Reporting bots - are we wasting our time?

Rocki · October 2018

The reason I'm making this post as I've just been back to Beldama Wyrd Tree in Glenumbra (on EU) and there's a bot train running around. That's not unusual in ESO but I reported all of them yesterday, and yet they're all still there in the same place botting around as I'm typing this. They're all CP160-400, if you're on EU you can go see for yourself.

So am I wasting my time reporting them? I know ZoS won't discuss disciplinary actions taken, but does anyone actually have any confidence that ZoS is doing anything about it? I've never seen botting as frequent and normalised in any other MMO. Does ESO even have GMs?

kargen27 · October 2018

No we/you are not.

Dojohoda · October 2018

^^ agree

LordSkyKnight · October 2018

This is just my personal opinion but from the lack of any visible results to me it feels like a waste of time. I had posted a thread about this a couple days ago myself about one I found. I even had members of the community attack me on the thread for various reasons from believing bots were not harmful or doubt in the one I found in which the thread was about.

The whole thing got me to thinking why bother wasting my limited personal time doing ZOS job of hunting them down and reporting when we don’t see any visible results from our actions.

On the subject of in game GMs, I haven’t see one in game since the first couple months after release back in 2014.

Lake · October 2018

Yes, it's a waste unless many other people are also reporting the specific bot.

Rocki · October 2018

kargen27 wrote: »

No we/you are not.

What gives you confidence in saying that though? I would like to agree but you haven't given me any reason to and neither has ZoS.

If I wrote down the names of these bots here on the forums, I doubt it would take a day or more for a moderator to take action and remove the post, and possibly even ban me for naming and shaming. And yet the bots that I reported yesterday are still running around. Doesn't it seem strange that the forums are more strictly policed than the actual game?

rynth · October 2018

just ignore them and they wont hurt you, in no way have bots hurt our economy nor could you even prove that they have. You just have to chock it up to the game and realize that bots are going to be in game no matter what. Move on and stop beating the dead horse it's dead and it can do nothing to you.

Rocki · October 2018

rynth wrote: »

just ignore them and they wont hurt you, in no way have bots hurt our economy nor could you even prove that they have. You just have to chock it up to the game and realize that bots are going to be in game no matter what. Move on and stop beating the dead horse it's dead and it can do nothing to you.

What makes you say they're going to be there no matter what? Ever wonder why WoW doesn't have bot trains? It's because they have GMs that take action against people botting, pretty simple really.

And saying they have no impact? Putting aside the obvious issues with the economy, selling gold for IRL money, selling max level characters, why do YOU think botting is against the ToS in every MMO ever made? If it has no impact, why is it against the ToS in the first place? Can I start botting then without worrying about being banned?

Also, what about the bans that went out for people exploiting vAS to get the skin. Did those exploiters harm anyone, did they take anything away from other people? No, but they undeservingly received the same rewards as those that had worked hard for them, and they were rightfully banned for it. It's the same with these bots, you don't deserve to be max CP and have tons of gold by going afk for a month, it's ridiculous.

Rain_Greyraven · October 2018

I basically consider everyone in game an NPC these days...it's much less stressful that way.

HighKinlady · October 2018

I’ve reported many bots - nothing has even been done about the accounts that hang out in the same areas with level 3 accounts named “agauagshs”... but ESO has hit record numbers so there’s that /eyeroll

kargen27 · October 2018

Rocki wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

No we/you are not.

What gives you confidence in saying that though? I would like to agree but you haven't given me any reason to and neither has ZoS.

If I wrote down the names of these bots here on the forums, I doubt it would take a day or more for a moderator to take action and remove the post, and possibly even ban me for naming and shaming. And yet the bots that I reported yesterday are still running around. Doesn't it seem strange that the forums are more strictly policed than the actual game?

Not really because the forums are much easier to police. I've reported bots and a couple of days later they were gone. Maybe they just weren't around when I went and checked? If it is an obvious bot train I will report. It would be nice to have a more streamlined way to report the bots though.

