Bots in Grahtwood are a Problem

twev

Gargath wrote: »

Good thing is they usually don't farm nodes and don't open treasure chests

For the benefit of those players who claim that bots aren't an issue because they've never seen any:

Bots used to farm nodes in many many places, and you could watch them visit the same nodes in the same pattern on the same path for hours on end with no variation of movement.
But nodes don't take a train of bots.

Some bots used to skim over the ground without needing to follow contours, too, from node to node.

Now, I hear, they're again/still harvesting from under the map, and they're harder to see than when they first started, but occasionally you can see one pop up through the ground.

Bots don't use visual clues to go from node to node, so it's easy to spot them when they're running their racetrack circuit - stopping to harvest nodes that aren't there, or haven't respawned yet.

The same with bot-trains harvesting monsters and badguys.
They turn on a path that takes them to where the monsters respawn every time, and they visit those respawn sites whether there is a node of monsters or enemies there on schedule or not, then turn to visit the next monster spawn node whether there are targets there at that site or not.
If the node hasn't respawned yet, the train will just grab it on the next go-round, and the next.....
Wash/rinse/repeat.

Krayzie

Can't stop bots, every time you create a new gamertag on Xbox you get a free month of XBL, same for PS4.

Also, 3 day bans to bots do nothing and they keep all the items.

Slick_007

Krayzie wrote: »

Can't stop bots, every time you create a new gamertag on Xbox you get a free month of XBL, same for PS4.

Also, 3 day bans to bots do nothing and they keep all the items.

cant stop them, but you can stop them getting loot/gold/xp. for a while anyway. and in the process get your self some loot. they are there for a reason. be there for the same reason, slightly ahead of them.

Dekeon

Just download a bot program and run one yourself they don't care I've seen the same Bots for months now.

ZOS_RichLambert

Reverb wrote: »

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

I appreciate that bots are looked into. Do you guys actually use the in game reporting function? I can't imagine that you would sincerely say that it's the best way to do anything if you actually had to use it for reporting your own issues.

I do use it all the time in game... and the reports get actioned on all the time. I agree it could be a little easier to use, but using the tool gives us a huge amount of really good info. (lots of hidden things that players don't see like account name, exact location...etc)

Elsonso

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

@ZOS_RichLambert , I know that this is the official answer, but the practical nature of the issue complicates things.

1. Spam reports of botting runs the risk of action against me. Says so right on the screen. I assume that spam reports would be things like reporting lots of accounts for botting where ZOS does not agree.
2. There is no feedback to let me know if I am reporting things that ZOS considers to be a bot. I might think that I am sure I see a bot, and I might be wrong. If I am an avid bot hunter, and I am reporting the wrong things, not only am I just making things worse, I run into the above item.
3. It takes ZOS so long to action a bot that there is no indication that ZOS is really doing anything about bots.
4. It is annoying to trot along behind the bots long enough to get a "report player" interaction, and doing so runs the risk of being seen as a botter through association. (Sorcerers reporting bots should never have their pets out. Never.) Yes, we can report using the character or account name, but when the bots are running pets, displaying the pet seems to have priority over displaying the character.

I could spend my day today reporting bots. There are 26 accounts that I believe are bots or multiboxers that I saw just yesterday. I know that 26 isn't a lot, given the scale of the game, but I am not actively looking for new bots. The 26 accounts are just some of the ones I checked up on to see if they were still there.

Should I do that today?

bunnytrix

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

You might investigate them but you do absolutely nothing about them. Same bot trains in the same places for months on end, reported and reported and reported, yet you guys do nothing. Just the usual lame response "we're investigating."
Actions speak louder than words.

Back near launch, when there was that massive bot problem in delves etc; you had ingame, bot killing game masters with names like Almo the Bot Destroyer (for example). This was awesome, as not only were the bots being removed, us players could see that something was being done about it. Doing this again would go a long way to re assure us that you actually care about removing the 1000s of bots that are present in game right now.

Qbiken

Just the fact that ZOS-staff actually answer these threads give me some sort of hope. A few months ago they rarely comment on these threads. Just by commenting I feel like they´re more aware of the issue and are taking more actions than they used to.

me_ming

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

Just wonder whatever happened to game masters? They were very handy in the past with these bots.

Jake1576

me_ming wrote: »

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

Just wonder whatever happened to game masters? They were very handy in the past with these bots.

Not sure there ever has been game masters on PS4 north America server there is a load screen that explains about them but I've yet to ever see one lol

Timeoin

Jake1576 wrote: »

me_ming wrote: »

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

Just wonder whatever happened to game masters? They were very handy in the past with these bots.

Not sure there ever has been game masters on PS4 north America server there is a load screen that explains about them but I've yet to ever see one lol

GM stands for Generic Myth.

Slick_007

bunnytrix wrote: »

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

You might investigate them but you do absolutely nothing about them. Same bot trains in the same places for months on end, reported and reported and reported, yet you guys do nothing. Just the usual lame response "we're investigating."
Actions speak louder than words.

