ESO is Making a Mistake by Not Addressing the Bot Issue

Silverose0

ESO wouldn't have to give details as to what they are doing. The should be doing something to address the bot problem and announce that they are doing so in general terms that won't compromise their efforts. If progress is being made, they should announce this also. It appears that they are doing nothing about the bot problem and this is unacceptable.
I love ESO, but the bot problem is driving me away from the game and could cause it to be a failure.

mutharex

So they should warn the bots of what they are going to do to eliminate them?
That hardly ever has a positive outcome, you know?

nerevarine1138

Remember the banwaves that already happened? Or the security hotfixes that already happened? Of course you don't. Because selective memory is a wonderful thing.

They are doing something about the bots; that's what every unspecified "hotfix" has been about helping with. But because bot programmers are crafty little things, they will find new ways to exploit the code, and the cycle starts over.

Not only do the developers not need to tell you when they implement new security features, they shouldn't tell you at all. It would be like sending Al Qaeda a letter to let them know that a special ops team was about to raid one of their warehouses and would they mind terribly not putting up much of a fight.

RianaTheBosmer

Exactly it is foolish for ZOS to say anything about bots. You don't tell your enemy you are coming after them unless you are foolish.

DenverRalphy

Silverose0 wrote: »

ESO wouldn't have to give details as to what they are doing. The should be doing something to address the bot problem and announce that they are doing so in general terms that won't compromise their efforts. If progress is being made, they should announce this also. It appears that they are doing nothing about the bot problem and this is unacceptable.
I love ESO, but the bot problem is driving me away from the game and could cause it to be a failure.

You mean aside from the numerous general statements they've made over the past few weeks?

Silverose0

[/quote]

You mean aside from the numerous general statements they've made over the past few weeks?
[/quote]

I would expect some progress to be made in the war against bots in a major patch.

The bot population hasn't decreased, and ESO hasn't announced that they have succeeded in reducing their numbers. It appears that the bots are winning.

Innocente

Anyone that has been to the starting zones lately can see that Z/B efforts to combat gold farmers has been 100% ineffective!

* Teleport Hackers
* Speed Hackers
* Z-Plane Hackers
* Bot Hackers
* Newbie Gold Farmers

All these types are there in abundance, easy to see. Most not reportable. These cheaters are driving players away from the game now, and are also causing Z/B to make questionable decisions regarding loot drops from Mobs, Containers, and Bosses. Hurting the players in a feeble attempt to discourage the cheaters.

If Z/B continues to ignore this problem, then this game is going to be a ghost town in a few more months. Just as a gauge, the guild I am in has about 50 (out of 225) inactive members. Folks that are still in the guild but have not logged in for weeks, or months. They are gone from the game. I expect even more to exodus out in June.

It is really to bad. ESO has a really fine base game. One that could be built into a masterpiece, given sufficient time and income. But, I fear it will never get that chance.

darthbelanb14_ESO

Yeah, this and every other MMO.

mutharex

GW2 had bots roaming till the day I quit playing it, about 4 months after launch

Hell, I remember the forums were EXACTLY like this, just more pissed off because to fight the bots they introduced timers on how long you could be grinding the same type of mobs (for mats) and considering the end zone was all undead....lol

in brief OP, don't post about stuff you can't understand, doesn't make you look good

*Edited: Flaming*

nerevarine1138

Silverose0 wrote: »

I would expect some progress to be made in the war against bots in a major patch.

The bot population hasn't decreased, and ESO hasn't announced that they have succeeded in reducing their numbers. It appears that the bots are winning.

WoW has been running for 10 years. During that decade, Blizzard has had countless banwaves, security hotfixes, Warden updates, etc. And yet there are still tons of bots and gold-sellers running rampant through the game. Can you imagine any reason for that? (Hint: read the earlier posts.)

Silverose0

mutharex wrote: »

yeah selective memory is amazing
in brief OP, don't post about stuff you can't understand, doesn't make you look good

I would expect some progress to be made in the war against bots in a major patch in light of the apparent ineffectiveness of what they have done so far.

