I have officially changed the name of Coldharbour to that of Botharbour

JJDrakken · May 2014

That is all. (For every one actual player, there are 15 bots).

zaria · May 2014

Yes place is a joke, good news is that then you restore the city they phase out

Bhakura · May 2014

Glad im past that zone then

Chirru · May 2014

I did not see any bots today for 5 minutes and I got afraid.... I wonder who is buying all the virtual gold they make... are some players really so dumb as to pay real currency for virtual gold?

Well, I pay for a virtual game where I actually own nothing apart from the fun factor...or not... So the answer to my question is Yes. Sigh. Bots will stay...I just wished these things would behave more like players and not look so obvious bots running in circles and into walls and get stuck everywhere. Bot Hackers...at least give them a decent armor...these things are an eye-sore at a moment.

Zargorius · May 2014

They're stockpiling for the great console gold rush in 6 months.

Dekkameron · May 2014

So that's where all of the bots that used to hang out in lowbie dungeons have gone.
They've levelled up!

Also rather depressing that so many afk bots manage to level quicker than me lol

KariTR · May 2014

It's surreal. I just arrived myself this morning at level 45 and the conveyor belt of L3 shriven-geared bots running up the stairs on their automated path to The Groundskeeper has to be one of the creepiest and most disheartening things I have seen in a game.

And if that wasn't bad enough, when I traced them back to the portal they were coming from, there was a vet level 'player' at the same place spawning, hitting a wall, dying, spawning, hitting a wall, dying...

EDIT: No Dek, they (the gold-seller bot army) haven't levelled up. They are level 3, all of them.

Bhakura · May 2014

KariTR wrote: »

It's surreal. I just arrived myself this morning at level 45 and the conveyor belt of L3 shriven-geared bots running up the stairs on their automated path to The Groundskeeper has to be one of the creepiest and most disheartening things I have seen in a game.

And if that wasn't bad enough, when I traced them back to the portal they were coming from, there was a vet level 'player' at the same place spawning, hitting a wall, dying, spawning, hitting a wall, dying...

EDIT: No Dek, they (the gold-seller bot army) haven't levelled up. They are level 3, all of them.

What do they hope to accomplish with a lvl 3 in CB?

KariTR · May 2014

No idea, maybe nodes?

ElliottXO · May 2014

Botharbour sounds more immersive for this place in its current state, I agree.

martinb16_ESO80 · May 2014

What do they hope to accomplish with a lvl 3 in CB?

Finish the intro quest for 250G, mail the gold, delete bot, start again.

Lord_Hev · May 2014

KariTR wrote: »

It's surreal. I just arrived myself this morning at level 45 and the conveyor belt of L3 shriven-geared bots running up the stairs on their automated path to The Groundskeeper has to be one of the creepiest and most disheartening things I have seen in a game.

And if that wasn't bad enough, when I traced them back to the portal they were coming from, there was a vet level 'player' at the same place spawning, hitting a wall, dying, spawning, hitting a wall, dying...

EDIT: No Dek, they (the gold-seller bot army) haven't levelled up. They are level 3, all of them.

It's scary, because it sort of fits in too. You can role-play it off as actual soul shriven slaves of Bal, performing their unending tasks... again and again...

martinb16_ESO80 wrote: »

What do they hope to accomplish with a lvl 3 in CB?

Finish the intro quest for 250G, mail the gold, delete bot, start again.

Seriously? lol That is just, lol.

KariTR · May 2014

Why would they be in the L45 zone to complete an intro quest? (Rhetorical question really, they are either hacking or travelling to player). The quest NPC they are swarming to, isn't part of the tutorial, this is the Coldharbour map proper, a L43+ zone.

If Martin is suggesting that a L43 quest can be taken at L3, then Zen has a very obvious solution to stop that happening.

zaria · May 2014

KariTR wrote: »

Why would they be in the L45 zone to complete an intro quest? (Rhetorical question really, they are either hacking or travelling to player). The quest NPC they are swarming to, isn't part of the tutorial, this is the Coldharbour map proper, a L43+ zone.

If Martin is suggesting that a L43 quest can be taken at L3, then Zen has a very obvious solution to stop that happening.

It might be to speed level, if you get an bunch of xp doing it this might jump you multiple levels making the bot ready to start farming faster.

Yes an stopgap might be to have level or previous quest requirements for quests like this. An more long term solution is bot hunting systems who search for bot behavior and disable accounts.

Zorak · May 2014

Bots are a joke on this game.

There are too many bots even for a MMO.

Just tried questing on my crafting alt (Ebonheart Pack)... and there were literally dozen bots parked outside the first town farming those spirits.

Some of their names were something like "kpyfky", "adsads" and literally "Hero c", "Hero f" and somethings like that.

I understand the difficulty to catch all those underground bots and the ones that have some way to hide themselves. Even those public dungeon bots.

But there were so many bots outside the first big town, not even trying to hide...

Edit: Just went on that place. There are bots even disputing spots.

There is no excuse not to catch those suckers !!!

This is really disgusting.

Phantorang · May 2014

KariTR wrote: »

Why would they be in the L45 zone to complete an intro quest? (Rhetorical question really, they are either hacking or travelling to player). The quest NPC they are swarming to, isn't part of the tutorial, this is the Coldharbour map proper, a L43+ zone.

If Martin is suggesting that a L43 quest can be taken at L3, then Zen has a very obvious solution to stop that happening.

The intro quest is in Coldharbour, everyone with their first character starts in Coldharbour. Not in the same area as the lvl 45 of course, but in a different instance and area as an introduction to the game.

