Lack of action against gathering bots, it needs to be changed, and soon

[KageTokage]

I dont care about money making in ffxiv, i dont enjoy gathering or crafting. I get money just selling Goetias mats, so i dont have a lot of money.

I play just battle content (raid), but i need potions and foods, i have to buy both and being honest, if bots help me to get both cheaper, i have to say thank you bots, because i can buy potions and meals and keep playing this great game.

Or you can pay just a smidge more to support the legit crafters who haven't completely given up on trying to sell things in the presence of bots. That way it's a win-win situation.

Interesting bot side note: I encountered a couple characters in WoW running the same bot program. They'd kill beasts to loot bones and skin them. Giveaways were running into the same obstacle every tome, and making a 90-degree turn at the same point every loop.
After skinning, the bot would mount up, then ride to the next mob, even if it was 10 yards away. The bot also killed packs of mobs at a time.

I found that I could hit one of the beasts he was gathering up, pull it away, then hex it (60 second cc). This kept the bot in combat, so it couldn't mount up. Without mounting, it didn't go anywhere I'd keep him stuck in this mode until the operator came back and usually said ?? a couple times before disappearing.
(I also reported them every time, and they eventually disappeared after a couple weeks)

The thing about WoW is that because they have a functional enforcement team, if you mess with someone's bot it's extremely easy to deflect any harassment claims they might try to file in response to it.

Attempting to do the same in XIV is most likely to just get you punished due to the responsibility of dealing with cheaters being entirely on the STF who never interact with players at all, whereas the GMs are strictly responsible for handling harassment claims.

I've tried messing with them on multiple occasions to see if I could break them but they lamentably have quite a few fail-safes implemented to ensure that they always stay on track. Even if they get nuked by a S rank hunt they'll just respawn and go right back to whatever they were doimg.

[Endeleon]

The amount of people in here defending the people who are using these methods and botting speaks volumes for how many of you likely do it. Despicable.

[KageTokage]

The vast majority of the playerbase does not craft/gather and are the ones giving the botters the bulk of their business, lamentably. This is also why the outcry surrounding the matter tends to be so small compared to less important things like housing (Which is actually affected by bots to a noticeable degree between people using them to get houses as well as regularly choosing to buy out houses using their botting alts for reselling purposes or just to be annoying).

I do wonder how many of them would make a conscious to not buy from them if they were actually aware of what's going on, though.

[Misutoraru]

Text

I have seen a non botting RMT in some Korean MMO, they literally have ppl taking over the character like taking shift at work. Making it 24/7. Not so related to bot but I feel I must share this since they really amaze me

[Misutoraru]

I do wonder how many of them would make a conscious to not buy from them if they were actually aware of what's going on, though.

Not gonna lie, I have limit play time in a week, and I only gather/craft for my own use, only sell on extra stuff that I do not need, so I will always buy from the cheapest, and I believe it will be very difficult to tell if someone in MB is botting

[Oxidized]

I dont care about money making in ffxiv, i dont enjoy gathering or crafting. I get money just selling Goetias mats, so i dont have a lot of money.

I play just battle content (raid), but i need potions and foods, i have to buy both and being honest, if bots help me to get both cheaper, i have to say thank you bots, because i can buy potions and meals and keep playing this great game.

Quite a selfish perspective you have (or perhaps just ignorant), which is also why you probably have not tried to befriend any crafters in an attempt to obtain pots and food for cheaper. I supply a few raiders with intermittent bulk orders for both food and pots, and I always charge a much lower price than I otherwise would because I usually make a friend and a loyal customer in the process (and I never advertise, my services must be requested). These people know how I am losing my interest in the game due to DoH/DoL content feeling hollow as a result of this bot epidemic, and I told them to prepare for me to be away from the game until 5.1 at the very least, and likely intermittently from here on out just to do major patches on a much smaller scale.

Please, do tell them how bots are great for the raiding community, I wish you the best of luck.

[Granyala]

They're apparently going to be revamping quite a few aspects of the DoL/H classes to coincide with Ishgard Restoration releasing...

o_O
Seriously? Major class overhaul mid expansion?!
That doesn't sound wise at all.

Interesting bot side note: I encountered a couple characters in WoW running the same bot program. They'd kill beasts to loot bones and skin them. Giveaways were running into the same obstacle every tome, and making a 90-degree turn at the same point every loop.
After skinning, the bot would mount up, then ride to the next mob, even if it was 10 yards away. The bot also killed packs of mobs at a time.

I found that I could hit one of the beasts he was gathering up, pull it away, then hex it (60 second cc). This kept the bot in combat, so it couldn't mount up. Without mounting, it didn't go anywhere I'd keep him stuck in this mode until the operator came back and usually said ?? a couple times before disappearing.
(I also reported them every time, and they eventually disappeared after a couple weeks)

Haha, Mob training and waiting for them to do an AoE + feign death / shadowmeld also works wonders. ^^
Bots are way more fun on PvP servers.
Free honor!

I never advertise, my services must be requested

Uuh blast from the past... getting asked whether one is able to craft an item and engaging in negotiations about fees... man, the last time I did that was during The Burning Crusade back in 2007.

I don't think most people are that communicative these days.

[Allooutrick]

I never considered this or cared for it until I started gathering. It was then I had to use a few popular bot spots to get quest materials and saw literally lvl 80 gatherers running the same circles for hours without pause in locations 30 to 50 levels below them. Then come back after going to bed and there they are, still doing the exact same thing. It was saddening and really hampered the fun I could've gotten out of harvesting. Isolation would've been preferable to seeing that people don't want to experience the content.

[Granyala]

Isolation would've been preferable to seeing that people don't want to experience the content.

Eeeh... I wouldn't call "hitting a node to get mats into your inventory" as content.
I don't want to "experience" it myself so I usually put on a movie when mass gathering. Never outlasted an hours worth of farming though.

[Allooutrick]

Eeeh... I wouldn't call "hitting a node to get mats into your inventory" as content.
I don't want to "experience" it myself so I usually put on a movie when mass gathering. Never outlasted an hours worth of farming though.

I can understand that. The moment to moment gameplay isn't exactly engaging or fun. I've come to enjoy the long term focus of it though. Keeping aware of unspoiled nodes and using alarms, seeking out specific materials and allowing node properties to influence which skills to use, deciding if I should pop a cordial potion or accept the risk. It's a slow burn kind of fun what I enjoy most about it.