Does Square intend to address Market botting?

[DPZ2]

I don't even know why some of the low hanging fruit bots need manual intervention. I swear you could probably script things out on the back end to easily detect and suspend/ban. On the less low hanging fruit side you could then redirect efforts to actually hunting the bots. A few database commands too and you could even easily identify those since humans don't do things the same way constantly for hours on end at exact intervals. Easily identify, easily crush.

I can tell you right now that "time/position/action" information is not maintained in a database for query. The raw amount of data that would need to be collected makes it fiscally irresponsible to consider it.

[NamidaTekika]

I can tell you right now that "time/position/action" information is not maintained in a database for query. The raw amount of data that would need to be collected makes it fiscally irresponsible to consider it.

Last login is saved somewhere there and we know thats one thing that can be checked for certain. For items to be created into inventory there has to be some form of logging for that (otherwise thered likely be dupe bugs galore). I'd think there is likely some kind of logging in terms of completion of quests and the like too since many MSQ quests award achievements and leveling classes do too (and probably some kind of timestamp for quest completions) that could fairly easily be compared to a baseline travel time that the low hanging fruit bots bypass weird their movement hacks (literally watching them move into and out of the ground for example). You might not be able to track exact time/position/action but there is enough relational data associated you could probably easily go "If a player last login > X, and completes Quest Y, Z, A in under B, than ban."

Heck just the complete time for several of the achievements like level 20 in a class and MSQ achieve would do wonders, since if you know the rough time to complete by just full out sprinting or something normally, the bots would likely always be under that given their teleporting movement, easily kills most of the low hanging fruit.

Wanna talk about low hanging fruit too....Eastern La Nosca/Raincatcher Gully 18.52,33.2, right there at that big rock bots constantly appear inside it (literally reported 6 of them different gibberish names) spawn wandering souls for a quest of some sort, kill them from inside the rock and disappear. They never come out of the rock or even use the actual teleport ability. A simple timing of the quest accept/complete could nail almost every single one.

These even are more complicated than the market or gathering bots we are talking about above is whats so sad. They actually do various quests and combat, the ones we truly have issues with are the ones that are REALLY obvious in how they move and sit there and do nothing else for days/weeks on end.

[TheLoveJenovan]

I can tell you right now that "time/position/action" information is not maintained in a database for query. The raw amount of data that would need to be collected makes it fiscally irresponsible to consider it.

Thanks DPZ2,

They wouldn't have to store this information in their databases; they could get the client to log this information and send a digest to the server. If a server is worried about the trustworthiness of this data, they could just have it signed. This is already done, for example, with cookie data stored in a web browser. SE has the advantage that they also control the client.

That said, their database could still log small amounts of information, like time logged in without being AFK, that would be useful to identify bots from their end.

[Kes13a]

I can tell you right now that "time/position/action" information is not maintained in a database for query. The raw amount of data that would need to be collected makes it fiscally irresponsible to consider it.

I would say this would not need to be constantly running. diagnostic software is rarely set to run by default. however, it should be there to be activated if an account is reported simply for logging purposes. you cannot possibly imagine they have people that just watch a character for hour on end for RMT transactions, or you think its just lucky happenstance that a GM notices it?

because that indeed would be irresponsible. you make it sound like they have zero safeguards against any kind of data checking beyond, if we are lucky, server backup.