Is This Game A Full With Bots? 2 week adventure ends

Hello everyone,

I am new in this game almos 2 weeks started. After get flying i just rush my gather/craft stuffs and get them on 40s. But last 2 days i saw many mobs killing from somewhere but i cant see and after a bit search i found it was underground and that was bot.

Now after "wasted(sorry but i guess game officials want to be like that)" many hours i saw this.

https://imgur.com/a/DZLY47R


I think it is totally unacceptable, i play many mmos but not seen as much these and the reason to start ffxiv about crafting but after saw this i disincline to play. I wish someone warn me before buying game time, collector editions etc. Bot seems to be cheaper than game time charge and dont need getting tired.

I meet some friends, community is really so so nice and well peoples. Thank you but it will be stupid if continue for me.
And i got some helps from translate sorry for bad english, have a wonderfull day

Those hacking bots in the ARR areas are being used to farm gil for RMT via quests and killing dungeon mobs. Unfortunately, they've been a constant problem since the game's earliest days despite their unchanging methods and while they do get banned, replacements come in almost immediately.

They're just the tip of the iceberg, though, as there are other bots at endgame that instead flood the market with cheap crafted/gathered items for their RMT income instead; assuming they're not just owned by lazy players who want to get some easy gil for themselves with zero effort.

I've pretty much just accepted that cheating like this is almost omni-present in popular MMOs and try to ignore it, though it has caused me to shy away from trying to sell anything mainstream on the market board anymore...

SE really does need to something about it, but they seem to turn a blind eye to all but the most conspicuous forms of cheating.

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

Those hacking bots in the ARR areas are being used to farm gil for RMT via quests and killing dungeon mobs. Unfortunately, they've been a constant problem since the game's earliest days despite their unchanging methods and while they do get banned, replacements come in almost immediately.

They're just the tip of the iceberg, though, as there are other bots at endgame that instead flood the market with cheap crafted/gathered items for their RMT income instead; assuming they're not just owned by lazy players who want to get some easy gil for themselves with zero effort.

I've pretty much just accepted that cheating like this is almost omni-present in popular MMOs and try to ignore it, though it has caused me to shy away from trying to sell anything mainstream on the market board anymore...

SE really does need to something about it, but they seem to turn a blind eye to all but the most conspicuous forms of cheating.

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I am searching and reading many topics for ignore it and keep it play but most of all since 2015 says bots are common and just banned together(mass-ban). And there is more bots too in pvp or higher lvls. Wish i saw somewhere "GM s works well 1 hour ban or max 3 hours ban or answer ticket" "they trying to keep them out" "they really work well"... but all that is written is in the opposite direction

I spend 10-12 hours per day for getting somewhere as fast as i can but after saw and read these i feel like sucker.

The only bots you'll consistently see any action taken against are the ones in the ARR areas as their movement hacks they use to teleport around the place make them trivial for the moderation teams to identify then purge. Problem is that since they're opting for weekly ban waves (Which generally happen around the weekend), it gives the RMTers ample time to either transfer or sell the farmed gil before the ban takes place so it ultimately accomplishes virtually nothing.

The ones that are not hacking and mostly operating within legitimate bounds (I say "mostly", as you can still spot them doing impossible things like targeting objects/NPCs through walls or from impossibly long distances) are subtle enough that they seem to get a free pass from the STF despite being easily noticeable once you identify their movement/behavior quirks. There are some on my server that have been around since I started playing years ago and they still haven't been removed despite multiple reports from me and others.

I still kind of love that apparent program glitch that caused a hundredish or whatever bots to get stuck running laps in Ul’dah in such a blatant fashion. I can’t find the gifs of it again though.

Want to see the high end of bots? Go to the Levin Mint ephemeral node in Kholusia or Raktika when its up, or head over to Duskbloom spawn. You'll find 4-5 bots in pretty short order.

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Originally Posted by BeSuMr

Hello everyone,

I am new in this game almos 2 weeks started. After get flying i just rush my gather/craft stuffs and get them on 40s. But last 2 days i saw many mobs killing from somewhere but i cant see and after a bit search i found it was underground and that was bot.

Now after "wasted(sorry but i guess game officials want to be like that)" many hours i saw this.

https://imgur.com/a/DZLY47R


I think it is totally unacceptable, i play many mmos but not seen as much these and the reason to start ffxiv about crafting but after saw this i disincline to play. I wish someone warn me before buying game time, collector editions etc. Bot seems to be cheaper than game time charge and dont need getting tired.

I meet some friends, community is really so so nice and well peoples. Thank you but it will be stupid if continue for me.
And i got some helps from translate sorry for bad english, have a wonderfull day

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I personally find the desire to lose a game because of bots pathetic. Besides, the game has more to offer than just making things. Why don’t you try to be more interested in the other things?

It's my opinion, but of course it's up to you what you do with your time.

