Bots Apocalypse - Please stop them

Jerkling · July 2017

those are not bots. botting and bots are a completely different thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-boxing - the article is a litte misleading though, as the author makes it sound like there is legit reason to using a program to run multiple clients (multiple boxes) and challenge to controlling multiple game characters. the basic principle behind it is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplexing - sending one command (just like every normal player does, usually via mouse and keyboard) and have all other clients (resp. game characters) execute that same command as well. there is no skill or challenge involved whatsoever.
you should also be aware that even though the list of games that allow multiboxing (having multiple clients open at the same time) might be accurate, most of these games do not allow multiplexing as they deem it an unfair advantage (ergo cheating)

Tan9oSuccka · July 2017

mrdiamond666 wrote: »

Has anybody seen a bot on ps4?

Oh yes. There's bots 24 X 7 in Betnihk, near the carved hills wayshrine on PS4 NA. Look for the stupid train of Sorcerer pets and wolves.

I think they do ban them, but they keep coming back under different ID's.

Craglorn is chalked full of Chinese gold seller/bots as well.

Malacthulhu · July 2017

Jerkling wrote: »

those are not bots. botting and bots are a completely different thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-boxing - the article is a litte misleading though, as the author makes it sound like there is legit reason to using a program to run multiple clients (multiple boxes) and challenge to controlling multiple game characters. the basic principle behind it is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplexing - sending one command (just like every normal player does, usually via mouse and keyboard) and have all other clients (resp. game characters) execute that same command as well. there is no skill or challenge involved whatsoever.
you should also be aware that even though the list of games that allow multiboxing (having multiple clients open at the same time) might be accurate, most of these games do not allow multiplexing as they deem it an unfair advantage (ergo cheating)

They are prob both botting and multi boxing. Some mmos are ok with multi boxing and it can offer a huge advantage which varies mmo to mmo.

sparafucilsarwb17_ESO · July 2017

Lord wrote: »

Hello,
Every day I find bots in different parts of Tamriel.
The bots are ruining the game's economy.
ZOS needs to do something about this.

Recent screenshots of bots farming south of Karthdar, Grahtwood, PC Europe server(NO naming & shaming, UI is hidden):

The bots are still there
Server: PC EU
Bots count: over 40+
Please stop them and implement anti bot system @ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_GinaBruno

Yeah, I saw them there today as well

Apherius · July 2017

I see them ... it's horrible ... you can't do anything except send " useless ticket " you can't kill them because they are too much and mobs can't kill them also because they are too much ...

the only thing that you can do is " look them and tell you that they destroy the game ... and zenimax don't care ... or just " investigate " instead of send a GM ! "

the only thing that i want is to send the list of all these bots on the forum for make them be harassed .. But i won't do this because the only person that they would ban would be me

Lokey0024 · July 2017

The term "bot" sounds so derogatory. My Dad is human and Mom is a I 7 quad-core, making me 50% digital and i find this offensive.

Henceforth, all autonomous personalities should be named "Smiths" in praise of the greatest digital personality, Agent Smith, the legend who fought the cheat engine Neo and found a way to win.

Im bored at work, srry not srry.

Talon_Draconis · July 2017

Seen bots appear about a month ago on the xbone.
Trouble is that banning bot accounts do no good....it just takes too long for them to ban them by the time that zmax bans the account the bots already made their money many times over....
They have to perma ban the gold buyers in if ands or buts
But seems no mmo ever goes after the buyers for some reason

[Deleted User] · July 2017

Hello there,

Recently we've had to remove several comments for being off topic and for being mostly flame. Keep in mind that flaming is against the Forum Rules and should be avoided to prevent action on one's own account.

Thank you for understanding.

Universe · July 2017

*Update:
I just checked the spot: south of Karthdar, Grahtwood, all the bots are gone! (PC EU)
Well done ZOS

Edit: it seems they moved to other instance.
Maybe after some/all previous bots were banned.