Kevin_of_Devinshire · October 2018

Stop reporting the bots. They actually preform a service. The supply a sustainable amount of decently priced mats for us crafters. Lately I have spent hours running around searching vendors for mats that aren't 10%-50% over the market value. You want to get rid of bots, then fill your vendors.

I have found that highend mats have almost dried up over the last 6 months due to bots being banned and single resource players can't keep up with demand.

Rocki · October 2018

Kevin_of_Devinshire wrote: »

124,635,900 in the bank. 10k on each toon. Wealth add on show over 200 million if I sell everything in the craft bag.

You posted that in a thread called How much GOLD you got atm ? POLL and you're saying you run around for hours searching vendors for mats? I'm not sure whether you're disingenuous or just a botter yourself, there's no shortage of high end crafting mats, at least not on PC EU.

And then you said

Kevin_of_Devinshire wrote: »

Tieberion wrote: »

For those that have 2 million or more, as someone who is always broke, what's some secrets your willing to share?

When you sit down to watch tv at night, farm like crazy. Also, all toons should be master crafters and researched in all items with as many motifs as possible. 3 years of hard work got me here.

But you don't mind other people just going afk and getting crazy money without doing any of the hard work you did? Ok.

Rocki · October 2018

Just went and checked again, exact same bots in the exact same place following the exact same pathing as before. C'mon ZoS.

kuma82 · October 2018

Yes your waiting your time. There are clear bots running around, all they have to do is look and viola the evidence is there. I have seen bot groups with their cp in the 600s. If they are pure bots that means they have been grinding those mobs for an insanely long time. They have all random letters as character name and gamertag, as I am on xbox.

It seriously takes one min to watch the reported people and realize they are bots. Minimal effort required and yet the bots never seem to get banned.

Elsonso · October 2018

Rocki wrote: »

The reason I'm making this post as I've just been back to Beldama Wyrd Tree in Glenumbra (on EU) and there's a bot train running around. That's not unusual in ESO but I reported all of them yesterday, and yet they're all still there in the same place botting around as I'm typing this. They're all CP160-400, if you're on EU you can go see for yourself.

So am I wasting my time reporting them? I know ZoS won't discuss disciplinary actions taken, but does anyone actually have any confidence that ZoS is doing anything about it? I've never seen botting as frequent and normalised in any other MMO. Does ESO even have GMs?

I don't think it is a waste of time to report bots, and other people who are cheating.

You said EU... what platform?

Shadow_Viper_vX · October 2018

Botting/Bots are against the Terms of Service.

Supporting/condoning/enabling things that are in violation of the Terms of Service is just as bad and just as against the Terms of Service.

Just something a couple of people should probably keep in mind before posting...

Rocki · October 2018

lordrichter wrote: »

Rocki wrote: »

The reason I'm making this post as I've just been back to Beldama Wyrd Tree in Glenumbra (on EU) and there's a bot train running around. That's not unusual in ESO but I reported all of them yesterday, and yet they're all still there in the same place botting around as I'm typing this. They're all CP160-400, if you're on EU you can go see for yourself.

So am I wasting my time reporting them? I know ZoS won't discuss disciplinary actions taken, but does anyone actually have any confidence that ZoS is doing anything about it? I've never seen botting as frequent and normalised in any other MMO. Does ESO even have GMs?

I don't think it is a waste of time to report bots, and other people who are cheating.

You said EU... what platform?

PC (master race)

kuma82 wrote: »

Yes your waiting your time. There are clear bots running around, all they have to do is look and viola the evidence is there. I have seen bot groups with their cp in the 600s. If they are pure bots that means they have been grinding those mobs for an insanely long time. They have all random letters as character name and gamertag, as I am on xbox.

It seriously takes one min to watch the reported people and realize they are bots. Minimal effort required and yet the bots never seem to get banned.

Yeah, this is one of the very obvious bot trains, no doubt they're bots at all.

Ertosi · October 2018

Rocki wrote: »

Just went and checked again, exact same bots in the exact same place following the exact same pathing as before. C'mon ZoS.

