So many bots in JQ ...

Chocobo1

Chocobo1

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2007

New Zealand

CoA

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shayne Hawke View Post
Types of bots I've seen in JQ:

- A RoJ bot with, at least, [Ray of Judgment][Bane Signet][Castigation Signet][Fall Back]. May have other skills. Tends to use Bane Signet to start, then RoJ, maybe FB! on recharge. Will stand still for a few seconds before acquiring a new target, probably nearest, and then running towards it to use more skills. Alternates with targeting the nearest quarry (item) and running towards that. Very non-aggressive.

- A RoJ bot with, at least, [Ray of Judgment][Arcane Echo][Spear of Light][Signet of Rage][Bane Signet][Castigation Signet]. May also carry [[Stonesoul Strike], maybe even [[Smite] or [[Banish]. Tends to carry a melee weapon, but I've also seen a few rare ones with spears or wands. Auto-targets enemies, charges at them and uses skills when available.

- Saw a Necro bot today with a similar behavior to that second RoJ bot. Can't remember the bar, but it was the first time I'd seen something like it.

It would be nice if botting reports were made similar to Dishonor, in that when you report someone, it will say something like, "Xx Yy has been reported for botting."

Those aren't bots. Thats how much the people suck.

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chocobo1 View Post
Those aren't bots. Thats how much the people suck.
uh no.... if you honestly look at those players you would agree they are bots. what he said is exactly what the bots do ALL the time. no human uses the exact same skill order in every situation.

consider also how these bots get out of base ... they ";" then "space" ok... fine, but they do that in the JQ outpost. go in yourself wait 5-10 minutes you'll see at least one, but more likely 3-5 bots run up to that sign.

also consider that ive seen these bots autotarget nearest enemy even when ive cleared all enemies from the area and the only one left.. is kurz base defender. and it runs straight into base. this is when we had all points and there was no reason so deathspawn to purple or anything, and besides it can straight back to yellow anyways.



the thing that REALLY bothers me is ive added these bots to my list and theyve been botting for at least a month. and ive been reporting them the whole way and gotten people on my team to report them as i can. i think nearly the whole team reported that one that went into base defense. but it is still botting....


so given that anet doesnt care about botting, how about an improvement to JQ.... make JQ a team game like ab... 2 teams of 4 or 3 teams of 9 would work marvelously at improving the player level and having people actually TRY. every other pvp has rewards for winning, the only other random setup is RA and you dont get nearly any reward for losing first round.... so people tend to bring stuff they think is good. all the other team formats at least ask for a moderate level of build order. also on a team format everyone wouldnt feel a need to have capping power. you can have a team with only one person capable of capping as long as the other persons on the team cleared/distracted the opposing humans. and obviously, few teams would accept a bot.

Devina Fava

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

I used to get really steamed up about the bots in Jade Quarry, because I only discovered it after it became a Zquest and got quite interested at, if nothing else, the relatively quick faction gain.

Sadly I soon became desperately frustrated with the leechers and the bots. Initially more so the leechers, but increasingly the bots, especially as I think post-dishonour-change-update, the relative number of leechers has gone down.

I used to submit a report to support, manually, via the GW website, detailing the IGN, the incident, with a description of their behaviour. Pretty similar to that Botwatch link to Gaile's posting already mentioned in this thread.

I got the same canned, thanks for reporting, we will investigate to see if there is evidence of their botting.

Eventually one day I got a message back saying, we found no evidence of bot behaviour. I thought (perhaps naively) that way hay, this means the other ones I'd reported, they'd found evidence and done something about it.

Sadly, after that every bot I reported was greeted with the same "no evidence of bot behaviour" message, and I figure that somewhere along the line they'd decided to change the line. Possibly after my 100th report and they'd decided to see if they could discourage me from sending more.

Well it's worked, and I've given up. I report them for leeching and hope the new dishonour system does something. It's massively, massively frustrating to see clear bot behaviour, and for someone in support to come back with... sorry can't see any trace of it...

Amongst the behaviour I've picked up:

[1] Necros that spam Aura of the Lich and make random movements generally in the base, occasionally hitting a teleporter and ending up outside it, but paying no attention to the map (ie running into walls, etc).

[2] Paragon/Monks that spam Fall Back, maybe one or two other skills. Same random movements as above, large percentage of time in the base.

