OP you cant stop botting at all, you can try but end of day it is a pointless battle, there is always ways around it. That isnt SE's Fault, its the players who want to bot. All SE can do is ban, which they dont (imo).

As for new players, you are completely right, I had some friends rejoin for this free trial and unless I pl them to 50 they cant do shit, because everything requires a specific job, a specific set of gear (like full AF), and of course 8 people. I mean SE said "Come back and experience a once in a life time Umbral Event", i've yet to see this event that new/returning players can enjoy because right now its the same boring bullshit imperial attack that we had last patch, and requires a fair amount of people to even participate in, so no SE you cant experience it! And you have to be 50, so just promotes PLing.

SE have done nothing to help the new or low level player so far hah.