sorceror pet farming abuse

Lynx7386

Ive come across this several times now: you fight your way to the end of a public dungeon only to find the miniboss' spawn location being camped by 5-10 (or more) afk sorcerers whose pets instakill the boss each time he spawns.

Presumably these players are getting massive amounts of xp and, if autolooting through an addon is possible, huge amounts of quality loot. On top of this, they're ruining immersion and content for other players who are unable to get credit for completing the dungeon, and are unable to loot due to crowding.

Something needs to be done about this, and honestly my suggestion is to get rid of the 'pets' altogether and redo the daedric summoning tree to be like any other class tree. The pet system is annoying and unnecessary.

dannomite82

I doubt their experience is that high if their pets are killing the boss. They're probably doing it to grief people.

Hawke

They are hunting for loot, so they can sell and sell the gold they make.

Report em.

If that is not the case, Zenimax will find that out.

MysticAura

I don't agree with getting rid of the pets, they are needed and useful. I do think they should put a stop to the camping. Killing a few times I can understand, but some are there for hours on end preventing others from getting the boss drop. It should stop.

Thete

If they are looting whilst afk, then that would mean they are Botting. It's higly likely just afk xp farming, which is also pretty low.

Ragnar_Lodbrok

Lynx7386 wrote: »

Ive come across this several times now: you fight your way to the end of a public dungeon only to find the miniboss' spawn location being camped by 5-10 (or more) afk sorcerers whose pets instakill the boss each time he spawns.

Presumably these players are getting massive amounts of xp and, if autolooting through an addon is possible, huge amounts of quality loot. On top of this, they're ruining immersion and content for other players who are unable to get credit for completing the dungeon, and are unable to loot due to crowding.

Something needs to be done about this, and honestly my suggestion is to get rid of the 'pets' altogether and redo the daedric summoning tree to be like any other class tree. The pet system is annoying and unnecessary.

Report them for griefing/botting, Zenimax will ban them

Terminus

Lets come up with a nice list of solutions that seem reasonable;

1. Make it so players can't loot enemies killed only by their familiars
2. Create diminishing returns if you kill a boss more than 3 times in 1 hour
3. Adjust the auto-logout timer so that afk players can no longer train

I've never heard of anything like that, but if they really are just standing there as their familiars kill enemies, this problem needs to be treated very seriously.

SirAndy

Those are bots, there's already a 3rd party app for that ...

Elvikun

Honestly, your problem is odd and your solution is extremely biased.

The problem is odd because the pets won't attack untill the sorcerer attacks or gets attacked, if as you say (And I don't believe you, to be honest) there is 10 sorcerers with 20 pets, only one will get attacked. If noone else attacks, well, you see the problem there. Chances are they might not be AFK.

As for your solution, I might just as well say DK pull chain is annoying as it pulls mobs away from people and disturbs gameplay. It should be removed and replaced with something else. Oh, also all knockback skills.

Report people you believe to be bots, but don't add "Oh and I don!t like X, so it should be removed." to that.

Laerian

Lynx7386 wrote: »

Something needs to be done about this, and honestly my suggestion is to get rid of the 'pets' altogether and redo the daedric summoning tree to be like any other class tree. The pet system is annoying and unnecessary.

It seems your problem is the pet system, not these afk sorcerers you say. Otherwise why all this rant against pets. Other classes farm bosses in dungeons too and it has been said that the xp and loot from bosses were already nerfed.

The real fight is against AFKers and botters.

thedemiseraphb14_ESO

Every MMO I play I specifically look for a summoning class, and summoning was one of my uber joys in TES single player games. Removing pets from TESO would pretty much make me lose all joy since this is my ultimately class and micro management.

Hawke

Speaking of pets.. I am diappointed the Atronoch ultimate is soooo uber tiny...

thedemiseraphb14_ESO

Hawke wrote: »

Speaking of pets.. I am diappointed the Atronoch ultimate is soooo uber tiny...