If their efforts have been more effective than they appear to be, they should announce this also. It would be nice to know that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

dietlime

There's no more gold spam in the zone chat, so they are doing something right.

mutharex

Silverose0 wrote: »

mutharex wrote: »

yeah selective memory is amazing
in brief OP, don't post about stuff you can't understand, doesn't make you look good

I would expect some progress to be made in the war against bots in a major patch in light of the apparent ineffectiveness of what they have done so far.

If their efforts have been more effective than they appear to be, they should announce this also. It would be nice to know that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

No, no one ever said anything about this kind of stuff, in any game.

It just doesn't make sense gloating about having 'beaten the bots' if a week later they find another way in, does it?

And most games have bots 10 years after their launch

mutharex

Innocente wrote: »

Anyone that has been to the starting zones lately can see that Z/B efforts to combat gold farmers has been 100% ineffective!

* Teleport Hackers
* Speed Hackers
* Z-Plane Hackers
* Bot Hackers
* Newbie Gold Farmers

All these types are there in abundance, easy to see. Most not reportable. These cheaters are driving players away from the game now, and are also causing Z/B to make questionable decisions regarding loot drops from Mobs, Containers, and Bosses. Hurting the players in a feeble attempt to discourage the cheaters.

If Z/B continues to ignore this problem, then this game is going to be a ghost town in a few more months. Just as a gauge, the guild I am in has about 50 (out of 225) inactive members. Folks that are still in the guild but have not logged in for weeks, or months. They are gone from the game. I expect even more to exodus out in June.

It is really to bad. ESO has a really fine base game. One that could be built into a masterpiece, given sufficient time and income. But, I fear it will never get that chance.

I think you are exaggerating things, really. Bots never ever killed a game, only devs can (usually by listening to their players....)

Endurance

Silverose0 wrote: »

ESO wouldn't have to give details as to what they are doing. The should be doing something to address the bot problem and announce that they are doing so in general terms that won't compromise their efforts. If progress is being made, they should announce this also. It appears that they are doing nothing about the bot problem and this is unacceptable.
I love ESO, but the bot problem is driving me away from the game and could cause it to be a failure.

either they address the exploits and cheats, or they focus on patching in content.. im very sure they cant do both at the same time while im very sure everyone would complain about not having one or the other done

kasain

They should never talk about bots. FFXI FFXXIV and most games I know won't. They will do game code and change things. Then they may say how many players or bots were removed from game. More like accounts. But this is not saying how they do it, and that's the way they should.

You won't even know anything about the bots until after a update. But the fact they allow pretty much any third party software makes them extremely vulnerable to bots. Most MMOS won't allow this. If you use a third party program then in theory you agree to bots in game.

But also to be fair so many things like an item search in guilde store, actual number bar on stats, and a combat log should of been in the game period.

Now to those who use bots to find shards and lore books. What is the difference of a player doing this to maximize his game time and not miss something. Then a bot program that shows all resource points. Or even making it walk above ground to gather. Nothing. Now if he does it underground, or other illegal thing that's an issue.

But the point is players use third party programs to gather resources, and so do bots.

RubyTigress

i was in gw2 this morning-guess what i saw? wall to wall gold seller ads.

I one click reported every one. (That's an improvement Zos should get on right away.)

This is a long, neverending conflict between devs and rmthieves.

I do not concede to them.

Sonoshi

dietlime wrote: »

There's no more gold spam in the zone chat, so they are doing something right.

Really? Because I see it in the starter zones all the time.

Reignskream

Silverose0 wrote: »

ESO wouldn't have to give details as to what they are doing. The should be doing something to address the bot problem and announce that they are doing so in general terms that won't compromise their efforts. If progress is being made, they should announce this also. It appears that they are doing nothing about the bot problem and this is unacceptable.
I love ESO, but the bot problem is driving me away from the game and could cause it to be a failure.

They've announced clearly in older/numerous threads they're looking into the bot issue. I've watched GM's in game come down from the heavens and wreak havoc on bots.

