The Guild wars staff announced several months ago that over 3 million copies of the 3 campaigns were sold (I don't have a link with the proof, but I would apperciate if someone would post it).
The question I have, is how many of these accounts are bots?
I'm guessing that their accounts have to be purchased somehow, as I doubt they can crack the account key generating fomula.
And as Gaile Gray mentioned in the thread below, over 2000 bot accounts are banned per week.
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10152864
That means, that within a 1.5 year time period(about 80 weeks, the 3 million mark was hit a about a year and 8 months after the release of Prophecies), you'd have about 160,000 bot accounts, which is over 5% of total sales.
And let us not forget, that this calculation does not include bots which are not caught.
Therefore, I assume it is safe to say that 5%-10% of all accounts are bots!
A conspiracy would be to say that Anet supports bot accounts, as such a huge percent of sales comes from them.
I have no idea where I am going with this thread, but I do figure that the statistics are interesting, and should be disscussed. And does anyone care to differ with them?
Over 3 Million copies sold... how many of them are bots?
Henchman
allience
nah anet doesn't support bots coz they nerfed farming. actually i think anet doesn't rly like anything except making changes that make ppl whine.
i think their main philosophy is: look guys, things are going well! let's RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO it up with some random nerfs.
i think their main philosophy is: look guys, things are going well! let's RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO it up with some random nerfs.
KANE OG
Over 3 million copies nerfed......
KANE
KANE
Markaedw
I would like to see that 3.5 mill broken down:
1. combined account, for instance assuming (yes I know the assuming joke) that every account is merged then that 3.5 mil could really be 1.12 mil accounts.
2. how many accounts are active, for instance out of my guild only 3 have signed in in the last 30 days.
3. how many have been cancelled due to bot or othe EULA violations.
4. now the tuffy; mule accounts, I have 2 accounts, one just for mules.
The true test of "the state of the game" is not how many units have been sold but how many active players there are.
1. combined account, for instance assuming (yes I know the assuming joke) that every account is merged then that 3.5 mil could really be 1.12 mil accounts.
2. how many accounts are active, for instance out of my guild only 3 have signed in in the last 30 days.
3. how many have been cancelled due to bot or othe EULA violations.
4. now the tuffy; mule accounts, I have 2 accounts, one just for mules.
The true test of "the state of the game" is not how many units have been sold but how many active players there are.
kumarshah
Why does it matter?
reetkever
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Originally Posted by kumarshah
Why does it matter?
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Well if you sold 3,5 million copies, and only 500.000 people are playing the game... There should be some changes made, I think ^^
Angel's Sorrow
It would be so easy for anet to just create money with the click of a button and sell them through these infamous sites...Easier than thinking of ways to support bots and being so blatant by allowing certain areas to brim with bots. Oh wait...That already happens. Maybe this is indeed more subtle than simply creating money? 
For those who whine about every criticism to anet and regard these as conspiracy theories, this is a joke...Grow a sense of humor and quit being spoiled fanboissssss
For those who whine about every criticism to anet and regard these as conspiracy theories, this is a joke...Grow a sense of humor and quit being spoiled fanboissssss
NoChance
interesting statistics....
when Gaile said that over 2000 accounts are banned per week, that must have been during the height of the game -- i would guess this was not the case when the game first came out... so I think your estimate of 160,000 bots is probably somewhat of an overestimate...
however, even if it were 100,000 bot accounts banned, that's about 3% of total sales. and like you say, considering all the bots not banned, it looks like a surprisingly large percentage of sales are to bots!
when Gaile said that over 2000 accounts are banned per week, that must have been during the height of the game -- i would guess this was not the case when the game first came out... so I think your estimate of 160,000 bots is probably somewhat of an overestimate...
however, even if it were 100,000 bot accounts banned, that's about 3% of total sales. and like you say, considering all the bots not banned, it looks like a surprisingly large percentage of sales are to bots!
Markaedw
Didn't I read soemwhere there was a game that had almost as many bots as real player?
