Bots are now teleporting from mob to mob.

[Tiraelina]

Most MMOs do mass-bans of bots once they've been able to hotfix whatever code loophole they're using. You generally won't get bot accounts banned just a couple days after you point them out.

I've been seeing the exact same group of bots farming in the same spot for several weeks now. Every game that takes the research over action route is ignoring that the economy and game is going to hell while they figure out how they are doing it.

There's only so many compromised accounts and leveling new ones takes time. They're only doing it because its profitable.

[Ihm]

Can you not just move positioning data server side rather than making the same mistake that was in FFXI and storing positioning data on the client then accepting any old data from the client allowing people to speed and pos hack easily, would stop the positioning lag too...

[yexie]

...
Here's a tip to players who don't want to be reported for "botting", if someone else comes into the area and attacks the same mobs you're killing. Let them.
...

I think that's a rather unsafe way to prevent being reported or detecting a bot.
I saw one yesterday that let me attack their mobs, he actually went the other way once I had attacked. I didn't think he was a bot until I noticed he was a bit too fast, so I traded him right while he was fighting, no reaction, though he stopped attacking due to the trade, the trade stayed open until he died >.<, certain proof he really wasn't there xD. I actually did that to both people there, just traded them while they were getting attacks, none of them cancelled the trade, both died, one was still laying there dead an hour later, the other insta-poofed when he died.

So I suggest if you think someone is botting, trade them, preferably while they are engaged in fighting a monster.

[NeruMew]

Can you not just move positioning data server side rather than making the same mistake that was in FFXI and storing positioning data on the client then accepting any old data from the client allowing people to speed and pos hack easily, would stop the positioning lag too...

Not sure how they didn't see this comming, also, so much positioning lag... tired of dying to aoe marks when im half map away from it.. X(

[Annah]

Hello,

We have a firm understanding of the current RMT (real money traders)/cheating situation, and while we are working to implement countermeasures, it is true that we are sometimes reacting one step behind. catch cheaters. We were able to catch some large scale RMT groups due to this.

While we do not respond to your RMT reports, all of the information we receive is reviewed by the development team and STF and everyone on the team is extremely appreciative of your efforts. We apologize for the frustrations and inconveniences caused by the RMT and cheaters, and we will be working hard to catch them.
.

I don't believe you whatsoever. (except for the part where you said you don't respond to our RMT reports)

We've reported the same bots for weeks and they are still there

[Brojam]

Thanks for a response. But may i suggest that perhaps you all are going about it the wrong way? Getting rid of the gil first is the wrong way as it still doesnt eliminate the source of the problem, whats making them gil? The teleporting bots are.

Where are the "Red GMs" of old? i heard they were in 1.0. All it would take is for them to monitor the spots that ive seen teleporters weekly at and insta ban em. Well, it would be a step in the right direction. Hell ill do it gor ya for 8 hrs as a job if ya paid me for it lol. 15/hr. But seriously... im not sure as to why this cant be dealt with in a fast manner.

I will do this for free when I'm playing

[MateoMalak]

SE not working fast enough...is everyone in japan too busy working at the fukushima plant? thanks for killing the world japan...now try not to kill final fantasy...k thanks.

[Drako]

Ya it wouldn't' be too hard to employ a handful of GMs with the soul purpose of teleporting over to several key hotspots. Make sure they can be invisible, and teleport from city to city to ban the shouters, and teleport to all major mining points, and insure they have the debug options to turn the terrain to wire-frame so they can see botters hiding behind the terrain.

There are several key hotspots they should be able to patrol frequently. honostly one person could prob do this per server, or even one person per a few servers. I'm with Archeus on this one, it should be fairly simple for this to happen, esp sense the botters themselves are teleporting, i'm sure it wouldn't be a stretch for the devs to make gms that can teleport anywhere at anytime. Why its taking so long for them to come up with a solution is beyond me. It's like all of there resources are being put in other areas they deemed more important. Right now the economy is being trashed, and due to botters screwing said market up, this has caused a chain reaction leading to the issue of players being suspended and losing there gil. I know several people that would be like "what the crap?? all my hard earned gil for a month, ugg /unsub" I know myself if i had worried about rushing at the beginning and getting tons of gil, and then have it all wiped, would have to question if i really want to continue, if this is how they are going to do things. Point is you would think they would have this at the very top of their priority because of how it directly effects players, and their willingness to stick around.

also I'm aware RMT activity will always be a issue, but waiting on players reporting a potential RMT activity, and then possibly acting on it a week+ down the road, is most certainly not the way to handle it(im assuming here, but its prob not far off). active GMs that are teleporting around the world checking the frequently reported hotspots, is the best way to go. It might not be the cheapest, but it would be the fastest way. you could identify them, and immidiately suspend them, then pass on a report to the STF to have it looked into furthor. This way there is immediate impact on the RMT activity.

Really if they want a alternative to the problem, albeit it still costly dev wise, turn enemy drops into what DoL is like. #1 everyone has there own mobs on their screen, or #2, make it so when mob is dead, and you contributed enough to dmg, you now have a mining/harvesting minigame where you click on the materials you want from the dead body of the mob. Both would clearly effect the market, weither its good or bad depends on the player, whos selling and whos buying, but seriously those solutions would also work to curb some of this RMT activity. If RMT can't monopolize a mob, they have less a chance of monopolize market. Clearly it wont prevent them from buying everything off AH to price fix, but it would be better imo.

[FrancisBean]

While it isn't botting, whatever spell summmoners cast that puts a purple bubble over spawn points to automatically claim targets, is just as bad as botting,.. this is a unfair advantage and needs to be addressed

[ChickensEvil]

Not exactly sure where you got the "it shouldn't be there in the first place" from my post xD I said nothing of the sort. Hell i personally knew this was going to happen, it happens en every mmo nowdays.

Sorry, that part wasn't directed toward you, was in response to the dev post stating that people have been saying bugs shouldn't be there in the first place, and we agree... or whatever. Sorry if it came off as me attacking you, was not intended

While it isn't botting, whatever spell summmoners cast that puts a purple bubble over spawn points to automatically claim targets, is just as bad as botting,.. this is a unfair advantage and needs to be addressed

Ummm you do realize that those ticks work the same as DoTs do, every 3 seconds server side. So you potentially have up to 3 seconds to hit the mob before their AOE hits it.
1: Click mob as he spawns
2: press instant cast whatever keybind
3: ???
4: Profit

I don't really see the issue here, they MIGHT beat you at best half the time, but I will take those odds over the 300ms in game lag trying to compete with someone else using instant cast as soon as they see the mob spawn. So please, SMN (and other's with similar AOE), continue to do this, since I like these chances.