They do not need to announce every 2 minutes that they've taken care of some bots. Threads like this pop up every time maintenance comes around, or if someone sees a bot or something.

DenverRalphy

mutharex wrote: »

Innocente wrote: »

Anyone that has been to the starting zones lately can see that Z/B efforts to combat gold farmers has been 100% ineffective!

* Teleport Hackers
* Speed Hackers
* Z-Plane Hackers
* Bot Hackers
* Newbie Gold Farmers

All these types are there in abundance, easy to see. Most not reportable. These cheaters are driving players away from the game now, and are also causing Z/B to make questionable decisions regarding loot drops from Mobs, Containers, and Bosses. Hurting the players in a feeble attempt to discourage the cheaters.

If Z/B continues to ignore this problem, then this game is going to be a ghost town in a few more months. Just as a gauge, the guild I am in has about 50 (out of 225) inactive members. Folks that are still in the guild but have not logged in for weeks, or months. They are gone from the game. I expect even more to exodus out in June.

It is really to bad. ESO has a really fine base game. One that could be built into a masterpiece, given sufficient time and income. But, I fear it will never get that chance.

I think you are exaggerating things, really. Bots never ever killed a game, only devs can (usually by listening to their players....)

Yup. I see the occasional bot, and the occasional train of them (not as often as I used to though). But other than seeing them travel across my field of vision, I couldn't really care less. From my player standpoint, they haven't really affected me at all (I think one time I had to wait for a delve boss respawn and make it a point to be quick on the trigger, but that was quite some time ago).

I think most of the uproar is just because it gives some people something to rage about.

liquid_wolf

Silverose0 wrote: »

ESO wouldn't have to give details as to what they are doing. The should be doing something to address the bot problem and announce that they are doing so in general terms that won't compromise their efforts. If progress is being made, they should announce this also. It appears that they are doing nothing about the bot problem and this is unacceptable.
I love ESO, but the bot problem is driving me away from the game and could cause it to be a failure.

Just cool it. One problem at a time.

Craglorn is their focus this update.

Bots/Nightblade/Auction House/Crafting/Glitches/Loot/PvP/Quests/Veteran Ranks/Mounts/Housing/Weapons/Skills will be next.

In some order.

DenverRalphy

dietlime wrote: »

There's no more gold spam in the zone chat, so they are doing something right.

I never see gold spam anymore either, but I attribute that to my spam filter addon.

justsumnoob

For the first few weeks the bots never really bothered me but after re-rolling & going back through the lower levels, they are finally getting to me.
They are ruining quite a few areas of the game.
When they are out in force, there is absolutely nothing to kill in the area or dungeon & its really hard to finish some quests because you can never get a hit on that boss or quest character.
If something isn't done to stop them now before the problem gets really out of hand, i can see a lot of late comers to the game getting getting turned off of eso. Bad for all of us in the long run if we cant keep increasing population numbers

Reignskream

I've seen small amounts of gold spam in the lower areas, but nothing that is unbearable. i am at khens roost on AD, and i maybe ignore a gold seller or 2 a day. People need to take some xanax or something.

Silverose0

[/quote]

It just doesn't make sense gloating about having 'beaten the bots' if a week later they find another way in, does it?

And most games have bots 10 years after their launch[/quote]

WoW is the only other MMO I've logged many hours with. I've played WoW since it was released, gosh, was it 10 years ago?

WoW doesn't have a bot problem of the same magnitude as ESO. The bots don't impact game play in the same way. In ESO, there are places where bot trains continually kill all the quest NPCs so you can't finish your quests. Bots farm the resource drops so you can't get enough material to craft, and crafting items is a large part of ESO (which I like, by the way.) Bots don't ruin WoW in the same way that they ruin ESO.

I agree that the impact to ESO's image would be negative if they posted that they had "beaten the bot issue" then a new generation of bots sprang up a week later. Having some measure of progress being made would have a positive impact on people's perception of the game.

mutharex

Reignskream wrote: »

I've seen small amounts of gold spam in the lower areas, but nothing that is unbearable. i am at khens roost on AD, and i maybe ignore a gold seller or 2 a day. People need to take some xanax or something.