I've reported numerous bots in the past, each and every time I've seen then. I saw, and heard in zone, other players notice and report the same ones. Seemed like it never accomplished anything. They would still be there, day after day, month after month. Its very disheartening seeing bots able to grind the same spot 24-7 and how quickly that'll raise their CP levels.

Granted, this was some time ago, as it was what drove me from the game before. Someone above mentioned above having reported some and then seeing them gone, so hopefully its better these days. Freshly back, and having fun, so I've been hesitant to peek to see if the trains are still there in the old hotspots.

Edit: I just checked the old spot in question, N of Riften just outside the city walls, and am very happy to say that there wasn't a bot in sight. Back in the olden days, I can't remember a time when there wasn't a mob of 8-12 bots there farming all of the trolls and sabercats. All I saw this time was a solitary player farming it legit; they were even nice enough to send me a group invite in case I wanted to farm as well. A tempting offer as its a great spot to farm mobs! And this is exactly how it should be with farming spots open for those who are willing to do it the right way.

Elsonso · October 2018

Rocki wrote: »

Yeah, this is one of the very obvious bot trains, no doubt they're bots at all.

Report them and move on. That's my best advice.

Depending on things that we don't know, it may take more than a day or two, or even a week or two, for ZOS to get to it. If these are just players, vs someone making money off the game, it might take a while longer. I think that ZOS does a quick investigation, and if they see evidence of "gold selling", they ban them immediately. Otherwise, it takes longer.

Androconium · October 2018

It is literally a waste of your own time.
By stopping and reporting anyone for anything, it just delays your progress.

I hope that you see the answer in there.

ListerJMC · October 2018

It does work I believe, but there are several hot spots where I often run into bots. If a group of bots are reported and disappear, it doesn't seem to take long for different ones to pop up (or it's the same player/they're changing @ names who knows)

As an aside, I really wish the report process was easier. Chasing after each bot individually, giving them a category, and writing a description over and over is really time consuming. There isn't even a specific category for botting.

Androconium · October 2018

ListerJMC wrote: »

As an aside, I really wish the report process was easier. Chasing after each bot individually, giving them a category, and writing a description over and over is really time consuming. There isn't even a specific category for botting.

^^ this...

gobgrot · October 2018

No you are not wasting your time. While it may not seem like they are doing anything I know for a fact they do. Very slowly but something does get done. I stopped playing last year near the beginning of November because I got sick of all the farming bots running around. At that time they were rampant. I wasn't going to support a game that I felt belittled my efforts by allowing them. August of this year, I was bored so decided to have another look at the game. I spent almost a month running around farming and saw very little boting, most days none at all. Then I decided to continue supporting the game and went back to paying for it. I will continue to report them knowing that it does help. I still do a lot of farming and feel like Im contributing to the economy.

If people are wondering how to tell if someone is boting, one of the easiest ways is: if you are able to run up to a node and pick it just before they do, the bot will stand there for about 5 seconds and do nothing.

MajBludd · October 2018

Why do Zos job? Do they pay you, probably not. But we do pay them and they should do what is part of their job.

I mean how hard is it to put detection programs and or have GM's AGAIN, like in the past.
But I feel these bots are of no concern to Zos.
So, does this green light us to bot @ZOS_GinaBruno? I just want to know so I can farm mats all day while I'm working.

What is the official word on bots, can we got one with our Eso+ accounts?

dengodadegen · October 2018

if you see glass on street do you pick it up? If someone owns a dog in the area that could hurt themselves on the glass, but you didnt put the glass there, would you pick it up and clean the public street on a bright day to save a paw? without adding to much real world into this, just think if you did that for a real dog instead of a company not wanting to waste 20 Euro to pay some kid to ban theese people. Just think about that, i dont mind filth in my close proximity and i think we need to allow the game to be what THEY are ready to make it and allow it to fall through to, not what WE should do on our OWN & PERSONAL game and fun time, so for us to improve their product that should blow us away... If you guys just let sheize fall, it will eighte kill the game or it will become stronger, nothing else..

I just hope one day someone finds a creves and capitalize on the whole thing with better servers so this potentially awsome game can not just be great , it can run great! Thats my opinion...

