While I liked the wave of GM activity of recently, I am starting to see some of the same spots (Varka, IOP, etc. - I dont understand why you dont hit these places every single day, it would take a GM less than 1 hour); again I am having trouble finding a spot to hunt in.
These are the problems:
1) GMs sometimes come to a specific server and ban some bots. While they get a few, there are many more that are either luckily offline/in town and even more who are aware of bannings taking place and log off immediately. These players then know that the server was taken care of, and will continue to bot the very next day knowing that GMs wont be back for a while.
2) More and more players are transferring to my server (Phoenix) after having botted for 1+ years, attaining max level and top gear with extreme ease. I really hope you understand the damage this does to the server. How do you think I feel when I work 4 years competing for my hero slot and all of a sudden someone 100x better comes out of nowhere and monopolizes it, ruining one of the biggest appeals of this game for any other noblesse? I asked some of my friends why I continue to play this game, and they told me they think the same thing. WHAT IS THE POINT of spending hard hours of my life for nothing? Where is there fun to be had?
To go into more detail, an alliance named "nova" all just transferred to Phoenix today. Im sure many of us are familiar with the screenshots of their botting, and many of us know that some were banned. However, just hours after they transferred, I already saw nova bots. You think you provided a service (server transfer), but in reality, you just disserviced thousands of people by bringing this filth into probably the only "okay" server left. What do you think is the message is when bots own the server?
3) Here is the biggest problem and most important change needed: like EVERY OTHER GAME on the MMO market, if you report a player to a GM, a GM will soon come and check out your report. Why in Lineage II does it take months, if ever? If GMs started investigating as reports are made, bots would almost completely disappear. Sure it would take a little more time right away, but over time, the diminished number of bots would make it manageable.
4) I really hope GMs understand that many people bot "windowed" such that they automatically attack mobs but will be able to respond and move on the whim if needed. Players who bot like this are just as guilty and I hope they are not fooling GMs by responding right away, etc. (I know a level 85 who does this who still hasn't been banned).
Here I will make it very easy for GMs. I am out of petitions today trying to tell you where the bots on Phoenix are RIGHT NOW.
1) Varkas: around 25 bots. Impossible to miss.
2) Isle of Prayer: around 15 bots. Impossible to miss.
3) Hellbound: A group of 9 near the entrance. I would post names if it were allowed, but I have used the bot button and petitioned a combined 100+ times, yet they continue to bot fearless with extremely shiny weapons 24/7. Do they have some kind of deal with NCsoft - I cannot explain why nothing is being done.
Yes I understand NC NA team has other things to do like prepare for Final, add events, etc., but if bots arent taken care of then nothing else matters to us. I am really close to just giving up on the game with my friends and finding something else, and Im sure the chain effect of legits leaving absolutely cripple the real players of this game.
I agree with some of your points in that players don't really need to report bots (unless they are in some secreted corner of Aden) - GMs should regularly patrol the popular areas where real players like to play so as to keep them clean.
To be honest, I really do not know how the same bots can be in one spot weeks after weeks - which they are. I go to Varka maybe once or twice a week and I see the same couple of bot parties (I don't actually make a mental note) so if a GM is actually looking for bots on the server, how do these bot trains survive? Does identifying bots require a lot of time? Or is that perhaps the GMs have to exercise extreme caution to ensure that they do not ban legitimate players and this delays the bannings to the point where bots are relatively safe?
I mean come on, why do players feel safe to bot in places like Hot Springs? If GMs were doing their jobs then they should be botting well out of the way where players and GMs rarely would go check out.
Part of this is due to the fact that the GM's can't ban anyone who "looks to be botting". If they ban someone without 100% confirmed and undeniable proof, that leaves it open to appeal. Almost all player bots will appeal their ban with a sadface story which in turn creates even more work for the GMs who have to investigate this again. Case in point, I knew someone who got unbanned 3 times for botting because of his convincing sob stories.
