Low level dungeon bots back?

WillhelmBlack · January 2015

Have they always been around? I've only just noticed them in Glenumbra last week as I've just started another character. I thought it was odd that I saw about five different toons walking (not running) around different dungeons.

yodased · January 2015

could be rp walk too.

ZOS_TristanK · January 2015

Hey, @WillhelmBlack. Our bot-bashing GM team would love to help investigate for you! Next time you suspect another character of being a bot, please be sure to file a report. Our team is sure to investigate each one to keep Tamriel bot-free.

Vyle_Byte · January 2015

hmmm ive never seen a bot walk lol

ofc, they may have stepped up their game too

Stonesthrow · January 2015

Wouldn't walking allow more time for respawns and/or eat up the timer restriction on blue boss drops?

Have to admit, ZOS did a helluva good job playing whack-a-bot!

ItsMeToo · January 2015

Just because I walk doesn't mean I'm a bot.

I have a RP character that only walks. He hurt his back when he fell off his horse when he was young and as he's gotten older, it's hurting him more each day. Even when he rides his horse, the horse walks. This puts less stress on his back while he is riding.

One of these days, maybe he will find a cure that will help him mend his back. But so far, not even potions or magic has had any affect on solving his problem.

He is searching all of Nirn for a cure. That is his mission in life.

If you ever see him walking as you are adventuring, say hello to Merlin Nor. Maybe you can lend a hand or just keep him company as he looks for a cure.

Vyle_Byte · January 2015

Yeah @Stonesthrow thats exactly why i rethought my post lol Makes sense.

Nestor · January 2015

I don't see many players walking, but I do see them. Since we have to bind a Walk/Run toggle most people tend to keep it on Run. Besides, most people are in a hurry.

Rev Rielle · January 2015

If they were walking it's highly unlikely they're a 'bot'.

Additionally, I've made some new characters in both Daggerfall and Ebonheart of late, and haven't seen any bot activity to speak of, in public dungeons or otherwise.

ZOS_TristanK · January 2015

ItsMeToo wrote: »

Just because I walk doesn't mean I'm a bot.

I have a RP character that only walks. He hurt his back when he fell off his horse when he was young and as he's gotten older, it's hurting him more each day. Even when he rides his horse, the horse walks. This puts less stress on his back while he is riding.

One of these days, maybe he will find a cure that will help him mend his back. But so far, not even potions or magic has had any affect on solving his problem.

He is searching all of Nirn for a cure. That is his mission in life.

If you ever see him walking as you are adventuring, say hello to Merlin Nor. Maybe you can lend a hand or just keep him company as he looks for a cure.

Sorry to hear about Merlin Nor! Perhaps a little Torchbug Treacle can ease his pain.

Exstazik · January 2015

Today reported 2 people in Coldharbour they just grind flowers.I followed them,several times PMed and didn't get answers.Make some screenshots and send to bot-bashing GM team.I waiting ~10 min each time for several answers and i thought they was botting so report them.

SteveCampsOut · January 2015

First time I saw a couple walking I sent a tell telling them about the run key. They told me they were walking on purpose and I never bothered anyone else about it. It didn't even dawn on me that RP was involved but makes perfect sense.

AaronMB · January 2015

Exstazik wrote: »

Today reported 2 people in Coldharbour they just grind flowers.I followed them,several times PMed and didn't get answers.Make some screenshots and send to bot-bashing GM team.I waiting ~10 min each time for several answers and i thought they was botting so report them.

Nice. I think I saw them, too, but too quickly dismissed it (probably because I was running at the same flowers you were).

kimboh · January 2015

I noticed a very suspicious lvl 2 player just outside Daggerfall at around 3am a few days ago, just walking around a small area harvesting the same nodes over and over again and then fishing in the river.
I was going to report them as a bot but decided to investigate, I followed them around for about 20 minutes just observing the behaviour until finally concluding it was just a RPer orsomeone who was very bored.

The thing that made me suspicious was the way they stopped walking, turned on the spot awkwardly, then started walking again. Never seen a player move like that before.

UrQuan · January 2015

kimboh wrote: »

I noticed a very suspicious lvl 2 player just outside Daggerfall at around 3am a few days ago, just walking around a small area harvesting the same nodes over and over again and then fishing in the river.
I was going to report them as a bot but decided to investigate, I followed them around for about 20 minutes just observing the behaviour until finally concluding it was just a RPer orsomeone who was very bored.

The thing that made me suspicious was the way they stopped walking, turned on the spot awkwardly, then started walking again. Never seen a player move like that before.

