Welcome change ?

This was very unclear for a long time... attended macros are also banned, including pvp macros, deck switching macros, combo macros...

ok I said macro too much, I don't want to be seen as one !

Who sees this as a welcome change ? and why ?

 

no, I very much prefer not to have carpel tunnel (but saying that... the devs are GODS for the charge system, my wrists love them right now). There is a difference between true botting and just running a mouse macro key. True botting is everywhere (I saw it bad in Guild Wars 2) and ya, ban them up. But to go after people with a simple macro that presses the button on a skill for 15 minutes to raise it is actually not the players fault, its the fault of a poorly designed system from the git-go. I'll define that, the fact that I can press a button endlessly to raise a skill even out of combat is a bad design that largely died in UO (<=== me sitting on a moving boat casting fireball).

 

Do not use the full capability of that cool Razor Blackwidow with this game. You will be in trouble. Period..

 

Isn't that you Dinsoo ?

They would be in trouble, because you'd eat them ?

Didn't portalarium have a partnership with Razor at some point ?

 

I also am unsure how punishing more players for trying to save their wrists and time will help the game ?

This change sounds like a request RMT salesmen would make... because its unfair if casual players can give them competition ?

Trying to understand the motivation behind such a 180 turn...

 

Macroing is banned in most online games......both attended and unattended......nothing new. Ultimately the devs will ban those who they feel need to be banned, the zero tolerance is prevent a player who they wish to ban having wriggle room (that's my interpretation anyway........but in a game where you get moderated for having a character called "Harry Potter" no doubt the ban hammer will be swung and the population reduced by 20%) .

The real solution for the average gamer is to make it fun and interesting and reduce the repetitive tasks that are required to get to an end goal........watering plants for example. In other words make it so the average gamer would rather play than macro.

 

Macroing was banned in UO... yet everyone did it... who likes to stand around pressing a skill button for 5 hours straight with the XP they got when their guild brought them to a higher level scene to build a few millions in their XP pool, you guys sure are right about this.

But there is also the problem with automation macros.

@Berek please moderate if I'm talking about something I shouldn't but this is kind of important...

Say I have a third party program that detects when a player is using fire magic, this is easily done in this day and age (I don't use things like this I even do my combos manually with the mouse), and then said program switches you automatically to a water based deck for extra protection.

That would be hard to detect and enforce... yet it gives a major advantage.

Detection macros can even be linked to be totally outside the game and only give pop up alerts when another player uses certain skills, or debuffs... making it virtually undetectable in game because its like having an assistant playing with you helping to notice stuff you normally wouldn't "in the heat of battle".

I'm glad about that part... I hate meta-gaming...

But for repetitive tasks, why should attended macroing be banned ?

 

Someone runs a bot that detects chat etc and then spams out "sorry but I've got to go, someone at the door".....crude example I know but there are some very good bots around.

As a result they have to ban unattended and attended to prevent people using loop holes. As I said ultimately they will ban those who they deem necessary ......if they swing the ban hammer too hard then they will have no players lol

 

Makes sense... but then again don't you lose those players that have not much time to play and hoped to "attended" macro their XP pools ?

I just imagine that would frustrate quite a few people... some have only a few hours a week to give...

 

Ummm ..... ban unattended macroing, allow attended macroing.

You're welcome.

Damn I'm helpful today. What's next?

 

Any use of a macro that basically forces every player to use the same macro to be competitive is somewhat of a problem...

So, say I have a grid of 600 cotton plants, and use a macro to do it while attending the game, but watching TV and browsing the web and playing with my children. Well, then the guy that doesn't have the macro is a poor schmuck who's left out in the cold and he's going to likely have much less product because he's going to give up earlier. A lot of people justify macros so they can do a ridiculous amount of grinding, more than they need to do, and in the end it just drives down prices and forcing everyone to compete with them.

Though, in the end Envy is right... you want to create gameplay where people don't feel the need to macro or where doing macros is useless. Whether that means making the game mechanics more fun, or reducing the amount of materials needed in crafting so to reduce the need for grinding, or softening the level curve so people don't feel they're forced to grind to level up, or lowering the tax burden for people on lots, or whatever else.

 

Agree on the gameplay bit... easier said than done tho, but I've sure seen solutions on here and I hope they weren't skipped over.