Even though it is easy to tell who likely botters are (by their movements and loot trails, etc), it's not 100% proven enough to perma ban them. Needs moar proof. Also, many players will supervise their bots, making them harder to ban because they are responsive.
u sound afraid of nova.keep crying on boards, your tears taste good and gl banning us. our clan is an all legit clan as of 6 months now. screenshots taken years ago has nothing to do with what our clan is today.
3 threads in 1 day about us. fanboi much?
ive gotten about 30 pms today welcoming us to the server, maybe you shouldnt cry so much.
i think the OP has a grudge with that Nova clan or something, this is not the first time that he has been wasting the GM/forum moderator time with this
Part of this is due to the fact that the GM's can't ban anyone who "looks to be botting". If they ban someone without 100% confirmed and undeniable proof, that leaves it open to appeal. Almost all player bots will appeal their ban with a sadface story which in turn creates even more work for the GMs who have to investigate this again. Case in point, I knew someone who got unbanned 3 times for botting because of his convincing sob stories.
Even though it is easy to tell who likely botters are (by their movements and loot trails, etc), it's not 100% proven enough to perma ban them. Needs moar proof. Also, many players will supervise their bots, making them harder to ban because they are responsive.
Well, bots have a very predictable pattern. For instance, if you removed all mobs in range except one (mob A) the bots would run straight to that mob (real players would also, probably). However, if you removed mob A before the bots attacked it and replaced it with another (mob B) at a different location in range they would immediately run to this mob (real players would stop before running to the new mob). Now if you rotated Mob A and Mob B very quickly (1 appears, the other dissapears etc.) then the bots would constantly run between the mobs whereas real players would not - real players would stop and wonder wtf was happening.
I play this game with bots, when they run to a mob, as long as they haven't started attacking it - if you target the mob and activate a skill (doesn't need to finalise) then they run to the next nearest mob. You can then do the same on the new mob that they have targetted and repeat in order to play bots like a game of tennis. It makes me laugh how bloody obvious it is.
This has nothing to do with nova, stop derailing my thread; I didnt even know about them until recently (But for the record, the clan member was botting and was reported).
The OP's gripe (as I interpet it) is the same as mine; so many players are cheating that it is just not worth trying to compete anymore. It is demoralising for legitimate players to the point where they either feel like quitting or join them.
The OP's gripe (as I interpet it) is the same as mine; so many players are cheating that it is just not worth trying to compete anymore. It is demoralising for legitimate players to the point where they either feel like quitting or join them.
Yes it is, and the frustration compounds when considering it is a problem that CAN be solved, and hearing from trash like amazingEE defend his cheating.
Anyway, to stay on topic, I am hoping a GM replies with any updates on the future of the issue...
Anyway, to stay on topic, I am hoping a GM replies with any updates on the future of the issue...
To quote HGMSpam:
We hunt and remove bots all day every day. Hundreds a day, and thousands a week. This chit chat about us removing a bot party every 3 months is rubbish.
Yes I know there are bots everywhere. That’s what makes it so easy to ban hundreds of accounts A DAY. I wish I could remove the bots as you report them. I really do. But I would like you to imagine that when report a bot that there are 20 other people reporting bots a that same exact moment. If the GM was to act on your report right then, the other 20 would wait. One of those 20 might even come to the forums and talk about how their area they are hunting in is infested and the GMs do nothing about it.
Believe it or not the GMs are on your side. They work day and night to remove this crap from the servers.
There's your GM reply, to a thread which is identical to this one, barely over a week ago. Rather than expect the GM's to take time away from doing their job to respond to you, why don't you just read and post on the dozens of identical threads already out there, some of which even have GM responses?
They're doing the same thing they have been for years. If there were anything new coming, I certainly hope they wouldn't publicly announce it so all the bots could disappear until they find a workaround.
But like GM spam has explained it takes time to build a case with evidence to ban the botters/cheaters.
