Is it OK to use bots in FFXIV?

[Kaurhz]

If I were to call you a name in game, and you report me, I would be dealt with rather quickly. The reason the same attention isn't paid to bot reports is because there is probably some policy to ignore said reports and stick with whatever internal means of looking for bot activity they have. For one of the most popular SUBSCRIPTION BASED mmorpgs out there, "its too hard" isn't a good excuse to at least attempt to prevent market breaking activities from happening.

The reason they put so much resources into policing language and negative behavior with regards to other players, is because people are more likely to respond to bad behavior like harassment with quitting the game.. which means less profit for them. Not enough people quit because of bots, so they don't really seem to care if an economy is wrecked.

I mean whether it is being handled efficiently or not, to handle botting in any major scope, which when you consider all the reports being pushed out, and all the players on the game itself that actively play it is a method which quite dramatically clogs down resources that could otherwise be used elsewhere, which is why I think looking at automated methods is all that more important.

On the comment of comparing it to that of harassment, that's a hard one to compare, irrespective of the effectiveness of a team. You're given a report and it explicitly states the details, all they need to do is reference the log and the evidence is there with a couple of lines of conversation. Then a GM can just simply follow-up and act according to 'policies'. But a lot of bot reports, some will be a simple 5-minute check (e.g. going from 1 side of the map to the other without the aid of aetheryte is technically impossible without third-party tools), but someone doing an 8-hour gathering session may not be so obvious, so such things need a lot more eye to detail, especially to avoid banning innocent people. I do think a better job could be done, but that's only a band-aid in the end.

I do agree that it's a massive problem, just not so much that it is a 'simple solution', at least I can't see it being such!

[Kes13a]

I do agree that it's a massive problem, just not so much that it is a 'simple solution', at least I can't see it being such!

failing to do much of anything isnt going to make the problem go away either. FF XIV is regarded as a "bot friendly game in the botting communities". why? because it is VERY well known SE does virtually nothing against serious botters in NA and EU and pretty much just content themselves banning teh most obvious bots like RMT barkers and the droves of kjsdghfskjdfh kjshdfkjsdhf harvesters