[3] Mo/Ps using RoJ as already discussed on this thread.

[4] Any professions that autorun towards a party member every few seconds. And do nothing else. It's patently clear that that's all their doing. I've also only ever noticed this if I'm at position 1 on the team, and I have no doubt now that I've pointed this out someone will rescript it so that they following position 4, or 5, or whatever...

[5] One specific warrior that I've bumped into so many times, with Enraging Charge, Purge Signet, amongst other skills. Uses the skills randomly, makes random movements... Or monks that do similar things if their specific builds might be different. WoH when no one needs healing, mend ailment when no conditions need removing, fall back when no one other than themselves are in range (and then proceeding to stand stock still next to a wall...).

[6] Rit spirit spammer, spamming spirits like Pain behind the res shrine...

[7] Ranger using Escape and barbed trap to run randomly around the base...

I've even seen the same culprits run around randomly in the outposts/staging areas, all day long making the same movements, and to get informed that there is no trace of bot behaviour...

Personally I don't understand botting in JQ, other than for improving the Kurzick title track - amber and jade I can't imagine are worth enough to bother with. For the ones botting for the title, then banning (or the real threat of banning) has to be a very strong deterrent if Anet would just do something about it... 30min a day from an Anet employee (or someone trustworthy - yes I volunteered and no I didn't expect to get taken up on it and no strangely enough I wasn't) would probably start getting the message across when the ban stick hits. It wouldn't take long... not if you can end up in a team with 4 bots/leechers.

Same story with the leechers, whether they just stand there or run to the base defender. And I tried to find out what the new dishonour system was by directing a question at support and all I got was I can't divulge the details (the Wiki and support knowledge base hadn't, last I looked, been updated post May 09 update).

It's also very annoying when I ask support questions along with my bot report, and they send the canned "we'll look into it" reply, with "if you have any further questions..." Thing is they generally don't bother to answer my original questions in the first place.

Makes you wonder... hence I've given up. I don't know under the new system if it's possible to get dishonourable for reporting too much anymore, but to get hit in the past because you report one leecher, and wind up with four in the next game and report them again...

AmbientMelody

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2009

Poland

N/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by moongod View Post
Pblock/hum sig > RoJ /close thread
Yup and because of these idiotic botters Anet as a solution will forward 'ROJ nerf'. What will be next, meteor shower nerf? Or maybe searing heat? Wake up Anet, HIRE SOME SECURITY GMs, bots have been in this game since proph and you didn't literally do a to stop them. I don't personally give a about gold sellers and buyers you ban or claim to ban, I care about idiotic account buying spammers over pvp zones that seem to write the message and disappear before you type /report character_name and about those silling bots that just were, are and seem to always be in the place! My effort of reporting bots once where bots were running FFF farm at lutgardis ended up being threatened by a guy who already made gw life unbearable for my friend getting him spammed with 1000 messages each second for saying that aloud. Where the hell does this lead to? Bot anarchy? Bot mafia doing what they want? I didn't notice a ing improvement to this day in this area!

Jeydra

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Devina Fav"
I used to submit a report to support, manually, via the GW website, detailing the IGN, the incident, with a description of their behaviour. Pretty similar to that Botwatch link to Gaile's posting already mentioned in this thread.

I got the same canned, thanks for reporting, we will investigate to see if there is evidence of their botting.

Eventually one day I got a message back saying, we found no evidence of bot behaviour. I thought (perhaps naively) that way hay, this means the other ones I'd reported, they'd found evidence and done something about it.

Sadly, after that every bot I reported was greeted with the same "no evidence of bot behaviour" message, and I figure that somewhere along the line they'd decided to change the line. Possibly after my 100th report and they'd decided to see if they could discourage me from sending more.
You don't say. There never is any evidence of bot behaviour. I even asked in one of my tickets what it takes to prove that a player is a bot. The GM basically responded, all the information we need is in the game logs. He would say "we're taking this very seriously", but "screenshots, due to their static nature, cannot be used as evidence" and all that, but if any bot has been banned, I sure haven't seen it happen.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Devina Fav
Personally I don't understand botting in JQ, other than for improving the Kurzick title track - amber and jade I can't imagine are worth enough to bother with. For the ones botting for the title, then banning (or the real threat of banning) has to be a very strong deterrent if Anet would just do something about it... 30min a day from an Anet employee (or someone trustworthy - yes I volunteered and no I didn't expect to get taken up on it and no strangely enough I wasn't) would probably start getting the message across when the ban stick hits. It wouldn't take long... not if you can end up in a team with 4 bots/leechers.
I can imagine another reason actually: using it for alliance faction. I'm not accusing anyone, but I wouldn't be surprised if some alliances used bots to maintain their ultra-high total alliance faction to maintain their towns and whatever.

