macroing

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by inactive, Sep 2, 2013.

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Is complex macroing the avatar actions bad for the game?

  1. no

    11.3%
  2. yes

    41.9%
  3. Depends

    14.5%
  4. no, but if its abused it hurts everyone!

    11.3%
  5. yes, but i dont like doing repetitive thing over and over for hours!

    9.7%
  6. no, and it could be very helpful in running player events

    6.5%
  7. yes just because i dont want to learn how to create macros

    4.8%
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  1. inactive

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    Some might not admit it but macroing has always been a big part of my gaming!
    I still enjoy creating macros to control my charaters!

    Is there any plans to have some kind of macroing system to control charater actions and movement?
     
  2. Mystic

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    If you mean "so I can do things while watching a movie or sleeping", then I'd assume no.

    The problem with macros is that it opens the door to exploiting. Sure, other games have had it in some form, but games like UO suffered from it. Instead of working on skills in the game itself, you would "set it and forget it" which eventually led to everyone having 7x GM characters in the matter of a week, automated resource gathering or unfair advantage in combat.
     
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  3. inactive

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    Makes since .. and i agree~!
    being a hard core pvper, i have lived in a macroed combat world for sometime now! It does make it hard but i still tend to win sometimes!
    Macroing pvp takes the p out of the pvp for me!

    But just for the sake of argument,
    A long term player is already 7x, already has more gold then he can spend and has explored the world/skills!

    What is next? the next expansion?

    I would guess, many at that point moved onto creating/using/testing "macros" as their main playing time instead of turning to a new game!
     
  4. TemplarAssassin

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    Yes its bad. Macroers should be banned on sight and forever.
    Its a game, not work. You don't have to craft those 5,000 overnight, its not how the game is supposed to be played.
    /thread


    So what? One character is enough, I believe. And if for some reason you want a second character - train its skills without macroing.

    Why would anyone want to have 20 characters anyway? Thats retarded.
     
  5. rustypup

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    <Predict-O-Matic>
    1) Next up: Is Multi-Boxing wrong? Should I not have done that?
    2) ???
    3) Armageddon
    </Predict-O-Matic>

    My personal view: any form of automation which offers advantage over others actually engaging in the game is wrong.

    <edit>
    Those poll options are error'd
     
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  6. Owain

    Owain Avatar

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    You might be able to macro to automate some functions, but I think it would be more trouble than it would be worth. SotA is different from UO in that in UO you gained skill by performing an action, so it was beneficial to macro a skill like hiding, or even magery to build skill not only in magery but also magic resist if you cast spells on yourself, and build healing at the same time to cure the self inflicted damage. SotA won't work that way, so I don't see how macroing will be a problem.
     
  7. Vyrin

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    I don't know enough of the tech, but is there a way to completely prevent it?
     
  8. stile

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    I was always a fan of UO's policy on this. You could macro so long as you where not doing it unatended and so long as you where using a legitimiate program and not a hack. Your still spending the same amount of time completeing a task that youd have to spend doing it.. your still at the monitor and keyboard.. your just saving your fingers and hands a rest for a bit. I oftend would watch tv while macroing with the screens side by side. Nothing wrong in this at all.

    As far as multiboxing ive thought about starting a thread on the topic, but honestly was avoiding bringing it up as i can see it becoming a very heated topic. The first thing I think its important to flag about multi-boxing is it can mean different thing to different people and its important to keep that in perspective when discussing it.

    For me, I multi-box. For me what that means Is I will log onto two seperate accounts at the same time, BRIEFLY to sometimes hand items from one charecter to another, to move things between accounts or share storage a bit. Thats the extent of my multi-boxing and what it means for me. Its a feature i hope to be able to do As if you pay for two accounts i feel you should be able to trade between those two accounts just like two accounts should be able to legitmately do, wether they are owned by two seperatel people or one. Also sometimes i may want to do mainteanace on my daughters or wifes for them, help them out, give them some stuff, look at their supplies, who knows. Theres a lot of legitamate reasons for one player needing to be able to be able to do things that two seperate players could do. So yes to allowing multiboxing please! Just allow multiple copies of the clients to launch but limit login's to one account at a time *Shrugs*

    What multi-boxing can mean to other people is up to and including having multiple charecters all be controlled by the same player at the same time to solo instances and raids that require more then one player to win. Some people are very against this. Personally I say, hey.. if they are paying for the accounts, they have the rights to use those accounts they are paying for *shrugs*. Their play style is their own, if they enjoy doing that, put the work into it, pull it off, and pay the money then good for them!

    Either way, even though im on the low side of multi-boxing, im a yes for allowing it in the game. If its not made so we can launch more then one client, there would just be a seperate program people have to pay 20-30.00 for to do it for them. I know they are out there but cant remember the name of the big one for it. Or having to have two systems running side by side. Either way the type of people that are going to want to multi-box are the type that will find a way to d it. Just allow it, it doesnt hurt. Most multi boxers dont group with anyone with more then one charecter. They are multi boxing because they dont want to interact with someone else.. Or just doing book keeping stuff, which is what i do. All in all the number of people that do it are a fairly low percentage, espcially talking anything beyond just trasnferring things between accounts.
     
