Question regarding removing bots from Novice Network

[LineageRazor]

I've seen mentors kicked from the novice network because their bot-kicking is spamming the channel (and, on occasion, a genuine sprout has admitted to being intimidated by all the kicking going on), so be careful if you plan on kicking bots. Also, as has been stated, they come back in 30 min whether they want to or not - and honestly, I doubt the bots care; they don't advertise or speak at all. That they're in the channel at all is less likely to be a RMT ploy, and far more likely the actions of a trolling Mentor (as has already beens stated in this thread).

While it's true that kicking them may well bring them to the attention of the RMT task force, I'd wager that the RMT task force has bigger fish to fry. They likely already know about them, but ignore them because new level 1 bots can be deployed FAR faster than the task force can ban them. They tend to wait until the RMT have leveled them a while, both so that the bots' time is wasted, and also so they can track where the bots are sending the gil they earned along the way.

Channel clutter isn't a big deal, since the bots never speak, and the channel has room for over four hundred sprouts. At the very worst, I've never seen the number of bots in channel exceed sixty. Perhaps it's worse on some servers, and there really ARE 400+ bots in channel at once - but I doubt it.

tl;dr: Kicking bots from Novice chat is pointless; it doesn't harm the bots, it doesn't tell the task force anything they don't already know, and it may frighten the genuine newbies.

[EveK]

I don't know what a GM told you or how you interpreted it, but my own conversation with a GM on the topic indicated there is zero rule that mentors must kick bots. We don't ever have to kick anyone. We have the right to in the case where they're harassing or spamming. Being silent is neither. They do rarely accidentally transmit "==" or "00000000000000000000000000" and then I kick them. Otherwise, I leave them be. Because yeah, any new player joining in the midst of all that kick spam just wants to be out of the crazy channel.

[Mimoza]

snip.

About the spamming, when someone is annoyed by it we just explain how to disable the "show announces in the Novice Network" option. It's a little bit hidden in the chatbox parameters but that option does exist.

I put a link to a screen + translation of what the GM told me. They admit there is no "official" rule about bots in novice network but they advice us to kick them and report them just in case and on the principle of "keeping the network clean". One GM also made an announce in the novice network on Day One of the mentor system to advice us to do the same. But if you have been told something else, please, share it with us because at the moment i am just following the opinion i made about that one answer i got (since i haven't found out any other messages close to an official statement).

[Niwashi]

Since those bots are not talking, rather let one survive in the network instead of kicking an innocent. if you have any doubts, just let them be. Usually to check if they are human or bots i /tell them with that question "Just a quick message to check if you are a player or a Real Money Trader robot : how much does 2+2=?"

Getting asked a question like that would likely be far more offensive to a legitimate player than getting kicked from the channel would.