Trakata
IIRC that's Lineage II.
Yichi
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Originally Posted by Markaedw
Didn't I read soemwhere there was a game that had almost as many bots as real player?
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Alderin
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Originally Posted by Markaedw
I would like to see that 3.5 mill broken down:
1. combined account, for instance assuming (yes I know the assuming joke) that every account is merged then that 3.5 mil could really be 1.12 mil accounts. 2. how many accounts are active, for instance out of my guild only 3 have signed in in the last 30 days. 3. how many have been cancelled due to bot or othe EULA violations. 4. now the tuffy; mule accounts, I have 2 accounts, one just for mules. |
As for number 4, I have a total of five mule accounts that have all campaigns.
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Originally Posted by Markaedw
The true test of "the state of the game" is not how many units have been sold but how many active players there are.
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The more people that are still playing means the better the game is, and also means it is a lot easier for the company, in this case ArenaNet, to get backers/investors to support them while they work on new campaigns or as of now Guild Wars 2. So doing weekend events and Holiday events and adding other things such as Hard Mode is kind of a must to keep people playing and interested in the game so they will buy the lastest chapter/version and to help them get backers/investors. If a companty can't keep it's customers/players past the initial sale or two, and they don't have enough return customers and people to get others to join... then they won't be able to make as much from sales, even of new chapters that are later created... and no investor is going to want to risk losing money on a company that can't keep it's customers/players. One shot sales of a game where the customers go and tell their friends that it's not worth getting, instead of that it's great and to join them... isn't going to stay in business long, in the long run.
Gaile Gray
Most bots do not use purchased accounts. Ever wonder where the stolen accounts go? In many, many cases, the account is stolen through a trojan that is installed along with a supposed "cheat" or "hack" or through a password that is guessed by people who make it their business to steal accounts. Then that stolen account is used until it is blocked, and a new stolen account is used. That's sad, but true. So in that case, the account is still counted as one sale, even if it ends up being used by more than one person.
A second way that bots do their thing is through the use of trial keys. You will have noticed that we have not real been big on "free 14-day trials" over the last two years. We do some trials, but we do them conservatively, because a study of bot blocks showed us that the vast majority were using trial keys, which, again, are not counted as sales. They bot, they get blocked, they use another trial key, wash, rinse, and repeat.
(You may also have noticed that there are limitations on the trial keys -- if you wondered why they have some aspects of a retail key disabled, that is why: to reduce the blight of bots!)
While you can reduce numbers for some percent of bot purchases, consider also that legitimate accounts are, despite it being disallowed, sold to others. That "sales" doesn't count on our numbers, either, but would actually raise the sales figures if taken into consideration.
Hope that's helpful info!
A second way that bots do their thing is through the use of trial keys. You will have noticed that we have not real been big on "free 14-day trials" over the last two years. We do some trials, but we do them conservatively, because a study of bot blocks showed us that the vast majority were using trial keys, which, again, are not counted as sales. They bot, they get blocked, they use another trial key, wash, rinse, and repeat.
(You may also have noticed that there are limitations on the trial keys -- if you wondered why they have some aspects of a retail key disabled, that is why: to reduce the blight of bots!)While you can reduce numbers for some percent of bot purchases, consider also that legitimate accounts are, despite it being disallowed, sold to others. That "sales" doesn't count on our numbers, either, but would actually raise the sales figures if taken into consideration.
Hope that's helpful info!
HawkofStorms
I doubt the "2000 bots a week" number that Galie just mentioned the other day has been consistant throughout the history of the game.
I have a feeling that's a relatively new number. After all, with all the loot scaling changes, bot farming companies now have to employ more accounts to get the same money.
*edit* - ohh I'm too slow. Galie got here first. Good point on the stolen accounts too.
I have a feeling that's a relatively new number. After all, with all the loot scaling changes, bot farming companies now have to employ more accounts to get the same money.
