To be honest, in my years playing XI, people who used bots didn't seem to impact the immediate enjoyment of my play time until I joined the HNM scene. Because that player demographic has the most (not all) players who want their best items now and at whatever cost. They have much to lose and will do whatever it takes to compete with other players in other HNM linkshells.

Mind you, that was just from my perspective. I know most of the core botting is developed and used by RMT to control the market--which impacts everyone whether they know it or not, but botting is unavoidable in MMO's. Developers and producers just have to do their best to minimalize the damage they cause.