Back near launch, when there was that massive bot problem in delves etc; you had ingame, bot killing game masters with names like Almo the Bot Destroyer (for example). This was awesome, as not only were the bots being removed, us players could see that something was being done about it. Doing this again would go a long way to re assure us that you actually care about removing the 1000s of bots that are present in game right now.

this gives me a good idea. there could be a bot destroying event where everyone in the zone sees something like the heavens open and akatosh appears with his staff of bot killing and smites players to the underworld. dont need to name the bots, though it would be satisfying for people in the zone to think hey, i reported that guy the other day.

personally, i think his staff of bot killing should be lightning and nearby players should see the bots light up like they do in funny movies when they get electrocuted, right before they implode.

Elsonso

Jake1576 wrote: »

me_ming wrote: »

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

Just wonder whatever happened to game masters? They were very handy in the past with these bots.

Not sure there ever has been game masters on PS4 north America server there is a load screen that explains about them but I've yet to ever see one lol

I think they probably exist, somewhere, but if they come out, we don't see them. The ones that look like GMs are probably never used. The ones they do use are either invisible or look like any random Bob.

Meanwhile, I was in the game a lot yesterday, and as an update to my posting a couple days ago, I wanted to add that I ran across 45 characters that I would probably report for some sort of botting or multiboxing. I saw the elusive Fort Virak bot swarm, too. They are only visible to characters that have not completed that quest line. No, I did not report any of them. Reporting 45 characters would have taken me a few hours, given that I would have to determine, for each one, precisely what sort of automation they are using, just to make sure I didn't catch some human that was tagging along with them.

clementvw

Something being done?
Great, i reported a horde of bots a few weeks ago,
i just reported a horde of bots farming Senche Tigers at Karthdar again (Grathwood, where mobs drop agro after small quest),
that spot isn't too bad for a soloplyayer,
220 XP per mob, but if 1 of the bot-group hits your mob, you only get 36 XP...spot is ruined

Go to another decent spot?
Yeah sure, and there are 5 other players because effective grindspots are rare and get nerfed.

Let's face it, Zenimax wants us grinding as long as possible preferable using crown-XP scrolls and subscriptions,
and bots actually help do that by slowing down progress.

rotaugen454

Recently, I've seen a few instances of something that I have not seen in a while: nodes disappearing with no one else around, indicating they are doing it from underground again. I've been standing next to a visible node, then I hit the key to farm and nothing happens, and the node disappears. Sometimes they disappeared as I was standing by them before I could hit the E key.

I report bot trains when I see them, and try to get some video or at lease a screenshot. It would be far easier if there was a "report bot" button, as the current system can be a bit confusing to someone who hasn't gone through it.

Elsonso

rotaugen454 wrote: »

Recently, I've seen a few instances of something that I have not seen in a while: nodes disappearing with no one else around, indicating they are doing it from underground again. I've been standing next to a visible node, then I hit the key to farm and nothing happens, and the node disappears. Sometimes they disappeared as I was standing by them before I could hit the E key.

This has been happening almost since Day 1. At first, people thought it was due to someone underground or invisible taking the node. We have seen people underground, so it is not far fetched that this is happening. However, it was not long before we encountered situations where things would vanish as we approached them, only to reappear when we move back.

Personally, I think that the server has one idea about whether the node is there, and the client as another idea. The client ends up displaying a node that is not actually there. When the client asks the server for the contents of the node, the server responds back with "what node", the client apologizes to the server for wasting time, and deletes the node.

I don't think that, when this happens, it is anything more than a miscommunication between the client and the server.

So, unless you see evidence that someone is there, like a nameplate for someone under ground, or my favorite, a head running along at ground level, and actually hear the node being taken, chances are it is just that the client didn't know the node was gone.

twev

rotaugen454 wrote: »

Recently, I've seen a few instances of something that I have not seen in a while: nodes disappearing with no one else around, indicating they are doing it from underground again. I've been standing next to a visible node, then I hit the key to farm and nothing happens, and the node disappears. Sometimes they disappeared as I was standing by them before I could hit the E key.

I report bot trains when I see them, and try to get some video or at lease a screenshot. It would be far easier if there was a "report bot" button, as the current system can be a bit confusing to someone who hasn't gone through it.

The harder to report: The fewer reports.
Self correcting problem.

Nestor

Bravk wrote: »

The reporting system in xbox is very tedious, I have reported bots before and you have to enter each name tag individually.

If they investigate these things properly, in other words a Game Master shows up and looks at the bot activity, you should only have to get one, maybe two, of the accounts reported to get them all.

Elsonso

Nestor wrote: »

Bravk wrote: »

The reporting system in xbox is very tedious, I have reported bots before and you have to enter each name tag individually.

If they investigate these things properly, in other words a Game Master shows up and looks at the bot activity, you should only have to get one, maybe two, of the accounts reported to get them all.