The way forward obviously isn't going to be nerfing RoJ. Even if a bot does nothing other than hit the enter button and leech, even if a bot gets completely destroyed and dies 100 times in a match, it's still earning what it's meant to earn: faction points. It may earn faction slower, but earn it it will. The only way is to ban the bot, and by the looks of it that hasn't happened. I just don't get why. I've got a friend who is firmly anti-bot in the sense that it takes an extraordinary amount to convince him that someone is a bot. I showed him this set of screenshots where a "player" gets bodyblocked by a rock and doesn't move mosth of the match (which was over 2 minutes, since we were fighting outside his casting range) and then starts moving once we get within casting range. He said it might not be a bot, just really bad players. OK ... then one day he went into JQ and even he was forced to admit that there're bots around, but ANet obviously doesn't think so.

Really, please, one serious question:

What does it take to prove someone is a bot?? Give something players can reasonably get, and I'm sure someone somewhere will get it.

GourangaPizza

GourangaPizza

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2006

R/W

I have seen more annoying bots as Me/R in RA happily throwing its bar full of interrupts at the closest target activating any skills. Yes, Me/Rs trying to interrupt stances and shouts.

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

"What does it take to prove someone is a bot?? Give something players can reasonably get, and I'm sure someone somewhere will get it."

this is what i want to know, i can prove macro command bots as reasonably as proving those bots can be. i mean seriously.... ";" "space"ing onto the jade flats sign should be proof enough. then one observation makes it blatantly obvious.

but really.... a bot is doing nothing more than what a human can do. and quite frequently less.

the same botters repeatedly frequent JQ... not 24/7 but a LOT. i'd say 90% or more are from two guild tags i'd be happy to pm to anyone. names too. but if the other poster stated reporting with all sorts of evidence doesnt matter...

well it IS impossible to prove a macro bot recorded with a slight timing randomizer... i can do it on my g19. ive recorded macros to one button discord call. and there is scripting in it to put in timing randomizers which i dont think these bots are even doing. if Anet looks at logs and bans by exact timing.... then randomized bots will show up.


THE best solution is to make JQ a team game like ab 3 teams of 3 or 2 teams of 4

if you wont accept our policing via /report or by screenshots or other methods ... let the players form teams. im pretty sure this would solve botting in jq period.


other solutions

altering the ease to get rewards.... there are no bots in RA for a reason for example.

making a captcha(sp?) type entry method

making a menu entry method that says 'click the red/blue/whatever color icon'
and failing to pick the right one denies entry and temp bans for 24 hr for repeated fails.

nerf JQ, make ABing the king of faction.

nerf JQ to be on par with AB.

come up with a real solution and implement it with GW2. please... take your time with GW2 and get things really good.


but again... the best solution is to have teams in JQ. this has the best chance to eliminate bots, and will improve basic skills in JQ (every team will plan on having a capper) this also means not everyone will feel like they have to cap.... people can PLAN to fit into roles and not be frustrated when 5 anti RoJ mesmers show up in game and cant cap.

JQ has extreme potential to be a really really fun cap control game. ive seen entire games built around that concept.

AKB48

AKB48

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2008

みやき町

Mo/A

A well(or moderately well) programed bot > A retarded human player

and there aren't that many geniuses in JQ.

Elephantaliste

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2008

adblockplus.or

Quote:
Originally Posted by AKB48 View Post
A well(or moderately well) programed bot > A retarded human player

and there aren't that many geniuses in JQ.
Indeed, geniuses don't play JQ...

Jarus

Jarus

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2005

Council of Iris

I am sensing quite a bit of frustration here.

