Have bots impacted the way you farm?

Kuramas9tails

Khenarthis Roost was my favorite place to farm for resources. It was where I first started playing ESO so it has sentimental value to me as a long time player. I haven't been able to farm that area for over a year now because there are constant bots. I keep reporting them one after another to no avail.

To some players, yes, this may seem silly to be upset over (my boyfriend thinks so too) but this bothers me a lot.

BNOC

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

When I used to need to farm, they improved it because you only need to find 1 and follow it for 5 minutes to see an effective loop. Where there's 1, there's 10 so that leads on and on, and eventually I found some amazing loops that were much better than Hew's Bane ore loop that I was running prior - Which was amazing in itself and still is.

You can beat them to the nodes anyway.. on console at least. But yeah, would be ideal if they weren't there I guess.

redlink1979

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

Botting takes place in the same spots, over and over, despite of how often you report those chars/accounts.

Cirantille

I don't farm

I didn't see any bots in the game so far, maybe because I don't farm much

Pictures are very creepy though

redspecter23

Not at all (comment where you farm)

For every bot I see that impacts my farming, there are 99 players that impact me more. There are bots for sure, but the last ones I saw were months ago in Camlorn farming hide scraps. Too many actual players in an area can saturate it and if competition is fierce they will do everything they can to get to that next node or chest faster than you can. Not that it's a bad thing. They have every right to those nodes if they get there first. I generally just move to a less populated area to do my farming if that happens.

During double drop node events, I stay as far away from those zones as I can. I'd rather get a standard rate of drops and have no competition than fight 100 other players and get 1/10th of the nodes for double the yield. I'd rather have a high rate of gold per minute earned than see the shiny double node occasionally.

xpixelatedtkox

Not at all (comment where you farm)

I farm whatever zone I'm focusing on at the time. Auridon is always a favorite of mine to farm, or Summerset.

Starlock

I don't farm

It's even worse for those of us who prioritize roleplay/storytelling. Scum-sucking botters utterly ruin your immersion. And in some cases, actually interfere with your ability to do the quest.

Said it before, will say it again - if I had seen stuff like this when I first started playing the game, I would have quit. I have no doubt that $enimax is loosing customers today by failing to address the botting problem adequately.

Haenk

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

Prices for botted materials seem way down (which some people do like), so I rather go for loot than raw mats now.

magictucktuck

Not at all (comment where you farm)

I'm not a "hardcore" farmer. I will buy alchemy mats with Telvar from killing in imperial city. and I do writs on 4 toons a day and fill my bags with surveys and once every 2 weeks or so or when I have like 40 surveys I go grab them on one toon. and I do loot every node i see, I just don't go out of my way for a "farming sesh".

srfrogg23

I don't farm

People who "farm" have impacted the way I quest, though...

IndianaJames7

I don't farm

Hehe, a clever way of coaxing people into giving you their best farm spots I don’t farm though, did for a bit a couple years ago in behtnik and it was overrun with bots then too.

MLGProPlayer

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

Yes, in that I don't farm as often anymore. Bots have depressed prices on materials so much that it's hardly worth the effort anymore.

The only way to make gold anymore in this game is to flip. In fact, buying materials from botters to flip is one of the best ways to make gold. They're usually willing to sell at deep discounts since they want to sell asap and they have tons of stock/quickly replenish it.

Araneae6537

Not at all (comment where you farm)

I don’t go anywhere specifically to farm except when using surveys, but gather nodes as I come across them and if I feel like I’m finding a lot of resource nodes in an area (and I have always found a lot in the smaller starting zones like Khenarthi’s Roost), I figure I’m in the right place at the right time and will take the time to look around for more.

Wrexsoul

I don't farm

Mats are dirt cheap thanks to bots so I don't ever need to farm. Xie xie

Fischblut

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

I don't specially farm materials. I explore random zones, collect treasure maps, gather crafting surveys. I try to pick all nodes on my way anywhere, and it's difficult to stop

But when I see bot trains on my way, it makes me angry and sad. I always have Bot Scanner addon enabled, so I report every bot I see. Still, it takes some time, and they don't disappear immediately So if I arrive to collect survey and want to kill some leather animals on my way, I have to compete with the bot train - and it's not fun, so I collect the survey and go to other place.

