Question about these Bots I've been seeing around

Are these guys actually buying the game to make 'bots'? or are they using a keygen to keep getting new keys to register new accounts?

Its pretty annoying (spamwise), and Im seeing all these threads about ppl getting their arses scammed, and accounts stolen, puters hacked (thats their own fault imo. get a virus prog. that ACTUALLY works, like Kaspersky), etc...
Also, anyone know what preventative measures Anet is taking to prevent these 'bots'?



*edit: put quotes around "bots" to not offend hasty repliers...

First - why are you using the term "bots" to describe scammers, hacks, and "cheats" that inject keyloggers to steal account information?

None of them are "bots".

Bots are automated players scripted to do repetitive tasks, like entering an area, opening a chest, and rezoning, over and over. THAT is a bot. If it has a player actually doing the actions, it is no longer a "bot" - it is a farmer.

Just a pet peeve of mine.

...and second??

My pet peeve? people who dont take the time to think about the threads they are replying to.

K. My thread was a question. Usually ppl answer them, instead of just quickly reading them, and finding some kind of snappy remark to comment about.

If you care to re-read my thread, the 'bots' Im referring to, are these toons I see in random outposts/cities spamming "visit www.blah.com!! ultimate game cheat site!" over and over, in regular timed intervals. A timed response usually denotes a "bot" in my findings of playing RPGs for over 8 years. You may just call them something different in this game, so theres no reason for such a harsh reply Mimi.. These sites are bogus sites, and contain spyware, keyloggers, etc... All set up to take advantage of those not-so-computer-literate users. Not a nice thing to see in the game.

So, I'll re-interate.. Is Anet doing anything to combat these ppl? If so, are the same ppl just using a keygen to get new accounts after being banned? or are there actually that many moron scammers ingame?

Im just trying to get a bearing here on what these guys are doing, before I bring the rest of my organisation into this game.

**edit. spelling mistake

Well Anet uses some protection i believe. They run a warden like security that scans all you memory addresses. Im not sure if its as hardcore as the one WoW has. Not that this stops any of the real skilled "crackers". Hackers are not the same as crackers and you shouldnt confuse the two. Crackers are criminals in mindset and hackers do anything they choose out of curiousity. Secondly any decent rootkit or a program like process guard can help you hide your processes and potentially run a packet editor or hex/memory editor. Nothing is full proof but im sure its enough to stop an endless wave of script kiddies like what happened in Diablo 2. The only ones who successfully hack GW are the ones who sell tons of gold on Ebay. Of course they would never admit to any of it but id bet my soul GW is not hack free. It's a multi-million dollar business. Online "code" goods are a huge market. It's fueled by lazy people or simply just people with little time..and of course the 12 year olds who hassle parents for $$.

well, I wouldnt go as far as saying crackers have a criminal mindset. Crackers by definition, crack pretty much any security code, for the thrill of outsmarting the machine (well true crackers, at least.. cant say the same for all those scriddies out there), amongst other security hardware. Hackers hack sensetive machines/networks, etc... for the right to the flow of data. Its the digital "curiosity killed the cat".

But agreed, nothing is foolproof. and for every countermeasure a company takes, u can make gd sure that 15,000 crackers/hackers are finding backdoors to it.
Best preventative measure I've found so far, ontop of a good AV program that decompiles executables and internally scans them, is to deny any non-trusted program access to insert new registry entries. Some firewalls have that feature built in (believe Sygate has that feature now), as well as some new internet security software. Downfall to Inet security software, is that it tends to bog your system down when ur multitasking.
nice 1!! lol


**edit : gd it my spelling. lol

here it is

Thanks Loviatar. I'll relay that to my guild m8s

#2 wins

If that was a flame attempt, LOL kiddo.
*rubs 1/2 head* better luck next time.

This post was not intended to be flamed. It was a genuine thread asking a (at least I think) genuinely important question, with me being new to GW and all.
So, with that being said,
Thanks to all that answered my Q's on this thread. I appreciate it , and LOL to all those who flame. Makes me happy that I wasted precious minutes of your life that your never going to get back.
k
thx
bye

cut the guy some slack, geez people.

At least no one has complained to us on our Guild Tag, "BoT"

I made a robot for farming; I just gotta find out how to put it into my computer and into Guild Wars.

Actually, your original post made about zero sense.

What guys? Who is making bots? You made no mention on the website "spammers". Am I supposed to discern your intent via the force?

Perhaps if your original post made a lick of sense, you might have gotten a better response.

To answer your question - yes, they ahve to buy additional accounts if one is banned. Software houses that publish online games maintain databases of valid CD Keys that are assigned for retail - keygens shouldn't work unless they happen to luck into a key held in a DB.

ANet only prevents accounts violating the EULA when people complain, as someone else noted.

And anyone that's get scammed out of their gold, accounts, passwords, or money are to blame just as much as the scammers themselves. A fool and his money are soon parted. Have little sympathy for them. They had no business looking for cheats. and anyone that doesn't run AV software in this day and age needs to have their heads examined. But, it's their choice.

And my original post was a valid point - didn't need to have the snippy juvie reply.

Closing this thread as the question has been answered, among other things.