*nudges ANET*

pinguinius

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2008

I played JQ last night, and I saw 2 people who might have been bots, but could have been just as easily terrible people. One was a warrior who seemed just a tad too dumb and brought "Charge," the other an RoJ monk who didn't seem to take the positioning a human would. 2 out of 6 games (96 players) doesn't seem like a big enough problem to merit any kind drastic change. True, there might be a bigger problem during off hours when people leave their bots on so they can get faction during work/sleep and the amount of "real" players diminishes, but I didn't notice any major problem at peak hours.

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by pinguinius View Post
I played JQ last night, and I saw 2 people who might have been bots, but could have been just as easily terrible people. One was a warrior who seemed just a tad too dumb and brought "Charge," the other an RoJ monk who didn't seem to take the positioning a human would. 2 out of 6 games (96 players) doesn't seem like a big enough problem to merit any kind drastic change. True, there might be a bigger problem during off hours when people leave their bots on so they can get faction during work/sleep and the amount of "real" players diminishes, but I didn't notice any major problem at peak hours.
my ratio always seems to be 1-3 per game.

here's what to look for.... in JQ outpost look at the jade flats sign. i'd probably be willing to bet 50 bucks or more you will see a bot go for that sign within 5 minutes, and likely 3-6 bots. i tried this on the kurz side today and didnt see any.... im thinking the two guilds run the majority of luxon bots. vast majority.

upon entering mission, watch for anyone who hits fall back at a really stupid time... like 15 seconds or so... anything that makes them have fall back recharging when the timer hits 0.... few to no humans do that. if you follow that person around later most likely you will see its a bot.

the most common mo/p bot will ";" "space' then "tab" "first signet attack" "RoJ' this is easy to see because you will see them approach the object which is for example "yellow shrine" half a second later they turn towards the closest target. few to no humans do this sort of thing.

rojing closest object... well lots of newbs do this, but rojing a spirit is a bit weird even for a newb.

going after kurz base defender. with predictable results.

standing still using fall back and remaining still because there is no foe nearby.


the average person will not notice these bots because they are doing thier own thing. the bots are moving and casting and thats enough for most. sometimes you are on the other side of the map and thus cant tell.

the botting is clear, very frequent, not being addressed, and happening over long periods of time (1 month at least)


buff AB to be on par with JQ.

or

make JQ team based.

pinguinius

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2008

Having just played many games at 2 am, the number of bots did increase as I predicted they would during off hours. Most of them were Luxon, and as a Kurzick I easily won about 10 games in a row, some of them 10-0.

I would not like to see it be team based, though; the randomness is fun (though the strength of RoJ really limits the amount of viable builds).

Longasc

Longasc

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

The number of bots is even more problematic on the Luxon side. (edit: I can totally confirm pinguinus observation)

Yesterday I did not have a single match without one or two RoJ-Bots, and always the same bots/guys.

Just take a look at eBay, you can buy such bots with user friendly GUI there. Title bots like drinking bot, JQ bot, FA bot, farm bot all in one package.


As Luxons rarely have waiting queues, I would not wonder if the manual tells players right away that maxing Luxon Faction is easiest done by just letting the bot lose a few matches there...^^


A reason for botting is that titles and pve skills efficiency is tied to them and that they are a huge grind. "Optional", of course. But all that is left to do, on the other hand. Another negative consequence of the title craze/achievement systems over real content and ideas.

This arena is nothing but a gigantic faction farm. ROJ rules supreme, it is too much about 1.) getting RoJ off, or 2.) interrupting RoJ. If they fix RoJ, there is still Necro suicide bombs but well. This thread is not about improving JQ but about botting.


@bena: Having to form a team would probably make this about popular as team arenas. We can speculate why this is the case, but a huge majority of players seems to prefer the random RA pairings over TA and formin a team there.


Edit 2: People still do not know the report function.
Nobody reports bots despite complaining. /report seems to be unknown.
And... they do not recognize bots at all. Do you know why they cannot detect bots? Reason: "he's moving".

Ouch.