*edit* - ohh I'm too slow. Galie got here first. Good point on the stolen accounts too.
ogre-mage
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Henchman
The Guild wars staff announced several months ago that over 3 million copies of the 3 campaigns were sold (I don't have a link with the proof, but I would apperciate if someone would post it).
The question I have, is how many of these accounts are bots? I'm guessing that their accounts have to be purchased somehow, as I doubt they can crack the account key generating fomula. And as Gaile Gray mentioned in the thread below, over 2000 bot accounts are banned per week. http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10152864 That means, that within a 1.5 year time period(about 80 weeks, the 3 million mark was hit a about a year and 8 months after the release of Prophecies), you'd have about 160,000 bot accounts, which is over 5% of total sales. And let us not forget, that this calculation does not include bots which are not caught. Therefore, I assume it is safe to say that 5%-10% of all accounts are bots! A conspiracy would be to say that Anet supports bot accounts, as such a huge percent of sales comes from them. I have no idea where I am going with this thread, but I do figure that the statistics are interesting, and should be disscussed. And does anyone care to differ with them? |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
Most bots do not use purchased accounts. Ever wonder where the stolen accounts go? In many, many cases, the account is stolen through a trojan that is installed along with a supposed "cheat" or "hack" or through a password that is guessed by people who make it their business to steal accounts. Then that stolen account is used until it is blocked, and a new stolen account is used. That's sad, but true. So in that case, the account is still counted as one sale, even if it ends up being used by more than one person.
A second way that bots do their thing is through the use of trial keys. You will have noticed that we have not real been big on "free 14-day trials" over the last two years. We do some trials, but we do them conservatively, because a study of bot blocks showed us that the vast majority were using trial keys, which, again, are not counted as sales. They bot, they get blocked, they use another trial key, wash, rinse, and repeat. (You may also have noticed that there are limitations on the trial keys -- if you wondered why they have some aspects of a retail key disabled, that is why: to reduce the blight of bots!) While you can reduce numbers for some percent of bot purchases, consider also that legitimate accounts are, despite it being disallowed, sold to others. That "sales" doesn't count on our numbers, either, but would actually raise the sales figures if taken into consideration. Hope that's helpful info! |
What a revelation.
EDIT: No Gaile, I don't REALLY expect you to ever listen to us on this.
Angel's Sorrow
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
Most bots do not use purchased accounts. Ever wonder where the stolen accounts go? In many, many cases, the account is stolen through a trojan that is installed along with a supposed "cheat" or "hack" or through a password that is guessed by people who make it their business to steal accounts. Then that stolen account is used until it is blocked, and a new stolen account is used. That's sad, but true. So in that case, the account is still counted as one sale, even if it ends up being used by more than one person.
A second way that bots do their thing is through the use of trial keys. You will have noticed that we have not real been big on "free 14-day trials" over the last two years. We do some trials, but we do them conservatively, because a study of bot blocks showed us that the vast majority were using trial keys, which, again, are not counted as sales. They bot, they get blocked, they use another trial key, wash, rinse, and repeat. (You may also have noticed that there are limitations on the trial keys -- if you wondered why they have some aspects of a retail key disabled, that is why: to reduce the blight of bots!) |
And trial keys...Gaile herself said that these are pretty limited.
Moreover, I've heard these trial keys are pretty limited...Like 14day with a total of 10 hours? Are botters that proficient in rushing characters? Even with the fastest rush it takes about 5+ hours. And even so, how would they get trial keys so often?
Sounds like a waste of time and money. Wasting 5 hours playing through the game only to farm 5 hours? No profit in there for them. Not to mention that these accounts are not full accounts.
That explanation sounds pretty weird.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
While you can reduce numbers for some percent of bot purchases, consider also that legitimate accounts are, despite it being disallowed, sold to others. That "sales" doesn't count on our numbers, either, but would actually raise the sales figures if taken into consideration.
Hope that's helpful info! |
viper11025
LOL there are ways around the farm nerf.