The only way to make gold anymore in this game is to flip. In fact, buying materials from botters to flip is one of the best ways to make gold. They're usually willing to sell at deep discounts since they want to sell asap and they have tons of stock/quickly replenish it.

I would rather prefer very high prices for materials, than to see bots in game. Bots steal resourses and mobs from normal players, and negatively affect potential income of people who farm materials legitimely.

When I see a single bot and start feeling lazy, I remind myself: "This is the reason why you won't ever get higher prices for your materials to make it worth your playtime." Then I stop being lazy and fill the report

Tandor

Not at all (comment where you farm)

I don't farm in the sense of sticking in one place and focusing on one circuit of mobs or harvest nodes, but I do run (not ride) around a lot especially with new characters in the tutorial zones and wherever I am with whichever character I always harvest most of the nodes I come across. I can't recall the last time I saw a bot let alone had my harvesting or questing impacted by them. This is mainly on PC EU and also PC NA.

About 6 months ago in Khenarthi's Roost there was a player (an afk'er rather than a bot) who was standing over the same node for several days. I reported him and a day or two later he was gone, whether by his own initiative or by being kicked I don't know.

I only use such materials etc as I find, I have no interest in buying them in any game I play, and I'm not a seller in ESO so any impact of bots on prices doesn't affect me - but if they keep prices down to sensible levels then that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Siohwenoeht

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

I like using the coastline around Haven in Grahtwood for mubcrab chitin farming and trying to stay ahead of that bot train is like a mini game. Annoying to be sure.

For other mats I rely mostly on surveys so not a problem, but I'm always low on chitin. 😑

BigBragg

Not at all (comment where you farm)

I don't always farm but when I do it is usually in Craglorn or during an event with double loot.

Marginis

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

I've been noticing bots more and more - and more egregiously too, not just in the spots where they typically stay. I'm still usually able to farm decent mats from my routes, but they have had to adapt to work around the bots. Even then, my routes don't get me as much from a run as they used to because of bots. If I were to use the same route as a bot train, even on console, there is no way I'd be able to get to the resources before the bots. Sometimes the bots just stay at a single resource node, simply taking it out of commission for everyone on that shard.

This combined with the last balance changes have taken away most of my interest in the game entirely. I only hop on to take care of my guild at this point, and other than that I ignore the game, which is sad considering all the history I have with ESO. Doing something about the bots would honestly really help me get back into the game, as combat shenanigans can be ignored easily if I just stay away from vet or trial content.

Oh, and where have I seen bots? Alikr desert, Khenarthis roost, Bleakrock isle, Glenumbra, Reapers March, Coldharbour... pretty much everywhere except Elsweyr, Summerset, and Vvardenfell at this point.

Kuramas9tails

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

Tandor wrote: »

I don't farm in the sense of sticking in one place and focusing on one circuit of mobs or harvest nodes, but I do run (not ride) around a lot especially with new characters in the tutorial zones and wherever I am with whichever character I always harvest most of the nodes I come across. I can't recall the last time I saw a bot let alone had my harvesting or questing impacted by them. This is mainly on PC EU and also PC NA.

About 6 months ago in Khenarthi's Roost there was a player (an afk'er rather than a bot) who was standing over the same node for several days. I reported him and a day or two later he was gone, whether by his own initiative or by being kicked I don't know.

I only use such materials etc as I find, I have no interest in buying them in any game I play, and I'm not a seller in ESO so any impact of bots on prices doesn't affect me - but if they keep prices down to sensible levels then that's not necessarily a bad thing.

@Tandor I get moments of nostalgia where I want to farm in the beginning of my ESO journey so AD starting points which has been a sad experience watching my favorite places to farm be populated with bots.

Regarding the Khenarthi's Roost story, was it the spot where the nodes overlapped? On PS4 NA, there was a spot where there was 2 ore/seams that spawned in the same place and they spawned frequently. I honestly haven't gone back to see if it's still a thing.

And I was in 3 guild traders but I started to run out of materials because I haven't found as good of a route as I had in Khenarthi's Roost. I wouldn't mind bots so much if I didn't know they were making real money off of doing this so not only are they taking away my farming locations, decreasing my supplies and decreasing the value but they are making real money off of it.

Dusk_Coven

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

They sit at a node stuck for a long time.
Or they are going around and around killing all the wolves and crocodiles.
Also interferes with the local area by ruining immersion when a conga line worms it way about.

