People botting in EVERY public dungeon...

Sakiri · April 2014

lordrichter wrote: »

BKTHNDR wrote: »

Pay attention to character names the next time you reach a boss in a public dungeon. Anyone with a name like "jsowkemidjs" is a bot and should be reported. You'll only ever see people with random, jumbled names camping bosses.

This is not necessarily true. I have seen characters with "random" names like that chase after the boss when it gets chain pulled by a DK or run over to the boss after the fight to collect loot.

To me, the random gibberish name is a sign of a 'disposable character'. A character that they can delete when it becomes too high level to get loot. There can easily be a live person running that character.

No, there isnt. If you watch, the whole stack moves in unison.

If they want to break it, make all abilities without a reticle require a target to use.

Ironclap · April 2014

Every single public dungeon I tried in Auridon tonight had a stack of botters on the boss. You know that mouse trail you can set on your mouse pointer in windows? That's how they look when they attack and move clear as day botters.

I was lucky to get off a single hit so I could clear the dungeon. ZOS should have people cycling every public dungeon on the bosses and ban them hard.

Even when I tried to report them from mouse over I just got a "request error" something garbage in the report window. Useless.

Anoteros · April 2014

lordrichter wrote: »

Meh. The bots do not concern me.

What concerns me are the players that spend their entire game play standing around some boss just to get blue drops.

I mean, seriously, is that fun to do?

So, yeah, I am interested in timers and other things like bosses that don't respawn until the character leaves the instance just so that it is a little harder to farm those drops.

It should not be that easy.

Yes it is.
'Play your way' was the selling point of this game if I recall correctly and I enjoy the odd farming.

Seems all i'm doing is micro managing my inventory and wrestling with the unintuitive menus to report bots and gold spammers.

UncleMo · April 2014

There is no substitute for in game GM's and we're not seeing any.

Makarion · April 2014

If your "play your way" prevents that of many others, there's a problem. In the long run, the game will only survive if they favour the many over the few. And farmers are not the many. I really hope they will be dealt with. Warning > 3 day ban > 1 month ban > perma ban.

Glurin · April 2014

I have no problem with farmers. What I have a problem with is farmers killing a quest mob over and over so fast that people have trouble even getting credit for tapping it on the shoulder. A little common courtesy would go a long way here.

Dimmur · April 2014

There is a group of 4 chinese farmers/bots in every single public dungeon I have seen!

The reason I hate it so much, is that it completely ruins all public dungeons!

The end boss would at least be slightly interesting to solo. Currently the boss has no time to speak or do anything as it is killed in under 2 seconds by those bots.

It is beyond madness, total blasphemy, to allow it to happen longer than a few minutes. Why dont you give a permanent autokick/ban to all those botters, their IP and simply their whole account, if they are reported by more than, lets say, 3 people? (If they are not chinese bots in some rare case, they can make contact and get it back. In 99% of cases, you can differentiate actual people from botters simply from their names).

(Furthermore, why reporting requires so much time? It should be a simple click of a button. The reason goldspammers are annoying is that they waste our time. Reporting them is even more annoying as it takes even more time)

Anoteros · April 2014

Makarion wrote: »

If your "play your way" prevents that of many others, there's a problem. In the long run, the game will only survive if they favour the many over the few. And farmers are not the many. I really hope they will be dealt with. Warning > 3 day ban > 1 month ban > perma ban.

'Playing my way' is the norm of most other MMORPG's over the past 14 or so years I've been playing them. Farming is a past time of many players out there.
The idiotic thing about this whole debacle is that they stop loot from dropping from lower level mobs but do nothing about this bot farming.

If they simply instanced all dungeon delves, again like other MMORPGs do then this problem wouldnt even exist.

Sadique · April 2014

while they are a terrible problem, i stopped seeing them around 35, and i dont see any at all in the VR content, in fact at the moment most the dungeons are empty.

steveb16_ESO46 · April 2014

Glurin wrote: »

Was in a public dungeon earlier with this very problem. Four or five people standing immobile around the boss spawn, taking him down in about one or two seconds at most.

Agreed. When I actually managed to snatch some loot I was amazed and also angry at all the good stuff i have been missing out on. It is all you can do to register a hit by constantly attacking the empty air you think the boss might appear in.

I predict putting a timer on bosses will just increase by a factor of 10 the number of bots to compensate and there will just be more teleporting in.

This is a self created problem. The moment they, for some insane reason, thought non-instanced boss encounters were actually a good thing, this was going to happen. Given that choice robust and tested anti botting should have been built into beta testing from the go.

I'm hoping the 'we've fixed botting' claims when made will have way more substance than the 'we've really fixed bug x this time' ones.

Sadique · April 2014

steveb16_ESO46 wrote: »

Agreed. When I actually managed to snatch some loot I was amazed and also angry at all the good stuff i have been missing out on. It is all you can do to register a hit by constantly attacking the empty air you think the boss might appear in.

I predict putting a timer on bosses will just increase by a factor of 10 the number of bots to compensate and there will just be more teleporting in.

