Multiboxing and bot-farming? When will SE draw the line?

[Karos]

Ok here goes. I am a multiboxer, and I've been pretty candid. I am not fond how some people lump multiboxers like they are all out to do bad. That being said, I appreciate the comments that do defend the players really playing the game. It's not cool to just assume anything. It's similar to saying Chinese are RMT; that's just racist and judgemental. It's not funny; plenty of legit Chinese players 'nuff said.

Let me say, I don't condone illegal activities such as selling gil/accounts. If one individual does wrong, that shouldn't reflect on everyone. If SE were to draw the line and say multiboxing is not allowed, I would indeed stop because I would like to continue to play. My logic and playstyle just happens to be different than others. I don't expect people to understand. Admittedly, I won't stop multiboxing unless SE says it's not allowed, not because how others feel on the matter. All the more reason, it would be nice for some clarification from SE.

(cont.)

[Karos]

I multiboxed alot in FFXI, and I knew plenty of others that did the same. It was never much of an issue back then; it feels like drama now. On top of things, you generally would have to use *gasp* a 3rd party program to open other FFXI instances: the famous windower. And a lot of people used windower in general (not just for multiboxing purposes); it's funny now seeing people preach about 3rd party programs when it's convenient.

I know people wonder why I multibox: I get asked all the time. I have plenty of reasons for multiboxing; in short, I find it rather enjoyable. I don't want to bore you with a long list of reasons of why I do it; I simply like to multitask. To me, multitasking is the same as watching youtube and television while playing. And in a practical sense, it's like cooking 3 different dishes at the same time.

(cont.)

[Karos]

Multi-boxing is hardly easy; it's a chore. It takes time and effort to become proficient. I've died several times; I've lost my head plenty. It was a huge mess to find my own groove. You can say it's unfair, and in ways, I'll agree with you. But it's not all that cut and dry. You have more characters to maintain and more characters to outfit. You have more tasks all around. With more characters, it means more work and effort to get those few perks. At the end of the day, the harsh reality is the game mechanics make it literally impossible to multibox: all endgame dungeons cannot be multiboxed.

(cont.)

[Karos]

In my own multiboxing opinion, I honestly wouldn't know why anybody would keep active subscriptions on all their characters. You REALLY must love to grind (scaled with as many characters you want to gear up). For the gear that matters, this must be done individually. To any future multiboxers, you've been warned: this game requires too many movement mechanics. Plain and simple: don't have high expectations, but if you're willing to do more than the average player, then you may just reap the rewards.

(cont.)

[Karos]

Ultimately though, others can multibox if they choose to themselves; there's no reason to hate. I still encourage multiboxing despite the setbacks. One of the top of my head, you can play another race and have another class to gear (due to the weekly caps). You can have your own personal healer; not like the overwold and non-instanced matter much though. I kind of doubt multiboxers are going to flock in though, so forgive me when I say I don't know why anyone is fretting. I already feel like a vast minority on one of the more crowded servers. I play on Behemoth, and I haven't ran into a multiboxer on the field yet. I'm sure there's someone, but I haven't ran into them. The bad experiences that people are having with other multiboxers; that's on those individuals and not every multiboxer out there.

(cont.)

[LyndisRay]

Haha geez screwed myself over with daily limit of posts and 1000 character limit on Karos. I have plenty to say, but I guess I'm going to hit the same snag on my alt Lyndis. I'm going to try and wrap it up.

Now for the record, you don't need a 3rd party program to multibox. I don't need to use one. You can open multiple instances normally. And all this talk about doing actions at the same time: it's not rocket science. It's very simple really: the stroke of a button will broadcast to all instances when gamepad is enabled to inactive clients (as long as the same gamepad is designated to the clients you want to use them for). So if you press that button or move the joystick, then every client will perform those actions at the same time. You can designate different controllers too if you want direct control of that alt. I can't understand why people are confused about this mechanic; just try it yourself if you don't believe. I'd make a guide if I wasn't so lazy.

(cont.)

[LyndisRay]

Finally, I'd like to address some of the qualms on multi-boxing because I do get them plenty of times. The two popular arguments are:

1. Automation. You probably heard this all before, but to those that haven't, nothing is automatic unless a bot is involved. Legit multiboxers are not using bots; you have to input each command manually (albeit broadcasted). You might then feel it's "semi-automation", but lets look at what creates semi-automation actions: macros and the auto-follow.

"Semi-automation" actions are already rooted in the game and not considered against ToS, nor what that involves. If you're saying "semi-automation" is not allowed, then anybody who uses macros is breaking ToS. Unless you take out /follow, /assist, and other commands in the game, then the issue will always be there; this is the only way to render a multiboxer useless.

(cont.)

[Nikorayu]

Snip

This is off-topic, but I would like to point out you can edit your first to bypass the 1000 character limit. It's kinda stupid, yes, but we can bypass it that way and avoid having to make up to 5+ posts like you just did - which appears to be annoying for you as well.

On-topic: Nothing to add here. Carry on.