ZOS PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE BOTS

zaria · February 2017

INHUMANENATION wrote: »

Cronopoly wrote: »

Vulkhel Guard Dolman has been a botfest for 2 weeks straight with many sitting on the raised canvas next to the Dolman casting over and over... If anyone was playing the game they'd know. Everyone said they submitted tickets...

I always wonder if PC has as many bots as ppl think or jus if ppl like above arent confusing bots w/ grinding. The ppl farming dolmens are getting xp. They dont ever grab loot b4 it despawns.

Good point, has not seen bots on pc eu since I started again, back after launch they was everywhere.
However I have only explored the dlc zones and some craglorn since returning. gratwood and alk'ir on leveling alt.
groups of sorc with two pets farming mudcrabs is probably bots as that is not something you see, an normal farming group would have an mix of characters using an mix of skills.

Attackopsn · February 2017

SmalltalkJava wrote: »

Zewks wrote: »

Why

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

@hamburgerler76 Do you happen to have a copy of your ticket number from your report?

Why not just log into the game and see first hand yourself? Seems like the easiest solution. They are pretty much there 24/7

That said, is there a way to "page" a GM in game who can come to where you are at? Other mmorpgs have done this. Seems like it should be a service feature for people who pay for ESO+.

Having in-Game GM's that you could contact would be absolutely amazing!!!

Or even some kind of player moderator volunteer to help. Other games I've played where this was an issue having this player resource really reduced the problem!

HereKittehKitteh · February 2017

INHUMANENATION wrote: »

Cronopoly wrote: »

Vulkhel Guard Dolman has been a botfest for 2 weeks straight with many sitting on the raised canvas next to the Dolman casting over and over... If anyone was playing the game they'd know. Everyone said they submitted tickets...

I always wonder if PC has as many bots as ppl think or jus if ppl like above arent confusing bots w/ grinding. The ppl farming dolmens are getting xp. They dont ever grab loot b4 it despawns.

Bots are VERY obvious. For example the dolmen farming people are referring to is a bunch of people standing at the same dolmen for hours, maybe more even, heavy attacking the same spot, or ability spamming, usually where the boss drops in. I doubt anyone is confusing bots with people who are legitimately grinding xp

Scaena · February 2017

olivesforge wrote: »

I don't like the bots, but a word of warning to all who understandably want them gone.

As a trader, the bots being removed would be extremely good for my bottom line, but not for yours.

So yeah you are basically admitting to bot buying, which by the way ZOS bans for when caught. Multiple people across my guilds have been banned for buying in bulk from botters. ZOS' reasoning was they should of known better aka its not normal for a player to be selling you 4000+ mats for 50% off every day for 3 days straight.

So good luck with that...

Also you seem to miss that getting rid of bots would be a GOOD THING for players as they could then actually MAKE GOLD farming those mats when supply goes down (due to no more botting) and they can actually get a decent price to make it worth while.

RIght now its hard to make gold off anything bots are farming as not only do they make it harder to farm them (they are always grabbing up the nodes) BUT they also severely hurt the value of those farmed items making it unrewarding to gather those raw mats for sale with very little gold to show for all your time spent.

Cherryblossom · February 2017

Egonieser wrote: »

t3hdubzy wrote: »

SmalltalkJava wrote: »

Zewks wrote: »

Why

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

@hamburgerler76 Do you happen to have a copy of your ticket number from your report?

Why not just log into the game and see first hand yourself? Seems like the easiest solution. They are pretty much there 24/7

That said, is there a way to "page" a GM in game who can come to where you are at? Other mmorpgs have done this. Seems like it should be a service feature for people who pay for ESO+.

Having in-Game GM's that you could contact would be absolutely amazing!!!

I think you underestimate how much additional resources hiring just one GM would cost. The requirements to work through tickets while simultaneously being available is time consuming. Back in the days of Ultima Online I did this on small servers and it was very hard to meet a decent SLA.

I agree it would be a great feature, but maybe it could be implemented like state troopers at quota time, every so often do sweeps for bots, crack down hard, do IP bans, and keep it moving. No extra employees needed.

I used to host my private MMO and FPS servers (had a little gaming community back in the day, well except for the FPS, was 2nd ranking in North and Eastern Europe). Even with small amount of players in comparison to these giant AAA games it is so incredibly difficult to keep up, sieve through the reports, investigate them, find them, check them, establish if what they're doing is truly cheating etc. Even with numerous volunteer GM's working for me it was a very time consuming job, and that's just a private hobby-driven community project that is only a fraction of the size of a game like this.

I can sympathise to an extent, but then again, they shouldn't have laid off hundreds of customer service reps and GM's. I'm sure they would've helped the issue at hand a great deal, even if they are outsourced. Don't need to be in the same building to read and investigate a ticket, log in the game and check it out.