I don't think that works. I have done that in the past, but feel that unless I call them out by name, individually, only the main reported one is seen.

maboleth

Sorry for having a real life, but what exactly is a bot and what does it do? Why does it exist? What's the meaning of its life?

clementvw

Nestor wrote: »

If they investigate these things properly, in other words a Game Master shows up and looks at the bot activity, you should only have to get one, maybe two, of the accounts reported to get them all.

Or if GM shows up at a reported spot, the TEN bots are quite obvious.
It even more obvious if you kill their mobs before they get to them,
the bots go to the spot where the mobs are supposed to be.

What GM should do, is return to that spot every day and see if the bots came back, ban them again and not wait for the next guy to make the effort to report.

Vermin and weeds come back unless you ROOT them out.

Nestor

maboleth wrote: »

Sorry for having a real life, but what exactly is a bot and what does it do? Why does it exist? What's the meaning of its life?

@maboleth

Bots are scripted characters that run specific patterns to farm the game for gear and mats. They can be quite annoying by their very existence as they typically are in packs of 6 to 10. They can also mess up quests by killing mobs you need to kill to complete a quest. That and they farm the game with no effort for the person running them. They use the Mats and Gear to earn Gold to sell to people who are too dang lazy to play the game. Which I don't understand as you can mint gold in this game just by being in the game and expending a little effort.

Also, they are against the TOS.

Iselin

Nestor wrote: »

maboleth wrote: »

Sorry for having a real life, but what exactly is a bot and what does it do? Why does it exist? What's the meaning of its life?

@maboleth

Bots are scripted characters that run specific patterns to farm the game for gear and mats. They can be quite annoying by their very existence as they typically are in packs of 6 to 10. They can also mess up quests by killing mobs you need to kill to complete a quest. That and they farm the game with no effort for the person running them. They use the Mats and Gear to earn Gold to sell to people who are too dang lazy to play the game. Which I don't understand as you can mint gold in this game just by being in the game and expending a little effort.

Also, they are against the TOS.

And they power-level at the same time so they can sell the accounts to the same lazy people or do it as a service for existing accounts for those stupid enough to trust them with their account and credit card or Paypal.

dsalter

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

Reverb wrote: »

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

We do actively investigate any reports of bots. The best way to get them actioned is to report them in game.

I appreciate that bots are looked into. Do you guys actually use the in game reporting function? I can't imagine that you would sincerely say that it's the best way to do anything if you actually had to use it for reporting your own issues.

I do use it all the time in game... and the reports get actioned on all the time. I agree it could be a little easier to use, but using the tool gives us a huge amount of really good info. (lots of hidden things that players don't see like account name, exact location...etc)

any idea if the "report area for bots" is gunna become a thing?
its a nightmare reporting each one, reporting an entire segment would make tracking them to be inspected so much easier for the dev team i'm sure

kip_silverwolf

It's not only a nightmare, but near impossible to report each one at times. I've just tried to report a bot train currently running in Glister Vale, Auridon. (PC, NA). There's at least half a dozen sorcs running a lap killing the wolves there (which are on a fairly quick respawn). Trying to target each one to report, while they're bunched and moving quickly, is practically futile. I managed to get a few but not all.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_RichLambert any chance someone can take a look?

maboleth

Thanks guys for explanations. I find it really odd that some people are wasting their lives in scripting 'bots' and doing such things. Such pitiful little souls.

ArnoTerranova

Turelus wrote: »

Nothing new especially with this zone/area.

I have reported bots countless time but still nothing. Whilst I love ESO and ZOS this is their one major failing.

They need to streamline their systems so we get something closer to the following.

1. Player has simple "Report Bot" tool.
2. Report lands directly with a GM/Security member who can deal with it (not customer support).
3. GM addresses the issue within 24 hours.
4. Security team follows up with checking logs on bots sales/transactions and also punishes gold buyers/sellers.

Agree on that,
can't report effortlessly a bot.
I saw a troop of them in north east of Stonefalls in the quest area.

Elsonso

ArnoTerranova wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

Nothing new especially with this zone/area.

I have reported bots countless time but still nothing. Whilst I love ESO and ZOS this is their one major failing.

They need to streamline their systems so we get something closer to the following.

1. Player has simple "Report Bot" tool.
2. Report lands directly with a GM/Security member who can deal with it (not customer support).
3. GM addresses the issue within 24 hours.
4. Security team follows up with checking logs on bots sales/transactions and also punishes gold buyers/sellers.

Agree on that,
can't report effortlessly a bot.
I saw a troop of them in north east of Stonefalls in the quest area.

Well, I think that is generally the process that ZOS uses. Where there is a diference is #3. It isn't 24 hours, it is more like 24 days.

gepe87

Last week I saw a group of 15 +500 CP players train at 4AM, 'collecting' and killing cursed bears in Auridon.
Really that those players need such low experience for each kill?

auronessb16_ESO

Does it help to add a link to a video after the report is made, when I get the email confirmation? I have reported on a group of the same 5 or 6 for the past three days, and have videos of all three days.