My favorite suggestions were about mini games that make crafting about skill and reflexes instead of a random die roll.

About the ridiculous amount of grinding part... I think that most people inclined to do this would be people powerleveling others or people that hope to make a profit through RMT.

But the fact is... people powerleveling accounts use other people's accounts, and RMT accounts are probably 40$ disposable accounts, why would they care if they get banned if they can open a new account and still make a profit ?

This is like the death decay punishment, for macros. Same bandaid solution... but isn't that...

where we came in ?

 

Not to go off topic but my apprehension earlier on, right after kickstarter when I went on my little anti-RMT crusade, was that when a game becomes less or not profitable to their ringleaders (because of low population or restrictive rules) they usually like to see the game fail so players move on to more profitable games. And they know too well that our niche has deep pockets... *cough*

Of course I'm not generalizing, as I've always said some people just like to game the game and turn a profit, they are not the problem.

Organisations that purchase a "voice" in the game development to influence gameplay (often subtly enough so the devs don't even notice the agenda) or that infiltrate guild and community is the problem. Some have become experts in social engineering and politics...

They are literally the shadowlords... I call them the wannabe shadowlords because I know better

 

Ok guys, look I'm not going to run around the pot before I tell whats on my mind...

so I'll ask a question instead of raising politics...

What do RMT organizations need for a game to be profitable ?

A game where crafting is so hard that it will discourage most players ? Yes ?
A game where they can pay money to go around this frustration ? Yes ?
A game where they can camp key locations and get most of the very rare loot to sell it for money ? Yes ? Especially if its better than most crafted gear ?

:/

I could go on but I'm pretty sure I made my point... it is said that if you want to know who really runs the show, just follow the money...

 

This may sound harsh but, if pushing a button is to much work for you, how do you ever deal with real life? Lifting a cup to your mouth to drink takes a lot more effort.

 

There's a macro for that.



I think the only time macro's become a problem here is in PvP, to get the edge over other players. Then again I think the majority of this player base isn't a raging teenager, so PvP macro's probably aren't huge. So far this has gotta be the most respectful bunch of players I've seen in an MMO.

 

ROFLMAO

 

My goal here is not to get lost in cogitation, I've had to repeat way too many times that I'm too old for that kinda thing : when I play I play and I usually end up just looking around and be amazed at people's realizations and roleplay, I'm not hard to please and amaze

I even say it in this very thread, we have a very diversified player base I'm sure you know that.
Diversity of goals and intentions (the supposed goal behind UNITING all players on one server).

I guess what you're saying is kinda funny, meant as a joke, like the movie the anchorman, which is about the general idea of the kinda guy you don't wanna be, and you laugh at him, ha ha.

It's outdated, I don't enjoy it but I'm glad you still can, those days are numbered so cherish them.

My raising of the conflict of interest (player vs money) and the philosophy that supports it will not change a thing, the idea is already up there.

I'm not accusing the devs of any favoritism, nor am I implying malicious intent here... I'm saying that some people know how to bend the rules, and since our culture is gambling and winner based, here we are.

There is no dodging this pressing question anymore because portalarium now has investors and is taking those responsibilities willingly.

So take the warning with a grain of salt I guess, but strive for truth, because you will all need it, soon.

 

It's horribly antiquated to not be able to make use of simple macro buttons in this modern day and age when EVERY gaming mouse/keyboard has the ability to make simple key combinations (IE shift+w/e for the non combat bar on a single mapped button). Botting etc. are an entirely different beast and obviously wrong, but banning simple macros made for convenience while actually playing is way overboard.

 

Do you think I have a lot of money in the game? I have a basic account, have spent only 45 on game, and yet the devs listen to me just as well as any other person. If you are unsure if what you want to do is allowed or not, ask a dev. Am I serious about my comment? Ya, I am. If pushing some buttons is to much, or you dont have enough time, why are you playing a video game that requires pushing buttons all the time, and an mmo that does take invested time to grow? I absolutely hate macroing/botting, logging in to see 80 players on just to realize only 5 people are actually playing is just sad. Putting in effort to be outdone by someones computer is just sad as well. I know many players that would not play a game that would allow macroing/botting, me being one of them. Those are players lost as well. And what will happen if that one person is allowed to macro because of a sore wrist or whatever, all the sudden, EVERYONE has a sore wrist.