Look at the amount of australians and oceanic people we have on our server that love the game more than the lagg gets to them... Show some love the paying peoples way to... Respects a damn 2 way street people.

Cavedog · October 2018

I've reported lots of bots. They DO get taken down sometimes, although it sure does seem pretty hit and miss. I do the reporting because the game admins clearly don't know about them if nobody ever reports them. .....and I hate cheaters that much, so it makes me feel better. Sometimes they DO get taken down, so it's worth the few seconds to do the report.

Gythral · October 2018

Yes,

why would you bot report a bot to another bot?

Ri_Khan · October 2018

I can tell you from experience (admin'ed several servers for online games), depending on the game, finding cheaters can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Having players report any funny business they saw was always extremely helpful when it came to identifying and dealing with cheating in a timely manner.

mzprx · October 2018

yes, you are wasting your time. let's give you an example (what i wrote in another one of these threads about botters) -

let's be honest here, nobody in ZOS cares one bit about bots. not one bit. i tried to be a responsible citizen of Tamriel and used to report bots when and where i met them. until (about 6 months ago) i started to lvl up my stamSorc running dolmens in Alik'r and i met this fellow -

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MwB8R_rSvU8

he/she (i believe it was a girl/woman, as it was a girl's user name, not character's name) was just spamming heals through that rock at Myrkwasa dolmen and moving back and forth a bit to avoid the AOE damage that happens when you stand in one place for too long. i reported it, as a responsible citizen of Tamriel that i was. and then i met that bot again and again and again. for weeks (i wasn't levelling my stamSorc all the time, i had another characters to play with, so i did only a couple of dolmens every day) i was reporting it. and there it was, every day on the same spot. i spoke to other players at that dolmen and they did report it too. i even had my fellow guild mates from 2 guilds (that i am no longer a member of, one of them doesn't even exist any more) visiting the dolmen and reporting it (all in all around 60 players have reported it for several days in a row). and guess what has happened? exactly nothing. i watched that bot level up from lvl 30 to CP 400+ just by spamming heals through a rock. through a rock! days and weeks of reporting by many players did nothing..

worst thing is that i remember that name (it is a unique name in a language i speak) and i met that botter about a month ago at the Undaunted enclave in Grahtwood. he/she is now CP750. so yeah, report it, sure.

now that video is about one year old, and that character still exists and is now max CP. despite a lot of people reporting him/her several times. so no, ZOS does not care about bots and botters. after all, they all are paying customers, right?

GreenhaloX · October 2018

Rocki wrote: »

The reason I'm making this post as I've just been back to Beldama Wyrd Tree in Glenumbra (on EU) and there's a bot train running around. That's not unusual in ESO but I reported all of them yesterday, and yet they're all still there in the same place botting around as I'm typing this. They're all CP160-400, if you're on EU you can go see for yourself.

So am I wasting my time reporting them? I know ZoS won't discuss disciplinary actions taken, but does anyone actually have any confidence that ZoS is doing anything about it? I've never seen botting as frequent and normalised in any other MMO. Does ESO even have GMs?

Ha ha ha.. yeah, these are some of the nuisances plaguing ESO since before One Tamriel. Do as you feel. If you feel it is right, then you are justified in reporting. On the latter, if you don't want to be bothered, then just go on your merry way and continue on doing what you do. For me, I feel if something doesn't feel right or out of the ordinary, I have to do something about it. Problems don't get fixed or solved when being ignored, swept under the carpet or folks turning a blind eye. Sure, a problem or issue would take some time to get addressed, but if no or few actions or attempts are made, then the power that may be would not lift a finger to check it out. Particularly, in such as expansive MMO as ESO and issues concerning the bots.

I'm sure the good folks at the ZOS land have their hands full in dealing with many other nuisances as cheating and exploiters, and other issues. I just think these bots thing are a huge problem to addressed as there are many peeps that have the know-how and can create such bots. I'm sure the bots have been addressed and zapped, but more keep popping up. It just amuses me on how certain peeps are able to create 8 to 10 or more of these replicants that mimic each and every moves in farming whatever mats. Sheesh.. What people will come up with next..?