Why arent you addressing that most of the botting is occurring due to game scripting for addons

reggielee

Out of boredom I went and researched how on earth these botters are doing their bidness, and I was shocked to learn that the majority are using game scripting programs created by others for sale that uses open accessible information provided by ESO to allow addon capability.

There has to be a reason why the devs are not just closing the addon access.... if so I would like to hear about it, because I can live without some dumb addons if it will gut all the rampant botting being done by gold farmers and now in increasing numbers by individual players.

Nox_Aeterna

Here is the thing , addons do not matter , to YOU , i use TONS of them , and honestly , i would have gold sellers in this game for years , than to have them remove the addons.

reggielee

If zenimax allowed more ui functionality that addressed your favorite addons would this make it more acceptable?

the.dzeneralb16_ESO

While that may be true add-ons are a great addition to the game. The bots can be fixed, and they will be over time. Add-ons are here to stay though, which is amazing.

The only reason you think add-ons are dumb is probably because you havent tried them.

Fairydragon3

CONGRADULATIONS YOU NOW KNOW HOW TO MAKE MODS, Welcome to The Elder Scrolls

beowulfsshield

Honestly all most of the bots need is a programmable keyboard like a G15. The ones that I've seen just stand there insta-jibing bosses. Resource bots are another story of course, however simple scripting or macro'ing won't work for a resource bot that needs to harvest more than one node, but those don't seem to be much of a problem.

Blackwolfe5

If I had to do my bank shuffling manually I'd have to spend hours between main and alts I'd go crazy. (note I still have to go to the bank and manually open it).

Removing all addons would be a bad solution, the bots would simply do it in other ways.

DigitalMerc83

its stupid for developers to create an option to modify their game code with 3rd party software and not incorporate some type of heuristic feature that can root out suspected 'bad apple' or exploit add-ons. It would limit/reduce/prevent the bot add-ons, while letting the other folks,

-who prefer to let another company finish the game they bought-

keep their add-ons that include features this shoddy game should have had @ launch.

zhevon

What they need to fix on the addon area (and its not really an addon issue, exactly) is remove the ability to use multicolored text in other people chat window. I have seen nothing good from this capability.

Tarwin

So I'm assuming for the console versions there won't be any addons? Wonder if it will be bot free

Blackwolfe5

Addons are not 3rd party software. They can only do what they have access to in the api.

zhevon

Blackwolfe5 wrote: »

Removing all addons would be a bad solution, the bots would simply do it in other ways.

And I suspect that most botters are not using addons to do their really neferious stuff.

Srugzal

If you've learned something that you think is important, take it up with Customer Service.

Thank you for your diligence. Please direct it properly.

Phyrdrin

Raging that you don't need add-ons and that they should be discarded is a good way to make yourself a target for hate. I personally use many add-ons that make life easier, and I think that it's amazing that this game has a "mod" system similar to other Elder Scrolls games that allows you to enhance and customize your experience. I would rather have a few bots running around than have the add-ons disappear.

Fairydragon3

@DigitalMerc83, but they can tell if you are using an addon. They have to watch to see what the addon is doing however. Ex it would be easy to spot a speed cheater. they have addons that pretty much speeds up the update functions, allowing them to skip across the map almost. All of these addons are user made, so ZOS has no access to the program, unless they get your system info.

reggielee

from what I researched game scripting is the easiest form, there are other ways and perhaps the professional botters would use these styles like packet sniffing etc.... but all the sites that I saw with a casual search are using game scripting

Nox_Aeterna

reggielee wrote: »

If zenimax allowed more ui functionality that addressed your favorite addons would this make it more acceptable?

Mate , yes , if zen could adress everyones addons , then there would be no need for addons.

But just like any ES game , the community usually can generate more content of this kind than the devs , sometimes it is a very small addon that changes the game just a little , that not a big group of players love , but those who do love it , would not play without it anymore.

And they are happy , the modder is happy he got some people that think his addon is awesome and so on.

I love mods in general , i find they are a really nice and great part of gaming , one of the reasons i prefer to play games on the PC. Great people , create free content , so that we could enjoy games even more. I would never give this up , just to get rid of the bots and gold sellers.

reggielee

I'm not raging, I am curious as to why they are having an open API which seems to be the way most of these botters are using. fyi I use a couple of addons which have helped me in some game activities like crafting but I can live without them to save this game

is the point of the open API to allow the eventual modding seen in skyrim?

robert

Show me, specifically in the API, where this functionality exists.