Yeah, I hope they expand the pet lines later... the amount of summons in skyrim for example was tons of fun with the skeletons and other oddities... The mini ultimate that is limited and the two kind of simple summons just don't make me feel very ... summony lol

jdkorreckpreub18_ESO

If you are outdamaged by a group of pets, you're doing something very wrong. They really don't do much damage. I'm at the point where mine is about to leave my bar because it's really not worth having there anymore for the pitiful benefit it has. Pets are nice in the very early levels but they don't scale well all.

Kyosji

So, if i'm farming a boss, which by the way is completely LEGAL to do as it is the basis of every MMORPG, and I REALLY have to go take a dump and go AFK to do it, you are going to report me for being a bot? I'd like you to do that, I really would, because falsely reporting enough players will wind your account suspended.

If the character ISN'T MOVING, nor is he actually attacking the target, he's not botting. If his pets are doing the attacking, that's not the players fault as ZOE has deemed the pet system to not need any agro/passive/defensive controls.

People like you are the reason I had a visit by an in-game GM while I was farming a boss for soul gems. Sure, I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I was put in a situation where I could have been wrongly banned JUST because some overly sensitive MMORPG beginner was a bit hurt in the rear end.

If a person is actually botting, sure, ban them. If a person is actively exploiting a system for quick leveling or gaining items they shouldnt be able to, sure, suspend their account for a while. If a person is playing the system that ZOE gave them in a way that you don't like? Tough kittens for you, mate. That's the way they created the game. If you don't like it, deal with it.

If you're one of those people that get upset that there are tons of people camping a boss, again, tough kittens. EVERY MMORPG has this. It's a part of the game. Deal with it.

driosketch

From what little I've seen, I wouldn't think pets would be effective for something like this.

Hawke

Kyosji wrote: »

So, if i'm farming a boss, which by the way is completely LEGAL to do as it is the basis of every MMORPG, and I REALLY have to go take a dump and go AFK to do it, you are going to report me for being a bot? I'd like you to do that, I really would, because falsely reporting enough players will wind your account suspended.

If the character ISN'T MOVING, nor is he actually attacking the target, he's not botting. If his pets are doing the attacking, that's not the players fault as ZOE has deemed the pet system to not need any agro/passive/defensive controls.

People like you are the reason I had a visit by an in-game GM while I was farming a boss for soul gems. Sure, I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I was put in a situation where I could have been wrongly banned JUST because some overly sensitive MMORPG beginner was a bit hurt in the rear end.

If a person is actually botting, sure, ban them. If a person is actively exploiting a system for quick leveling or gaining items they shouldnt be able to, sure, suspend their account for a while. If a person is playing the system that ZOE gave them in a way that you don't like? Tough kittens for you, mate. That's the way they created the game. If you don't like it, deal with it.

If you're one of those people that get upset that there are tons of people camping a boss, again, tough kittens. EVERY MMORPG has this. It's a part of the game. Deal with it.

Yes. I am that guy who reports you for potential AFK botting, because this game can be macro'd into looting while afk. And not just with sorcerers and their minions. If you are not botting, then you have nothing to worry about.

As far as the boss being dead too fast... well all you need is one swing and a hit to get credit and the loot.

Polaritie

jdkorreckpreub18_ESO wrote: »

If you are outdamaged by a group of pets, you're doing something very wrong. They really don't do much damage. I'm at the point where mine is about to leave my bar because it's really not worth having there anymore for the pitiful benefit it has. Pets are nice in the very early levels but they don't scale well all.

Twilight Matriarch seems the best in that regard, as its primary benefit is a potent heal when you get low... and that has consistently kept up at around 50% of my health. Winged Twilight also gets more damage from the final passive... so it may work out fine there. At level 39, it still does about half an attack each bolt of lightning, and since it bombards constantly it's still a decent supplementary damage source.