Avidspark · July 2017

Talon_Draconis wrote: »

Seen bots appear about a month ago on the xbone.
Trouble is that banning bot accounts do no good....it just takes too long for them to ban them by the time that zmax bans the account the bots already made their money many times over....
They have to perma ban the gold buyers in if ands or buts
But seems no mmo ever goes after the buyers for some reason

Truth!

Feanor · July 2017

ZOS_AntonioP wrote: »

Hello there,

Recently we've had to remove several comments for being off topic and for being mostly flame. Keep in mind that flaming is against the Forum Rules and should be avoided to prevent action on one's own account.

Thank you for understanding.

Now imagine not only the comments were removed but the bots as well....that would be shocking indeed.

Archilinza · July 2017

ZOS_AntonioP wrote: »

Hello there,

Recently we've had to remove several comments for being off topic and for being mostly flame. Keep in mind that flaming is against the Forum Rules and should be avoided to prevent action on one's own account.

Thank you for understanding.

You would so clean the game from bots, how you cleaning the forum from messages

Universe · July 2017

Feanor wrote: »

ZOS_AntonioP wrote: »

Hello there,

Recently we've had to remove several comments for being off topic and for being mostly flame. Keep in mind that flaming is against the Forum Rules and should be avoided to prevent action on one's own account.

Thank you for understanding.

Now imagine not only the comments were removed but the bots as well....that would be shocking indeed.

The bots were removed from the spot too.
Please read my last update

Feanor · July 2017

Lord wrote: »

Feanor wrote: »

ZOS_AntonioP wrote: »

Hello there,

Recently we've had to remove several comments for being off topic and for being mostly flame. Keep in mind that flaming is against the Forum Rules and should be avoided to prevent action on one's own account.

Thank you for understanding.

Now imagine not only the comments were removed but the bots as well....that would be shocking indeed.

The bots were removed from the spot too.
Please read my last update

Shocking I say, shocking!

Elsonso · July 2017

Lord wrote: »

*Update:
I just checked the spot: south of Karthdar, Grahtwood, all the bots are gone! (PC EU)
Well done ZOS

We can hope. However (get ready...) this might not be the case.

They might be there, but just not be visible because they are in a different "phase/channel/instance" of the game. They might be offline for whatever reason. Maybe it is a Bank Holiday in whatever country they are in and no one is at work. If the server goes down or they get disconnected, it could be a while before they get back into the game.

The mysterious missing bot thing happens a lot to me when I pass by Fort Virak in Stonefalls. They simply aren't there one time, but they are another time. In Shadowfen, they are much more reliable. One account in Shadowfen has been there so long that I expect him to tell me to get off his lawn. If anyone was there to say anything to me, which there probably isn't.

If they re-appear, with different account names, it is possible that they got the boot from ZOS.

Universe · July 2017

lordrichter wrote: »

Lord wrote: »

*Update:
I just checked the spot: south of Karthdar, Grahtwood, all the bots are gone! (PC EU)
Well done ZOS

We can hope. However (get ready...) this might not be the case.

They might be there, but just not be visible because they are in a different "phase/channel/instance" of the game. They might be offline for whatever reason. Maybe it is a Bank Holiday in whatever country they are in and no one is at work. If the server goes down or they get disconnected, it could be a while before they get back into the game.

The mysterious missing bot thing happens a lot to me when I pass by Fort Virak in Stonefalls. They simply aren't there one time, but they are another time. In Shadowfen, they are much more reliable. One account in Shadowfen has been there so long that I expect him to tell me to get off his lawn. If anyone was there to say anything to me, which there probably isn't.

If they re-appear, with different account names, it is possible that they got the boot from ZOS.

True.
I hope the bots are gone for good if possible(or for a very long time).
Only time will tell.

Soundso · July 2017

Karthdar bots are still there.
They are in two instances simultaneously. It is possible that you ported in a third botfree instance.
I see several new bot accounts here. Maybe ZOS banned a few of them but surely not all.

Marabornwingrion · July 2017

ZOS_AntonioP wrote: »

Hello there,

Recently we've had to remove several comments for being off topic and for being mostly flame. Keep in mind that flaming is against the Forum Rules and should be avoided to prevent action on one's own account.