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Longasc View Post

@bena: Having to form a team would probably make this about popular as team arenas. We can speculate why this is the case, but a huge majority of players seems to prefer the random RA pairings over TA and formin a team there.
Counterpoint: AB was very popular before the buff to JQ faction. RA and TA contribute to balth and glad. 3.5k faction a win and 2kish for a loss in a much shorter game length than AB .... in AB you get 1.5k for a win and an utter feeling of despair at a loss in a much longer game.



and a point to note about teams in JQ and RoJ It IS the ultimate capping skill and gives you healing in the same profession. I would predict that each team would have a designated capper. but only ONE capper. but as a team.... you can do things like my fire ele... ONE firestorm and nothing else kills all but the archer... so really, my ele build can pair up with strong 1v1 builds as long as they worked together. vast combinations are possible, but the point is, only one person on the team needs to be able to cap the rest are free to do whatever.... this means less people will have to play cap builds.


as it stands right now.... ab sucks for faction and takes too long. JQ is overrun by bots in addition to other issues... but MQSC is doing well. To me, PvP lite (ab/jq) are much more fun than farming faction.... but MQSC is obviously superior. ive not done it yet, but i have done MQ with 2 man discord and even THAT feels superior to JQing for faction.

personally i think PvP rewards should be superior to fff... something like a close loss should be on par with MQSC. people will still like MQSC because its reliable set builds no thought etc. but will be encouraged to pvp lite

Longasc

Longasc

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

I was doing some AB today, and you are right.
The point balance is way off - AB is now the by far worst. A loss in FA gives more faction. I am not keen on MQSC, did too much DTSC before... ugh.

Balance issues aside, something needs to happen. The bot/player ratio is getting "funny". Luxon side especially. I did not experience so much bots on the Kurz side.

AKB48

AKB48

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2008

みやき町

Mo/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephantaliste View Post
Indeed, geniuses don't play JQ...
your point then?

Ghost Omel

Ghost Omel

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2007

----//---//---//-----//----

W/

Have to agree that bots are taking over and been taking over since the nerf to the HFFF. which is ironic...HFFF did not cause other players to "suffer" but after its "nerf" and boost to the arenas it hurts more players.. I think Anet didnt expect such a result in my opinion..

Im not a genious so i dont know how to whipe out bots or cause them to be ditected right away...Some 1 has stated to make teams be formed for those arenas.. but it takes away that feeling of the army on army action..instead your going to have another aquad battle with gimmics..at which point the most gimmicky will win....Double edged sword ..dont you think

Chocobo1

Chocobo1

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2007

New Zealand

CoA

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by bena View Post
uh no.... if you honestly look at those players you would agree they are bots. what he said is exactly what the bots do ALL the time. no human uses the exact same skill order in every situation.

*rabble*
I lol'd. There are a lot of bad players that c spacebar and 1-8 on anything, even when using RoJ. It's sad, but they aren't bots.


But I do agree, there are a lot of bots in JQ and it's getting really bad. The worst is this stupid Charge bot I always report. Charge to Yellow shrine iirc, attack stuff till it dies then breaks and sits in base.

Devina Fava

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by bena View Post
but if the other poster stated reporting with all sorts of evidence doesnt matter...
To be fair, if you meant me then I didn't report with "evidence" per se, just information as to their behaviour that was bot-like, the time of the incident, etc. I mean honestly if someone is spending 1/2 the game in base meandering left, meandering right, meandering forward, using purge sig, meandering... you get the idea... it's pretty obvious it's a bot.

I wonder if the GW team can sort of re-create the instance and have a look and it would about 2s to confirm botting. Mebbe if they're just looking at logs and there is a bit of randomness, then who knows...

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chocobo1 View Post
I lol'd. There are a lot of bad players that c spacebar and 1-8 on anything, even when using RoJ. It's sad, but they aren't bots.


But I do agree, there are a lot of bots in JQ and it's getting really bad. The worst is this stupid Charge bot I always report. Charge to Yellow shrine iirc, attack stuff till it dies then breaks and sits in base.
stupid players dont usually remember to hit fall back exactly on recharge....

stupid players dont always go to the jade flats sign when waiting in outpost to get back in...

stupid players dont remember to go after object (yellow shrine) then half a second later turn around and target nearest foe....



Ive seen plenty of bad players.... none of them do that. im sure anet would have more tools to detect them with or without those bots having a few second randomizers plugged in (which i dont think they do but i havent tested)

for example, attempting to hit skills while in the outpost in the same manner that they use them in the mission.

ive seen that charge bot a few times in game.... nothing compared to how many times ive seen the mo/p bots from the same two guild tags running in jq. the same names even... for over a month.

as for teams forcing more gimmickyness on JQ... think about it. how much gimickyness is in AB? forming teams should result in a reduction of gimmickiness as much as the map allows...

