Bots growing wings?

AeliaVicusPlave · May 2014

The last 2 days I saw them in Stonefalls too, running around in circles, killing Guars f.e. I'm assuming, they simply level up, also to replace the lvl. 3 bots on the Jute spawns, - with lvl. 6+ they are much more able to resist the Netches and Archer NPCs some players pull massively to the bot groups now... Of course, they learn, and they read the forums too.

crush83 · May 2014

dccharacter wrote: »

What I don't get is why developers can't put a simple red flag system in the game.
-Item counter increases faster than XXX with no sale involved
-Same message sent to zone more than XXX times/time period
-Two coordinates change while third is frozen for long and char is not swimming
-More than XXX reports about spam from player
etc.

What you are talking about would be an auxiliary analytics server that runs in parallel to the game universe. This means it wouldn't affect performance of the mega-server one bit. Certain actions would be forwarded to this analytics server where they'd be kept in a history to be analyzed. From this history, patterns can be detected that indicate bot activity as opposed to human activity.

Of course, even this can be foiled. Randomizations can be introduced into the bot programs so that they aren't following such predictable paths.

The real reason it's not done though is money.

AlexDougherty · May 2014

dccharacter wrote: »

What I don't get is why developers can't put a simple red flag system in the game.
-Item counter increases faster than XXX with no sale involved
-Two coordinates change while third is frozen for long and char is not swimming
etc.

These two are alright, and would highlight cheats, not prove them but enough for a gm to watch them and see if they are genuine or botter

-Same message sent to zone more than XXX times/time period
-More than XXX reports about spam from player

These two are not alright, person stuck will repeatedly send a LFG message, and counting how many spam reports as a metric opens up abuse.

dccharacter · May 2014

That's just an example, I don't expect myself winning against spammers coming up with a system in which were put probably 30 seconds of thought max.

GossiTheDog · May 2014

For info, a week ago a memory hacking site (I won't name for obvious reasons) published a ZIP file which adds:

- Gradient Speed Invert (go faster up/down slopes rather than slower)
- Infinite Dodge Rolls
- No Fall Damage
- Super Speed (very fast)
- Walk in Air

Walk in Air basically lets you fly through the air. People aren't getting banned for that, reading the comments. You can also toggle off clipping by toggling the memory value (clipping = collision).

Tarwin · May 2014

Great, so it sounds like the ghosts of the obliterated bots from the dungeon cleanups are now floating around to haunt us all

User · May 2014

GossiTheDog wrote: »

For info, a week ago a memory hacking site (I won't name for obvious reasons) published a ZIP file which adds:

- Gradient Speed Invert (go faster up/down slopes rather than slower)
- Infinite Dodge Rolls
- No Fall Damage
- Super Speed (very fast)
- Walk in Air

Walk in Air basically lets you fly through the air. People aren't getting banned for that, reading the comments. You can also toggle off clipping by toggling the memory value (clipping = collision).

Yep, same thing for Skyrim where you can type

tcl

(toggle collision) on the console, then you can walk through anything. Seems like those things are handled client-side rather than server-side.

Catches_the_Sun · May 2014

YourNameHere wrote: »

Here is an add-on that was suggested to me by another forum user. This can help you report those types of bots.

I got it, and it works wonderfully.

http://www.esoui.com/downloads/info181-FastReport.html

Am I the only one that's concerned that we can gather information as to the exact position of another player? And how that information may be exploited in Cyrodiil?

ThaPizza · May 2014

OMG I have flashbacks to great games ruined by "cheaters or hackers" and died them totally.... I hope they have ppl with such skills at Zenimax to counter attack this asap!

Yankee · May 2014

crush83 wrote: »

What you are talking about would be an auxiliary analytics server that runs in parallel to the game universe. This means it wouldn't affect performance of the mega-server one bit. Certain actions would be forwarded to this analytics server where they'd be kept in a history to be analyzed. From this history, patterns can be detected that indicate bot activity as opposed to human activity.

Of course, even this can be foiled. Randomizations can be introduced into the bot programs so that they aren't following such predictable paths.

The real reason it's not done though is money.

I said something like this the other day in a thread.

But i was not near as eloquent. I am just a "country" one man shop IT guy.

Even so, they should have anticipated and prepared for the bot invasion before release. Yet it seems like they gave it no thought. I like this game, and do not want it to fail.

Iorail · May 2014

OMG....ZoS, make the sell value on all gatherables to vendors at 0,make food and drink sell also for 0, BAMM, solved....it's not rocket science why the bots are doing what they are doing, a stack of processed Jute for example (which they are processing to get the rare boosters also to sell) sells to the vendor for 400g, now do the math........

Singular · May 2014

GossiTheDog wrote: »

The server does no collision detection - it's all done client side - so you can turn off collision detection (using memory editing tools) and then fly around the map. You can also fly under the map - bots started doing this shortly after launch. If you see a resource disappear right in front of you, look down. You will see a name tag appear, but no person. They're under the map.

Wow! That's crazy! So...I want to be Superman in pvp!

Singular · May 2014

GreySix wrote: »

vict116 wrote: »

They run around in patterns waiting for random enemy respawns in the open world. Anybody notice that as well? It's obvious by their group movement.

Would be fun as heck to see a bounty board implemented, bots flagged for PvP, killed over and over again so bounty hunters could get rich quick.