Thank you for understanding.

I wish bots would be removed from game as fast as our comments on forums.

Universe · July 2017

Soundso wrote: »

Karthdar bots are still there.
They are in two instances simultaneously. It is possible that you ported in a third botfree instance.
I see several new bot accounts here. Maybe ZOS banned a few of them but surely not all.

On PC EU server ?
Are you sure ?

Soundso · July 2017

Yes.. I am the guy that showed you the spot.

Universe · July 2017

Soundso wrote: »

Yes.. I am the guy that showed you the spot.

Well, that's bad news.
I hope ZOS will do more.
Someone with a char name that starts with Shn... showed me the spot

Universe · July 2017

The bots are still there, dozens of them and that's just one of the instances(PC EU, south of Karthdar, Grahtwood).
It is not the only location of course, many more are being reported daily.
Dear ESO community, please respond to this thread and ask ZOS for anti botting code/system, what can you lose ?
Stop those gold sellers/gold maxers exploiters before they will dominate the market even more...
Some bot guilds already started to outbid normal guilds at prime locations...
Do something before it's too late.

Possible future: Bots total wealth>Normal players & guilds total wealth.
It is not only the economy which is affected, it is also the questers, players who seek immersion encounter those vicious automatons killing everything in their wake.
A lot more issues...

DeathHouseInc · July 2017

For those of you saying you are going to quit over this...might as well quit online gaming ;\ It's the same in every game and really hard to combat. It is an issue and an issue I hope they don't take lightly, but yeah not an mmo in the history of them that this is not an issue.

Dracofyre · July 2017

i may have solution, make those mobs WB and dolmen that we can only kill one time a day, if the bots tried to kill them over and over, they get nothing (no drops), not even any xp or points.
it was only way for "kill-flagged" code would stop bot farming on specific mob bosses.

it would give players chances to kill and to score and qualified for rewards, and then move to next new targets. however, we can still help others who just missed, no penality, but it should feel great to help those in needs.

Megabear · July 2017

I'm seeing more and more bots.

Eiagra · July 2017

I still have a theory that allowing changes to your @ handle is part of why there is a surge in botting. It makes selling accounts far more attractive. After all, if I were some random schmoe that wanted to be instant-win, but didn't want to look like it, be better to buy the account name "fjlkdsj7890sadf7" and then rename it "superwinner777" than to be stuck with a handle that is clearly someone facerolling on their keyboard.

Sure, behind the scenes there may be some evidence, but that's not the goal here. It's the social stigma a random handle has, which clearly indicates the strong likelihood (but not guarantee) of a previously-botted and/or currently-botted account.

Thus: The farmer creates a random account, bots it to maximum CP, puts it on the market, and sells it. The buyer gets a maxed out account (and any alts they create only have to get to LV 50 to take advantage of the CP), they can name it anything they want to make it personal, and they can still do all the story content if they want. (They probably won't, because that's too much work that you can't just buy your way out of, but still.)

I'd love to see if someone is able to prove or disprove this theory with logs/statistics/evidence.

Universe · July 2017

Eiagra wrote: »

I still have a theory that allowing changes to your @ handle is part of why there is a surge in botting. It makes selling accounts far more attractive. After all, if I were some random schmoe that wanted to be instant-win, but didn't want to look like it, be better to buy the account name "fjlkdsj7890sadf7" and then rename it "superwinner777" than to be stuck with a handle that is clearly someone facerolling on their keyboard.

Sure, behind the scenes there may be some evidence, but that's not the goal here. It's the social stigma a random handle has, which clearly indicates the strong likelihood (but not guarantee) of a previously-botted and/or currently-botted account.

Thus: The farmer creates a random account, bots it to maximum CP, puts it on the market, and sells it. The buyer gets a maxed out account (and any alts they create only have to get to LV 50 to take advantage of the CP), they can name it anything they want to make it personal, and they can still do all the story content if they want. (They probably won't, because that's too much work that you can't just buy your way out of, but still.)