Longasc

Longasc

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

We always got told so far that gazillions of bots, gold sellers and whatever get banned daily.

I wonder how long it takes to remove some of the regular bots in JQ. I met this bot already as I was playing on the Kurzick side weeks ago.

I do not know when GMs/Support take action, I fear it requires several reports of a lot of people in several matches. And then there is still no guarantee that something happens it seems. People are also notoriously lazy at reporting bots. As I quoted, "at least he's moving".

Esprit

Esprit

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

Dvd Forums [DVDF]

E/

In my opinion the bots in JQ/FA are different than your gold bots or farm bots. There are real players using a bot script to make some easy faction and selling keys. If Anet started cracking down a little harder on these players using bot scripts the problem would noticeably decrease.

Devina Fava

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Esprit View Post
In my opinion the bots in JQ/FA are different than your gold bots or farm bots. There are real players using a bot script to make some easy faction and selling keys. If Anet started cracking down a little harder on these players using bot scripts the problem would noticeably decrease.
My point exactly. But I don't think Anet give a stuff and, as with their leecher reporting system of old when the conscientious people seemed to get penalised more than the actual leechers, I fear now it's the same whereby the people that bother trying to report the bots just get a canned reply, no action taken, effort wasted, and possibly laughed at.

Longasc

Longasc

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

There are some regular bots. They all got reported.

Now lets see if anything happens.

Longasc

Longasc

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

From NCSoft Support, regarding a bot report:

We reviewed the player's game logs, however no actionable violations were confirmed. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

"Fall Back" Good Job. "Fall Back"


No wonder the bots are having a party in JQ.

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Longasc View Post
From NCSoft Support, regarding a bot report:

We reviewed the player's game logs, however no actionable violations were confirmed. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

"Fall Back" Good Job. "Fall Back"


No wonder the bots are having a party in JQ.
that actually sums up the problem pretty well. we all know botting when we see it, yet it isnt possible to 100% prove it because macros mimic only things humans can do. a human could in fact be playing those 'bots' but it's extremely unlikely.

the crux of the problem is what exactly constitutes an ACTIONable offense? and if running macros to bot jq is not an actionable offense... JQ predictably turns into a botfest. its like saying... we know speeding is bad, but our radar guns are broken..... so we cant prove it. yet somehow everyone seems to get 90 miles down the road in under an hour.... hmmmmmm


what this essentially means is that the bots are unactionable... i guess because they cant prove it, they wont start handing out bans.

In this case the best solution is to make JQ team based, or buff AB. otherwise, botting will continue to strangle the JQ gameplay and other areas. or gms and enforcers or better detection ie things that cost money and resources (considering gw2 is in development i doubt this would be viable) or tell the community what EXACTLY an actionable offense is with relation to botting that is reasonably going to be applicable to macro bots. if there is none, then bots are an inevitability.


whats likely to happen? a buff to AB would be the simplest thing to do....doing nothing is even simpler.

Nay of the Ether

Nay of the Ether

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2009

[EDS] Elite Death Society

N/R

I was messing with a bot in JQ just tonight actually. It was too funny. Apparently the AI doesn't expect the target to continue to run circles around it cause I just kept using my speed boost, running around it, letting my pet attack now and then to keep its attention, ect. All it could do was spin around in circles I LMAO

Devina Fava

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Longasc View Post
From NCSoft Support, regarding a bot report:

We reviewed the player's game logs, however no actionable violations were confirmed. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

"Fall Back" Good Job. "Fall Back"


No wonder the bots are having a party in JQ.
That's essentially exactly what I got from them after a while. Even if my report included one or two questions which they never addressed. Makes you wonder if they have a bot to reply to bot reports

To be honest there is another solution to making it team base. Since Anet blatantly don't seem to give a stuff about botting... join them. I'm only borderline not being serious given how frustrating it is and how much time I've patently wasted reporting all these nuts manually.

I also maintain, if they can recreate the instance as the bot, it'll take all of 30s to confirm that that character is a bot.

Esprit

Esprit

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

Dvd Forums [DVDF]

E/

Lately I have seen bots who never leave the base but wander around usually casting Aura of the Lich and Remove Hex, or Ranger setting traps and then eventually ending up behind the spawn point, casting skills all game long.