Bryant Again
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Angel's Sorrow
Wow...Then accounts must be stolen pretty pretty often and I'm surprised there is no complain (or a few) of accounts being stolen in guild wars forums. For the horde of bots out there, accounts should be stolen pretty darn often.
And trial keys...Gaile herself said that these are pretty limited. Moreover, I've heard these trial keys are pretty limited...Like 14day with a total of 10 hours? Are botters that proficient in rushing characters? Even with the fastest rush it takes about 5+ hours. And even so, how would they get trial keys so often? Sounds like a waste of time and money. Wasting 5 hours playing through the game only to farm 5 hours? No profit in there for them. Not to mention that these accounts are not full accounts. That explanation sounds pretty weird. |
Also, when you're using a trial account, are you able to trade with other players? If that was true, that would help out the bot problem a lot, in my opinion.
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Originally Posted by viper11025
LOL there are ways around the farm nerf.
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TurinPT
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Originally Posted by allience
whine whine whine
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Chestnut
Heres the funny thing, 2 months ago I wrote down 30 names of the bots in the Citidel.. K, so I still have this list.. I went there this morning and saw atleats 10 of the same names on my list... still.. and the same gender and color tattos as well.. .. so.. that 2000 bots a week thing? why lie? the same bots have been botting the citdel for about 3 or 4 months now.
amish lifeguard
They support bots because there are lots of bot accounts? Even though they ban 2k a week, they still support them? Stop trying to bash Anet, you suck at it.
Chestnut
Come on.. they don't really ban 2000 bots a week.. not when the same bots have been farming Citidel for 3 months stright.. lol.
HawkofStorms
Those "limits on the trial accounts that the aren't on retail accounts" Galie mentioned is that trial accounts can't trade money with other people, nor can they drop money/items on the ground in explorable areas, therefore, it is now impossible to use trial accounts for botting since they can't transfer the money off of them (this was added in an update about a year ago).
cosyfiep
3 million....yes I was wondering about that when it was brought up a while back.
lets break it down....how many people have more than just one chapter??? Well I for one have all 3 chapters, that counts as 3 sales.....now how many people bought the regular version and upgraded to a ce? I have done that as well, another sale (got the ce for chptrs 2 and 3 to begin with)....how many people also got goty? I count in this one as well....so me, one person counts for 5 sales already.....
then how many people have multiple accounts?? One person has already mentioned 2 mule accounts.....
so when you get down to it, there are lots of sales but these are repeat customers.
another point that was brought up, how many of these sales are people still playing? I know of 2 people who got them, played for a bit and decided they didnt like it...so they are sales, but no longer playing. (yes this is another statistic....purchases vs current players).
ok so if 1/3 of the people playing have all three chapters .....nah, this is not allgebra class.....
so 3 million sales doesnt mean 3 million people (I think that returned copies may also be included in that number, but I may be wrong).....I would roughly guestimate half of the sales are to repeat customers so that less than 1.5 million (which has also been mentioned before)....then the bots.....which was the point of the thread....how many are bots.....thats another algebra problem!
lets break it down....how many people have more than just one chapter??? Well I for one have all 3 chapters, that counts as 3 sales.....now how many people bought the regular version and upgraded to a ce? I have done that as well, another sale (got the ce for chptrs 2 and 3 to begin with)....how many people also got goty? I count in this one as well....so me, one person counts for 5 sales already.....
then how many people have multiple accounts?? One person has already mentioned 2 mule accounts.....
so when you get down to it, there are lots of sales but these are repeat customers.
another point that was brought up, how many of these sales are people still playing? I know of 2 people who got them, played for a bit and decided they didnt like it...so they are sales, but no longer playing. (yes this is another statistic....purchases vs current players).
ok so if 1/3 of the people playing have all three chapters .....nah, this is not allgebra class.....
so 3 million sales doesnt mean 3 million people (I think that returned copies may also be included in that number, but I may be wrong).....I would roughly guestimate half of the sales are to repeat customers so that less than 1.5 million (which has also been mentioned before)....then the bots.....which was the point of the thread....how many are bots.....thats another algebra problem!
w00t!