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Originally Posted by SnowX

I personally find the desire to lose a game because of bots pathetic. Besides, the game has more to offer than just making things. Why don’t you try to be more interested in the other things?

It's my opinion, but of course it's up to you what you do with your time.

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It does make it difficult to feel like getting involved in an entire aspect of the game with a whole 8 classes would be futile since any crafting you do would have to be for personal want and not able to really make an impact or get into doing anything with the market or other players.

Honestly, I craft for myself mostly because I refuse to give any money to the bot farmers on the market board. They are a ridiculously dominant force on Cactuar with virtually all of the green gear I see on other players bearing one of the same few names.

In the event I'm feeling lazy and I see a honest player trying to sell something, however, I'll readily throw some money at them.

Every online game struggles with bots. I have yet to play a MMO that didn't have a fairly obvious bot presence and in each game I learned to mostly ignore them after a while (unless they were dong something particularly amusing).

It's an ongoing problem that developers are constantly fighting, even if the player base can't see the progress as more bots are added to replace those that were banned and programming changes to get around new countermeasures developed to hinder them.

This is still an enjoyable game despite the bots. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide what you want to do but I would encourage you not to give up on the game yet.

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Originally Posted by NamidaTekika

It does make it difficult to feel like getting involved in an entire aspect of the game with a whole 8 classes would be futile since any crafting you do would have to be for personal want and not able to really make an impact or get into doing anything with the market or other players.

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and this feeling is derived from bots? It should be derived from how stupid easy they made crafting. Thats why crafting is garbage anymore, SE ruined it

Bots occasionally show up on ARR zones but that's about it. It's like this for virtually every online game that doesn't use special anti-cheat software. They could use software like this but then it invades people's privacy and is illegal in a lot of places. Maybe your server has a lot right now, it happens in phases. I don't know what their purpose is, I think it's just gil farming.

while I agree that they are in every mmo, I think the best you can do, is report and move on.

putting time into the game doesnt make you a sucker unless you find no enjoyment in it.have market bots created an issue? yes, certainly, but if you are not crafting to sell, there are still many things to enjoy in game. Report what you can, and just enjoy playing. I would never say just ignore it, since that allows SE to ignore it more.

since you have played a lot of mmo's, you should be aware that given the opportunity, there will always be those that cheat. leaving a game you enjoy simply because of that subsection of humanity, would indeed make your time here wasted since there are a majority of people who do not.

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Originally Posted by BeSuMr

Hello everyone,

I am new in this game almos 2 weeks started. After get flying i just rush my gather/craft stuffs and get them on 40s. But last 2 days i saw many mobs killing from somewhere but i cant see and after a bit search i found it was underground and that was bot.

Now after "wasted(sorry but i guess game officials want to be like that)" many hours i saw this.

https://imgur.com/a/DZLY47R


I think it is totally unacceptable, i play many mmos but not seen as much these and the reason to start ffxiv about crafting but after saw this i disincline to play. I wish someone warn me before buying game time, collector editions etc. Bot seems to be cheaper than game time charge and dont need getting tired.

---

EVERY mmo has a bot problem.
EVERY game has a hack/cheat problem somewhere.

Only games that are so unpopular and niche that barely anyone knows about them are truly bot and hack free.

Most gaming companies take a long view on dealing with them. Once enough people report a character for bot/hack, they investigate, if they think its a cheater then they try to figure out how to detect it, and they try to find every who may be using that same cheat. After all banning 1 character does nothing when hundreds maybe thousands are using the same cheat software and if they just immediately ban a guy he's going to tell the whoever wrote the software and then adjustments will get made and now the company can't detect the cheaters anymore. Eventually a ol' ban wave comes down and ... a few weeks later the cycle starts over.

Report the cheaters, acknowledge and move on.

Bots will continue to plague this (and other games) for as long as people are selfish and lazy enough to purchase currency for real money. It may well not be a great issue in Japan where the Devs are so that says a lot about our own cultures and who is really to blame.

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Originally Posted by EmmetOtter

EVERY mmo has a bot problem.
EVERY game has a hack/cheat problem somewhere.

Only games that are so unpopular and niche that barely anyone knows about them are truly bot and hack free.

Most gaming companies take a long view on dealing with them. Once enough people report a character for bot/hack, they investigate, if they think its a cheater then they try to figure out how to detect it, and they try to find every who may be using that same cheat. After all banning 1 character does nothing when hundreds maybe thousands are using the same cheat software and if they just immediately ban a guy he's going to tell the whoever wrote the software and then adjustments will get made and now the company can't detect the cheaters anymore. Eventually a ol' ban wave comes down and ... a few weeks later the cycle starts over.

Report the cheaters, acknowledge and move on.