I have the feeling that this hysterical

Silverose0 wrote: »

What you talking about?? WoW has more gold sellers tha nay other game combined...

Just look at the state of their 'economy'

nah, you seem either:

1) really inexperienced
2) just looking for an excuse to rant

ebunts14_ESO

Silverose0 wrote: »

ESO wouldn't have to give details as to what they are doing. The should be doing something to address the bot problem and announce that they are doing so in general terms that won't compromise their efforts. If progress is being made, they should announce this also. It appears that they are doing nothing about the bot problem and this is unacceptable.
I love ESO, but the bot problem is driving me away from the game and could cause it to be a failure.

Your post is a failure. I say this only because they have said time and time again that they are working on it and the fact they have banned thousands of accounts.

Even some of the bot sites such as for Viper, has said thousands have been banned.

You don't tell a thief what security measures you are using to protect your property. That would just allow the ones who write the bot programs to get around them much faster.

Opioid

Just because they don't specifically mention actions taken against bots in the patch notes doesn't mean that they aren't addressing the problem. Patch notes are meant to update the game population regarding new content and bug fixes, not to function as the "Bot Police" blogger.

They have been and will continue to take steps against bots. The simple fact remains though, that they will never be able to effectively stop all bots. The people that create botting programs will always find a way to bypass any new changes ZOS makes to prevent botting. Botters will always find a way to register new accounts when they get banned from the game. It's a constant battle, and one that they fight in the background by monitoring suspicious activity in game as well as on the client side by watching for suspect changes to game files and unintended changes to the game's memory space.

Ideally, they will watch out for those types of changes and suspect activities in game (such as huge amounts of gold changing hands frequently), investigate them and take action either through banning accounts or plugging holes in the code allowing these activities to occur.

Admittedly, this game was launched with way more bugs in the code allowing this kind of activity then it should have had, but it's also hard to see exactly how people will take advantage of and hack your code until you actually get it into the hands of the general public on release.

Hopefully they'll fix a lot of the bugs and security flaws in their code and curb the botters soon, but it takes time and hours of investigation and work to do it.

liquid_wolf

Silverose0 wrote: »

WoW doesn't have a bot problem of the same magnitude as ESO. The bots don't impact game play in the same way. In ESO, there are places where bot trains continually kill all the quest NPCs so you can't finish your quests. Bots farm the resource drops so you can't get enough material to craft, and crafting items is a large part of ESO (which I like, by the way.) Bots don't ruin WoW in the same way that they ruin ESO.

WoW totally has a bot problem of the same magnitude.

Create characters on every single server, and do a count of the total bots seen on every single server.

There are far more bots in WoW than in ESO... but they are spread out amongst different servers.

The only reason the Bots SEEM a bigger problem in ESO is because they are all in one area... one server.

This is one of the first few MMORPGS to try this technology... and it has revealed a huge problem that has existed in MMORPGs for over a decade.

While other companies have claimed to have handled it... the reality is they just minimized the reaction of the players by putting them on different servers.

Now that everyone is on one server... the problem is very apparent.

If you took all WoW players and put them all on one server similar to ESO... you'd see a huge number of bots.

You'd also see the same outcry and reaction you have here.

Blade_07

RianaTheBosmer wrote: »

Exactly it is foolish for ZOS to say anything about bots. You don't tell your enemy you are coming after them unless you are foolish.

This!!!!

ebunts14_ESO

Silverose0 wrote: »

You mean aside from the numerous general statements they've made over the past few weeks?
[/quote]

I would expect some progress to be made in the war against bots in a major patch.

The bot population hasn't decreased, and ESO hasn't announced that they have succeeded in reducing their numbers. It appears that the bots are winning. [/quote]

I beg to differ. I have been in several dungeons that bots would be found in and guess what, no bots. Even the number of harvesting node bots have decreased, not eliminated but decreased.