Does Square intend to address Market botting?

[TheLoveJenovan]

Thanks Charlotte_Wells. If you've found some bots on your server (Zodiark) and would like to see if we have them on our list, please share them with us on discord.

This is a permanent link, as some people haven't been able to join
https://discord.gg/3jsausZ

[TheLoveJenovan]

Some people have wondered whether bots have become worse recently. They have.

Here is a histogram showing the age of FC Market bots. Most of the ones we've found are ~50-200 days old (2-6 mos).

We've only scratched the surface in finding bots. Feel free to help us on discord (https://discord.gg/G6YnKdQ) to find them all!

[Darkmoonrise]

Some people have wondered whether bots have become worse recently. They have.

Here is a histogram showing the age of FC Market bots. Most of the ones we've found are ~50-200 days old (2-6 mos).

We've only scratched the surface in finding bots. Feel free to help us on discord (https://discord.gg/G6YnKdQ) to find them all!

I like what you do, I think it's important work and thank you for doing it.

But this graph can also be interpreted this way : "Old bots are being banned and the people behind them are creating new one. Only a part of them pass through the net and stays active for long period of time"

[Nixxe]

Some people have wondered whether bots have become worse recently. They have.

Here is a histogram showing the age of FC Market bots. Most of the ones we've found are ~50-200 days old (2-6 mos).

We've only scratched the surface in finding bots. Feel free to help us on discord (https://discord.gg/G6YnKdQ) to find them all!

This data doesn't show botting has gotten worse recently. It shows a cluster of younger bot accounts (assuming you've accurately identified them to begin with), which conforms to the expectations everyone should have given that the more a bot is used and the older it gets, the more probable it is that it gets that SE takes action against it. This will naturally lead to a skew right distribution. You would need a reliable way to determine the population of bots at a given moment and track changes in that data over time to show that botting has gotten worse recently.

[Kes13a]

thanks @TheLoveJenovan

its too bad that the STF or anyone with any avenue to changing this trend will ever see data like this. (if they see any NA, EU data on bots at all)

I am pretty sure that most serious crafters/market users have seen this trend. there are outliers who sell to niche markets the bots have not discovered yet or ignore due to lack of meaningful return, but the general trend has been increasing usage. it could be due to the pandemic and people being lazy, or just an increase in cheaters, who knows, its easy money for people who RMT thats for sure, which is likely the big draw.

it is however getting to the point where 11 jobs and their activities are becoming a waste of time because of the bots, thats 1/3 of the game jobs. Since combat bots are becoming big as well... how long until the other 2/3 are meaningless and I decide continued support of SE through my subscription and store buying is as well.

[MillyBays]

Might've been mentioned already, but loading up the item with a few materia goes a long way to get your item sold, even if bots undercut you. It's especially effective on the Aesthete set, where some crafting materia are worth over 10k each (at least on Hyperion).

[TheLoveJenovan]

Thanks MillyBays. I had tried this for some time, and it can help (though people were still sometimes buying the cheapest). I suspect that the bot will follow suit with this trend, if it gets done enough. I hope that doesn't happen.

[TheLoveJenovan]

The weekly post of INactions Taken Against In-Game RMT & Other Illicit Activities (Oct. 15)

Dear Special Task Force,

There are thousands of bots on North American and European servers that have been running for 3 months to 2.5 years. Many of us have quit because the bots ruin major parts of the game, like the market board. Since there are only 4 members in the Special Task Force, we as a community would like to help you identify bots by reporting a weekly list of unbanned bots. To date, we have identified 89 bot rings including 467 dummy accounts for the bot Free Companies. We ask that you ban these bots, the dummy accounts and remove these fake Free Companies to prevent a resurgence, which has happened when a bot is banned but not the bot Free Company.

We will send an updated list every week on Thursday, after the "Actions Taken Against In-Game RMT.”


Date: October 15, 2020
Bot rings not terminated: 89
- Aether: 16
- Primal: 10
- Crystal: 35
- Chaos: 11
- Light: 17
Dummy accounts in bot FCs: 467
Average bot ring age: 239 days
Oldest bot ring: 1030 days

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Most bots are confirmed in game using methods listed in the spreadsheet. Unconfirmed bots are easily found from top-50 FC rankings on each server.

Thank you,

North American and Europe FFXIV Anti-Bot Community
https://twitter.com/ffxivbotreports
https://discord.gg/G6YnKdQ
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...Market-botting

親愛なる特別タスクフォース、

北米とヨーロッパのサーバーには、3か月から2。5年にわたって実行されている何千ものボットがあります。ボットがマーケットボードのようなゲームの主要部分を台無しにするため、私たちの多くは辞めました。特別タスクフォースのメンバーは4人しかないため、コミュニティとして、禁止されていないボットのリストを毎週報告することで、ボットの特定を支援したいと考えています。現在までに、ボットフリーカンパニーの467のダミーアカウントを含む89のボットリングを特定しました。これらのボット、ダミーアカウントを禁止し、これらの偽のフリーカンパニーを削除して、ボットが禁止されたときに発生したがボットフリーカンパニーではない復活を防ぐようお願いします。

「ゲーム内RMTに対して取られた措置」の後、毎週木曜日に更新されたリストを送信します。


日付：2020年10月15日
ボットリングが終了していません：89
-オード：16
-プライマル：10
-クリスタル：35
-カオス：11
-ライト：17
ボットFCのダミーアカウント：467
ボットリングの平均年齢：239日
最も古いボットリング：1030日

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

ほとんどのボットは、スプレッドシートにリストされている方法を使用してゲームで確認されます。未確認のボットは、各サーバーの上位50のFCランキングから簡単に見つかります。

ありがとうございました、

北米およびヨーロッパのFFXIVアンチボットコミュニティ
https://discord.gg/4usVDw
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...Market-botting

[Eloc]

Would it be possible to file a lawsuit against SE for failure to enforce its TOS?

getting really tired of these bots. We need a way to light a fire under their asses and show them their is actual repercussions for allowing bots to run rampant like this.

[Nixxe]

Would it be possible to file a lawsuit against SE for failure to enforce its TOS?

getting really tired of these bots. We need a way to light a fire under their asses and show them their is actual repercussions for allowing bots to run rampant like this.

Not a lawyer, but probably not. Aside from the fact that you agreed to arbitration as part of the ToS, I believe the following means any such case would be DoA:

11.2 Disclaimer of Warranties. ASIDE FROM THE EXPRESS WARRANTY PROVIDED WITH THE SOFTWARE, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SQUARE ENIX EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE GAME SOFTWARE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. SQUARE ENIX IS MAKING THE GAME AVAILABLE "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY FURTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. YOU ASSUME THE RISK OF ANY AND ALL DAMAGE OR LOSS FROM USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE GAME. SQUARE ENIX DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE GAME WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE GAME WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.