When you know how the game works, you can spot a botter from far away, and say that they bot. However this is not enough because GM's need evidence so that they can say that there was no mistake and have to unban a toon.
I cannot believe that i just defended GM's in this post, but after reading it i just noticed i did. :D
I'm also frustrated about the bot/cheat in this game, but i hope one day that they all will be banned. :)
u sound afraid of nova.keep crying on boards, your tears taste good and gl banning us. our clan is an all legit clan as of 6 months now. screenshots taken years ago has nothing to do with what our clan is today.
3 threads in 1 day about us. fanboi much?
ive gotten about 30 pms today welcoming us to the server, maybe you shouldnt cry so much.
Ah, my bad. So in other words I could bot for 2 years but as long as I'm legit for 6 hours there's nothing wrong with that. Good to know what you consider legit. As long as you aren't doing it now whatever happened in the past is ok!
To OP... Teon is really doing well now... you can barely see a bot in zones where it used to be botcrowded: Garden of beasts, Varkas, HS (here you still find some, but not like 2 months ago).
If you want to get rid of bots on your server (coz i dunno which server you play) do your homework... help the GM's by reporting the suspicious botters using the report button. It works.
2) More and more players are transferring to my server (Phoenix) after having botted for 1+ years, attaining max level and top gear with extreme ease. I really hope you understand the damage this does to the server. How do you think I feel when I work 4 years competing for my hero slot and all of a sudden someone 100x better comes out of nowhere and monopolizes it, ruining one of the biggest appeals of this game for any other noblesse? I asked some of my friends why I continue to play this game, and they told me they think the same thing. WHAT IS THE POINT of spending hard hours of my life for nothing? Where is there fun to be had?
No offence, but you can't complain about loosing hero when you even state they are "100x better". That just tells me that you need to get better at playing to beat them.
If you mean "better" in the sense they are higher and have better gear then that's always going to happen, just because you feel you have played your *** off to get there and have a right to that Hero doesn't mean you actually do, it is a competition after all. If you feel they have botted all their way then it sucks, it really does, but you should know your class alot better than them and be able to beat them, if you can't then that tells me you need to get better (unless they have outstripped you in gear and levels compleatly).
Im sorry if this offends you, but im looking at this from a non biased point of view.
you get rich out the *** too, and have insanely enchanted skills, sub passives, killer augments, boss jewels etc etc.
its not just the xp. its not just the gear. its not just the enchants. its absolutely everything. and, just as an example, how much skill does it take as a dagger to press f1 f2 f3 f1 f1 f1 f1 f2 f3 f1 =/... or as a nuker? you shouldn't assume that just cuz they bot they have hardly a clue how to play the game =/
Skill has very little to do with oly, it isn't nothing, but there is not much you can do against someone who has botted for 2x of anything you own
No offence, but you can't complain about loosing hero when you even state they are "100x better". That just tells me that you need to get better at playing to beat them.
If you mean "better" in the sense they are higher and have better gear then that's always going to happen, just because you feel you have played your *** off to get there and have a right to that Hero doesn't mean you actually do, it is a competition after all. If you feel they have botted all their way then it sucks, it really does, but you should know your class alot better than them and be able to beat them, if you can't then that tells me you need to get better (unless they have outstripped you in gear and levels compleatly).
Im sorry if this offends you, but im looking at this from a non biased point of view.
That is just wrong. This 'bluesky' stuff may sound good when you read it, but it is not 'true'. This game is all about gear and levels (and more recently, skill levels). Some toons have the ability to change the nature of the battle (basically by cancelling buffs), but most do not. A tank who has safely oe'd gear has little chance against a toon in full + 6 IC (if not S80), +++FB and 80+ skills. Your ability to play does indeed play a part but not much of one.
The irony of the statement about how 'good' these botted players are is that from my experience, the people who bot for competition tend to be 'far' better pvp'ers than those who play the game 'properly'. They pvp almost exclusively while most people pvp with mobs. The game is in no way balanced for pvp considering the level of pve commitment needed. It's the nature of things in L2.
