Bots - Bots - and more Bots - This game is going to lose customers unless you get this under control

jackub17_ESO23 · May 2014

Coldharbour - it must be 80% bots. HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW THIS? Tower of Lies - nothing but bots running the same circle endlessly in a chain. Cliffs of Failure - same thing. I go into these thinking I will have a challenge - but no - it is completely ruined by endless bots just killing the mobs over and over and you are lucky if you can get a single dot/hit in. Every area of the map that has mobs you will find bot chains running non-stop 24/7.

This completely removes the fun/challenge. And it is not just Coldharbour - it is everywhere. Ok, you moved the bots from the dungeon bosses with the changes, but they just reprogrammed to dungeon mobs and fast spawn points.

Bots are running this game and you are going to have a mass exodus unless it is dealt with soon. You have a very short window and it is almost beyond comprehension that you did not anticipate this and put in detection code.

KerinKor · May 2014

If there's one thing I hate more than bots .. it's threads complaining about them being spammed on here.

YOU DIDN'T NEED TO CREATE ANOTHER ONE IN ORDER TO POST YOUR WHINE, there are umpteen of them already.

Slash8915 · May 2014

KerinKor wrote: »

If there's one thing I hate more than bots .. it's threads complaining about them being spammed on here.

YOU DIDN'T NEED TO CREATE ANOTHER ONE IN ORDER TO POST YOUR WHINE, there are umpteen of them already.

I agree... OP, yes bots suck. Yes they could potentially ruin the game. But just like you're wondering how ZOS hasn't noticed them in Cold Harbour, we're wondering how you haven't noticed that there are probably about 100 threads on this very subject

knaveofengland · May 2014

oh well report them to eso show evidence screenshots videos
better to help report them rather than have zillions of posts of oh no all these bots these posts about the bots are all chalk and cheese , what ever you do there will be bots gold sellers etc , its called players greed

krashwire_ESO · May 2014

Well clearly the number of threads hasnt prompted any significnt action to be taken in weeks. We probably needs more threads, then zos might take note.

Reykice · May 2014

Amen i just logged out due to that.... sad to see the game in such a state. Maybe we can come back in one year but right now its not working out.

Sariias · May 2014

@krashwire_ESO I agree, this is a place to share comments and issues and ideas, so bots are a valid thing to make a thread about. They are a serious issue, and I know Zenimax is addressing them but it seems like the bots are in even greater numbers than before. I would like to see more harsh measures taken against them, immediate action, based on signs. If a few customers get banned on accident and fight it, give them a week free playtime for compensation.

The bots are obvious, blatant, even, and stomping all over the place. They need to be purged.

Not talking about it doesn't help either, at least we're letting Zenimax know how concerned we are.

Just make sure you're reporting them in game, too.

SantieClaws · May 2014

I think they are painfully aware of the impact of the bots. There may well be changes coming in with the craglorn patch that change the game systems in ways that reduce the effectivness of bots. All they can do right now is have GMs in game banning them but if they come back within a few minutes something deeper needs to be done and whatever that is needs to be considered carefully for the impact it may have on legitimate players. A fast reaction that makes the game worse would not be a smart thing. Give them a bit of time to work on it and test changes. The war against bots will not be won in just one day.

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

I dont understand what the big deal is. So they are farming some mobs how exactly does this stop your game play. The mobs they are farming you do NOT need for any quest. The areas where questing is there are mobs all over they are not farming those.

teox76 · May 2014

Among all little and big problems ESO is having, uncontrolled botting is among the worst one, that needs to be addressed immediately. It's ruining the game experience, it's ruining the immersion, it's ruining the game economy, and sadly there is not any sign of improvement,but things are getting worse and worse,and in some areas like the one reported, botting is so evident that is ridiculous.
Do you remember the old (crappy) tv show "Benny Hill Show"? At some time the characters would start running around at double speed, all them in a row, slapping each others...this is what all the bot trains reminds me, so at least they can still take a smile from me...but for how long ?

All this to say that we need as much threads like this in order to keep ZOS under pressure until this plague has been rid of, since it should not have been there from the beginning, or at least not at this incredible level.

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Reykice · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Are you a botter or just a very dumb human? The people selling gold are the ones running the bots... its the same people...

They are also hacking the game to do it and are most likely also selling hacks, hacking accounts, credit cards, stealing private info and so on....

What part of that is the "they are fine and not bothering people/not doing any harm" ?

Swampster · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Hang on, in another thread the key argument being used by the few opposing an AH is that prices DON'T drop on the megaserver becasue we DON'T have an AH...

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

alexandru987eb17_ESO wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Are you a botter or just a very dumb human? The people selling gold are the ones running the bots... its the same people...

They are also hacking the game to do it and are most likely also selling hacks, hacking accounts, credit cards, stealing private info and so on....

