Bots clicking placards...

...seems like a big issue right now. I've been trying to buy a small house for days now and most of the time there's at least one bot. I know they're bots because some still kept clicking the placard even though he already bought it.
I reported those I was sure were bots, but nothing happened to them. Are more people seeing this happen? Is there anything we could do in-game to stop them or make them miss the placard or something? Very annoying to waste hours just to lose to an AFK auto clicker that faces no consequences. :/

I've been noticing this too lately.

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Originally Posted by chizLemons

Is there anything we could do in-game to stop them or make them miss the placard or something? Very annoying to waste hours just to lose to an AFK auto clicker that faces no consequences. :/

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All you can do is report it. The region based GMs have been restricted by SE from taking action against cheats/bots and instead that falls to the Special Task Force (a very small group at the home base). It's a slow process and they may not get to it in time to actually witness the reported behavior.

Whenever I see a clicker bot I just leave. I know they're off doing whatever they want while I'm giving my hands cramps trying to compete. It's never worth it.

I reported a few of them yesterday (and lost a house to one) on Mateus. It's really disheartening knowing that even if you can get around the cheaters, you still may just have someone relocate on top of the plot.

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Originally Posted by chelebelle

I reported a few of them yesterday (and lost a house to one) on Mateus. It's really disheartening knowing that even if you can get around the cheaters, you still may just have someone relocate on top of the plot.

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That's frustrasting too, but I get less frustrated when someone relocates than when dealing with bots. At least it's not against the rules, and the person is actually playing the game.
I know the whole system is flawed, but if we're dealing with this, then the least people could do is follow the rules, or get punished if not doing so.

That's been going since 4.1, you're kinda late. I personally relocate to those plot and relocate back 5 minutes later just to reset the timer.

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Originally Posted by Yshtola

That's been going since 4.1, you're kinda late. I personally relocate to those plot and relocate back 5 minutes later just to reset the timer.

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If I understand correctly, you claim to spend millions upon millions of gil relocating plots just to reset a random timer? You must buy a lot of gil.

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Originally Posted by Yshtola

That's been going since 4.1, you're kinda late. I personally relocate to those plot and relocate back 5 minutes later just to reset the timer.

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You can and will be reported for nuisance behavior in game as well as interfering with gameplay of others.

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Originally Posted by Daemic

If I understand correctly, you claim to spend millions upon millions of gil relocating plots just to reset a random timer? You must buy a lot of gil.

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You know, you start wondering what to do with your gil when you reached gil cap and own nearly an entire housing ward.

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Originally Posted by Gula

You can and will be reported for nuisance behavior in game as well as interfering with gameplay of others.

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Good luck with that hahahaha. Seriously though, if I see people are obviously not hitting that placard manually, I have absolutely no regrets. That's why some people seem to think the timer can actually go beyond 24 hours... it's because they aren't really there when people relocate for an instant. ;)

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Originally Posted by Yshtola

That's why some people seem to think the timer can actually go beyond 24 hours... it's because they aren't really there when people relocate for an instant. ;)

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I've absolutely spammed a placard beyond 24 hours... And more than once (with help for breaks from my s.o.). Do you have proof that it can't actually go past that? No, you don't, just like I can't prove that it does without some screenshots that can be faked. I guess people will believe what they want in the absence of any concrete info from SE.

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Originally Posted by GomJabbar

I've absolutely spammed a placard beyond 24 hours... And more than once (with help for breaks from my s.o.). Do you have proof that it can't actually go past that? No, you don't, just like I can't prove that it does without some screenshots that can be faked. I guess people will believe what they want in the absence of any concrete info from SE.

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That's anecdotal at best, especially with your "s.o." :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I'll take the word of Balmung's housing server before anyone else's considering that's all they do... and you don't.

https://i.imgur.com/KCMkoFU.png
https://i.imgur.com/uXV2OB7.png

If you think you can challenge them, go on...

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Originally Posted by Yshtola

That's anecdotal at best, especially with your "s.o." :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I'll take the word of Balmung's housing server before anyone else's considering that's all they do... and you don't.

If you think you can challenge them, go on...

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You have no idea "what I do". I've reported numbers to the Balmung group. She has never updated her info with that info. Realistically, all the data on that server is "anecdotal at best". Especially if they want to pick and choose the data they want to include, and leave other data out simply because it seems unlikely.

idk if auto clicking can count as botting counting u can do it while at keyboard with some tape or controller

FFXIV Should bots be banned? [Let's Discuss] from Work to Game

Just a video done today in regards to bots as a whole. Enjoy

There is a bot in Cerberus - W15, who's been clicking placcard nonstop in a precise pattern since yesterday night. He lost the first plot to a relocator and kept clicking the placcard anyways. Then in the afternoon he moved to a new plot and he's been clicking it for the past 10h (I've been checking in & out and he's still there). Interacting with him, whispering him, trading him doesn't get any response out of them.

So I guess I have to give up house hunting since these people are free to do whatever they want and go unpunished.

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Originally Posted by Metallus

There is a bot in Cerberus - W15, who's been clicking placcard nonstop in a precise pattern since yesterday night. He lost the first plot to a relocator and kept clicking the placcard anyways. Then in the afternoon he moved to a new plot and he's been clicking it for the past 10h (I've been checking in & out and he's still there). Interacting with him, whispering him, trading him doesn't get any response out of them.

