Bots in Novice Network

[Shlinkx]

About a few weeks back we started to notice bots joining Novice Network to put their ads, but it didn't stop there. We started to notice bots walking around main cities saying messages like "I'm a new player, and I'm lost. Can someone invite me to the Novice Network?" The mentors in my server have been kicking bots left and right without any luck. Since they are sprouts and already got an invite, they can rejoin the Novice Network, and it is not the worst case. The bots now started to send their ads, and lot out as soon as they sent the message, so the mentors can't kick them. If you are a mentor who kicked a bot, you will find out soon that a bot with your name was made and it is joining the network and sending ads as well, and we also have bots jumping from server to another and joining the server's Novice Network.

I have been waiting for GMs to do something about this, but all they ask is to write their names and report them to the STF. I don't think they even care anymore. I think STF is a lie, and GMs use the report RMT system to ban every six months. This is getting out of hand that mentors have to look out for any RMT who joins the Novice Network and kick them before they even send a single message. We had a day where we kicked over 30 RMT, and GM's response was to write their names and send them to STF.

GMs need to stop with their slacking and do something about bots and RMT

[SturmChurro]

Good.

[Hash_Browns]

In Siren we have bots in the NN. Maybe them advertising in the NN will make SE finally do something about them.
Sad truth is that as soon as they switch areas, or join an instance, they rejoin the NN - so it's impossible to stop them from re-joining.

[Dustytome]

GMs need to stop with their slacking and do something about bots and RMT

SE restricts the GMs from acting on these specific issues. I have no doubt some of the GMs would love nothing more than to go on a bot obliterating rampage, but until policy changes, they do so at the cost of their jobs. I really hope someone brings these issues up at the media tour. From my point of view as a NA user, the usefulness of the STF seems slim at best.

[Alestorm]

We've had a few bots in the NN on my server the last few weeks, we always kick them but luckily they have yet to evolve the ability to copy a mentor's name. (good thing there's a sprout/crown next to the name to avoid people screaming at innocent players)

I kind of wish we could target bots as enemies after enough reports of RMT are sent on a person so we could murder death kill them.

[Jojoya]

The bots now started to send their ads, and lot out as soon as they sent the message, so the mentors can't kick them. If you are a mentor who kicked a bot, you will find out soon that a bot with your name was made and it is joining the network and sending ads as well

I thought player character names are unique on each server. How can another character be made with the same name?

But otherwise, I agree SE needs to do something about the bot RMT spam whether in Novice Network or any other location in the game.

[Derio]

You know you can report these bots right? Kicking them wont fix the problem.

[KageTokage]

Weekly ban waves really don't cut it for the bots with how quickly they level.

Only daily bans would have any real impact on the gil farming operations they do, though they've already started to use slower, but safer methods of gil farming that are unlikely to ever be picked up on by the STF due to being "legit" and not involving hacks.

[LineageRazor]

That's really interesting! Practically since day one, Gilgamesh Novice Network has typically had more than a hundred bots in it at a time - but none of them ever say a word. No ads, no nothing. They just lurk there, and you'd never know they even existed if you didn't look at the NN player roster.

Occasionally a Mentor would go on a bot-kicking binge, but since the bots were quiet the deluge of kick messages was actually a lot more disruptive than the bots themselves were!

[Shlinkx]

I thought player character names are unique on each server. How can another character be made with the same name?

But otherwise, I agree SE needs to do something about the bot RMT spam whether in Novice Network or any other location in the game.

it is unique, but bots can and things like ' to the end of the name to make the character made or make a character name on a different server and use world visit to jump to other servers.

You know you can report these bots right? Kicking them wont fix the problem.

We report them and kick them and we still see them even days after doing that.