What part of that is the "they are fine and not bothering people/not doing any harm" ?

Why do you think I said "I understand the need to stop the gold sellers"? Obviously I was talking about them. Also you have facts to backup they are somehow able to hack everyone simply by killing mobs somehow? I think your post is full of hyperbole with literally no evidence to back anything up.

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

Swampster wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Hang on, in another thread the key argument being used by the few opposing an AH is that prices DON'T drop on the megaserver becasue we DON'T have an AH...

Well I cant speak for all guilds but the one I am in we do not tolerate price gouging. So if you list stuff to ridiculous amounts prepare to be removed from the guild. We are a group of people who try to help each other. If there was an AH this would be impossible.

Reykice · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

alexandru987eb17_ESO wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Are you a botter or just a very dumb human? The people selling gold are the ones running the bots... its the same people...

They are also hacking the game to do it and are most likely also selling hacks, hacking accounts, credit cards, stealing private info and so on....

What part of that is the "they are fine and not bothering people/not doing any harm" ?

Why do you think I said "I understand the need to stop the gold sellers"? Obviously I was talking about them. Also you have facts to backup they are somehow able to hack everyone simply by killing mobs somehow? I think your post is full of hyperbole with literally no evidence to back anything up.

How do you think they are getting so many accounts? Do you really think they buy them? They hack people and use their accounts its how it usually happens in every MMO. They also initiate DDOS attacks and so on.

Also, most of the bots you see harvesting teleport/fly/go under the map to harvest... how do you think they are able to do that? That`s right Sherlock, they hacked the game client...

The gold selling services are not run by your friendly chinese looking to feed his family, they are ran by cyber criminals and organisations.

I did not feel i need to list all that as its like the "earth is round" statement, sure i can back it up with links and facts but its really not needed as everyone already knows that.

So now you know... stop wasting thread space defending them.

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

alexandru987eb17_ESO wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

alexandru987eb17_ESO wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Are you a botter or just a very dumb human? The people selling gold are the ones running the bots... its the same people...

They are also hacking the game to do it and are most likely also selling hacks, hacking accounts, credit cards, stealing private info and so on....

What part of that is the "they are fine and not bothering people/not doing any harm" ?

Why do you think I said "I understand the need to stop the gold sellers"? Obviously I was talking about them. Also you have facts to backup they are somehow able to hack everyone simply by killing mobs somehow? I think your post is full of hyperbole with literally no evidence to back anything up.

How do you think they are getting so many accounts? Do you really think they buy them? They hack people and use their accounts its how it usually happens in every MMO. They also initiate DDOS attacks and so on.

Also, most of the bots you see harvesting teleport/fly/go under the map to harvest... how do you think they are able to do that? That`s right Sherlock, they hacked the game client...

The gold selling services are not run by your friendly chinese looking to feed his family, they are ran by cyber criminals and organisations.

I did not feel i need to list all that as its like the "earth is round" statement, sure i can back it up with links and facts but its really not needed as everyone already knows that.

So now you know... stop wasting thread space defending them.

So you have any proof of these accusations? Just curious where you get your facts from.

Swampster · May 2014

If you're in any doubt about how rife the business of selling bots, hacking ESO etc is then simply use Google.. it's an eye opener how many exploits, bots and things are out there. The bots and hacks are for sale to anyone willing to pay..

Epona222 · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

OK here's an example. Yesterday I did the final faction quest in Auridon, I was lvl 16, nearly lvl 17 when I started. By the time I had finished and got the quest reward, I was still only lvl 16 when I finished, because I had not had to fight any standard mobs (which tend to give I think 51XP each) because there were NONE in any questing zone I had tackled that day.

I had not had to think "oh I don't think I can take on that group, I'd better find a way to sneak round". I had not had to think "that pair at the bottom of the stairs I need to go up are 2 casters, how best to tackle this?" Because all mobs were dying as soon as they spawned due to massive amount of bots circuiting round the quest zone. I could just run from A to B with nothing to fight or get past.

That is how it spoils immersion. And robs you of XP (and perhaps a bit less important, the occasional white drop that might be useful for research or deconstruction, or maybe a green armor set drop that is in the random mob loot table).

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

Epona222 wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

OK here's an example. Yesterday I did the final faction quest in Auridon, I was lvl 16, nearly lvl 17 when I started. By the time I had finished and got the quest reward, I was still only lvl 16 when I finished, because I had not had to fight any standard mobs (which tend to give I think 51XP each) because there were NONE in any questing zone I had tackled that day.

I had not had to think "oh I don't think I can take on that group, I'd better find a way to sneak round". I had not had to think "that pair at the bottom of the stairs I need to go up are 2 casters, how best to tackle this?" Because all mobs were dying as soon as they spawned due to massive amount of bots circuiting round the quest zone. I could just run from A to B with nothing to fight or get past.