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Originally Posted by Chestnut
Come on.. they don't really ban 2000 bots a week.. not when the same bots have been farming Citidel for 3 months stright.. lol.
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You're clearly a product of outcome based education.
Try do some simple math before you accuse Anet of lying. If they ban 2,000 bots per week, that is 0.067% of the installed user base. Seven one hundredths of one percent.
3 million copies of GW is 125,000 per month, so 8,000 / 125,000 = 6.4% of all new accounts activated each month (on average) are banned.
Doesn't sound like much of a stretch to me. I'm certain that they could ban more if they put more people on it, but given their other priorities (like upgrades, new releases, bug fixes, et cetera), I'm somewhat surprised that they ban that many.
Swift Thief
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Originally Posted by Chestnut
Heres the funny thing, 2 months ago I wrote down 30 names of the bots in the Citidel.. K, so I still have this list.. I went there this morning and saw atleats 10 of the same names on my list... still.. and the same gender and color tattos as well.. .. so.. that 2000 bots a week thing? why lie? the same bots have been botting the citdel for about 3 or 4 months now.
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Engel the Fallen
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Originally Posted by NoChance
however, even if it were 100,000 bot accounts banned, that's about 3% of total sales. and like you say, considering all the bots not banned, it looks like a surprisingly large percentage of sales are to bots!
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MegaMouse
A lot of good and bad are coming out of this post. But I am not here to chastize anyone just to add my 2 cents worth. At several times I have seen scores of bots in various areas. A-Net and NC-Soft try their best to catch them but fail due to the fact that thney cannot be everywhere all the time. There are a limited number of GM's of which I have only ever actualy seen 1 in the 2+ years I have been playing. I currently have 2 accounts that i check in on a semi regular basis (I moved to WoW because GW is not fun anymore),but even getting online like I do I still see many bots especialy in Elona Reach and the other desert towns. I personaly would like to know how many active accounts there ae still, finding them out would be easy as each time a person logs in it is recorded in the data base.
Mega Mouse
Mega Mouse
Gaile Gray
Quote:
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Originally Posted by ogre-mage
So why not kick your people in the face until they let us (finally) to change our USERNAMES on our accounts, which has always been a HUGE security flaw.
What a revelation. EDIT: No Gaile, I don't REALLY expect you to ever listen to us on this. |
However, keep in mind that having a user name is only one piece of information, and that will never, ever allow access to an account. It is, more often, the easily-guessed password or the foolishly-shared access by a "friend" or the unwisely downloaded program with "bonus gift" in the form of a keylogger that gives away the account lock, stock, and barrel.
I'm not arguing that you should not be able to change your user name--not at all! However, knowing a user name does not, ever, provide the sole means by which an accout is stolen, so we should be sure to keep that in perspective.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chestnut
Heres the funny thing, 2 months ago I wrote down 30 names of the bots in the Citidel.. K, so I still have this list.. I went there this morning and saw atleats 10 of the same names on my list... still.. and the same gender and color tattos as well.. .. so.. that 2000 bots a week thing? why lie? the same bots have been botting the citdel for about 3 or 4 months now.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Engel the Fallen
What this means then, is when changes to the game are made to stop botting and their profits, 97% of the players are basically punished and have their drops and ways of farming effected because of this 3%.
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lyra_song
Hey Gaile, whats the possibility of giving players "Monster Summoning Items"?
You know, so we can go to Granite and summon mursaat to kill those bots (or afkers...or just anyone in general) in town
Wont stop em, but hey it'll be funny as hell and would certainly RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO up their macro.
You know, so we can go to Granite and summon mursaat to kill those bots (or afkers...or just anyone in general) in town
Wont stop em, but hey it'll be funny as hell and would certainly RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO up their macro.