This is a self created problem. The moment they, for some insane reason, thought non-instanced boss encounters were actually a good thing, this was going to happen. Given that choice robust and tested anti botting should have been built into beta testing from the go.

I'm hoping the 'we've fixed botting' claims when made will have way more substance than the 'we've really fixed bug x this time' ones.

a timer really is a terrible idea, botters dont care if they have to wait 5 minutes before getting loot again since they arent at the computer. All the timer will do is make it so that regular players have almost zero chance at getting loot. They should just make the bosses drop just the blue item, make it unique for things like 2 handers and armor, and unique (2) for 1 handers. Once you get the blue you would have to go to town and vendor it and run back which i dont see botters doing.

steveb16_ESO46 · April 2014

Yea. A timer won't work. It's a just doing something for the sake of being seen to do something 'solution'. I favour a 'kill same boss 3 times in an hour = perma-ban' solution. Or instancing where you get to kill the boss once in 24 hours.

And no - I don't care if that upsets 'farmers'. I'm sick of them spoiling public dungeon boss fights as well.

Anoteros · April 2014

steveb16_ESO46 wrote: »

Yea. A timer won't work. It's a just doing something for the sake of being seen to do something 'solution'. I favour a 'kill same boss 3 times in an hour = perma-ban' solution. Or instancing where you get to kill the boss once in 24 hours.

And no - I don't care if that upsets 'farmers'. I'm sick of them spoiling public dungeon boss fights as well.

Instancing with no timer.
Rift, WoW, GW2 all have instancing and a limit to how many times you can enter instances.
Don't see the problem.

steveb16_ESO46 · April 2014

Instancing was how it should have been from the beginning. The current set up just makes it wrongly look like just another one of those big gaming companies working hand in hand with gold sellers. They could not have designed the game better for them if they'd tried.

If Zen want this to be a successful sub game they got to be doing everything better and smarter than everyone else. They are currently so far from this goal The Hubble Telescope couldn't help.

Glurin · April 2014

Non-instanced is fine. Otherwise it's just a whole bunch of solo/group dungeons, which is the way other MMOs have been going, but makes the game a lot more "lonely". The way it is now puts a little bit more social aspect back into the multiplayer part of MMO.

The loot timer is a good fix for there being too many farmers around. The problem is the bots don't care.

Here's a somewhat Sheogorathy thought. If you've been in a dungeon for a long time and killed the same guy three times in a row or something, you get teleported into the ocean, where you are then eaten by slaughterfish. (Or better yet, narwhals.) Long trip back from nearest wayshrine plus repair cost for dying.

tripiseanb14_ESO · April 2014

Glurin wrote: »

I have no problem with farmers. What I have a problem with is farmers killing a quest mob over and over so fast that people have trouble even getting credit for tapping it on the shoulder. A little common courtesy would go a long way here.

I very much so disagree. If this was in Cyrodiil and you wanted to kill a boss and I kept killing you, preventing you from doing it, that is me playing my way and you not being able to. All is fair, I don't have to "Let" you do squat, this isn't kindergarten.

Cherub · April 2014

Maybe a cooldown for bosses could be integrated, so that you are only able to kill each boss only one time every six hours (no loot or xp for killing him after 1st kill within this time)? Everyone can still gain the loot and achievement, and is still able to help guildmembers/friends.

Xaltotun · April 2014

I don't have a problem with legit farmers...if you want to stand around all day and whack at the same mob, whatever. Not my idea of fun, but hey. But the bots are a different matter entirely. Tonight in the Black Maw there was a group of 5 Argonian bots. All had nonsense names, they were standing practically on top of each other, were all the same level and all holding bows. The very second the boss arrived, all five fired the bow AOE attack at it. Now, there were other legitimate players there as well and we couldn't get a hit in before these Argonian bots (and two Templar bots) would just annihilate the boss. So, I got to thinking...there's other mobs around. I'd just shoot at them and pull them towards the group of bots, and they'd all - in unison - raise their bows and shoot at the mobs I pulled. Eventually I got lucky and the boss spawned while they were fighting those other mobs. Got my one loot drop and left the dungeon. While watching the bots move in perfectly synchronized time to attack the mobs I drew (and then return to the exact same place) was amusing, it's ridiculous that I had to go to that length.

Makkir · April 2014

If there are ONLY 1-3 bots, you might be able to "Train" nearby mobs onto them. I have noticed most of these bots WILL attack any attackable mob that comes within their script's radius. I tested this several times. If it's a group of like 20 bots, you might not be able to pull that off.

The other thing I try is to just spam AOE attacks and hope you get first tag.

Nooblet · April 2014

Every single dungeon I've done the past week had 0 bots. Just saying they aren't in Every dungeon... maybe most of the lower level ones.

driosketch · April 2014

Ondil is full of bots, but surprisingly non of them are around the boss. Instead they are running scripted paths through regular mob respawns. I can see why, the mobs where dropping better loot, and also the boss stopped respawning.

All of them looking alike in prison rags, all with gibberish names, all of them templars, following in a near perfect pact with scheduled for the mob respawns. (Though there were a couple DK camping a single spot.) They could be a multibox program, they attack only when an enemy is present, but still never leave the path even to attack an enemy slightly off the route.

