Dillemma, and legit question of ethics.

[Bloody]

Rule #1: Do what your conscience tells you. It doesn't matter what other people would do in this situation; it matters what you feel like doing and what your moral code says.

My only advice on this is don't blind yourself by your moral code. Make sure to think about all potential circumstances (like someone else mentioned, potentially being hacked) before deciding on a course of action.

[Canadane]

I'd tell them to stop. If they don't comply, I'd probably escalate it.
Friends are important, but even if SE hasn't been heavy handed on such things so far, doesn't mean they will one day. I don't want to be guilty by association. SE does have a history of scorched earth tactics when it comes to moderation.

[Lone-wolfe-02]

Yeah you're getting reported, friend or no the rules are there for a reason.

[Atoli]

I'd definitely talk to them about it, try to get them to understand that they will lose years worth of genuine effort if they get caught, but tbh, I'd neither report them nor bring up the topic again if they refused to stop.

That said, I wouldn't take the fall for them. Like, if my own character was in danger of getting suspended for lying on their behalf or something, I'd tell the truth.

Oh, and I'm also generally the type of person who takes screenshots of such information, just in case the friendship someday ends in a very unpleasant way..

[Riardon]

I would turn a blind eye for sure. You can't judge people and take the law in your hands with only suspicions and no actual proofs. Also I value the real world friendship more than a digital game. I would however secretly wish that someone else would report him (without my involvement at all) or GMs detect him and punish him.

[Dustytome]

I would turn a blind eye for sure. You can't judge people and take the law in your hands with only suspicions and no actual proofs. Also I value the real world friendship more than a digital game. I would however secretly wish that someone else would report him (without my involvement at all) or GMs detect him and punish him.

You're not taking the law into your own hands. You're requesting the GMs to look into the matter. They're not going to take your word on it and ban them on the spot. If anything happens it'll probably be upwards of a month later. I would confront said person, tell them to stop. If they persist, report them and what happens beyond that up to the GMs and on said person for breaking the terms. Everyone knows botting is against the terms they agreed to and there's no excuse for it.

[Nav_Fae]

Let's take the question one step even further.

What if it was your significant other doing the botting? Would you report them?

[Lan_Mantear]

Let's take the question one step even further.

What if it was your significant other doing the botting? Would you report them?

[Bonkleberry]

Those who lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas.

If botting is a bad thing to you and you start overlooking the action for a friend's sake, then you may find your moral compass shifting to start accepting the behavior from anybody and you might even start doing questionable things yourself. On top of that, the knowledge you hold of your friend doing something questionable and your inaction to stop or report the behavior also makes you a culprit.

So, yeah. You are really no better than a botter yourself if you knowingly let somebody bot, regardless of who they are. Since this is just a game and there are no real life implications, it is up to you to decide the identity you want for yourself in a virtual world.

[Esp]

Greetings boys and girls, catgirls and catgirls, popotoes and cabbages, small hume and big hume, tall hume with pointy ears and hippies(?), scaly catgirlclone and wild looking scaled thingy.

I bring you a question:
If you suspect - note, suspect, not confirmed - that your close friend, close FC mate, or close Linkshell mate, are doing the... unspeakables. You know, I mean if you suspect they are *cough* botting *cough*. What would you do? Confront them about it? Report them? Would you turn a blind eye?

Then, what happens if you've confirmed that they are indeed doing one of those unspeakables?

What will you do? :O

End note: Please keep discussion civil, lighthearted jokes are okay, but I would generally prefer an honest answer.

If it were me, I would personally talk to him/her about the issue, (Just make sure it is your friend, and not someone that has hacked the account..) and let them know it probably isn't a good idea to continue with said activities.

Afterwards, it's completely up to them to make the right call. If not, then they deserve whatever comes their way.

P.S: *waves* Hi neighbor! ^^