@Egonieser
I sort of understand where you are coming from, but in the case of ESO we have a mega server, it would take 1 hour a day to send someone to the starter zones and have a look round, they would be guaranteed to see the bot trains and they could be pro-active and remove them.

zaria · February 2017

RainaLionheart wrote: »

INHUMANENATION wrote: »

Cronopoly wrote: »

Vulkhel Guard Dolman has been a botfest for 2 weeks straight with many sitting on the raised canvas next to the Dolman casting over and over... If anyone was playing the game they'd know. Everyone said they submitted tickets...

I always wonder if PC has as many bots as ppl think or jus if ppl like above arent confusing bots w/ grinding. The ppl farming dolmens are getting xp. They dont ever grab loot b4 it despawns.

Bots are VERY obvious. For example the dolmen farming people are referring to is a bunch of people standing at the same dolmen for hours, maybe more even, heavy attacking the same spot, or ability spamming, usually where the boss drops in. I doubt anyone is confusing bots with people who are legitimately grinding xp

Yes rubberbanding is very easy to detect, so easy that the server could just log them out, only pressing one button count as inactivity

On pc we have more sophisticated bots doing loops of actions including running around, this is easy to se if its group of similar players but if bot is alone and you are just passing it looks like grinding.

SmalltalkJava · February 2017

zaria wrote: »

RainaLionheart wrote: »

INHUMANENATION wrote: »

Cronopoly wrote: »

Vulkhel Guard Dolman has been a botfest for 2 weeks straight with many sitting on the raised canvas next to the Dolman casting over and over... If anyone was playing the game they'd know. Everyone said they submitted tickets...

I always wonder if PC has as many bots as ppl think or jus if ppl like above arent confusing bots w/ grinding. The ppl farming dolmens are getting xp. They dont ever grab loot b4 it despawns.

Bots are VERY obvious. For example the dolmen farming people are referring to is a bunch of people standing at the same dolmen for hours, maybe more even, heavy attacking the same spot, or ability spamming, usually where the boss drops in. I doubt anyone is confusing bots with people who are legitimately grinding xp

Yes rubberbanding is very easy to detect, so easy that the server could just log them out, only pressing one button count as inactivity
On pc we have more sophisticated bots doing loops of actions including running around, this is easy to se if its group of similar players but if bot is alone and you are just passing it looks like grinding.

Exactly, on NA PC. I have reported the same 13 bots, and they are still there 24/7 running the exact same route all in sync with each other. I first reported them on the 15th. and they are still there farming for hides to make dreugh wax. It gets a little depressing to see them there 24/7.

Dragonnord · February 2017

Why you keep posting remove-bots threads if ZOS doesn't remove them?

People reported the same bots for months on the same dolmens and they are still there throwing ground AoE skills from distance getting constant XP.

Reported dozens of times, since several months ago, and still there.

sevomd69 · February 2017

lientier wrote: »

maxjapank wrote: »

olivesforge wrote: »

I don't like the bots, but a word of warning to all who understandably want them gone.

As a trader, the bots being removed would be extremely good for my bottom line, but not for yours.

So are you saying that you buy in bulk from players who bot?

no what I think he said was, that as a trader he would profit because he will sell more stuff without them.. :P

...and because there would be less supply he would be selling them at a higher price...ergo... better for his bottom line...

Tekyn · February 2017

People standing around with sorc pets everywhere isn't botting. Possibly exploiting by using game mechanics to earn XP while AFK, but it's not a bot. We have them on XBox even. I took a few videos of a group of like 20 sorcs in a story mission all just holding attack while the pets ran around. None of them are gathering loot, they're just collecting free XP.

There isn't a simple way to prevent people from doing this. You could make it so pets don't attack a mob until the player does, but then people would just spam AoE abilities instead of holding heavy attack. Trivial on PC, but it would help console alot. I doubt there's a huge number of ESO players using modded controller inputs. That's normally reserved for FPS gamers.

Making pets require manual targeting and attacking would have worked before they added the recast abilities, but now what button would you use for it? Maybe tie it to weapon attacks? That would kill the ability to have your clanfear keeping a mob busy off to the side.

With the Warden and his bear coming in a few months this will only get worse, but at the same time it's worth noting that it doesn't really hurt anyone else. When I saw it I was more amused than anything.

SmalltalkJava · February 2017

The botting group I've reported are mostly Templars

grumlins · February 2017

One thing you never see on the consoles

DMuehlhausen · February 2017

hamburgerler76 wrote: »

For 3 days now these bots have bin in betnikh farming I've reported them every day xbox na server @ZOS_GinaBruno please help any one!!!! Please!!! I just want to be able to farm again

I'm sure they are working on it. However just like every other company that has an MMO fighting bots they will never say what they are doing, or when to expect something. They will just post one day about the ban hammer and you'll notice the bots are gone.

hamburgerler76 · February 2017

Yet again @ZOS_GinaBruno the bot are back in the same place doing the same thing I and every one in this zone have reported them so many time please get rid of them and stop letting them come back they are ruining the Xbox market for guild stalls yet again this is xbox na server in betnikh starter zone in the carved hills please!!!!

