Attention devs: Game Surveillance Unit re: open world Bots.

[ToffeeCoffee]

Well, like i was saying to you on an other post, if they not ban after that long, maybe there are not bots but just multiple characters controlled by the same player.
I see on your picture that he did not reply to trade and was kill by hunt mob, but that's not a perfect proof. Could be on his crafter, playing his others char while not watching them and spamming a /tenemy /cast offensiveSpell macro.
While you dont like this, there is no rules broke and no need to 3thd party at that point.

Do you have a video or something that show his slaves drived by an AI ? (Like while he's not answering to trade something like independant movement, heal below a % of health, complexe rotation or proc usage that can't be done with in game macro)

I will record footage at some stage when I get time, it's hard to do this without revealing their names.
4 characters all in the same FC along with the crafter. When at the controls he moves them one at a time. When botting - they are all in combat at the same time doing the same exact thing the entire day long. If their Egi or Chocobo dies they are respawned almost immediately after. You can argue the point all day because you refuse to believe which is fine. My problem is that I know they are botting and SE won't even give the time of day to investigate and ban them. You can open trade with them at any time and they just stand there targeting mobs in a cycle (ie. they are running on complete automation which is supposed to be against the terms of service).

[Ravno]

If their Egi or Chocobo dies they are respawned almost immediately after.

For exemple, that's a valid point.
Like i said earlier, without any 3thd party, he can play with his crafter, spam attack with his slaves while targeting mobs without activly watching (border line since tos state you should be able to answer to any GM wisper).
But for exemple, if he don't answer to trade but still immediatly resurect his chocobo and egi, that's something who can prove it's driven by AI.

[HEC-]

tos state you should be able to answer to any GM wisper).

Would you mind point me to the place where it actually says that (apart of the fact that there are no "wispers" in ARR) please? I was looking trough the ToS and can't see it there despite many people caliming it to be there. And what if I have chat window off or de-selected most of the comms there or don't speeak the language?? What if I never heards of GM and have no idea who or what it is?

[Symbiant]

SNIP.

I guess there is something wrong with spirit bonding now days? I know I have a great deal of time doing pretty much what you just listed. Just because they are on the same time as you does not mean they are bots. Are you on 24/7? If you are, are you a bot? I mean you must be since you are on 24/7 to monitor these 4 accounts 24/7? See how goofy that sounds?

Just because you see specific characters in a certain area a lot does not mean its a bot. Anyone that has done spirit bonding / harvesting knows that specific areas yield better results. Most people tend to hang around the places that yield the best results or an area that others do not like to be in.

I feel that people need a little more proof then I see them there every day.

[Symbiant]

Snip

How about ban the people that purchase it? No customers = no sale = no bots = no rmt.

See how that works? You can ban bots all day and they will keep coming back until you make it not worth it. Based of the numbers you put in your post, you would have to do a massive amount of bot banning because you can typically get the game for 9.99 - 14.99 so it would take very little to get back into the game say 22.98 - 27.98. Hit them where it hurts and hit the customer.

[Dotsusama]

How about ban the people that purchase it? No customers = no sale = no bots = no rmt.

It's a lot more than just $30 or so; it's time and time IS money. Which is why they should ban everyone involved in the process, because that is what truly makes it unprofitable. You cannot tell me that banning *just* the people who buy gil is the best long-term solution. That logic doesn't work very well.

These bots have to be high level to accomplish anything. A crafting bot would need a significant influx of gil and/or materials to be able to level up and be able to craft the stuff needed for those who spiritbond. The bots I see in N Shroud are usually some combination of CNJ, THM, and a BRD or two, they would have to grind up their XP in the world or duties in order to level. This would either cost man-hours to get someone to actively play the game, or they would be siphoning funds from some other account in order to off-set the cost and time to level once more.

[Dotsusama]

The other thing is that while I've reported some of my my server's most obvious spiritbonding bots twice before, they are still there months later, months during which the Ixali were introduced and I now have to run past that same group in the same camp killing the same mobs like twice a day. I imagine hundreds of people do the same, and a few have likely MPKed them and/or reported them, all to no avail. I, personally, have not even received the courtesy of a "lol can't do anything sorry" response to my reports before. But now that I've found out about that Lodestone form, I'm going to give that a shot.

At least I only get 1 or 2 /tell gilseller spam now. That's way below what it used to be here, and the same for WoW and FFXI and Lineage.

[Ravno]

Would you minf point me to the place where it actually says that (apart of the fact that there are no "wispers" in ARR) please? What if I have chat window off or deselected msot of the comms there or don't speeak the language?? What if I never heards of GM and have no idea who or what it is?

I'm 99% it was on TOS, but i did not find it anymore. Maybe they changed it in the last TOS update. Did not find it on webarchive

[willibra]

I don't want to be confrontational, as the title would supply, I just want to apply my perspective.

I craft. A LOT. I have striven to use the skills to garner Gil so as to allow me to reach higher points in crafting. In order to get that Gil, I have to perform tasks somewhat similar to what a Bot might do. Spend hours running a rotation on high end mats, run around a kill mobs for mats, etc. I may even have spent the time to write a macro (which is an in game tool) that can run me through a crafting rotation for 1- and 2- star items.

Now a lot of that activity seems bot-ish, but I'm right there doing it all. But if someone saw it and reported me multiple times I would be justifiably upset about it. I suppose you can tell by the toon's name that they're a Gil seller. But remember there are people out there who genuinely like the economy of the game as much as others love the PvP. Where do you think these Gil sellers swipe their ideas from?

[Amenian]

Lately I've been noticing a reemergence of a form of hacking. I say "reemergence" because I hadn't seen this used since nearly a year ago. Anyway, I've been noticing mobs suddenly fighting something not there. Earlier this evening I was in Eastern La Noscea, waiting for a FATE that I needed for one of my Animus books. Suddenly I noticed the nearby coeurl attacking something, but there was noone there. Then I noticed, beneath the ground that these coeurl were attacking, the messages stating when this individual took damage, gained Astral Fire or Umbral Ice. They stopped for awhile, my guess is that they noticed that I was there. Since I couldn't target them, much less see them, I couldn't get a name to report.

Target the mob and see who it's targeting.