Bots--We need a Solution

[Galiant]

lol, and i thought no one would read this...guess this is a big problem elsewhere too, not just on the S10,11,6,and Co. Server Mass.

[TheRaspberry]

It is always funny to see how quickly R2 can ban real players, even cashers, but they aren't able to ban bots abusing events like survival of the fittest, even when moderators (see @ShadowGammaDraco) take screenshots etc.

[Kage_Oni]

I saw it suggested on forum before, make an in game auction house and lots of unbound items. (for real money or crystals) and the company takes a small percentage per transaction. if you ask me, that idea just spells profit for players and the company. I've yet to hear a better solution to get rid of the bot issue.

[TheRaspberry]

It would be fine if R2 would finally take some actions after months and months doing nothing on reports of several players and moderators... What's the point in asking for screenshots, videos and stuff if you do nothing in the end?!

[BlazingAngel]

The thing is that every mmo bot that is reported through the correct ways is taken care of. Trust me, I spend lots and lots of time daily reporting bots on the server that I play on. The sad thing is that for every single bot that gets nuked, 10 more pop up in its place. Obviously there needs to be a solution, but it needs to be a viable solution. And asking what other host sites for CS do is not a reasonable request. As other versions do not have the mass amount of servers that R2 has. So the bots being handled in the same way that it is currently being handled by R2 is more than sufficient. Sadly, when you have lots and lots of servers, it is harder to control a mass botting problem.

[Kage_Oni]

so nobody has any suggestions, it just is what it is for now... and keep making more and more bound items? that's not gonna help when servers keep dying and merging, then release new pve to merge to the other dead pve servers... even the people that always hop to new servers will get bored (that's part of why the leave old sever). im curious what other (good) suggestions are out there, if any. how long can people continue to say "if we ban one then more just pop up" before we see some practical results? I say this because I am a paying customer, but if my money isn't being used to improve the game and fix bugs and implement new features, events, and suggestions then i'll simply stop spending my money here and find another game. What's been going on for the last year isn't showing any promising signs of good things to come. We need some feedback directly from the devs to the players, not a bunch of middle men. Feedback doesn't mean scripted, generic responses that don't provide info (for the record)

[TheRaspberry]

The thing is that every mmo bot that is reported through the correct ways is taken care of. Trust me,[...].

Why should i trust your word when I see that it is not true for our server? Ellana/ShadowGammaDraco can back me up here because he visited our survival several times and the same bots are there every day for months despite screenshots and videos (which he also sent in himself). So please, just talk about your case and not for R2's pratice in general because it is just not true!

If they would ban those accounts spamming survival and other events then we are talking about accounts at least lvl60. Mallmo additionally will lose all items on those accounts. It is just a lame excuse that they will come back the next day imo. If they would ban those gold accounts, they would also lose hundreds of platinum...

[Kage_Oni]

that's right. if they tried harder they could probably make mall mmo give up because their resources are scattered throughout several characters and accounts... staying on top of it will gradually deplete their resources. even if they do make 10 new bots that's great, they still have to take a lot of time to replace those resources. so staying on top of it and actively searching for lvl 30+ characters with all green fair quest gear and 2 shining set items with no mount and no guild is a clear sign its a bot. its boring work yes I know but someone has to do it. just leave it to players to report them? that's a sure win strategy...

[Reverie]

The staff doesn't consist of an army we could send out to each and every server to watch/nuke bots, hence why we do rely on player reports. I myself (as well as BlazingAngel) have watched our home servers and attempted to clean it out with personal reports, however as stated, the moment a bot is nuked, a new one appears as early as a fifteen minutes later. So from experience, sitting around and picking them off is not an effective bot-control method by /any/ means.

[kage_alt]

if you know that a new bot appears within 15 minutes, then you should be able to catch it. you seem to know so much about it, so why not have r2 look for cs "vets" that can help with this issue. many players would be more than willing to help this operation for a small in game reward annually. could even make it based on performance and efficiency. again, here we are, middle man to player... no feedback from devs... just middlemen giving scripted responses. no disrespect intended im sorry if i offend you, i am simply concerned about the future of a game that has so much potential and i want to see my money turn in to improvements. do you think the mods could stop making excuses for the company and maybe start trying to put something in motion for the sake of all players? after all, im sure the mods are long time players that do agree with many suggestions made by other players, are you the punching bag for the company or do you really wanna see some improvements? and for the record, players aren't reporting bots as often as they used to simply because they dont feel that the company is making an equal effort to improve the game for all players. the players and company should be working together to get rid of this problem instead of the company taking away from hard working players because of their shortcomings !

(sorry i know im coming on strong, again i dont mean to be rude or disrespectful)

[Reverie]

Are you suggesting we catch said bots given we have a rough estimated time of reappearance? I must say, reporting and having the GMs do nothing but nuke bots all day sounds just a bit unproductive, given all the bugs, glitches, and cheats that we also have to handle. In terms of basically paying players to catch bots, that sounds just a bit far-fetched, and I don't believe the devs will be won with that idea. Even if they were somehow convinced of this idea, singly nuking bots one-by-one is by no means efficient. Everyone is pro-getting-rid-of-bots, but they (the devs) are searching for a way to eliminate the source rather than hunting down each and every bot on every server that respawns even then. It's like stepping on an ant with the anthill spurting replacements with every attempt we make to impede their efforts.

[kage_alt]

not if you have enough players on board for such an operation. i didnt say for r2 to "pay" players, but to give an in game reward, no matter if its a few crystals (virtual currency=worthless) or some in game items that are useful... maybe 5 pc and 1 gmut per bot reported? seems like a fair deal if you ask me, because apparently r2 is losing a lot of money because of the mmo pricing.

the real point of this , is that the company and players need to work together. you say r2 is looking for a solution to the problem, take it out in 1 shot. thats a great idea, but taking away everything from players and ruining markets+server populations in the process is not a viable plan. that brings me back to the communication issue between company people and players. middlemen solve nothing and the message from the players to the company is often passed along with a different wording and that is not acceptable.

i know that you know exactly what im talking about. i also understand that you're now a representative of the company in some respects, but dont try to argue or shoot down productive suggestions if you care about the game as much as other players.

[Reverie]

If middlemen (the moderators) are proving to be unproductive in their efforts to resolve issues, you may use the ticket-system to speak to a GM, Koojah. I'll be happy to forward any tickets you have should you provide me with the case number.

[TheRaspberry]

Reverie, then I'd like to know why ur and Blazing's reports lead to an effective ban but not the reports done by Ellana/ShadowGammaDraco who is a moderator, too.
Those bots aren't banned... and they are not replaced. Unless Mallmmo now hacks too you don't replace 500platinum or go to lvl60 in some hours.

And to be clear, as far as I understood R2's GMs rarely fix "bugs, glitches, and cheats" 'cause they are only the publisher and have to report those to the original developers in order to get them fixed, isn't that right anymore?

[kage_alt]

raspberry, i love you. hahaha