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Most MMO games don't have bots that appear in the first page in Google search results. The real problem here is the bot in this game is accessible by literally everyone. The last time I saw such phenomenom is in FFXI, also an SE game unfortunately.

And to deal with this kind of bots is not that hard at all: they are not hidden in some secret forums, so just buy one and study how it works, as long as SE want to put some effort on it.

I find it funny that people keep trying to make excuses for how utterly inept SE has been at controlling the bots.

Fundamentally, they have not changed their tactics for years and have been following the exact same patterns of behavior that at this point should be easily recognizable by a half-way competent moderation team. Even the most obvious cases of cheating (Such as the glitched Diadem bots that get stuck repeating the same few actions endlessly) still don't get punished reliably and anything that's remotely subtle like crafting bots is basically out of the question.

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

... should be easily recognizable by a half-way competent moderation team.

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Here's the problem.

In North America data centers there are 24 Worlds.

Each area is defined by an instance, for A Realm Reborn there are at least 12 instances for the world running at the same time, one for each map.

That makes 288 areas that have to be monitored, 24x7. Add Europe and Japan, with their Worlds. Add the Heavensward/Stormblood/Shadowbringers areas.

There isn't a gaming team in the world that could support as many moderators as would be needed.

Complain, sure. But don't throw out ideas like adding a "half-way competent moderation team" without considering the logistics.

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Originally Posted by DPZ2

Here's the problem.

In North America data centers there are 24 Worlds.

Each area is defined by an instance, for A Realm Reborn there are at least 12 instances for the world running at the same time, one for each map.

That makes 288 areas that have to be monitored, 24x7. Add Europe and Japan, with their Worlds. Add the Heavensward/Stormblood/Shadowbringers areas.

There isn't a gaming team in the world that could support as many moderators as would be needed.

Complain, sure. But don't throw out ideas like adding a "half-way competent moderation team" without considering the logistics.

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They don't need to be actively policing zones; they just need to change how they go about investigating reports so cheaters get banned more consistently then they do now (Which is almost never).

The ARR gil farm bots should be considered bottom priority as they basically dig their own graves by using hacks to speed up the farming process (Which makes them extremely easy to detect), but they do need to be banned more regularly if they want to actually have any impact on their RMT sales.

It's the "normal" bots that are mostly involved in DoL/H activities that are the bigger problem as they mess up the economy and more recently have been making the Ishgard restoration rankings even more of a pain then they should be. These bots also will not just come back within a week's time unless their owners are willing to pay for both ShB and a level/story skip.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

Those hacking bots in the ARR areas are being used to farm gil for RMT via quests and killing dungeon mobs. Unfortunately, they've been a constant problem since the game's earliest days despite their unchanging methods and while they do get banned, replacements come in almost immediately.

They're just the tip of the iceberg, though, as there are other bots at endgame that instead flood the market with cheap crafted/gathered items for their RMT income instead; assuming they're not just owned by lazy players who want to get some easy gil for themselves with zero effort.

I've pretty much just accepted that cheating like this is almost omni-present in popular MMOs and try to ignore it, though it has caused me to shy away from trying to sell anything mainstream on the market board anymore...

SE really does need to something about it, but they seem to turn a blind eye to all but the most conspicuous forms of cheating.

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How has no one realized that RMT is an inside job?

SE sould ban more "normal" botters so that maybe the fear of getting banned for botting rises up amongst players.

They should let players put bounties on bots. The more bots you get, the more rewards, lol

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Originally Posted by ACE135

SE sould ban more "normal" botters so that maybe the fear of getting banned for botting rises up amongst players.

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At least they finally separated out the non-RMT bots from the RMT bots in the weekly notice so we can see they are trying to do something.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...66c6cd69bb8d16

11 accounts terminated and 51 temporarily suspended last week for non-RMT related botting activity.
1 terminated and 26 suspended 2 weeks ago.
7 terminated and 25 suspended 3 weeks ago.
10 terminated and 31 suspended 4 weeks ago.

Here's to hoping next week's notice is a banner week for non-RMT bot bans now they have the leaderboard rankings to browse through.

In the long run...

Those rmt farm bots aren't important.
They are easily found, easily banned, and even easier to replace.


The ones that need to be found are the ones holding the money.
The ones those farm bots funnel it to.

If those accounts can be found, then a difference can be made.

The other issue is the market demand from the player base. RMT would give up on XIV if there weren't some people out there actually buying gil. The fact that they are still here means that somewhere, somehow, there are idiots buying gil in a game whose only gil sink is limited housing. It is trivially easy to make gil in this game if you play the market boards right. (My in game waifu famously made five million gil as a level 35 by gaming lightning shards on the market board back around 2014. She sits around 100 mil.... because she just never buys anything that's "popular.")

The ironic thing is that after only two weeks, TC wouldn't have even begun to see how many ways bots are ruining this game.

I'm almost sure the daily queue during prime time is not actual users but bots.