Until the AIs zerg it.

thedemiseraphb14_ESO

Hawke wrote: »

Kyosji wrote: »

So, if i'm farming a boss, which by the way is completely LEGAL to do as it is the basis of every MMORPG, and I REALLY have to go take a dump and go AFK to do it, you are going to report me for being a bot? I'd like you to do that, I really would, because falsely reporting enough players will wind your account suspended.

If the character ISN'T MOVING, nor is he actually attacking the target, he's not botting. If his pets are doing the attacking, that's not the players fault as ZOE has deemed the pet system to not need any agro/passive/defensive controls.

People like you are the reason I had a visit by an in-game GM while I was farming a boss for soul gems. Sure, I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I was put in a situation where I could have been wrongly banned JUST because some overly sensitive MMORPG beginner was a bit hurt in the rear end.

If a person is actually botting, sure, ban them. If a person is actively exploiting a system for quick leveling or gaining items they shouldnt be able to, sure, suspend their account for a while. If a person is playing the system that ZOE gave them in a way that you don't like? Tough kittens for you, mate. That's the way they created the game. If you don't like it, deal with it.

If you're one of those people that get upset that there are tons of people camping a boss, again, tough kittens. EVERY MMORPG has this. It's a part of the game. Deal with it.

Yes. I am that guy who reports you for potential AFK botting, because this game can be macro'd into looting while afk. And not just with sorcerers and their minions. If you are not botting, then you have nothing to worry about.

As far as the boss being dead too fast... well all you need is one swing and a hit to get credit and the loot.

Before you report someone do you atleast try to whisper them?

Hawke

Nope. No tells. I did that in age of conan, before I killed them.

But in this game, if they are just standing there killing over and over again. I usually type /say Hey what is going on?

No reponse or a harro, or something similiar gets a player misconduct report.

Sorry. Trying to keep my new game clean.

Lynx7386

When I get home from work ill post a screenshot of whats going on and let you judge for yourselves. The instance i screened had at least 5 sorcs, each with one clannfear out, stacked on top of a boss. Myself and my brother were there for probably 5-10 minutes to complete the dungeon and not once did any of those sorcs attack or move. This was clearly a case of abusing game mechanics and not simple afking or active mob farming.

Kyosji

lol, n a game that has an over flooded chat system, you are only going to send a /tell? I have mine disabled. The only things I have enabled are group chat, whispers, and guild chat. Also, if I'm taking a dump, I wont see either of those, so I would wait at least 10 minutes before you go and report someone for botting.

Honestly hope they enforce punishments against players who falsely report others.

NordJitsu

This hardly sounds viable to me. The pets are pretty weak and it would take many of them grouped up to kill a boss near their level. There is also the AFK timer that boots you out of game if you don't move for a certain amount of time.

knightblaster

I'm glad they nerfed dungeons. Looks like they need to be nerfed some more on the boss loot tables.

MaxBat

It would be interesting to see the "pet' system (e.g. summoning) - not the vanity pets which I personally hate more than the woman in Daggerfall who keeps asking about the damn dog - expanded to included other summoning types like the undead, etc.

But I'm curious - I see people wandering around with summoned animals? How long do the summons last? Are they permanent? (I've never tried them.) They seem to last a lot longer than the TES solo games. Maybe they could shorten the time of the summons.

MercyKilling

Kyosji wrote: »

So, if i'm farming a boss, *snip*

I'm sorry, but if I come along and I see you doing nothing but auto-attacking a location where a boss spawns and I hang out for a few to see if you move and you don't....yes. I'm reporting you...or anyone for that matter.