Arthmoor · February 2017

INHUMANENATION wrote: »

Cronopoly wrote: »

Vulkhel Guard Dolman has been a botfest for 2 weeks straight with many sitting on the raised canvas next to the Dolman casting over and over... If anyone was playing the game they'd know. Everyone said they submitted tickets...

I always wonder if PC has as many bots as ppl think or jus if ppl like above arent confusing bots w/ grinding. The ppl farming dolmens are getting xp. They dont ever grab loot b4 it despawns.

Definitely bots. I ran into a whole group of them on a cliff above one of the Alikir Desert dolmens that they shouldn't even have been able to access. About 15-20 of them up there, tightly packed, firing spells at the same specific spots on the dolmen floor even when it wasn't spawned. Pets everywhere. None of them ever moved and they're there every weekend like clockwork.

lientier · February 2017

Scaena wrote: »

olivesforge wrote: »

I don't like the bots, but a word of warning to all who understandably want them gone.

As a trader, the bots being removed would be extremely good for my bottom line, but not for yours.

So yeah you are basically admitting to bot buying, which by the way ZOS bans for when caught. (...)

So good luck with that...

Also you seem to miss that getting rid of bots would be a GOOD THING for players as they could then actually MAKE GOLD farming those mats when supply goes down (due to no more botting) and they can actually get a decent price to make it worth while.

(...)

why all the hate. People seem to have a hard time actually reading what is written.. or understanding what is written.
what you accuse Olivesforge of is not what he stated or what he wrote.
I seem to have to explain it again, since you have not read the other posts where is was already explained..

he is not against bots, he would love it because as a trader he would profit from this, saying he would sell more and at higher prices..
pls read or ask, before assuming.

Can I have another cookie?

lientier · February 2017

by the way on topic:

I saw three bots in Grahtwood at the mudcrab beach today (and reported them).
One was a pet sorc, one a templar and one I dont know.

They all ran the exact same route, turn at the exact same spot over and over and over again. Actually one of them was a buggy bot, since he didnt even attack the mudcrabs, but kept running around that route.

I managed to pull some mobs and killed one, but after a while he was back and running his route again. This seems quite sophisticated I must admit.. but not impossible.

You couldnt interact with them in any way (group =was in a grou already, duel, whisper).

Tapio75 · February 2017

i have done some rerolling on the past couple of weeks, despite being here from beta, i still do the Weiling prison as it is part of the story.

During thsi time, there has been a group of random players circeling near the stair leading away from first tutorial zone that i suspect being bots, they never answer to hails and they all seem to be following eachother a bit too tightly.. Might be just players but they feel like bots so i dont know.

Dolmens are also pretty infested at times.

Perphaps there should be some campaing on ZOS where some GM's just log in to game, go to these areas and spend time there, observing what happens. Bots or not, something is not right.

hamburgerler76 · February 2017

Zos I love your game but come on these people flood markets and ruined in game economy

Contraptions · February 2017

Other than it being the right thing to do, ZOS, if you ban those bot accounts you stand to make more money as well, since they will be forced to buy new copies of the game. It's win win here.

Jim_Pipp · February 2017

Suggestion for zos - design some awesome glowing "uniforms" for gm''s and give them cheat engine level powers (especially the one that effectively let's them levitate), buy a couple of crates of beer and invite staff to be volunteer superheros every now and then.

I don't mind if some teenager on workexperience, or slightly drunk receptionist, or a justifiably grumpy forum moderator start trolling players by one-shotting us in duels so long as they do an occasional loop of the frequently reported bot sites.

Bonus points if you make bots evaporate into butterflies like sheogorath.

t3hdubzy · February 2017

You need a solution that requires no human interaction and no code changes, good luck!

Dynamic nodes would be helpful if they were designed in a way that made botting near impossible.

Or have 1 in 10 nodes require a random pattern before continuining in order to loot or move on. Simple enough not to annoy everyone but complex enough to deter bots from farming for very long without human interaction.

Extreme measure, limit the amount of resourcrs one can farm in a given timeframe, if exceeded there is a cool down. Theres probably only 1 percent of less of people who come close to farming the same amount of resources as a bot if any at all. Find out what that top percentage is and cap it. It may hinder a few real farmers, but those people can just go enjoy the game for a bit before going back to farming.

lientier · February 2017

its not node sthey farm mostly, its mudcrabs..

hamburgerler76 · March 2017

Do anything please it's out of control

PhxOldGamer68 · May 2017

Scorc bots were in Betnikh Sunday on PS4 NA. Several Level 4 Scorcs with Banekin running around farming wolves. Took a video. I guess there will be some cheap stacks of hide at a guild trader.

There are times when there are several bots standing inside an Outlaw Refuge. I guess the person creating the bots is staging them for farming.

Ticket 170507-005907