If the OP is already a hero then they know exactly what it means to fight a resource war. On no server is Oly some free-for-all, fair fight to see who are the best players. If you've ever been fed in oly, got element info, killed enemies at Baium/Barakiel who want sub or noble, or just play L2 to 'win' in this day and age, then you're being rather hypocritical and have no place QQ'ing about people xfering to your server who are '100x better than you'.
I in no way condone cheating but L2 is 'those who have more win'. It's really that simple and has been for a long time. If you don't like it, point the finger at NC Soft or play something else...
I really hope you understand the damage this does to the server. How do you think I feel when I work 4 years competing for my hero slot and all of a sudden someone 100x better comes out of nowhere and monopolizes it, ruining one of the biggest appeals of this game for any other noblesse?
Ok, so you are butthurt that a bunch of people came to your server and you cry about them being able to juke your hero spot which i really doubt you could be able to take if you're not in the russian zerg.
This has nothing to do with nova, stop derailing my thread; I didnt even know about them until recently (But for the record, the clan member was botting and was reported).
I think you do have a hard on for nova because i was there last night wardering people in iop for fun and i saw many people there on bot, on the west side/entrance to chromatic and many other free spots.
Ah, my bad. So in other words I could bot for 2 years but as long as I'm legit for 6 hours there's nothing wrong with that. Good to know what you consider legit. As long as you aren't doing it now whatever happened in the past is ok!
LOL I was thinking the same thing. First thing I thought when I saw that post was "We use to bot but now that we are max lvl and have all the gear we need and oe'd skills there is no need so we havn'e botted in 6 months". Unfortunatly that is the mentality of alot of players on every server.
u sound afraid of nova.keep crying on boards, your tears taste good and gl banning us. our clan is an all legit clan as of 6 months now. screenshots taken years ago has nothing to do with what our clan is today.
3 threads in 1 day about us. fanboi much?
ive gotten about 30 pms today welcoming us to the server, maybe you shouldnt cry so much.
i think the OP has a grudge with that Nova clan or something, this is not the first time that he has been wasting the GM/forum moderator time with this
how is the weather today? :)
Nukk how are you today ? have u gotten any good drop lately ?
Can you two go back to your bot trains and leave us alone please....oh and don't cry on the other forum or try to convinse us all on how legit you are all and how stupid the GM's are for banning legit players when you get banned for botting.
u sound afraid of nova.keep crying on boards, your tears taste good and gl banning us. our clan is an all legit clan as of 6 months now. screenshots taken years ago has nothing to do with what our clan is today.
3 threads in 1 day about us. fanboi much?
ive gotten about 30 pms today welcoming us to the server, maybe you shouldnt cry so much.
let me understand this right... are you confirming on official forum, that your whole clan was in breach of the EULA and therefore could and should be banned permanently from game at any point if a GM decides to do so?
let me understand this right... are you confirming on official forum, that your whole clan was in breach of the EULA and therefore could and should be banned permanently from game at any point if a GM decides to do so?
/win :D
where in his post did he mention his whole clan. 1 person botting means a clan is not totally legit.
where in his post did he mention his whole clan. 1 person botting means a clan is not totally legit.
Think the screenshot recently of a 54 man bot group in command channel with arrows littering a huge field implies this spreads out much further than just one person.
Could we get someone from RR to chime in here and post a video of the Nova member getting deleveled from 80-73 less than a month ago when he was botting and had auto rez on in varka? 6 months you way? Maybe since AmazingEE is at his computer at this exact minute he's been legit for say 30 minutes.
Once again, I'd like to state that our GM staff is (and has been) working very hard to help improve the quality of the game, as well as decrease the number of botters and spammers in each of the servers. That being said, there will be times when some areas will seem to be growing again in bot size while we deal with other areas. But fear not, we will get to them!