AFK farming -is- against the ToS. Farming isn't. Although, if the act of your farming is impeding someone else's progress...it BECOMES actionable/bannable, and I'm going to report it regardless of whatever arguments you come up with to support such actions. It's not up to you or I to determine the legitimacy or illegitimacy of said actions, it's up to Zenimax.

mark2472

Lynx7386 wrote: »

When I get home from work ill post a screenshot of whats going on and let you judge for yourselves. The instance i screened had at least 5 sorcs, each with one clannfear out, stacked on top of a boss. Myself and my brother were there for probably 5-10 minutes to complete the dungeon and not once did any of those sorcs attack or move. This was clearly a case of abusing game mechanics and not simple afking or active mob farming.

Just speculation... but I wonder if they could've been grouped. Will being grouped with somebody cause your pet to attack an enemy that's attacked your group? In other words... did the boss spawn, attack one of them, and because they were grouped all pets attacked? They would all get full xp and if a macro can auto-loot, they all got full loot. I'm not sure how the pets work, so don't flame me if pets don't behave this way... just a thought.

Or maybe if the boss uses any aoe abilities it causes all the pets to attack... and the pets kill the mob and a macro auto-loots?

beriiel

You're speaking out of ignorance.

Case in point, I was trying to get the achievement for one of the dungeons, and just couldn't attack fast enough to get this guy's head. At the time, there was one player camping it, with a group of us waiting.

By the time the boss popped, there were three of us casters, with three clannfears and three winged twilight. We were all there. However, it took four tries for some of us to tap the boss because some dragonknight was farming it.

I'm not about to get banned from the game because you run up while I'm on my caster, and assume I'm not behind the computer. It's stupid.

How about we ask for a flag system that makes people who have completed the achievement or quest unable to attack or loot the mob instead of assuming what is happening in group end boss situations.

Kyosji

MercyKilling wrote: »

Kyosji wrote: »

So, if i'm farming a boss, *snip*

I'm sorry, but if I come along and I see you doing nothing but auto-attacking a location where a boss spawns and I hang out for a few to see if you move and you don't....yes. I'm reporting you...or anyone for that matter.

AFK farming -is- against the ToS. Farming isn't. Although, if the act of your farming is impeding someone else's progress...it BECOMES actionable/bannable, and I'm going to report it regardless of whatever arguments you come up with to support such actions. It's not up to you or I to determine the legitimacy or illegitimacy of said actions, it's up to Zenimax.

Yes, but you are ASSUMING, that person is AFK farming. A sorc does not need to move to fight, especially when they are in the safety of a group. I could stand there all day and keep hitting my #1 key to my hearts consent without moving a step. THAT isn't against the ToS.

Also, what is this nonsense that my farming impeding someone elses progress is becomes 'actionable/bannable". Right now it sounds like you are making up your own rules for this game. If you can provide me some sort of statement in the EULA or ToS that specifically states that if I am farming an area, I am breaking the rules, I would love to see it. As for impeding someones progress, this in no way does that. All that person needs to do is hit the boss once, and that person gets credit for the boss. I've NEVER had an issue doing this with ANY of my characters when I enter a room with tons of people quick killing the boss. You're just trying to make up your own reasoning to try to disprove the fact that you're reaching.

jambam817_ESO

I will have to agree, running the public dungeons and then getting to the end of the quest where you spawn the boss, just to have it disappear before you even see it in the midst of 10ish people, and they stay there, forever.....

that sucks... just saying...

Not going to lie either though, i stayed around the first time I saw this and wacked the boss a few times. I see why its being done, but meh. I didn't have the patience to stand there all day

Hawke

@kyosji You are taking all of this way too personal. If you are doing something that has questionable behavoir, then yes, expect someone to call the authorities, when they get there and talk with you, "ok, all a misunderstanding" and move on.

I expect no different if I am standing outside my apartment building in the middle of the night, just hanging out there, looking like I need to be somewhere else. If a police officer came up on me and said "what is going on?" and I tell him I am waiting for my wife to hurry up and we are late to the opera, no worries. I am happy someone called the police.

Just like you should be happy someone submitted a report on you and your behavoir, so when Zenimax GM comes up and says "What's going on here" and you respond that you are farming, then no harm no foul.