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  9. inactive

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    Just brain storming,

    Long ago i did hear of some players activating 5-10 accounts to get crafting bulk orders because of a time delay! im sure in some way that was harmful but in other ways it must of helped somehow! I have also seen people play 3 accounts at the same time, swithing between accounts to use diffrent charaters strenghts! Maybe even just keeping 1 hidden close by can be a great advantage, just the extra storage is a plus! not to metion the use of multiple charaters placed around the world for a event/storyline interaction you can only get from having other charaters. And there is that super player that can pvp with 2 chrs at the same time, blah :( Im guessing this is only a small %.

    Seems they should be considered just as much as the guy that just wants to fish from shore and hang around town meeting who ever wonders by!
    People get rewards for donating, it only makes since to let players reward thier self for paying more subscription fees!

    Complex macroing can be considered its own skill or craft and can create communitys and interaction amoung players learning, testing and brainstorming new ideas! If there is a custom creatable menu system, players could even create mini games within the menu. Granted, then its not a menu but it gives players a reason to be online creating and test, others a reason to try out the creations and maybe even something that could be used in player events somehow!
     
  10. InsaneMembrane

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    There seems to be a trend of new accounts popping in and dumping these old troll-worthy UO issues on us. Hmmm....
     
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  11. Mugly Wumple

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    In a competitive environment macros encourage every competitor into macroing in an attempt to level the field. Victory is decided by their most efficient use.
     
  12. Reigner

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    I think the biggest challenge with allowing macros in online games is that they can heavily sway game balance. So as a game designer, do you balance gameplay for the average player or the average macro user? For the latter, it ends up shifting the economy, combat systems, etc. in ways that make it more difficult for players who don't use them. Better to avoid them, in my opinion. (Anyone recall Healers in BatMUD with MIP spell?...Jeez, I'm getting old... ;-)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
     
  13. LoneStranger

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    If anyone isn't into sports but wants to know what the big deal is with the baseball steroid issue.... it's like macroing. :)

    [edit: Maybe even closer to steroids in cycling.]
     
  14. stile

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    Only if used unattended, important difference/distinction
     
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  15. PrimeRib

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    There are some games where the UI is terrible and macros are a necessary part of the game. I'd rather they just didn't make the UI terrible.
     
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  16. Mystic

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    I actually enjoyed doing bulk order deeds (though many people exploited them and the top rewards were part of what ruined crafting along with the weapons/item changes made which turned combat into item based rather than skill based). The chance of getting rare cloth was always fun for me. Many of my characters had just enough skill to be able to get bods from vendors. There were a lot of people who used EasyUO to automate the whole process though which further ruined crafting. They were able to receive, craft, and do turn-ins very fast which meant many more runic kits and hammers on the market.

    I would like to see a similar system put in place in SotA, but in a way that makes it much harder to make an automated macro system for and the rewards have no real benefit to things like combat.
     
  17. rustypup

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    If you're automating, you're cheating.

    This is hardly a difficult concept.

    Permitting automation will require automation in order to remain competitive. Which means the game devolves into a bunch of scripts doing battle. Fun™.

    Multi-boxers may not be anywhere near as intentionally evil as botters/farmers but they're still soul-sucking parasites in any game with a public market. :)
     
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  18. jondavis

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    The macros I don't like are the ones that loop through some combat commands so fast that the player without them can't respond fast enough.
    If you want mine rock for 10 minutes in one place I don't care.
     
  19. inactive

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    im kinda a event guy, and not bein staff i dont have to follow the same rules they do mostly with what kind of rewards i can give!
    The macros i find useful is something like say running a live auction, and the macro pulls the bid from journal and restates is with the player name.
    Or maybe a chr i am multi-boxing that is out in the woods waiting for a player to comeup to him and say "blah blah sayed come here and say blah blah" then the chr feeds the player the info he needs to get to the next part or maybe says follow me over here and takes the player to a cave ect..
    or maybe something like chr says "blah blah go in this gate" and cast gate! maybe i tell poeple to go find "blah blah "item and drop it at "blah blah feet"
    macroed chr notices the item on the ground picks it up and says "blah blah thanks you" and gives u a reward.

    The options are limitless. but then again i guess you can just get your friends together and just have them player the rpg chrs. But then they cant take part in the event/quest! stuff along them lines is very useful to me!

    Anyways ... i have many more quest/event types i can offer! So its all good :)


    But must have access to friends house to place items in a box anyone can open and take, thats just a must for alot of my events
     
  20. Hoffs

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    To resurrect this thread (I'm new here), I wonder what is going to stop people just scripting resource gathering and things like that, thus unbalancing the economy or at least severely impacting the honest players? In UO, you could at least report such people (when they had GMs, anyway) or even kill them in Fel/Siege. But in SotA, presumably they could just happily mine all day long without anyone actually seeing them.
     
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