That is how it spoils immersion. And robs you of XP (and perhaps a bit less important, the occasional white drop that might be useful for research or deconstruction, or maybe a green armor set drop that is in the random mob loot table).

So in other words you dont like people in your mmos. Not every mob in every zone in every area of the game is camped by bots. Again more hyperbole.

Zab101 · May 2014

So the gold farmers have moved on from the dungeon delves and are now invading overland areas and quest instances? HAHAHAHA! Pricelsss. Maybe the devs can just nerf or put a diminishing return on overland mobs so no one gets any loot.
The gold farmers were camping bosses: response was a boss timer that affects everyone.
The gold farmers were going after provisioning containers: response was a nerf to the containers and an account wide diminishing return.
The gold farmers are going after harvesting nodes. Maybe they can nerf the spawn timer of all nodes.
God forbid had they just banned them when they had them isolated in the dungeon delves.

Epona222 · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

OK here's an example. Yesterday I did the final faction quest in Auridon, I was lvl 16, nearly lvl 17 when I started. By the time I had finished and got the quest reward, I was still only lvl 16 when I finished, because I had not had to fight any standard mobs (which tend to give I think 51XP each) because there were NONE in any questing zone I had tackled that day.

I had not had to think "oh I don't think I can take on that group, I'd better find a way to sneak round". I had not had to think "that pair at the bottom of the stairs I need to go up are 2 casters, how best to tackle this?" Because all mobs were dying as soon as they spawned due to massive amount of bots circuiting round the quest zone. I could just run from A to B with nothing to fight or get past.

That is how it spoils immersion. And robs you of XP (and perhaps a bit less important, the occasional white drop that might be useful for research or deconstruction, or maybe a green armor set drop that is in the random mob loot table).

So in other words you dont like people in your mmos. Not every mob in every zone in every area of the game is camped by bots. Again more hyperbole.

That is NOT what I said in the slightest. I love other PEOPLE in ESO. I have had massive fun grouping, or running with other players in a loose group when questing.

Do you even know what a bot is? What a mass of 50 bots all programmed, not controlled directly by a human player, can do to a quest area?

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

Zab101 wrote: »

So the gold farmers have moved on from the dungeon delves and are now invading overland areas and quest instances? HAHAHAHA!

ONE area in coldharbour.

Silestia · May 2014

Swampster wrote: »

If you're in any doubt about how rife the business of selling bots, hacking ESO etc is then simply use Google.. it's an eye opener how many exploits, bots and things are out there. The bots and hacks are for sale to anyone willing to pay..

I have seen a few of them in action , this game needs an equivalent to Warden or Battleeye to keep things as an even playing field.

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

Epona222 wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

OK here's an example. Yesterday I did the final faction quest in Auridon, I was lvl 16, nearly lvl 17 when I started. By the time I had finished and got the quest reward, I was still only lvl 16 when I finished, because I had not had to fight any standard mobs (which tend to give I think 51XP each) because there were NONE in any questing zone I had tackled that day.

I had not had to think "oh I don't think I can take on that group, I'd better find a way to sneak round". I had not had to think "that pair at the bottom of the stairs I need to go up are 2 casters, how best to tackle this?" Because all mobs were dying as soon as they spawned due to massive amount of bots circuiting round the quest zone. I could just run from A to B with nothing to fight or get past.

That is how it spoils immersion. And robs you of XP (and perhaps a bit less important, the occasional white drop that might be useful for research or deconstruction, or maybe a green armor set drop that is in the random mob loot table).

So in other words you dont like people in your mmos. Not every mob in every zone in every area of the game is camped by bots. Again more hyperbole.

That is NOT what I said in the slightest. I love other PEOPLE in ESO. I have had massive fun grouping, or running with other players in a loose group when questing.

Do you even know what a bot is? What a mass of 50 bots all programmed, not controlled directly by a human player, can do to a quest area?

So what lvl 17 area has this massive network of bots? I want to go see this for myself.

Loxy37 · May 2014

My first trip to Riften today and the first thing I seen was a line of 8 bots that seemed to be controlled by a lead bot with a legit name but all the rest was hfghfhfh and the like. Really spoiling the fun. What I did was follow them and every mob they attacked, I pulled and some extent it screwed them up a little but I was but a minor bump in the road to them.

Epona222 · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

OK here's an example. Yesterday I did the final faction quest in Auridon, I was lvl 16, nearly lvl 17 when I started. By the time I had finished and got the quest reward, I was still only lvl 16 when I finished, because I had not had to fight any standard mobs (which tend to give I think 51XP each) because there were NONE in any questing zone I had tackled that day.

I had not had to think "oh I don't think I can take on that group, I'd better find a way to sneak round". I had not had to think "that pair at the bottom of the stairs I need to go up are 2 casters, how best to tackle this?" Because all mobs were dying as soon as they spawned due to massive amount of bots circuiting round the quest zone. I could just run from A to B with nothing to fight or get past.

