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Why are we still Seeing the bots and gold spammers? (non spec)

Rantog
Rantog
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I know they're working on getting rid of them - apparently over the long term. That isn't my question.

My question is, why are we still seeing them?

In my estimates, any given member of the programming staff could set up a custom UI / account with just 2 abilities... in less than 10 minutes.
1 - to switch between the various public chats at will.
2 - to mark a character-account - booting them from the game and issuing a temporary ban (duration depending on the backlog)

A few minutes.. and Anyone Literate -- no college degree .. heck no High School Diploma - necessary. Anyone could sit at a terminal, checking for anyone spamming gold sites - and click to boot / ban them until someone of a higher position can get around to checking the logs to determine what to do with them.

-
Nothing about this prevents them coming up with more sweeping and long-term methods for eliminating them.
Nothing about it prevents them checking the transaction logs to find who they sold to, and banning them as well.

The only thing it changes - is that their Customers aren't forced to put up with so much spam while we wait for them to come up with a solution that actually gets them out of the game!

That they have Not done this makes their claims that it is a Top Priority sound hollow.
Even if it IS a top priority, the satisfaction of the customers should come First - not ignored completely while they fiddle with solutions for some later date.

I cannot come up with a rational explanation as to why they have Not done something similar.

It can't be costs - because to cover the game 24/7 would cost Nothing compared to the number of paid subscriptions they've already lost to customers who refuse to pay a Subscription for a game they have to treat as Single-Player -- because the chats are so plagued with spam they're useless.

It can't be legal issues - because they reserved the right to ban us all, at any time, without Any reason, meaning no additional liability exposure by using such a system.

... There is no realistic reason they couldn't do Similar to deal with the bots/tele-hacks as well.
Edited by Rantog on April 18, 2014 2:49PM
  • Rantog
    Rantog
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    Tetrasoli wrote: »
    I have to be honest. I can't fathom why GMs aren't patrolling some of the delves and simply removing the botters from the game.

    That's what I meant by the "similar' method for bots.

    It doesn't need to be a GM - All it would take is setting someone up with a Game Account, and a computer to play on - with Ban authority.
    - Then take them to any dungeon, and show them what to look for to know for sure that it is a Bot they're banning.

    People love to argue that you don't KNOW it's a bot, it could be a real player legitimately farming...
    But Real players don't have 5 hands to operate 5 accounts in perfect unison - in conjunction with the ability to attack a mob before it spawns.

    Bots are Obvious. It wouldn't take much to train someone to find and boot them.
    Heck, they don't even need to be able to Ban, just set up a 1-room zone, with a door clearly marked as EXIT.. and when they Suspect a Bot - SEND the character there.

    A real player would just exit.. the bots wouldn't know what to do ;)
    (they'd have to change it up a bit every couple days to prevent the bots scripting in a solution, but it would still get them out of OUR game-play for now)
  • Jim_McMasterub17_ESO
    +1
  • Bunk
    Bunk
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    Rantog wrote: »
    A few minutes.. and Anyone Literate -- no college degree .. heck no High School Diploma - necessary. Anyone could sit at a terminal, checking for anyone spamming gold sites - and click to boot / ban them until someone of a higher position can get around to checking the logs to determine what to do with them.

    Sounds a bit too complicated for you.
    idiot
  • Cloakofwinter
    I know bots take a lot of forms in MMORPGs, but I've never seen more obvious - and more easily defeated - bots than I have in ESO. Hopefully, this patch today is to implement further operations which will defeat the spammers and bots.
    -
  • Rantog
    Rantog
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    Bunk wrote: »
    Sounds a bit too complicated for you.
    I'm going to assume you're referencing my sentence structure and gross misuse of punctuation, and not that you're just trolling.

    I've been coding for over 38 hours now, taking brief pauses to stop in the game and chat with friends and start research. So no, my comments aren't going to be perfect.
    Edited by Rantog on April 18, 2014 3:02PM
  • pmn100b16_ESO
    pmn100b16_ESO
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    Add a right click option to report gold seller. If 50+ players report an individual, their chat privileges get automatically revoked and player entered into database for review. Tech sits at computer checking those that enter database, checks chat history, ban if gold seller, reinstate chat privileges if wrongly accused.

    No GMs really needed, at least for the chat spam. Let the players work for you.
    v16 NB,DK,Sorc
  • Rantog
    Rantog
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    I know bots take a lot of forms in MMORPGs, but I've never seen more obvious - and more easily defeated - bots than I have in ESO. Hopefully, this patch today is to implement further operations which will defeat the spammers and bots.
    -

    I am hopeful of the same.
    I've had to wipe my ignore list twice since Monday, and it is almost full again.

    The teleport hack harvesters are getting worse every time I log in.. Soon there won't be any nodes not covered by a half dozen of them.
    And it seems like the more they claim to do to stop the gold spammers, the more gold spam we have to put up with.
  • Rantog
    Rantog
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    Add a right click option to report gold seller. If 50+ players report an individual, their chat privileges get automatically revoked and player entered into database for review. Tech sits at computer checking those that enter database, checks chat history, ban if gold seller, reinstate chat privileges if wrongly accused.

    No GMs really needed, at least for the chat spam. Let the players work for you.

    It is a good idea, but the gold spammers would ensure Zenimax had to pull it in the first day - they would have their bots set to flag everyone who used any chat, so everyone who tried to speak would end up silenced and flagged for inspection.

    The constant flagging would still point Zenimax right to them, but they would still have to pull the system so that we could actually use the chat.
  • PicassoTrigger
    I know bots take a lot of forms in MMORPGs, but I've never seen more obvious - and more easily defeated - bots than I have in ESO. Hopefully, this patch today is to implement further operations which will defeat the spammers and bots.
    -

    hint 1: is it's name ashdfolhqfpepiuf?
    hint 2: is it wearing cold harbor rags?
    hint 3: is it disappearing and reappearing over and over again?
    Add a right click option to report gold seller. If 50+ players report an individual, their chat privileges get automatically revoked and player entered into database for review. Tech sits at computer checking those that enter database, checks chat history, ban if gold seller, reinstate chat privileges if wrongly accused.

    No GMs really needed, at least for the chat spam. Let the players work for you.

    Why even add an extra step? Just lock accounts that are ignored by over 500+ people. A. It's a spammer or B. They don't need to be on chat anyway obviously

    it's data they already have

  • loneknight5ub17_ESO
    I have never seen so many people named aaasfffii or the like in a game. How about a simple naming policy in place. That would at least slow them down in the character creation side of it. Make it harder for the mass of gold spammers to get in.
  • Darzil
    Darzil
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    I have never seen so many people named aaasfffii or the like in a game. How about a simple naming policy in place. That would at least slow them down in the character creation side of it. Make it harder for the mass of gold spammers to get in.
    On the plus side they aren't taking names players might want.
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