Here's what I really don't get: how is it even possible to be a level 2 outside of the wailing prison? None of my alts that played through the wailing prison came out lower than level 4, and when you skip it entirely you start out at level 3...

spryler · January 2015

kimboh wrote: »

I noticed a very suspicious lvl 2 player just outside Daggerfall at around 3am a few days ago, just walking around a small area harvesting the same nodes over and over again and then fishing in the river.
I was going to report them as a bot but decided to investigate, I followed them around for about 20 minutes just observing the behaviour until finally concluding it was just a RPer orsomeone who was very bored.

The thing that made me suspicious was the way they stopped walking, turned on the spot awkwardly, then started walking again. Never seen a player move like that before.

If I farm mats while I'm on the phone or while I'm focusing most of my attention on something else, I'm sure I do some pretty ridiculous maneuvers

Iselin · January 2015

Really? I roll and delete low level alts constantly these days trying out new builds. Haven't seen a single one for months.

kieso · January 2015

ZOS_TristanK wrote: »

ItsMeToo wrote: »

Just because I walk doesn't mean I'm a bot.

I have a RP character that only walks. He hurt his back when he fell off his horse when he was young and as he's gotten older, it's hurting him more each day. Even when he rides his horse, the horse walks. This puts less stress on his back while he is riding.

One of these days, maybe he will find a cure that will help him mend his back. But so far, not even potions or magic has had any affect on solving his problem.

He is searching all of Nirn for a cure. That is his mission in life.

If you ever see him walking as you are adventuring, say hello to Merlin Nor. Maybe you can lend a hand or just keep him company as he looks for a cure.

Sorry to hear about Merlin Nor! Perhaps a little Torchbug Treacle can ease his pain.

I hear it tastes like sandals boiled in mint perfume.

Nestor · January 2015

UrQuan wrote: »

Here's what I really don't get: how is it even possible to be a level 2 outside of the wailing prison? None of my alts that played through the wailing prison came out lower than level 4, and when you skip it entirely you start out at level 3...

I think if you avoid any combat in the Wailing Prison other than the final boss you can get out at L2. But from what I remember its very hard to avoid the combat

OrphanHelgen · January 2015

I am not planning on do this bot thing, but I am just curious

How much time invested does it take to program bots? Isn't it easier to just farm the flowers and grind yourself? Or is it because you can do this with multiple characters at the same time?

And also, what happen if the mats the bots are programmed to take, are gone? Or if they get killed somehow?

We should have friendly crowd control in game. It would be fun

. Like the Anivia wall in league of legends.

Moonshadow66 · January 2015

Exstazik wrote: »

Today reported 2 people in Coldharbour they just grind flowers.I followed them,several times PMed and didn't get answers.Make some screenshots and send to bot-bashing GM team.I waiting ~10 min each time for several answers and i thought they was botting so report them.

Yeah, especially in Coldharbour it's obvious that some of these flower-runners are bots. But there are also some players which use their Bolt Escape all the time (tbh, I don't know what's more annoying, this or the bots), so I wasn't sure if I should report them or not, or which one of them since it's not that easy to tell them apart (only when you "observe" their behaviour for quite a while).
So I sent a mail to the support (maybe 6 weeks ago, I think) to ask about the Hollow City speedruns and spellcasting in cities, but it seems it's still "legal" since spellcasting is possible and allowed in cities. Well, this sucks. Of course bots are not legal, though. I hope this problem will be solved soon and they'll disappear.

smacx250 · January 2015

Raygee wrote: »

Exstazik wrote: »

Today reported 2 people in Coldharbour they just grind flowers.I followed them,several times PMed and didn't get answers.Make some screenshots and send to bot-bashing GM team.I waiting ~10 min each time for several answers and i thought they was botting so report them.

Yeah, especially in Coldharbour it's obvious that some of these flower-runners are bots. But there are also some players which use their Bolt Escape all the time (tbh, I don't know what's more annoying, this or the bots), so I wasn't sure if I should report them or not, or which one of them since it's not that easy to tell them apart (only when you "observe" their behaviour for quite a while).
So I sent a mail to the support (maybe 6 weeks ago, I think) to ask about the Hollow City speedruns and spellcasting in cities, but it seems it's still "legal" since spellcasting is possible and allowed in cities. Well, this sucks. Of course bots are not legal, though. I hope this problem will be solved soon and they'll disappear.

Coldharbor is kind of a strange place for bots - too much time invested in character progression to get there, for too few mats (at least "flowers") to farm. Somewhere like Khenarthi's Roost would seem more likely. Why do you think they were bots? "Real" people can have pretty strange behaviors, and if they close their chat window they'll never respond to a whisper.

Elsonso · January 2015

smacx250 wrote: »

Raygee wrote: »

Exstazik wrote: »

Today reported 2 people in Coldharbour they just grind flowers.I followed them,several times PMed and didn't get answers.Make some screenshots and send to bot-bashing GM team.I waiting ~10 min each time for several answers and i thought they was botting so report them.

