Bots - am I the only one who does not feel affected?

Elirienne

Let me start by saying - botting is idiotic and must be stopped. I am also strongly against any kind of cheating and gold selling.

But reading the forums, every other topic seems to be about bots and how they make your life hell. I am currently v5 and had my fair share of playing, but they never caused me any problems. I am not even sure that I recognise them as such. Either they are farming when I am offline, or farming WHERE I am not, but I do not feel affected at all.

They are not stopping me from doing quests. I have never once had to wait for dungeon bosses (well bear in mind that sub 30 I was so overwhelmed by the game that missed most public/solo dungeons...). They really are not impacting me.

Which makes me genuinely wonder, why are they such a big headache for other players.

ps - I do not pvp, maybe that's it..?

TetsuMaru

They arent. Memetics and the desire to display a deep understanding of the nature of things will always result in people constantly bringing up known issues. They do not affect anyone save for killing immersion or some such nonsense. They are embedded in almost every mmo in existence but get special attention here because its constantly brought up and discussions entertained. I half feel like part of the problem now....lol.

JohnD212

There are tons of bots popping up all over. They fly across the sky, come down on resource nods endlessly. If you go where there were always a good source of resources, most are gone now because the endless bots get them immediately. I have a feeling Zenimax has just given up.

Vulfgrum

My self personally, yes they are effecting the game and give me a feeling of a very unfair playing ground and they need to be dealt with.

Censorious

I get the feeling that the NA server is more badly affected (infected?) than the EU one.
I'm reading reports of a vast influx of bots that I haven't really noticed - in fact I'd say there's been a drop. But then, I'm in the EU.

I hasten to add - one bot is far too many.

Elirienne

@JohnD212, i admit that i am a bit of a clumsy noob, but never seen them or recognised them. Bear in mind, I also don't go farming to specific places, just play the game as it is, quests, etc.

@TetsuMaru, lol. Wonder when this will stop/normalise. Getting a bit bored with the "bot" crying. Actually, getting a bit bored with the "content too hard, content too easy, there are bots everywhere", "not enough bag space", "nerf vampires" "nerf everything" "why cant i do solo quests in a group" "why isn't there a nameplate" crying, too

TetsuMaru

Agreed Elirienne. People always think their insightful analysis of software is somehow better than the millions of dollars...hundreds of people and other resources used to deliver a makret offering. This, unlikely will never end.

Elirienne

Vulfgrum wrote: »

My self personally, yes they are effecting the game and give me a feeling of a very unfair playing ground and they need to be dealt with.

How? Genuinely asking. How is it an unfair playing ground? You are not playing against the bots, are you?

TetsuMaru

Man vs machine bro. Its a loosing battle. Just look at koreans playing sc vs americans

Knottypine

Elirienne wrote: »

They are not stopping me from doing quests. I have never once had to wait for dungeon bosses (well bear in mind that sub 30 I was so overwhelmed by the game that missed most public/solo dungeons...). They really are not impacting me.

Which makes me genuinely wonder, why are they such a big headache for other players.

They are a headache for several reasons... One, they use abilities to collect resource nodes before other players can get to it. I myself haven't experienced this, but I've seen videos. I have seen very briefly one character zipping around on the map in front of me, but was gone before I could even figure out what was happening.

Next there is the dungeon bosses, surrounded by 6-10 bots that kill it before it can even be targeted. Newly implemented loot timers, punishing real players as there is now no point to clear two consecutive dungeons as you will not receive loot from the second one until after a predetermined time.

They are the major reason what a couple of negative changes took place that appears to have not slowed down bots at all, yet people trying to actually play the game are effected... Well except you and a few others I suppose!

So yeah... they can be pretty annoying, even if you don't see them.

TetsuMaru

Other players can do the same thing. Steel nodes etc. Move on to another. Dont alt tab and needlessly complain about it. Your post will change nothing. I used to pick up on bots in wow dungeons and raids all the time. Not once did I bother complaining to blizzard. That is an exercise in futility. Guess what they are doing something about bots. Then the jerks botting find a way around it. Its cyber warfare and will continue forever. Certainly not to end after your post....or mine for that matter.

pknecron

Watch I guarantee that they will make harvested goods sell for 0g instead of killing the bots. I called it first. And, yes, it's just you.