That is how it spoils immersion. And robs you of XP (and perhaps a bit less important, the occasional white drop that might be useful for research or deconstruction, or maybe a green armor set drop that is in the random mob loot table).

So in other words you dont like people in your mmos. Not every mob in every zone in every area of the game is camped by bots. Again more hyperbole.

That is NOT what I said in the slightest. I love other PEOPLE in ESO. I have had massive fun grouping, or running with other players in a loose group when questing.

Do you even know what a bot is? What a mass of 50 bots all programmed, not controlled directly by a human player, can do to a quest area?

So what lvl 17 area has this massive network of bots? I want to go see this for myself.

It's happened in the last couple of days to ALL above ground questing zones in the first zone for each alliance since the loot timer on dungeon bosses was introduced, problem is if you are past the first zone and go back to Firsthold you will be placed in a phase 'post-quest' where all the portals are closed, Daedra are static dead bodies, and the First Auridon Marines are cheering your victory. You won't be able to see the current mess that is going on in the pre-quest phase.

You could try Quendeluun on the EU server, apparently that was bot hell for a while yesterday (and they are stopping people from completing the quest that requires you to free spirits rather than kill them, by getting to them and killing them before questers can free them). That isn't phased the same way, you can go back and you'll be in the same phase as people still on the quest.

I don't really know why I'm having to explain why bots are bad to you, if you haven't had any ruin your day so far you have been extremely lucky.

Milanna · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

So what lvl 17 area has this massive network of bots? I want to go see this for myself.

Excellent idea! Why don´t you do that.
And while you are at it, disable keyfunctions on your keyboard, they are clearly not working in your favor.

Kililin · May 2014

i dont even...
How can anyone in their right mind defend this situation.
Bots are the biggest Problem of this game at the moment, i have never seen such a infestation paired with obvious helplessnes of the publisher.
To think this has no impact is madness, bots from lvl3 to VRs roam the lands, farm a *** of materials, impact the game experience, destroy the economy...

Better make 100 more threads, maybe if we reach the level of vampire threads or boss farm threads they wil do something about it, but on second thought maybe not because a timer or nerfhammer approach will not work here.

Reykice · May 2014

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

alexandru987eb17_ESO wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

alexandru987eb17_ESO wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

How is it ruining the economy? How is it ruining immersion? They are in one small part of one small map. I understand the need to get rid of people who are selling gold (or buying gold for that matter) but I dont understand this whole sky is falling mantra I keep hearing. Prices if anything have dropped the economy is just fine. Advantage of not having an auction house.

Are you a botter or just a very dumb human? The people selling gold are the ones running the bots... its the same people...

They are also hacking the game to do it and are most likely also selling hacks, hacking accounts, credit cards, stealing private info and so on....

What part of that is the "they are fine and not bothering people/not doing any harm" ?

Why do you think I said "I understand the need to stop the gold sellers"? Obviously I was talking about them. Also you have facts to backup they are somehow able to hack everyone simply by killing mobs somehow? I think your post is full of hyperbole with literally no evidence to back anything up.

How do you think they are getting so many accounts? Do you really think they buy them? They hack people and use their accounts its how it usually happens in every MMO. They also initiate DDOS attacks and so on.

Also, most of the bots you see harvesting teleport/fly/go under the map to harvest... how do you think they are able to do that? That`s right Sherlock, they hacked the game client...

The gold selling services are not run by your friendly chinese looking to feed his family, they are ran by cyber criminals and organisations.

I did not feel i need to list all that as its like the "earth is round" statement, sure i can back it up with links and facts but its really not needed as everyone already knows that.

So now you know... stop wasting thread space defending them.

So you have any proof of these accusations? Just curious where you get your facts from.

As i previously said, use google... or do you think its one chinese farmer running 5.000 bots and hacking the game, handling orders, creating the scripts, paying for all the PC`s/power, etc. ?

If you have any more questions look it up its not like its a mystery. This is why they are so hard to stop, they are not amateurs they are professionals running a business, even if the business if not legal.

And right now the botters are winning as ZOS can`t keep up with the hacked accounts and the hacks... its not entirely ZOS`s fault unless their own security was compromised but my guess is that its people clicking on stupid things.

It ruins the game tho... going into a quest area only to see bots running in circles killing everything in sight.

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · May 2014

I just went to three different starter areas. While yes its packed with people there were no massive bot swarms like being described here. So ya big ado about nothing as far as the starter areas being swarmed with bots. Coldharbour yes thats another story. They still didnt stop me from completing my quests because they arent farming what I needed.

Im not saying something doesnt need to be done about gold sellers I do think we should stick to factual information and not making things up or exaggerate.