Yeah, especially in Coldharbour it's obvious that some of these flower-runners are bots. But there are also some players which use their Bolt Escape all the time (tbh, I don't know what's more annoying, this or the bots), so I wasn't sure if I should report them or not, or which one of them since it's not that easy to tell them apart (only when you "observe" their behaviour for quite a while).
So I sent a mail to the support (maybe 6 weeks ago, I think) to ask about the Hollow City speedruns and spellcasting in cities, but it seems it's still "legal" since spellcasting is possible and allowed in cities. Well, this sucks. Of course bots are not legal, though. I hope this problem will be solved soon and they'll disappear.

Coldharbor is kind of a strange place for bots - too much time invested in character progression to get there, for too few mats (at least "flowers") to farm. Somewhere like Khenarthi's Roost would seem more likely. Why do you think they were bots? "Real" people can have pretty strange behaviors, and if they close their chat window they'll never respond to a whisper.

Pretty much anyone can go to Coldharbour.

Craglorn is locked to anyone less than VR1, but all you need to do to get to Coldharbour is join a guild and wait for someone to go there. You can then teleport to them and be put at the nearest wayshrine. From there, you have access to Hollow City.

Ramtaku · January 2015

ZOS_TristanK wrote: »

Hey, @WillhelmBlack. Our bot-bashing GM team would love to help investigate for you! Next time you suspect another character of being a bot, please be sure to file a report. Our team is sure to investigate each one to keep Tamriel bot-free.

I must compliment your team on bot and gold spammer control, the best of any of the MMOs I've played over the last decade - well done!

smacx250 · January 2015

lordrichter wrote: »

Pretty much anyone can go to Coldharbour.

Craglorn is locked to anyone less than VR1, but all you need to do to get to Coldharbour is join a guild and wait for someone to go there. You can then teleport to them and be put at the nearest wayshrine. From there, you have access to Hollow City.

Yeah, I hadn't thought about bots joining a guild!

I guess I'll have to check out the Hollow City for farming - from what I've seen the rest of Coldharbour is pretty much a bust compared to most other places.

Elsonso · January 2015

smacx250 wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Pretty much anyone can go to Coldharbour.

Craglorn is locked to anyone less than VR1, but all you need to do to get to Coldharbour is join a guild and wait for someone to go there. You can then teleport to them and be put at the nearest wayshrine. From there, you have access to Hollow City.

Yeah, I hadn't thought about bots joining a guild! I guess I'll have to check out the Hollow City for farming - from what I've seen the rest of Coldharbour is pretty much a bust compared to most other places.

The gold farmers who run bots probably have guilds.

Mettaricana · January 2015

2nd comment a gm bot bashing reply nice

kimboh · January 2015

UrQuan wrote: »

kimboh wrote: »

I noticed a very suspicious lvl 2 player just outside Daggerfall at around 3am a few days ago, just walking around a small area harvesting the same nodes over and over again and then fishing in the river.
I was going to report them as a bot but decided to investigate, I followed them around for about 20 minutes just observing the behaviour until finally concluding it was just a RPer orsomeone who was very bored.

The thing that made me suspicious was the way they stopped walking, turned on the spot awkwardly, then started walking again. Never seen a player move like that before.

Here's what I really don't get: how is it even possible to be a level 2 outside of the wailing prison? None of my alts that played through the wailing prison came out lower than level 4, and when you skip it entirely you start out at level 3...

I know, right, that's what caught my attention in the first place.
I've never seen a level 2 outside of the wailing prison.

dietlime · January 2015

If there are any, at this point I could kill them for giggles. Just observe their path, and pull all possible mobs where I think I can leash the most to one of their farm points. Then stop casting blazing shield and die on purpose when they arrive and attack the blob of 20+ monsters.

Cody · January 2015

Wait.. so because someone spends a good hour farming mats to make potions.. they are bots? Guess I'm a bot then when I spend an hour gathering wood and cloth to sell or craft with.

C'mon people, stop with the paranoia!

Now, bot bashing is the one thing the ZOS staff have done right; I have not seen even ONE bot for well over 6 months. It may just be Rpers for all we know.

To the ZOS staff; yall listen to the whiners and the nerf criers in PvP, but don't treat ESO like the Salem Witch Trials and sentence a player to death(ban) simply because someone yells "bot!". Make sure the accused is actually a bot b4 banning plz.

ty for reading:)

Sharee · January 2015

Cody wrote: »

Wait.. so because someone spends a good hour farming mats to make potions.. they are bots? Guess I'm a bot then when I spend an hour gathering wood and cloth to sell or craft with.

C'mon people, stop with the paranoia!

No, but they might be. If you suspect someone might be a bot, just report them. It's not like everyone you report automatically receives a ban. It just draws a GM's attention. It is then their job to determine whether it really is a bot or not(and they have more tools for finding out than players do).