If you normalize botting, just wait until more people start botting and running scripts.

Ysbriel

Not at all (comment where you farm)

I’m on PC NA and honestly up to this day i’ve never seen a farming bot, unless i have but really haven’t paid any attention.

Xerikten

Not at all (comment where you farm)

on pc na also and I can count on one hand how many I have come across. they are always in the middle of no where in a group running around killing for leather. not a problem for me.

Kuramas9tails

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

Xerikten wrote: »

on pc na also and I can count on one hand how many I have come across. they are always in the middle of no where in a group running around killing for leather. not a problem for me.

Ysbriel wrote: »

I’m on PC NA and honestly up to this day i’ve never seen a farming bot, unless i have but really haven’t paid any attention.

I wonder if ZOS can manage PC bots better than they can on console. Which if that is the case, this poll is skewed some more.

Goregrinder

Not at all (comment where you farm)

Bots have never impacted what I do in any MMORPG. They can be ignored.

Kittytravel

Not at all (comment where you farm)

I already know I'm an odd one here because of where I farm but I generally head out to either Gold Coast or Orsinium for farming as those tend to have the least saturated playerbases. Orsinium is just not very well liked and Gold Coast doesn't have many quests taking place in the world so less people walking about for resource nodes.

But I do know when I go to base game areas or chapters there are a lot more people resource farming than I see in my other two places of choice.

Donny_Vito

Not at all (comment where you farm)

Lol is this bait to get our farming spots?

NordSwordnBoard

I don't farm

I hardly farm anymore. When I did, I would avoid the starter areas due to the bots/farmers and stick mainly to Craglorn for nirn. Once, I reported bots in Rivenspire. I did come across the occasional craglorn chinese gold farmer trying to trade their wares for gold or racing me to nodes.

Farming Wrothgar during the event while waiting for the Cyrodiil que was probably the last time I farmed.

max_only

I don't farm

I pick as I go.

xeha_arwen11

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

Kuramas9tails wrote: »

Khenarthis Roost was my favorite place to farm for resources. It was where I first started playing ESO so it has sentimental value to me as a long time player. I haven't been able to farm that area for over a year now because there are constant bots. I keep reporting them one after another to no avail.

To some players, yes, this may seem silly to be upset over (my boyfriend thinks so too) but this bothers me a lot.

It's not silly. Botting is ruining this game. They are everywhere, they make 1 percent of players control the entire trading game on my platform allegedly, and prices for items are absolutely decimated because of the constant bots. For instance, we have botters who have accrued so many gold mats and other rare mats that they sell them in stores all over for 4k or less. And the undersellers push it further down.

Because of this, farming is no longer worth it AT ALL if you want to do it legitimately. I don't farm a large amount of things anymore because it's not worth my time. I'm a major trader, so it's cut deeply into my motivation to play this game. I don't touch khenarthi's, I don't farm tempers or dreugh wax anymore. And so on and so on.

It's a huge problem. It all stems from 2 to 3 main sources.

I enjoy farming. I deal with PTSD, and farming is a way for me to relax and get reward for my work as well. It's not fun or relaxing anymore since good routes are inundated by bots and I get almost nothing for my work now. Doesn't help that the RNG in this game is horrific. I only get 1 gold mat from every 400 raws most of the time. While others have said they usually get 1 every 100, and the standard is supposed to be 1 in 200. This game is unfair and no one does anything about that or the bots that crush it underfoot.

This all is part of a much worse set of issues involving cheating and monopolies and underhanded tactics and threats and toxicity. I'm not writing a 50 page post though. I'm PS4 NA. Things are garbage here.


TL;DR

Bots are ruining this game. They are constant and everywhere and nothing is done about them. Not enough by far, anyway.
The market is destroyed by them and other parts of the game that I have not gone into detail about are wrecked in certain ways, as well.

MLGProPlayer

Yes, they have (comment where they have)

Kuramas9tails wrote: »

Xerikten wrote: »

on pc na also and I can count on one hand how many I have come across. they are always in the middle of no where in a group running around killing for leather. not a problem for me.

Ysbriel wrote: »

I’m on PC NA and honestly up to this day i’ve never seen a farming bot, unless i have but really haven’t paid any attention.

I wonder if ZOS can manage PC bots better than they can on console. Which if that is the case, this poll is skewed some more.

They can't. PC/NA is full of them.