Botting
Posted: 08 Feb 2015 14:18
So...
Thought we could bring up this "fun" topic. So, as most of you know by now I am the new AoP, and one thing I have been considering is the topic of botting. I have been thinking of how to make our rules more clear. I personally think the main purpose of the AoP is to _help_ players, not hunt them around looking for cheaters. However, unfortunately this also comes with the job since sometimes players do cheat and abuse. That happens in all games, and sometimes also here.
Question is of course, where do you draw the line, because let's face it, if I started sending the bot-test on people on a daily basis, the Genesis jail would probably soon be full of people.
Most likely it would catch:
- People in teams who are being led around and have gone for a smoke, are on the toilet, took a quick trip outside to buy food, making dinner, watching a movie, working, etc ,etc. Because this is pretty normal gameplay for many, yet according to our rules it would in many cases qualify as botting.
- People who are solo and are letting their herb/combat/forge script run while doing anything of the above. Are you a botter if you let your herb script run while you go make dinner, and check your screen every 10 min or so? Good question. You'd be caught by the bot test though.
- Idlers. You're out grinding, need a break and go somewhere safe while going to the toilet, make dinner, etc ,etc. You could LD of course, but then you'd miss if someone tries to contact you though, or you're simply lazy and idle instead of LD. You're just gonna be gone 10 min anyway. Or, perhaps you're waiting for someone you're meeting to show up, so you idle in your guild waiting, with your EQ on, and doing something else iRL until your friend shows up. According to the rules... you're IDLE-botting. Or are you? Kinda hard to say isn't it?
So whats my point? Well, I think we could make the rules more clear. Are all of the above scenarios bots? Or are they not? Our rules kinda say they are all bots. But its pretty open for interpretation too. I think if I wanted to I could probably punish anyone who does anything of the above for botting. But that would also mean punishing half the game, which I doubt would be very useful at all...
So what's botting, and what's not? And how can we formulate the rules so that people who are actually doing _harmful_ botting are the ones to be thrown in jail, and so that you average player can feel they're not breaking any rules when going out for a smoke or going to the bathroom... because I really dont think that is the kind of player we mea when we say "bot"?
What do you players think? What rules should we have? Should the current ones be nicer? Harsher? Should we police botting more, even "semi botters" like the ones described above? Or should we even let botting free???
Thoughts?
Thought we could bring up this "fun" topic. So, as most of you know by now I am the new AoP, and one thing I have been considering is the topic of botting. I have been thinking of how to make our rules more clear. I personally think the main purpose of the AoP is to _help_ players, not hunt them around looking for cheaters. However, unfortunately this also comes with the job since sometimes players do cheat and abuse. That happens in all games, and sometimes also here.
Question is of course, where do you draw the line, because let's face it, if I started sending the bot-test on people on a daily basis, the Genesis jail would probably soon be full of people.
Most likely it would catch:
- People in teams who are being led around and have gone for a smoke, are on the toilet, took a quick trip outside to buy food, making dinner, watching a movie, working, etc ,etc. Because this is pretty normal gameplay for many, yet according to our rules it would in many cases qualify as botting.
- People who are solo and are letting their herb/combat/forge script run while doing anything of the above. Are you a botter if you let your herb script run while you go make dinner, and check your screen every 10 min or so? Good question. You'd be caught by the bot test though.
- Idlers. You're out grinding, need a break and go somewhere safe while going to the toilet, make dinner, etc ,etc. You could LD of course, but then you'd miss if someone tries to contact you though, or you're simply lazy and idle instead of LD. You're just gonna be gone 10 min anyway. Or, perhaps you're waiting for someone you're meeting to show up, so you idle in your guild waiting, with your EQ on, and doing something else iRL until your friend shows up. According to the rules... you're IDLE-botting. Or are you? Kinda hard to say isn't it?
So whats my point? Well, I think we could make the rules more clear. Are all of the above scenarios bots? Or are they not? Our rules kinda say they are all bots. But its pretty open for interpretation too. I think if I wanted to I could probably punish anyone who does anything of the above for botting. But that would also mean punishing half the game, which I doubt would be very useful at all...
So what's botting, and what's not? And how can we formulate the rules so that people who are actually doing _harmful_ botting are the ones to be thrown in jail, and so that you average player can feel they're not breaking any rules when going out for a smoke or going to the bathroom... because I really dont think that is the kind of player we mea when we say "bot"?
What do you players think? What rules should we have? Should the current ones be nicer? Harsher? Should we police botting more, even "semi botters" like the ones described above? Or should we even let botting free???
Thoughts?