KariTR · May 2014

Phantorang wrote: »

KariTR wrote: »

Why would they be in the L45 zone to complete an intro quest? (Rhetorical question really, they are either hacking or travelling to player). The quest NPC they are swarming to, isn't part of the tutorial, this is the Coldharbour map proper, a L43+ zone.

If Martin is suggesting that a L43 quest can be taken at L3, then Zen has a very obvious solution to stop that happening.

The intro quest is in Coldharbour, everyone with their first character starts in Coldharbour. Not in the same area as the lvl 45 of course, but in a different instance and area as an introduction to the game.

The Coldharbour that our characters start in isn't the same zone as the one that opens up to us in our 40s. It's just a small walled in instance of the Wailing Prison.

You've said it yourself, so I still can't connect the L3 quest to the L40s zone, which was what Martin had previously suggested. I think

carlos.trevisan.contatonrb19_ESO · May 2014

ive used the travel to guild player to explore the game with my low level char.
first thing ive noticed on coldharbor city was those players named "cmananananansjnjs" o some npcs.
besides xp from those "just talk" quests why tere are many boots there?
ive going to a travel near the town and the mobs are lvl 40++, had to came alive after an enconter

martinb16_ESO80 · May 2014

the first time you get to Cold Harbour, you can talk to the groundskeeper, and there is some sort of Intro quest, where you can skip the tutorial (I am not talking about wailing prison) and get the gold reward for the quest. It can indeed be done at lvl3, but you need to be able to actually get there. The bots use an existing high-level bot to port to him, and do the quest. For a normal player there is no huge incentive to do this as you get there eventually anyway.

DFDelta · May 2014

martinb16_ESO80 wrote: »

The bots use an existing high-level bot to port to him, and do the quest. For a normal player there is no huge incentive to do this as you get there eventually anyway.

That bot, for those who wonder, is inside the cathedral, down the stairs. There is just a shrine and a well down there. Behind the well there is a hiding level 3 character named something like zrzrtrt.
My brother has reported that one a few days ago as we suspected that guy is how all those bots teleport to CH, but yesterday morning he was still standing there.

Yankee · May 2014

This train of bots has been reported for many days. Has ZOS given up on their game already?

nerevarine1138 · May 2014

Yankee wrote: »

This train of bots has been reported for many days. Has ZOS given up on their game already?

/sigh

Bots take time to kill. They will not be gone overnight; the same way that bots in WoW, etc. have never been gone overnight. Patience is a virtue, and a necessity, especially since it's the players' fault that these things exist at all.

Alphashado · May 2014

It just sickens me. There is something incredibly invasive about MMO bots. I absolutely hate and despise them. The main reason is because of what the bot puppet master (gold sellers) represent. Pure evil and greed.

They prey on children and adults new to MMOS. They use lies, trickery, and underhanded tactics to hack accounts by deceiving the unaware into using their website. In order to place a key logger on the victims game launcher. That is how they get passwords.

They have incredibly large secret networks where they scheme and conspire different malicious ways to exploit these games and take your money.

They make the game we are trying to enjoy feel dirty and tainted.

I would love to personally get my hands on one of these guys in a dark alley.

Unless of course he knows Kung fu.

Yankee · May 2014

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Yankee wrote: »

This train of bots has been reported for many days. Has ZOS given up on their game already?

/sigh

Bots take time to kill. They will not be gone overnight; the same way that bots in WoW, etc. have never been gone overnight. Patience is a virtue, and a necessity, especially since it's the players' fault that these things exist at all.

I have been quite supportive of this game, and enjoy it. And this is not my first MMO or exposure to bots.

But the Coldharbour invasion of bots spawning has been streaming for over a week. It was reported in a long thread several days ago. Probably been reported by many many players in game.

These bots are an "in your face" greeting to anyone getting to Cold Harbour. And they still go about their business, for all appearances unmolested. It was difficult to complete a few quests in that zone because of bots over a week ago.

They cannot even stop this one high profile invasion site?

I have to wonder how long Zenimax has to show some results before it really impacts their subscription base. I would like to see a populated world at end game.

Bhakura · May 2014

Yankee wrote: »

I have to wonder how long Zenimax has to show some results before it really impacts their subscription base.

maybe we should all quit our subs, a game only for bots, maybe then they will act?

zaria · May 2014

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Yankee wrote: »

This train of bots has been reported for many days. Has ZOS given up on their game already?

/sigh

Bots take time to kill. They will not be gone overnight; the same way that bots in WoW, etc. have never been gone overnight. Patience is a virtue, and a necessity, especially since it's the players' fault that these things exist at all.

Yes, however they could simply add an level or previous quest requirements on the coldharbor welcome quest, secondary let it give 50 gold and move the 200 to next quest in chain.
Yes its an short time remedy but less game changing than how they nerfed drops in public dungeons and far easier to implement.
next is to set up some good bot hunting algorithms.

JJDrakken · May 2014

I literally watched(Sat) 3 trains of bots with between 4-6 per train, keep the entire lower level in the Mining Hole area(Quest of lies one). Keep the entire area mob free. It was frustrating

I left there, saw the Forest where Lamias/Shadow Elves are. 2 Trains of 8, keeping 80% place empty of mob spawns. This doesn't count the 5 I saw camping an Ebony node(As the node kept insta respawning).

That's just in my phase, makes me wonder if I can find a bot free phase

tinythinker · May 2014

Wow, I guess I've been riding ahead of the bot invasion wave in terms of how quickly/where they start popping up. Sorry to hear about them reaching Coldharbor. I still need to go back there to complete that one world boss site once it is fixed.

JJDrakken · May 2014

I also could be changing the name of Eastmarch to Botmarch.