So I guess I have to give up house hunting since these people are free to do whatever they want and go unpunished.

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Someone not responding to you doesn't make them a bot, though I agree it does seem likely in this case.

So did you report it in game for cheating? No guarantee the team handling cheats would get your report and catch the bot while it's still placard spamming but they might and it's a chance to remove at least one bot competing with you for a house.

I used to play wow and a friend was a gm there. She said there was a particular bot/spam/sell company that paid Blizzard for being left alone. Think about that when you see gather/sell bots here.

Been watching a number of people all day clearly botting at placards. It's frustrating how broken this system is and SE don't seem interested.

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Originally Posted by Mitsubashi

Been watching a number of people all day clearly botting at placards. It's frustrating how broken this system is and SE don't seem interested.

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It's not that they're not interested, it's purely priorities. SE as a whole is not a company focused on MMOs. There isn't a heavy anti-cheat system or anything to shut you down. So people just do whatever- on PC, because nothing can stop them.

Shad is on the horizon, benchmark delayed, and there are many aspects that need fine tuning and fixing. This sort of thing will just have to be addressed when the staff can take a breather and there can be funds pushed to it. Outside of an absolute, perfect totalitarian state with GMs actively watching in game or looking at your data, it wont come to a complete halt.

i absolutely blame SE for this. The whole "hidden timer" thing just gave rise to this problem. bots, autoclickers, macros, controller macros, wireless controllers. It's so easy to take advantage of this system of spam - and you can't figure out who is who.
That's why there should be a bidding or lottery system. At least you only need to click on the placard once and hope rng picks you. lottery system can be manipulated with multiple alts, but at least it's better than going against those bots.
Or I would just revert back to the insta-purchase plots. because at least that system was first come, first serve. it's way more sane than literally standing there and doing nothing.

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Originally Posted by outburstt

Or I would just revert back to the insta-purchase plots. because at least that system was first come, first serve. it's way more sane than literally standing there and doing nothing.

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100% this. The random timer was put in place to help with people selling house plots. People still sell house plots all over the place. The timer just made it harder for people to buy their first house. It didn't stop what it was meant to stop. Please call it the failed experiment that it is and go back to letting the first person to show up to the house be the person who is able to buy it.

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Originally Posted by outburstt

Or I would just revert back to the insta-purchase plots. because at least that system was first come, first serve. it's way more sane than literally standing there and doing nothing.

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Absolutely.

Logged in after sleep and the same half dozen bots are still at the same house. One of them got it sometime in the night but all their macros are still running so they're all still trying to buy it ><

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Originally Posted by MizArai

100% this. The random timer was put in place to help with people selling house plots. People still sell house plots all over the place. The timer just made it harder for people to buy their first house. It didn't stop what it was meant to stop.

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No but it definitely did reduce it. The pool of players who can engage in house flipping has been greatly reduced because you either need to buy a fc or be able to relocate to purchase a house from another player. That's a tiny amount of people compared to before.

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Originally Posted by MizArai

Please call it the failed experiment that it is and go back to letting the first person to show up to the house be the person who is able to buy it.

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If it reduced RMT that's a win in SE's eyes.

But like...SE could remove almost all housing-based RMT and housing-based player unhappiness by giving us instanced housing ><

/tears hair out because the answer has been obvious for far too many years

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Originally Posted by Mitsubashi

Absolutely.

Logged in after sleep and the same half dozen bots are still at the same house. One of them got it sometime in the night but all their macros are still running so they're all still trying to buy it ><

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I seen this as well. Yesterday i saw a character that seem to be a very obvious bot, they where clicking on the placard even after they got the house continuously.

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Originally Posted by Penthea

No but it definitely did reduce it. The pool of players who can engage in house flipping has been greatly reduced because you either need to buy a fc or be able to relocate to purchase a house from another player. That's a tiny amount of people compared to before.

If it reduced RMT that's a win in SE's eyes.

But like...SE could remove almost all housing-based RMT and housing-based player unhappiness by giving us instanced housing ><

/tears hair out because the answer has been obvious for far too many years

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But, the house flipping market is just as active if not more so than it was before. How was it reduced?

The people I've known who bought gil never bought a house with it. The people I know who spend ridiculous amounts of gil on housing have plenty of gil on their own and would never think of buying gil to get a house (because they normally don't even know what to do with all the gil they have). I really don't understand why people assume that just because you bought a house from a flipper that RMT was involved somehow.

I would love to have instanced housing so I could have something better than an apartment for my alts.

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Originally Posted by Yshtola

That's been going since 4.1, you're kinda late. I personally relocate to those plot and relocate back 5 minutes later just to reset the timer.

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Just to note, that's a reportable offense that action can be taken on. We as users are not permitted to take action against those we believe to be using 3rd party tools or cheating. Harassment of any kind to a player character is not permitted and even if it's to a completely obvious bot. The bot user can report you and the GMs can and likely will take action in such cases.

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Originally Posted by Dustytome

Just to note, that's a reportable offense that action can be taken on. We as users are not permitted to take action against those we believe to be using 3rd party tools or cheating. Harassment of any kind to a player character is not permitted and even if it's to a completely obvious bot. The bot user can report you and the GMs can and likely will take action in such cases.

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/doze.....

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Originally Posted by Yshtola

/doze.....

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Well aware you don't care. It's more to make sure anyone else reading doesn't get the idea that it's ok and compromises what may be their only account.