as to possibly why nothing has been done would be because somehow SE can't prove it's a bot and not some derp player spamming one button all day. All you can really do is file a specific report and hope for the best. =/

They do (very slowly) tale action again bots such as gil spammers. However the ones you are mentioning, not so much. There were two people doing this on my server, and not only is it cheating for themselves but it was actually detrimental to others as their program kept resetting fates when it got too low on HP. Many people reported, no action taken.