Ulivious The Reaper
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Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
Hmmm... where did you get that percentage? No matter. What if I told you that your "3%" was negatively affecting the economy by a power of 10 or 20 for the remainder of the player base? The important issue is not how many bot -- what matters is how much harm those who do bot are inflicting upon the economy! |
Just letting you know Gaile, but more than 100% of all statistics are made up on the spot
And yes, guild wars has sold over 9000 copies!
Guardian of the Light
Quote:
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Originally Posted by lyra_song
Hey Gaile, whats the possibility of giving players "Monster Summoning Items"?
You know, so we can go to Granite and summon mursaat to kill those bots (or afkers...or just anyone in general) in town Wont stop em, but hey it'll be funny as hell and would certainly RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO up their macro. |
Random Monster summoning to ruin the days of bots would make my day.
Alderin
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Originally Posted by w00t!
You're clearly a product of outcome based education.
Try do some simple math before you accuse Anet of lying. If they ban 2,000 bots per week, that is 0.067% of the installed user base. Seven one hundredths of one percent. 3 million copies of GW is 125,000 per month, so 2,000 / 125,000 = 1.6% of all new accounts activated each month (on average) are banned. Doesn't sound like much of a stretch to me. I'm certain that they could ban more if they put more people on it, but given their other priorities (like upgrades, new releases, bug fixes, et cetera), I'm somewhat surprised that they ban that many. |
"Try to do some simple math before you" speak. So lets assume that all 3 million copies are not merged so that your statistic of "If they ban 2,000 bots per week, that is 0.067% of the installed user base" holds true . Thats breaks down to 125,000 accounts a month as you stated. Now this is where you messed up.
" 3 million copies of GW is 125,000 per month, so 2,000 / 125,000 = 1.6% of all new accounts activated each month (on average) are banned. "
That should read as "3 million copies of GW is 125,000 per month, so (4 * 2,000) / 125,000 = 6.4% of all new accounts activated each month (on average) are banned."
So that 6.4% is just the bots that are supposedly banned where as many are not even caught each month.
Ulivious The Reaper
Yeah, pretty much, i think the addition of hard mode and the supposed loot scaling was a good job on Anets part, they can't afford to hire more people to deal with the bot problem, so they fix it the way they can with their current resources, real intellectual of them i honestly think
Angel's Sorrow
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chestnut
Heres the funny thing, 2 months ago I wrote down 30 names of the bots in the Citidel.. K, so I still have this list.. I went there this morning and saw atleats 10 of the same names on my list... still.. and the same gender and color tattos as well.. .. so.. that 2000 bots a week thing? why lie? the same bots have been botting the citdel for about 3 or 4 months now.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
PM me the list. I personally dealt with more than 50 (bots) today.
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lol...sorry couldn't resist.
Hyper.nl
Banning is not the solution against the bots. Banning is a last resort when technical measures fail to enforce fair gameplay.
I experienced the issues first hand as admin/owner of a small Unreal server. A certain percentage of the players will always try to find ways around the rules. Sure, you can ban them but they will continue to come back, or just be replaced by others who try the same.
The only way to deal with bots and cheaters that works is by technical measures: A secure design together by software tools that detect and kick (not ban) possible bots. At least I was able to keep my own game server bot free by using the right software.
ANet already did a good job with the base design of the game, but their measures are getting more and more shortcoming nowadays. GW really needs an additional anti-bot, one that keeps being updated like the antibots of the major FPS games.
Of course, I understand like no other that it is way more easy to say to 'make a game bot-proof' than to actually program it that way, but it's really the only solution.
I experienced the issues first hand as admin/owner of a small Unreal server. A certain percentage of the players will always try to find ways around the rules. Sure, you can ban them but they will continue to come back, or just be replaced by others who try the same.
The only way to deal with bots and cheaters that works is by technical measures: A secure design together by software tools that detect and kick (not ban) possible bots. At least I was able to keep my own game server bot free by using the right software.
