How to reduce botting, attract players, and retain players.

[Azurymber]

Sadly this game is probably one of the most botted MMO's out there, and due to the crafting and gathering systems it will likely remain that way for some time.

However, there are solutions to reduce the amount of botting without consistently banning them.

Here is my suggestion:

Step 1: Create an area specifically for crafters + gatherers. This area should be -very- pretty, kind of mysterious, and designed to make players want to spend long amounts of time in it. Lets call it a "magical moogle clearing". It should have a pond, maybe with wooden platforms in the middle or at parts of it, trees, and rocks.

Step 2: Have NPC's or an NPC that sells all the rank 1-ish gathering and crafting mainhand gear.

Step 3: Have moogles that provide "mini-games". For a mini game you basically have 15 minutes to go gather certain mini-game-specific items, then craft them, and return them to the moogle. Rank should make no difference here. These should -not- be easy. People should only be able to complete them 1 out of every 3 times unless using special gear.

Step 4: Have people gain moogle points for completing the mini-quests. Maybe 10 moogle points per quest and a random bonus based on your rank.
Then have moogles sell the best gathering and crafting items at -HIGH- costs.
like maybe 10,000 points for the best fishing rod or best woodworking saw.
The concept here is to make all the best crafting and gathering equipment difficult to earn (like the lu-shang quest in ffxi)
Have some 1000 point items that help you win the mini game easier.

Step 5: Make all end-game profitable crafting and gathering require these hard-to-get moogle-point items. Thats not to say you can't craft without these, just that these make it much easier and more realistic (ex. 1 in 50 chance for a +3 instead of 1 in 400). Or for gathering you can only get certain items with the moogle-point gear.

Optional:
-Include dice-progression gambling game like in FFXI rabao + norg, as a gil-sink
-Include moogle jukebox to change music to whatever music you want (or let ppl pay to unlock diff tracks either in gil or moogle points)
-Include player-board records, difficulty levels in the mini game, etc.

Why does this system work?
1. It creates long-term goals and an incentive to continue playing the game

2. It creates a non-city hub for people to socialize as they work towards these long-term goals. Friendships developed here create an incentive to continue playing

3. The time it takes to get the high-cost items creates a deterrent against botting since people will not want to risk getting banned and wasting the months it took to get their item.

4. It reduces botting since mini-games that are randomized like that can't easily be botted. If someone develops a bot for it, it centralizes the bots so that GMs or the Special Task Force can easily catch them.

5. It helps to ensure players that if they invest time into a craft or gathering job, they will be able to profit off it without worrying that botters will undercut the market and devalue profitable items.


TLDR? Create a zone with mini-quests to earn points toward the best gathering + crafting gear in the game, in order to create a social hub for crafting + gathering, create long-term goals, and to deter botting and make it more difficult. Lu-Shang quest length for all these best pieces.

your thoughts?

[Gramul]

-Step 1
Only if those areas are already integrated into the actual world instead of being pushed to the side and away from everyone else.
-Step 2
We should already have those. I dunno, I haven't checked in a while.
-Step 3
Sounds like Guild Tasks but I guess you're talking about doing the whole task of getting and making the items in that time?
-Step 4
Sounds like Grand Companies.
-Step 5
All for some AF style crafting gear.

I like the idea of mini games as a gil-sink. Like some sort of card or chess game to pass the time. Maybe even with collectible pieces or cards.

[Azurymber]

-Step 1
Only if those areas are already integrated into the actual world instead of being pushed to the side and away from everyone else.
-Step 2
We should already have those. I dunno, I haven't checked in a while.
-Step 3
Sounds like Guild Tasks but I guess you're talking about doing the whole task of getting and making the items in that time?
-Step 4
Sounds like Grand Companies.
-Step 5
All for some AF style crafting gear.

I like the idea of mini games as a gil-sink. Like some sort of card or chess game to pass the time. Maybe even with collectible pieces or cards.

the npcs are supposed to be in the area so that people can buy the gear to do the quests (which would also act as a gil sink since a lot of ppl would drop them when they are done).
And yeah its a bit like grand companies but for crafters and gatherers, with the sole purpose of making it nearly impossible to ruin markets via botting while at the same time promoting socialization and creating long-term goals. Psychologically if people decide to invest 20 hours into getting these points, it is likely they will continue returning to the game just to get that item that makes them an 'elite' crafter.

and yes, the tasks are gathering the items (you might need 2 items from a tree and one from a rock) and then crafting the item. The idea here is to have you doing different things so it doesn't get boring and repetitive (to a degree) and making it difficult for anyone to write a bot that can do it automatically.