Too many bots, too few bans: The Shadowbringers edition.

[KageTokage]

I've come to realize that part of the problem is likely tied to the fact that with XIV being the first/only MMO of a lot of players, they are likely not familiar with the kinds of behavioral patterns that tend to be universal to bots across the genre.

There's a number of traits they exhibit that can potentially out them after a brief period of observation shows them repeating the same quirks, though the most important thing to remember is that consistency is the biggest giveaway of a bot and some of these initially innocent-seeming behaviors will look very suspicious if being repeated constantly over a prolonged period of time.:

For bots in general:

-They are always utilizing Legacy type movement and thus do not strafe and turn around very quickly

-They have awkward pauses after most non-combat actions they perform such as mounting up or finishing their gathering from a node and can almost look as though they have a GCD on everything they do.

-After mounting up, they almost always take flight from a complete standstill, sometimes running a short distance then abruptly stopping to do so (As opposed to taking flight out of a run as normal players are prone to doing). They'll then suddenly whip around to face their destination and start flying towards it. It's exceedingly rare to see bots that don't do this and it's generally the first thing I look for in a suspect.

-When moving between gathering nodes or FATEs, they tend to zig-zag around awkwardly instead of making gradual turns like actual players. Their paths are also extremely precise and exhibit little to no variation as their scripts basically just tell them to move between exact coordinates on the map until they're within range of a target afterwhich they lock onto it and go to town.

-The only time they jump (Outside of taking flight) is if they get stuck on an object like a tree, rock, or wall for a prolonged period of time. They will not jump even for the sake of reaching a destination more quickly and will take a roundabout path instead.

-They can target things that are not actually in their line of sight and also keep things targeted even if they're extremely far away (To the point of it registering as "???" until you get close enough for said target to actually render).

For FATE bots:

-Melee classes only move in perfectly straight lines to their targets and never go for positionals even if the enemy is immobile due to casting or being stunned.

-Ranged classes will land at the edge of the FATE and start " turreting" enemies, only moving if their next target is out of range or if targeted by an AoE.

-When targeted by circle AoEs, they always run directly away from the enemy to dodge, and when targeted by cone or line AoEs will run diagonally to the flank of the enemy. Again, consistency is the key thing here because they literally always run in the same direction/angle.

-They will not stop attacking their current target until it's dead, which causes issues if they catch aggro from another mob during a FATE boss as they'll just let it beat on them until they're at critical HP then run away from the FATE.

-If no FATEs are around, they'll either stand still and do nothing, run/fly back to a nearby safe spot like an aetheryte and wait there instead, or just start killing every mob in the near vicinity to squeeze out as much EXP as possible.

-They generally ignore boss FATEs unless they're already being attacked by another player or NPC. If you see them idling, you'll notice that they won't budge but the instant a boss' HP drops below 100% they'll suddenly beeline for it.

-If they get low on HP or if they're still in combat after a FATE ends, they'll start sprinting back along one of their paths away from the FATE and won't stop running until they lose aggro and in the former case will not mount up and re-engage enemies until their HP is at 90% or higher. It's not uncommon to see them get stuck in a loop of getting mobbed by enemies, retreating, then coming back to get mobbed again due to having no spatial awareness.

-They seldom travel directly between FATEs and instead follow an invisible track of sorts around the zone, deviating from it once a FATE draws near. It's not uncommon to see them take very roundabout routes to get to certain FATEs as a result.

-They will never teleport to reach a FATE on the opposite side of the map even if there's an aetheryte right next to it.


Gathering bots:

-They typically have a home point they will return to and idle at between nodes as opposed to saving time by moving to the next one and waiting there. This is presumably avoid making themselves (extra) obvious by piling on top of other bots that would end up waiting at the exact same coordinates (Some back in the HW days were prone to doing this very thing), though it can result in them leaving a zone despite there being consecutive unspoiled/ephemeral node spawns there. I've even seen them teleport away, then teleport back to the exact same zone and aetheryte immediately after...

-As they cannot "see" unspoiled nodes, they will path a central point between all of the possible spawn points, then move to it after they've detected it (In contrast to actual players who know in advance where the nodes are thanks to the minimap indicator from Truth of Mountains/Forests).

-When gathering from normal nodes, they'll often be repeatedly toggling Preparation on and off for no readily identifiable reason (Maybe it helps them avoid being detected by whatever faulty tools the STF uses...?).

-They tend to land directly on top of nodes and drop down onto them from above, but will walk to any nearby nodes in the same cluster before flying to the next group.

-They'll trigger stealth even if there's no danger of being attacked by something due to level difference or there simply not being enemies in the vicinity.

-FSH bots cannot distinguish tugs and will waste their time/GP reeling in everything they hook even if the target fish is readily identifiable from it.


*will continue to update this as more quirks are noticed*