Bryong9ub17_ESO

You said you are V5 so Im assuming you are playing on the veteran maps. If so, you are not going to experience them much. Try starting a new character and you will see the endless train of bots doing quest,speed hacking, flying, ghosting through terrain. Its nonstop and out of control.

dawnhawk

I've noticed them (vr3 at the moment but I have alts that I see them on more often). I actually called the bf into my office at one point to show him a herd because he hasn't seen any he noticed prior to that. Now he sees them more often.

But they haven't "affected" me. I see them, I report them, get my hit count on whatever boss I'm there to kill and move on.

But I don't presume my motivations in the game are the same as everyone else. I have NOT had problems collecting mats for crafting the way many state. And I'm 50 crafting in everything but enchanting which is at 32. But I'm also not looking for amazing gear etc every step of the way because I find I level out of gear very quickly so if I don't get amazing drops of every boss in every cave I come across I don't care. As long as I get the completion achieve and the quest objective I'm usually good to go.

And I have up on immersion over a decade ago when I tried larping with the idiot gamers where I live who can't act. If I wasn't immersion I'll go play a single player or a roleplay with hand picked gamers - not a game with the masses from all walks of life!

PBpsy

Nope I never had a problem with them . I was in VR zones two weeks from launch so I was ridding in advance of the bot wave though. I hope they put some stronger requirements for VR1 advancement so that the bots don't spill into these zones also.
The main concern for most players is the state of economy. I think the economy is idiotic by design and bots don't really make it significantly worse. I knew how it was going to be the moment I pressed the checkout button but I didn't care and still don't.

Dayel

I have noticed a few bots, and while they may have delayed me doing a quest requirement for a couple of minutes, they have never really inconvenienced me. Sure they are illegal and should be gotten rid of IF THAT IS POSSIBLE, but not if the preoccupation with them is going to tie up ZOS resources that could be used expand and improve the game.

Whining and complaining about their existence is a waste of time.

Rosveen

Of course you're not affected if you're in veteran zones.

They don't inconvenience me that much, but it is mildly irritating to see my node stolen from underground. And back in low level zones, they were on literally every dungeon boss. I don't know if they're still there, I didn't go back.

JosephChip

I don't know, I reached VR before this whole bots thing appeared.
I don't know if it is as bad as some threads want to make it sound.

sParkSnare

OP, you're not alone. Bots appear to be a problem - and I sincerely hope ZOS eradicates them. However, I encountered them very rarely while leveling up my main character (currently VR 2) - which, as a "completionist," took a whole lot of game time (starting the morning of early access and finally hitting VR 1 at the end of April or in early May). Although I still play my main (now just shy of VR 3), I started an alt/new class when my main hit VR and also have experienced few bots with my alt. In all honesty, the battle against bots is much more noticeable to me than the bots themselves. For example, the drop rate for loot/motifs/recipes/mats for my alt is so bad compared to when my main was leveling up it's not nearly as much fun to play my alt.

Bryong9ub17_ESO

shayafb14_ESO wrote: »

Whining and complaining about their existence is a waste of time.

Not necessarily, Its a good way of letting the developers know what a major priority is and what needs to be resolved asap. But at this point I think yes. They are well aware of the problem and I'm positive they are working on a fix. This is still a new game and bug and bots are going to be part of it. The bug and exploits will be fixed and the bots will surely fade away.

Arsvita

It is. And in many cases, depending on instance, worse.

Low level players can not get any materials for crafting.

There are also reports from some of the vr's that they have impossibly, due to quest restrictions, made into vr land.

Start an alt with a crafting profession of either Cloth, Blacksmith, or Woodworking (for the worst cases) and check it out for yourself. It's not a few bots with speed hacks, anti collision traipsing through all obstacles and being underground, teleporting, boxed (nodes, quest, leveling), and flying. It worse than a swarm of locust.

Just a bit out of hand? A GM will log for half an hour to "zap" bots and, I believe they get run over and flattened , moments later there are hundreds in the zones again.

They are not just harvesting nodes, but also killing everything in certain zones (Dreughside for one), Dungeons, and running trains of quests.

Just check it out, the lower non-vr zones, and look for a bit. They are fast, sneaky, invisible, have a smaller target zone (harder to get and report), and speed hack makes it near impossible to see more than what appears to be a trailer.

Would be great if we could actually hunt them with more than a report.

I will follow them and play a game I call "Bot, Bot, Goose" and only once has the target been an actual person.

