Why are people rewarded for cheating?

[Zaft]

snip

Those tools exist, but I'm 99% sure we're not allowed to mention their name on the forums. Voldemort kind of thing, y'know?

Bots currently exist for (afaik): Crafting, Gathering (including unspoiled nodes), Grinding, Questing, FATEs, Dungeons, Multibox Dungeons, and PvP (including Wolves Den and Frontlines). And that doesn't include any that have to do with actual hacking (such as speed hacking, teleport hacking, etc).

That being said, as you mentioned, it's very difficult to prove somebody is a bot, especially in a game that offers controllers. A person who doesn't respond to you might just not be at a keyboard. I have people try to drag monsters AoE on me because they were "checking if I was a bot" while I'm fishing and it's utterly ridiculous.

[Laraul]

Those tools exist, but I'm 99% sure we're not allowed to mention their name on the forums. Voldemort kind of thing, y'know?

Read the forum guidelines. It does not forbid disclosing the names of third party tools that may be used for the purpose of violating the ToS.

[tocsin]

Read the forum guidelines. It does not forbid disclosing the names of third party tools that may be used for the purpose of violating the ToS.

OBJECTION!

•Posting content that seeks to interfere with the running of FINAL FANTASY XIV.

additionally,

•Doing anything that is prohibited in the the Square Enix Account Terms of Use.

which, within those terms is:

x. Use, transfer, distribute or dispose of any information contained in the Website or Services in any manner that does or could compete with the business of SQUARE ENIX;
xi. Engage in or instigate any illegal activities;

Botting competes with SE's business in keeping the economy on its feet.

Case closed. do not post the names, they are quite against the guidelines..

this is also why the forum thread about that pc only hunting assistance tool got removed. someone named it, which killed the whole thread.

more on the main topic, though, botting will only get you so far. and it really removes the "fun" aspect of the game anyways, so its not really worth doing.

Besides, as someone who made 25 mil last weekend, in only 6 hours of game play, gil is so easy to make, botting isn't even worth it. if you are botting, then you aren't making gil the most efficiently possible.

[Laraul]

OBJECTION!

This isn't a court of law... and I do not think it's not your place to decide. That's is up to SE, and you are not their representative. Article (x) refers to information about the game (the service) that could negatively impact their business, not information on other websites. (xi) refers to activity in violation of state or federal law. RMT, bots, those are against the ToS, but not against the law. You can not be arrested for using RMT or botting.

We have a difference of opinion, but please don't say we can't use the names of third party tools on their website. That would make simply asking if a particular program is in violation of the ToS.

I'm done discussing this.

[tocsin]

I quite agree with Jace, and yes, I will admit that the bots are significantly more useful than likely 90% of my fc ever will be. it is the bots, and the bots alone, that keep shard prices below 400 gil per. This is fact. you can look after each major patch, when botting programs get broken due to code changes. the prices of shards tend to triple to quadruple for the first few hours to days after, until the bots get themselves running again.

If you believe bots harm you, then you aren't looking at the big picture. stop looking at trying to sell items that you can get with no effort, and put a little bit of human thought into your gameplay. I promise you will make money, if you do so. If you are on my server, I will even back that promise with gil. if you put human thought into your selling and don't just mindlessly gather low level items, and you don't make money, I will personally pay you the entire amount that you would have made from gathering those low level items. I put human thought into my money-making, and I can definitely back that promise.

angry snippet.

I do apologize. I know we aren't in a court of law, but since you were making references to terms and conditions and rule books, I figured I would make a small "Phoenix wright" reference. I see the joke was not received. I meant no harm or slight.

People HAVE been banned just for mentioning 3rd party programs on the forums, though. That's what the support desk is for.

[Niwashi]

That being said, as you mentioned, it's very difficult to prove somebody is a bot, especially in a game that offers controllers. A person who doesn't respond to you might just not be at a keyboard. I have people try to drag monsters AoE on me because they were "checking if I was a bot" while I'm fishing and it's utterly ridiculous.

I tend to keep a completely optional minion (usually my Coeurl Kitten) out while I'm gathering, and the fact that I enjoy watching it is only part of the reason. RMT bots are unlikely to bother with the quest to obtain such fluff, so having obvious fluff makes me look less like a bot. Having glamours, or at least color-coordinated dyes, for your gathering gear can help a bit as well, for the same reason. Bots don't care about aesthetics. But yeah, it's annoying that we have to worry about how we'll look to other players when we just want to relax at a fishing hole for a while. It's even more annoying when it doesn't even work, and people still accuse any gatherers of being bots regardless.

Bots do affect at least some people's game, so I do think SE should try to eliminate them as well as possible. But when players try to stop bots, it turns into a witch hunt that's as likely to harass other players as it is to actually find and stop real bots. If you see what looks to you like it might be a bot, you can go ahead and report it to let SE make that determination, but don't harass the player, who may well not be a bot. (And yes, even just asking if they're a bot, if you don't have any other reason to talk to them, is harassment. Players shouldn't be obligated to keep justifying their existence to everyone who comes along.)