Food for Thought: Botting and the LB

[Suentous PO]

^ I hear ya.
Which is why I had suggested in an anti-goldseller bot thread that mods should log in and clean the games the same way they do forums.

[Serancha]

We've made this request literally dozens of times in the last 2 years.

They fixed the pve exploits but didn't fix the leaderboard; they fixed the flag exploits and implemented a ridiculous system that severely limits progress in those aps, but they didn't fix that leaderboard either. They keep fixing loopholes they are told about but there are countless others that are being used. Basically, unless STS actually decides to spend money on more staff to police the game, the only ToS being enforced will be those on the forum, courtesy of infractions handed out by Seoratrek *waves*.

There's never been in-game moderation of any type, with STS relying on players ratting each other out as their only form of enforcement. It's the way they decided to run the game, even after a lot of player pressure. I don't see it stopping now, just because the AP leaderboard is compromised. It's been compromised since season 4 - it's just a new group of names on it now.

[konafez]

Speaking of seo, there is a give thank you button and give rep button.. I want you to add a give cake button ...

Don't be a cake hater seo!

[Java]

*derails thread for cake chant*



Coffee.sys not found
(A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail

[stricker20000]

The point is to force the bots to log out and stop running. You, since you're a real player, can stop for 15min and go back anytime. The bot had to be relaunched.

Yes, that would not stop botting... either the player relaunches bot since he knows when it will get kicked out of game or bot is so smart and relogs by itself :P^

What you should do if you catch close friend botting

Tell him to stop at least ..

[stricker20000]

Agreed, but with variable factors like hit/miss/dodge/crit/lag a player is having to react and not look like a bot which has the EXACT reaction regardless of those variables.
Also, that was the reason I specified locked maps, to eliminate a lot of searching.
The players will be able to see and report if it weren't locked.

Yes, thats what I meant by saying detailed. If the system collects all such player input it should work pretty well

If I'm playing with ppl the world over with different lag most of who probably didn't join at the exact time, this is what I think would happen;
Farm- player 1 reached his limit
10 min latter- player 2
20 min- player 3
15- 4th
Then I get logged out.

My rebuttal is, good players shouldn't be shackled because the amatures, when there are alternatives possible

Also i don't doubt Edward above me

Yes, thats what happened then. So this is no solution imo..

[stricker20000]

Keep in mind that Al is supported by Android, Apple and Chrome. the keys are all different, so imagine the irrational bans that might happen. Just have a look at the all the bans that happened in past few weeks. Tons of bans for simple errors. Maybe they were right, and maybe they were wrong. Saying a website name got their account locked for life.... and all that might happen for the few 100 "suspected of botting" players.

The problem is there and it's nasty, but maybe not that major compared the bigger problems StS already has.

It is kind of a major problem since legit players lose motivation competing with bots... but it is not construed as a major problem so far (unfortunately).

And I guess many of those bans that happened unjustified were due to the fact that specific words were written in the chat... however, if the system to collect player input informations is good and the ban hammer does not drop too quickly, it would not lead to 'irrational' bans

And btw those who got banned not being guilty got their account back if they contacted support. As far as I am concerend I prefer a banning procedure with some errors that can be retrieved than just leaving all unfair/cheating people alone and keep them going

[Killian229]

Botting programs are smart.auto kick-off from account won't do anything.they will just relog in.1:Figure out the account name of botter. 2: report to a sts developer. 3:investigation by sts. 4:bans accordingly.

It's really up to sts,as the consumers we give(honest for the most of us)our time to shine light on "cheaters" and report them.So sts should have a little more follow-thru when It comes to investigation.

If they don't care about more and more bots showing up,then this game is dead and gone fast as hell.I've seen a single person have 8 characters online at the same time.
Any person that has the software to bot could run all those characters 24/7.If they have top end characters..they could potentially have hundreds of millions in days/weeks.let that go on for to long and a single botter could have accumulated a billion or more.enough to rock the whole of the consignment shop.

While they try to sell platinum which in turn is suppose to give you a "edge" over non plat players,people will "illegally" be making obscene amounts of gold without manual control over a single run,as the legit players spend mind numbing hours farming(ALOT using platinum)only to watch their super hard work be in the shadows of new age technology.

Try this fix.

Depending on the software,a bot will almost always take the same cords on a map.I've had experience with setting up a buddies bot on diablo 2 ages ago.watch the lines they take.there is not one single person that can keep to specific cords like a bot.Also,leave a message to a botter in their game(some will have text logs saved)saying it's against ToS and it will be reported.All this is really on sts.GL to all

Just my opinion.

[tomsawer]

I would truly like to hear from a mod or manager better yet REM about this issue ,why it can't or won't be fixed .
So if an S.t.S member would like to make an official comment about this issue so we can put this to rest .

[Zylx]

I would truly like to hear from a mod or manager better yet REM about this issue ,why it can't or won't be fixed .
So if an S.t.S member would like to make an official comment about this issue so we can put this to rest .

Same, i feel as though this issue has been swept under the rug, although i feel as though Gary would have a perfect answer for this topic

[Alphagun]

Nothing new. Botting is probably here to stay. People are not going to call out their friends, and AL doesn't have a security system that screens for programs etc.

[Zylx]

Botting is either a third-party software, or a chrome-based software.

If it's chrome-based and the user plays through chrome, the server should already collect enough information to detect the processes of a macro running in the foreground, no? Since it's already able to collect info from bordering sites.

If you look at the Spacetime Studios Privacy Policy,

Game Play.
When you are playing our games or otherwise using the Services, your game-play behavior, player stats, and purchasing, if applicable, as well as other information may be monitored. We may also monitor your device information for third party programs that interact with our Services. This Privacy Policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of any third parties and you should consult the respective privacy policies regarding how they use your information.

Am i interpreting wrong, or does STS clearly state they can collect device information for third party programs that interact with their services?

[Zylx]

Nothing new. Botting is probably here to stay. People are not going to call out their friends, and AL doesn't have a security system that screens for programs etc.

Yet, there are people who've been slapped on the hand with 7 day bans and STS is trusting they dont do it again (because they wont investigate again). Devs have been known to join the maps of suspicious players to determine if they are botting or not.

Either STS needs to enforce it, or take it out of their TOS