Yeah I know, that would cause all other kinds of issues, but a guy can dream...

That would be truly awesome. Why can't they put a reward system in place for reporting bots? That would get more people reporting them - combined with @dccharacter 's suggestion above - would make it pretty difficult for bots to function.

Singular · May 2014

GossiTheDog wrote: »

For info, a week ago a memory hacking site (I won't name for obvious reasons) published a ZIP file which adds:

- Gradient Speed Invert (go faster up/down slopes rather than slower)
- Infinite Dodge Rolls
- No Fall Damage
- Super Speed (very fast)
- Walk in Air

Walk in Air basically lets you fly through the air. People aren't getting banned for that, reading the comments. You can also toggle off clipping by toggling the memory value (clipping = collision).

Unreal - went to that site. It's for bad people!

Wolfborn · May 2014

I was playing an alt in stonefalls and saw a person in rags, float from the sky down to the node i was harvesting. I sat stunned, looking at my monitor and whispered to my wife " Have i just seen Digital Jesus, has he graced me with his presence?" . Then when i moused over him, his name was dssdw.

The let down was immense

Chomppa · May 2014

In Stormhaven , I even saw one bot fall out of the sky and just die when he hit the ground , was really funny though .

GreySix · May 2014

Every once in a while, I sometimes remember that some of the Chinese dudes controlling the bots likely have slave-drivers over them, and unpleasant things happen to them if they don't meet some quota.

What a world we live in...

Taleof2Cities · May 2014

Last nite, saw a group of bots running in a circle around Hallin's Stand and slaying Imperials for loot. I was able to report 2 out of the 6 or 7 of them in game.

vict116 wrote: »

They run around in patterns waiting for random enemy respawns in the open world. Anybody notice that as well? It's obvious by their group movement.

damaged · May 2014

mark.coogan_ESO wrote: »

AeliaVicusPlave wrote: »

And I recognized one bot i remember by name, reported him already at the same spot days ago when he was still lvl. 3 - now he is lvl. 6 and came back to exploit.

And this is why the ZOS current 'strategy' (and I use the term in the loosest possible sense) for dealing with the botting issue is little more than a feeble PR exercise.

Well, they aren't going to get rid of the bots, pretty soon it will be ZOS' only source of income with most of the legit players being driven away.

Brakkar · May 2014

Just restrict zones to certain levels.
Starting island 1-6, second island 3-16 etc or at leat add minimum level.
Add that certain storyline MUST be completed in order to progress to next zone and that you cannot teleport to party member in higher level zone if you don't meet requirements. Ad different option for PvP players ( PvP quessts in Cyrodil ).
Exactly the same way as progressing from your first vr alliance to second one.
I know that would be a nuissance for some, but this is a price to pay.

cromica81_ESO · May 2014

It seems they are fighting a losing battle against the cheats and the bots, someday they might slow them down but by that time I doubt I will be here.

Pizza_Magician · May 2014

In morrowind you were able to craft a jump spell that could take you across the entire map, of course you also had to cast feather fall just right, I have missed that kind of freedom in the latest iterations of the engine.

Perhaps these players are simply trying to implement features that the developers neglected to?

Daethz · May 2014

Many reports of bots being able to run super fast, fly, and teleport.
At one point i dismounted while running down a staircase and was running super fast until i ran out of stamina, Wasent lagging either. Tried to reproduce that unsuccessfully. Guessing if that can happen there may be a flying bug(not hack) somewhere in the game too.

ciannait · May 2014

The number of invisible / unreportable bots ganking all the nodes in starter areas has gotten completely out of control. I didn't realize there wasn't server-side client position checking until these started. I spend more time reporting players than playing myself - and I suppose I could just not give a damn, but it feels like that's ZO's job. There are more bots than players in the starter zones.

I have 12 days left on my free 30 days, after which I'm canceling my account. I enjoy the game but dealing with bots is like a second job.

Singular · May 2014

GreySix wrote: »

Every once in a while, I sometimes remember that some of the Chinese dudes controlling the bots likely have slave-drivers over them, and unpleasant things happen to them if they don't meet some quota.

What a world we live in...

All for your entertainment.

Singular · May 2014

ciannait wrote: »

The number of invisible / unreportable bots ganking all the nodes in starter areas has gotten completely out of control. I didn't realize there wasn't server-side client position checking until these started. I spend more time reporting players than playing myself - and I suppose I could just not give a damn, but it feels like that's ZO's job. There are more bots than players in the starter zones.

I have 12 days left on my free 30 days, after which I'm canceling my account. I enjoy the game but dealing with bots is like a second job.

They put out a statement saying that they had gms in the game banning bots. So, they're just really really busy trying to do it.

Sariias · May 2014

I've seen them running around in the air in Stonefalls tonight. Very hard to report them when you can't get close.

Vayrel · May 2014

I was playing a new character today and the starter zone was filled with people... i was like day 1 all over again... except all the "players" were bots... I saw perhaps 5-6 real players and lots of bots running in paths some gathering nodes some killing monsters... some even had random movements scripted into their actions... until you saw the same "random" movement at the same exact spot 7 trips around the zone in a path...

there was so many bots it ruined the experience for me and was very frustrating to have them in mass groups killing all the monsters in the area.
I wanted to try out a new story line on a new faction and my experience was ruined... any new player is not going to last long, at least I can escape the bot invasion by playing my main...