So yes, they do ruin many an experience for players that have both been around and not raced to level while running alts and new players (who will find a very sour taste in their mouth) who step into ESO for the first time.

<edit here > Just scoping out the forums as I try to keep an eye on some things, here was what I just found after posting here.
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/98589/coldharbour-filled-with-bots-today#latest
Bots in Coldharbor.

lecarcajou_ESO

I must admit, though I guess I'm not proud of it, that there have been times when I felt positively affected by the bot stampede right in front of me in a group dungeon.

columbineb14_ESO

You won't notice much of a bot problem if your char is above a certain level, but I tried starting a new char the other day just to see how bad it was for myself. Well, it's that bad. Bad enough that at the moment I can't in good conscience recommend this game to anyone, because I know what they would face as a new player.

katfiveknivesub17_ESO

It affects me because my higher level crafters are now making gear for my lower level toons. I prefer harvesting my own materials rather than purchasing them through the guild. When I first started playing I had no problems finding resources. Going back now, I find it nearly impossible.

I feel confident the dev's will find a way to rid the game of most of them. They used to be a big problem in other games I play and those dev's found a way to stop them so I know it's possible. I'm prepared to give them some time to sort this out.

What I would like to see right away is an easy way to report them. For example, right click on their toon, report.

wrlifeboil

TetsuMaru wrote: »

Agreed Elirienne. People always think their insightful analysis of software is somehow better than the millions of dollars...hundreds of people and other resources used to deliver a makret offering. This, unlikely will never end.

Not always true. It's more that some people see the results of one company spending millions of dollars and having hundreds of workers and compare them to other companies who spend millions of dollars and have hundreds of workers.

These people wonder why one game is 'better' than the other with this feature or that feature given both companies spend millions of dollars and have hundreds of workers.

notepad

How many bots you see seems to vary. The zone you are in, hours/timezone you play during, etc seem to be factors.

I just started playing 2 weeks ago, and have been going through things slowly as I like exploring and lore, but I have to say that the bots are negatively affecting me even though I try to ignore them. I have only found one rune in the wild over the past 4-5 days, I've had resource nodes disappear as I go to pick them (some people have said this is in-ground bots), have seen bots flying at high speed through the air picking off monsters with bows before I can get to them, etc. My first public dungeon I left without getting the boss as I didn't know there was supposed to be there because a huddle of bots kept killing it almost instantly. There have been I don't know how many times I go through a questing area or a mini-dungeon type thing and it is filled with bots and I may get one or two kills.

Whereas I was initially wanting to playing this game at a relaxed pace, now I'm feeling pressure to hurry up and get that node or chest quick, or grab and kill that monster as fast as possible, so that I get something before bots. That isn't very relaxing Maybe I'm just unlucky.

Well, I'll cut it short, but just to say I thought at first people were exaggerating or that I could ignore the bots, but at least for when I play, that doesn't really seem to be the case.

katfiveknivesub17_ESO wrote: »

What I would like to see right away is an easy way to report them. For example, right click on their toon, report.

Oh definitely. That would be a good start, especially if it worked from a distance for those flying bots.

wrlifeboil

Bots used to bug me in the low level solo dungeons because often I couldn't get a hit in on the boss to get the dungeon completed achievement. But in VR ranks there aren't many bots in the dungeons. Maybe I beat the bot leveling wave, maybe the mass bans are working. It is hard to find some crafting materials though so maybe they are focusing on grabbing nodes and runes.

Moon-and-Star

the only time bots annoy me is when i go to harvest a node and there is one underground harvesting it. or when they are spaming a dungeon boss and killing it so quickly i cant get credit for killing it. that and the random mail i get but its easy to send a report and then delete it.

Striken7

The only negative effects on me that are a result of the bots, are the measures ZoS has put in place to "fight" them. Without those, the only evidence I'd see that bots exist is on the forums.

Utildai

No, your not. I haven't really run into many issues at all with them other than the occasional group of them running around killing mobs...

Elirienne

So since it looks like the majority of players are actually not that impacted by bots, why is the forum full of crying topics? My understanding from responses is it's mainly for low lvl craftmaterials - but not everyone crafts - and for some low level dungeon bosses. To me this still doesn't sound like the end of the world..

once again, i am not advocating botting, quite the contrary. Just still not getting what this insane overreaction is all about.