But those aren't bots, just bad players, right?

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Esprit View Post
Lately I have seen bots who never leave the base but wander around usually casting Aura of the Lich and Remove Hex, or Ranger setting traps and then eventually ending up behind the spawn point, casting skills all game long.

But those aren't bots, just bad players, right?
I have seen what i thought were players doing that.... either first time players who didnt quickly figure out where the boundary lines were, or were there to map. i saw one player casting spirits at the spawn and started moving around like he was looking for enemies and didnt know wtf was going on lol. after timer hit and everyone disappeared he figured it out and started spirit spamming on yellow.

the key to look for is repeated actions at the same interval. the best example is ";" "space" bots. few, very very few humans would use the hotkey for that. fall back every 25 seconds no matter the situation for example. or like in your example remove hex every 8 seconds when no one has a hex or before the game starts. stupid players do stupid things, but bots do stupid things predictably.


here's another idea.... disable targeting objects in JQ, OR remove the objects from the mission. it will make it harder for the bots to get out of base. perhaps put a jade wall inbetween the portal circles and the spawn in points. players will know how to get around it... perhaps even make the route around it vary from map to map. like put the hole on the left one time and on the right the next or something. perhaps also vary the spawn in point to the left and right of inside the base. then auto hex players that dont leave base for 5 minutes, or certainly auto hex them for not leaving base for the match. auto hexing for not moving doesnt catch the bots that just move a tiny bit.

who knows what if anything is going to happen... but im hoping the next major update which is rumored to be for pvp lovin will include JQ with it. even if its just a buff to AB to be on par with JQ faction i'd be extremely happy.

Nay of the Ether

Nay of the Ether

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2009

[EDS] Elite Death Society

N/R

I actually have a bad feeling about that next update. When I hear "pvpers will love it" it gives me a bad feeling lol.

AKB48

AKB48

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2008

みやき町

Mo/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nay of the Ether View Post
I actually have a bad feeling about that next update. When I hear "pvpers will love it" it gives me a bad feeling lol.

There is already a line between PvE and Pvp. Plus, nerfing things is already Anet's trademark, I will be surprised if there isn't any big change this time.

Jeydra

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2008

How will buffing AB help? The bots will still be having a party in JQ. Their returns are not diminished. Real players would have something to do other than JQ (and leave 8 bots to play 8 bots LOL) but that's all, and even then AB won't be very attractive if there still aren't enough Luxon teams and Kurzick waits are very long.

EDIT: Regina! Do something already! I just played 3 games in JQ and there were always bots - and it's a JQ quest day. What do you think it'll be normally?

evenfall

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: May 2005

I believe it is much harder to detect a JQ PvP bot than a normal PVE farm bot by looking at the server log.
A farm bot moves to the same location and casts skills in fixed sequence. A JQ bot on the other hand casts skills at random and c-space/v-space following a player/opponent.
Just by looking at the log they are probably indistinguishable from a real player.

This is likely why all the bots go unpunished even if you report them.

IMO the best solution is to have a random question popup before entering the mission since bots can't answer them.

bena

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2009

this tale of sorrow

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by evenfall View Post
I believe it is much harder to detect a JQ PvP bot than a normal PVE farm bot by looking at the server log.
A farm bot moves to the same location and casts skills in fixed sequence. A JQ bot on the other hand casts skills at random and c-space/v-space following a player/opponent.
Just by looking at the log they are probably indistinguishable from a real player.

This is likely why all the bots go unpunished even if you report them.

IMO the best solution is to have a random question popup before entering the mission since bots can't answer them.
but they arent randomly pushing buttons.... they are randomly showing some effects. they dont RoJ when there are no enemies in range... but what happens when you try that as a player? nothing. so it would seem like these bots arent always casting the same things but look at things you can observe... like fall back. ive timed a few, and they always hit it on 25 seconds exact recharge... even when they are standing still. and they are standing still because the last cycle of ";" "space" "tab" "space" didnt catch anything. also.... thats why they hang out on the sign.... the cycle of commands has only ONE noticable effect in jq outpost. they go for the jade flats sign. i can almost guaruntee you they are pushing tab space and roj buttons and fall back on recharge while in the outpost as well.


so its really really easy to detect a bot... observe thier actions in the outpost ... there are ways around this as a botter, for example pixel detect... but none of the bots have currently bothered with that.