Daggers · April 2014

Makkir wrote: »

If there are ONLY 1-3 bots, you might be able to "Train" nearby mobs onto them. I have noticed most of these bots WILL attack any attackable mob that comes within their script's radius. I tested this several times. If it's a group of like 20 bots, you might not be able to pull that off.

The other thing I try is to just spam AOE attacks and hope you get first tag.

While entertaining, you might end up on the wrong end of a harassment report for training mobs. I get the good intentions, but the reporting system is a double edged sword in such scenarios.

Snugenz · April 2014

Bots are very easy to notice, they all stand completely still at the exact point the mob will spawn and attack the second the mob spawns. I've also seen them warp in unison (multiple bots) to other spawns in a dungeon and back to the boss.

Did manage to disrupt their farming for about 30mins on my DK once by pulling the mob away a few times. But something really needs to be done, it's just completely blatant botting and it's disturbing that they're getting away with it so easily, guess all subs count to ZOS.

Glurin · April 2014

tripiseanb14_ESO wrote: »

Glurin wrote: »

I have no problem with farmers. What I have a problem with is farmers killing a quest mob over and over so fast that people have trouble even getting credit for tapping it on the shoulder. A little common courtesy would go a long way here.

I very much so disagree. If this was in Cyrodiil and you wanted to kill a boss and I kept killing you, preventing you from doing it, that is me playing my way and you not being able to. All is fair, I don't have to "Let" you do squat, this isn't kindergarten.

Which is exactly the reason open world PvP is limited to Cyrodiil. People being *** is generally acknowledged as part of open world PvP. PvE tends to have a much lower tolerance for that sort of thing.

BruteMan · April 2014

What i want to know is why if all we have to do is report them am i keep seeing the same bots i reported 2 days ago still sitting at del in dels claim farming away. I mean common the standard response of please ticket all botters is getting a bit *** when a GM at any given moment can drop into any dels claim instance and see 10 - 50 bots parked there farming away but you still want us to report them this response for public dungeons is the most ridiculous response i have ever seen hell WoW did a better crack down at its original launch and we seen the efforts. haven't even seen a GM show up in game in any of these places ever since i been playing. its the laughing joke of the servers and its a farce you cant even stop it or make us believe our reports are actually gaining any actions.

Epona222 · April 2014

BruteMan wrote: »

What i want to know is why if all we have to do is report them am i keep seeing the same bots i reported 2 days ago still sitting at del in dels claim farming away. I mean common the standard response of please ticket all botters is getting a bit *** when a GM at any given moment can drop into any dels claim instance and see 10 - 50 bots parked there farming away but you still want us to report them this response for public dungeons is the most ridiculous response i have ever seen hell WoW did a better crack down at its original launch and we seen the efforts. haven't even seen a GM show up in game in any of these places ever since i been playing. its the laughing joke of the servers and its a farce you cant even stop it or make us believe our reports are actually gaining any actions.

Del's Claim is a bit of a joke at the moment because of all the bots with names like aaakjsej camping the boss. Thing is, I like going through dungeons with real players around me - helping each other out, that feels good to me. Then you get to the boss and have to sit around to try to get a hit through all the bots so that you get the 'cleared' notification - and trust me, I like to get that notification.

I also like to go back and do dungeons for fun (but not camping the boss, I did Del's Claim a few times over a week, but not camping the boss or disrupting other players at any point, just a clean run through for fun 3 times in the space of a week), and very much in favour of anything being done to stop the botting.

Sakiri · April 2014

Want to fix bots? Make the templar spear require a target.

Ever notice theyre mostly templars spamming the spear on regular intervals?

Anoteros · April 2014

Target how exactly?
No tab target or click to target is painful.

BROKEN RECORD TIME: Instance the dungeons and have them scale based on solo or group much like GW2's world bosses.
THE END.

Epona222 · April 2014

Anoteros wrote: »

Target how exactly?
No tab target or click to target is painful.

BROKEN RECORD TIME: Instance the dungeons and have them scale based on solo or group much like GW2's world bosses.
THE END.

Thing is though, that I actually like going through a dungeon with other folks, not grouped, but in a sort of loose alliance and helping each other. I don't want instanced dungeons, I kind of like it the way it is. Not that I like the bots, but don't really want to sacrifice other aspects of the game.

Tetrasoli · April 2014

Some players have suggested that one possible solution is to make it such that dungeon mobs don't drop any loot or award XP. While this is a good start, it doesn't take care of the problem with botters in the open world areas. I think removing loot drops and XP from all mobs is a possible solution, but bots might still be able to exploit this system in some way.

Instead, I suggest another fix; require the player to solve a CAPTCHA puzzle before being able to use any spell. Templars, for example, would hit their Aedric Spear ability, but a box would pop up with a CAPTCHA puzzle they would have to solve before the ability fired off. This would also help with resource management issues, since Magicka would still regenerate while you attempted to solve the CAPTCHA. It could also help with the servers being spammed with client-side ability requests. Healing spells might need to be tuned up accordingly, but it would solve the bot problem quickly.