The red line is crossed now - Bots, cheaters, hackers, gil-seller

[KageTokage]

I really wish they could just resort to the tried and true method of attempting to communicate with highly suspect players then issuing a ban if they refuse to respond.

This wouldn't stop them entirely, but it would at least force people to not leave their bots running while they're AFK.

If they can't even control the bots they do ban on a regular basis by opting to target their methods instead of the bots themselves, I seriously doubt they'll ever make any major changes to how they handle the ones they have trouble even detecting.

[Adventica6]

ffxi was no different, the game is just showing it's age.

[KarstenS]

When people stop spending real money for these services, they will disappear.

Isn't going to happen, but i see no other way to get rid of them.

[KageTokage]

When people stop spending real money for these services, they will disappear.

Isn't going to happen, but i see no other way to get rid of them.

Having a decent team policing them would go a long way.

The problem right now is that bans for botting are so insanely rare that there's no fear. The weekly combined number of permanent and temporary bans is consistently lower then the total number of DoL/H bots on my server alone and that's only counting the major players who are consistently active every day (It's several times higher then that if you count anyone who's botted period).

If they started banning people on a regular basis, people would feel reluctant to continue or even start the practice.

That would require a total overhaul of how they investigate/act on reports, though, because they're clearly doing something wrong when players who are obviously running massive bot farming operations using an entire FC somehow go under the radar despite dozens of people reporting them.

[Fernandosilveirasc]

So just found this thread on google, did anything change with regards of reporting and something happening? There are these price undercutting bots on Famfrit 24/7, no way to sell anything unless you go for basically no profit.

[KageTokage]

So just found this thread on google, did anything change with regards of reporting and something happening? There are these price undercutting bots on Famfrit 24/7, no way to sell anything unless you go for basically no profit.

Nope.

There's been more botters then ever since 5.1 made the leveling of DoL/H classes easier but I've yet to see any of the numerous bots I've reported disappear, not even the ones that are consistently active 24/7. It seems more common for bots to disappear as a result of their owners getting bored and quitting then it is for it to happen because of a ban.

They really need to do something if they want anyone to take the Ishgard Restoration rankings in 5.2 somewhat seriously because the top spots are going to default to cheaters until they're done earning all of the achievements.

[Fernandosilveirasc]

So basically, what SE is saying is, "get yourself a bot"?

[KageTokage]

So basically, what SE is saying is, "get yourself a bot"?

Pretty much.

It's reached a point where I'm regularly seeing genuinely new players just jumping on the botting bandwagon right off the bat to level their DoL/H stuff overnight.

[Canadane]

Pretty much.

It's reached a point where I'm regularly seeing genuinely new players just jumping on the botting bandwagon right off the bat to level their DoL/H stuff overnight.

Which is super strange because it's probably quicker to do it yourself with levequests. Land and Hand exp is showered like no tomorrow.

Do wish SE would do one of those XI style banwaves where a ton of people just up and lose their accounts.

[KageTokage]

Which is super strange because it's probably quicker to do it yourself with levequests. Land and Hand exp is showered like no tomorrow.

Do wish SE would do one of those XI style banwaves where a ton of people just up and lose their accounts.

It is definitely faster to do it manually with a combination of leves and collectables, but they'd probably just rather spend their time doing activities they consider more interesting. It doesn't matter how fast they make DoH/L leveling since the core premise just doesn't appeal to a lot of people.

And yeah, I do think they need to have a zero tolerance policy if bans are going to be issued so rarely because the current slap on the wrist treatment they get on an initial offense means that someone can likely get away with their cheating more then long enough for a short ban to not feel like much of a punishment in comparison to how much they gained and how much time they saved. They already seem like they're searching for evidence to prove without a shadow of a doubt that someone is botting with how rarely bans occur, so I see no reason for them to not be issuing harsher punishment. If they create fear, people won't want to even start in the first place.