Here is likly the macro setup that the JQ bot uses. (need a "next object" hotkey put into the gw options")

every 25 seconds hit fallback
every 30 seconds trigger a mouseclick on the pixel location that "enter mission" would be in jq outpost


every 10 seconds do the following cycle
";" "space"
1 second pause
"tab" "space"
button for castigation signet
button for RoJ
buttons for other random smite skills
"next object hotkey" "space"



this is by far the most common bot on luxon side. 95% or more of luxon bots run basically this code. and those bots are most commonly from two guild tags. some of the same names running for MONTHS.


now consider the fact that i have basically reverse engineered a bot, and could probably set one up to mimic the bots currently in use..... it really frustrates me to have anet say there is no actionable offense done by these bots. it's a really simple code... could definately be improved. I could make pixel detect run every second and when it detects roj being cast it would hit an interrupt. could suppress the fallback and object follow if pixel detect shows the timer or the enter mission window up. i could have it hit tab 5 times before casting roj and if it saw kurzick illusionist before that 5th time, then it would at least try to hit the middle npc.

i mean... would it help anet if i made a jqbot macro in the manner that all these luxon bots are running and then made a youtube vid and sent someone the code? i mean seriously... somebody needs to figure out what an actionable offense is given what people are doing. and given the code ive described above... if there is no current actionable offense there, then the rules need to change.

or well... forget it all and wait till gw2.

buffing AB wouldnt help JQ at all.... it would return JQ to a dead state most likely. but i read from linsey murdock that the original point of buffing JQ was that it would be on par with PvE FFF. like MQSC.... i guess the point is that they want people to be rewarded while having fun. and few people would think that doing speed vanqs over and over again would be fun other than turning in gobs of faction. so they make the PvP rewards in line with the PvE rewards. the difference being you also get balth faction for PvP. so thats why JQ got buffed apparently. but AB was left alone..... so maybe an analysis of the time/reward effort there is due to bring that to be on par with JQ. the thing i HATE about ab is it's always on that dam kurz map and all the good luxons dont ab on that map.

im glad the leechers are taken care of ... the auto hex is working great. and when there is a simple bot that takes small movements to avoid the auto hex... players actually report now because leeching is now sufficiently rare.


and yea seems like there are more botters.... ive been trying several tactics to avoid bots. first is that i play on jq zquest day and that increases the player base and thus reduces the odds of getting a bot. but today.... i played 4 games and 2 games had two bots. and i have a rule... i leave if there are 2 or more bots. so ofc i got hexed and went to play another game. the other thing i try to do is watch the jade flats sign, if there are bots on it, i wait till they get in, then i go. if there are none on the sign hopefully they are all in a game already and i can get in with all humans.

these tactics arent working anymore.... i think ill wait till the next weekend bonus that applies to jq or until hopefully some sort of update does something. there are plenty of options of things that can be done to fix or alleviate the issue. macro bots are hard to deal with in any game... not to mention each macro bot is a game account that affects revenue.... but you cant have a game run by bots...

/what a wall of text, i wonder if anyone would actually read it.
//i wrote the bot code up there

Redvex

Redvex

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2006

R/

There's also another problem.
A player report me because i was defending purple cave instead to go in the orgy in the yellow cave and he think that i am a bot.
In any case i never seen a spear chucker bot.
Every average player know that is essential for a kurzick to win to defend the purple cave.

Nay of the Ether

Nay of the Ether

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2009

[EDS] Elite Death Society

N/R

Don't sweat it one random report won't get you banned

Jarus

Jarus

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2005

Council of Iris

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nay of the Ether View Post
Don't sweat it one random report won't get you banned

From what people are saying, many random reports won't get you banned either.

oracle.delphi

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2008

ontario, canada

Steel Beasts

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shuuda View Post
-Psychic Distraction/ Power Lock/ Power Block against Ray of Judgement.
-Rend Enchantments against Necro bombers.
-Wastrels Worry on carriers.

Mesmers rule the quarry... it is just too easy.
yes the botter got this one too...someone in a jq group was getting rend enchantment used on him...when the guy had no enchantments...and the mesmer kept following him around...yay follow bot..