I think your research may be flawed.

Blackwolfe5

Fairydragon3 wrote: »

@DigitalMerc83, but they can tell if you are using an addon. They have to watch to see what the addon is doing however. Ex it would be easy to spot a speed cheater. they have addons that pretty much speeds up the update functions, allowing them to skip across the map almost. All of these addons are user made, so ZOS has no access to the program, unless they get your system info.

What you sr talking about are not addons. Speed hacking can not be done with addons, nor can addons play the game for you.

AlexDougherty

reggielee wrote: »

There has to be a reason why the devs are not just closing the addon access.... if so I would like to hear about it, because I can live without some dumb addons if it will gut all the rampant botting being done by gold farmers and now in increasing numbers by individual players.

They would create bots no matter what, SWTOR doesn't allow mods, officially, but there are plenty of bots in that (no I don't mean the droids). They just muck around with options until they come up with something that does it.

I don't us Add-ons, but take the stance of evaluating each add-on individually, maybe one day they'll create an add-on I want, and so don't condemn add-ons per say, just their overuse.

Orizuru

While the bots may be using scripting in the same sense that the addons are using them, even if you removed the entire add on API from the game, there would still be bots. They would just recode the bots to use game controls like WASD, arrow keys and so forth. It might deter some of the less clever bot programs, but the major ones would be updated in less than 24 hours and back to farming the game non-stop.

reggielee

thanks for that response Nacirema, that makes more sense

Samadhi

beowulfsshield wrote: »

Honestly all most of the bots need is a programmable keyboard like a G15. The ones that I've seen just stand there insta-jibing bosses. ...

This is what I figured when I saw them as well.
A simple macro set to spam skills with a loot-all-drops setting would not be complex for someone to program into a gaming keyboard.

Fairydragon3

@Blackwolfe5, something new every day. Still new to scripting, but I don't see why someone couldnt't script a program to do all your inputs for you.

Blackwolfe5

Fairydragon3 wrote: »

@Blackwolfe5, something new every day. Still new to scripting, but I don't see why someone couldnt't script a program to do all your inputs for you.

They can, just not the way addons work. It would have to be done with third party software. Addons can only do what is available in the api. That is, they can only do as much in the game as Zenimax allows them to.

awkwarrd

How do memory reading scripted programs have anything to do with addons?

I noticed you provided no links to the proof of your "investigation"

reggielee

google is your friend and I didnt want to post links for something that I know they are aware of, I just wanted to hear the reasoning behind having an open API, which the addon users use but also the script making bots

Dante_Marquis

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

Here is the thing , addons do not matter , to YOU , i use TONS of them , and honestly , i would have gold sellers in this game for years , than to have them remove the addons.

If you need Add ons then stop playing MMOs you are no gamer....My wife and I are old school we don't need any mod to help us play and never well..by the Goddess the Kids these days. You mean to tell me that you need an add on to hold your hand and play the game for you?? because that is what you are doing.

Samadhi

Dante_Marquis wrote: »

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

Here is the thing , addons do not matter , to YOU , i use TONS of them , and honestly , i would have gold sellers in this game for years , than to have them remove the addons.

If you need Add ons then stop playing MMOs you are no gamer....My wife and I are old school we don't need any mod to help us play and never well..by the Goddess the Kids these days. You mean to tell me that you need an add on to hold your hand and play the game for you?? because that is what you are doing.

Running Tactical Foundry addon has allowed me to view the effects of many of the damage and healing values that are normally hidden from view by the minimal interface.
This has allowed me to /bug report a number of broken skills and effects.

I don't normally play with it active as I find the visuals to be a bit too intrusive, but addons have great value in making up for some of the missing aspects of this game; I can fully comprehend why some people run many of them on a regular basis.

Blackwolfe5

Quality of life, ever heard of it? Addons don't play the game for us but they can greatly enhance our experience and elimimate annoyances (sometimes even fix bugs). The Ui (in all it's parts) is an important aspect of many games. Same goes for ESO.