I'd love to see if someone is able to prove or disprove this theory with logs/statistics/evidence.

Interesting theory.
There is no evidence that User_ID changes are common practice for botters.
But I know that sometimes ZOS allow players to change their User_ID but it is being evaluated case by case and there is a restriction to the number of times the User_ID can be changed.

Elsonso · July 2017

Lord wrote: »

Eiagra wrote: »

I still have a theory that allowing changes to your @ handle is part of why there is a surge in botting. It makes selling accounts far more attractive. After all, if I were some random schmoe that wanted to be instant-win, but didn't want to look like it, be better to buy the account name "fjlkdsj7890sadf7" and then rename it "superwinner777" than to be stuck with a handle that is clearly someone facerolling on their keyboard.

Sure, behind the scenes there may be some evidence, but that's not the goal here. It's the social stigma a random handle has, which clearly indicates the strong likelihood (but not guarantee) of a previously-botted and/or currently-botted account.

Thus: The farmer creates a random account, bots it to maximum CP, puts it on the market, and sells it. The buyer gets a maxed out account (and any alts they create only have to get to LV 50 to take advantage of the CP), they can name it anything they want to make it personal, and they can still do all the story content if they want. (They probably won't, because that's too much work that you can't just buy your way out of, but still.)

I'd love to see if someone is able to prove or disprove this theory with logs/statistics/evidence.

Interesting theory.
There is no evidence that User_ID changes are common practice for botters.
But I know that sometimes ZOS allow players to change their User_ID but it is being evaluated case by case and there is a restriction to the number of times the User_ID can be changed.

We would not always be able to tell if the account name had changed.

Account name changes, unlike character name changes, are free. They can be done at any time. ZOS has not said if there is a limit.

Universe · July 2017

The bots are still there and at many other farm sites.
I would appreciate a response from ZOS if they are working on resolving this issue.
I'm not giving up on this, this issue needs to be resolved, I don't care if it will be tomorrow or one month from now, I would like to know there is something in the works to fix this.
I believe this issue is bad for all and it shouldn't be ignored.

Thanks

lordrichter wrote: »

Lord wrote: »

Eiagra wrote: »

I still have a theory that allowing changes to your @ handle is part of why there is a surge in botting. It makes selling accounts far more attractive. After all, if I were some random schmoe that wanted to be instant-win, but didn't want to look like it, be better to buy the account name "fjlkdsj7890sadf7" and then rename it "superwinner777" than to be stuck with a handle that is clearly someone facerolling on their keyboard.

Sure, behind the scenes there may be some evidence, but that's not the goal here. It's the social stigma a random handle has, which clearly indicates the strong likelihood (but not guarantee) of a previously-botted and/or currently-botted account.

Thus: The farmer creates a random account, bots it to maximum CP, puts it on the market, and sells it. The buyer gets a maxed out account (and any alts they create only have to get to LV 50 to take advantage of the CP), they can name it anything they want to make it personal, and they can still do all the story content if they want. (They probably won't, because that's too much work that you can't just buy your way out of, but still.)

I'd love to see if someone is able to prove or disprove this theory with logs/statistics/evidence.

Interesting theory.
There is no evidence that User_ID changes are common practice for botters.
But I know that sometimes ZOS allow players to change their User_ID but it is being evaluated case by case and there is a restriction to the number of times the User_ID can be changed.

We would not always be able to tell if the account name had changed.

Account name changes, unlike character name changes, are free. They can be done at any time. ZOS has not said if there is a limit.

yes, maybe.
But it is logical to assume there is a limit to how many times a player can change his User_ID and if the User_ID is appropriate(approved by auto system when entered) etc.

Eiagra · July 2017

Lord wrote: »

yes, maybe.
But it is logical to assume there is a limit to how many times a player can change his User_ID and if the User_ID is appropriate(approved by auto system when entered) etc.

You'd only need one change at the point of account transfer to turn it from obviously-a-bot random gibberish to reasonably-legit-looking regular handle.