ANet already did a good job with the base design of the game, but their measures are getting more and more shortcoming nowadays. GW really needs an additional anti-bot, one that keeps being updated like the antibots of the major FPS games.
Of course, I understand like no other that it is way more easy to say to 'make a game bot-proof' than to actually program it that way, but it's really the only solution.
ogre-mage
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Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
Oh, but I do listen to you, and in fact, I could not agree with you more! I am experiencing a growing embarrassment over the fact that we have not made the needed changeto allow user name modification, which is a change that was promised (to us, to you) months ago. It's totally out of ArenaNet's hands, but we continue to ask, continue to press for a resolution, and--although it is indeed not something over which we have control--continue to apologize for the matter and ask your forgiveness for not having this yet in place.
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Gaile... you've rather suprised me today. That's the first 'you don't listen' comment I've ever seen you respond to. I know it's not possible to communicate with EVERYone, but when communication does happen between Anet and the community, productivity always flourishes. I really hope that this mutual issue for both the gamers and the developers will be sorted out soon, and if there's anything we (the community) can do (go to Korea and commit mass-suicide outside of NCsoft HQ, for example), I think many of us would like to.
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However, keep in mind that having a user name is only one piece of information, and that will never, ever allow access to an account. It is, more often, the easily-guessed password or the foolishly-shared access by a "friend" or the unwisely downloaded program with "bonus gift" in the form of a keylogger that gives away the account lock, stock, and barrel. I'm not arguing that you should not be able to change your user name--not at all! However, knowing a user name does not, ever, provide the sole means by which an accout is stolen, so we should be sure to keep that in perspective. |
Also, did you just compare our game accounts to guns? O_o
P.S. Can we expect to see an update on Soul Reaping soon?
(just thought I'd throw that in there if I, indeed, have you attention.
Lydz
Frankly it's none of our business. ANet know what they are doing (and it's obviously working because they've been very successful) so find something else to moan about as usual. Man am I getting sick of the whining that keeps going on. Instead of simply enjoying the game people SEARCH for things wrong with it just for the fun of starting a topic about it...
Alas Poor Yorick
You know, this whole bot problem reminds me of the time I took a tour of a newly built prison. Everyone was really impressed with the security until one of the guards said, "Don't be so impressed - a prisoner will escape from here within the first 2 years of the prison's opening." He went on to explain that the designers and guards only have 8 hours a day each to figure out how to keep the prisoners in. And during that 8 hours they have to accomplish other tasks also. So they have very little time each day to concentrate wholly on keeping the prisoners in the prison. The prisoners, however, have 24 hour 7 days a week to figure out how to get out. "At some point," he said, "some prisoner will figure a way to get out of any prison."
The point is, no matter what you do, those who use bots will figure a way out of the system. They will change their tactics to adjust for changes in drops or AI. One way or another they will figure it out because they can make money that way.
No matter what you do, they will still have the same impact on the economy - you can change the total amount of gold entering the system and thus create deflation. But the bot users will still bring in the same proportion of that gold as they did before. If they were bringing in 10% before the loot scaling, they will continue to bring in 10% after the loot scaling - even if the total amount of gold has been reduced.
If you can do it, detecting and kicking bots is probably the best bet to reduce their impact. But changing the whole economy to deal with the bots is rather like putting the whole of society in prison to deal with the criminals. It just doesn't work.
The point is, no matter what you do, those who use bots will figure a way out of the system. They will change their tactics to adjust for changes in drops or AI. One way or another they will figure it out because they can make money that way.
No matter what you do, they will still have the same impact on the economy - you can change the total amount of gold entering the system and thus create deflation. But the bot users will still bring in the same proportion of that gold as they did before. If they were bringing in 10% before the loot scaling, they will continue to bring in 10% after the loot scaling - even if the total amount of gold has been reduced.
If you can do it, detecting and kicking bots is probably the best bet to reduce their impact. But changing the whole economy to deal with the bots is rather like putting the whole of society in prison to deal with the criminals. It just doesn't work.