Recent Bans for Botting and Exploiting

@Berek Are you saying that no macros are allowed? For example, I use a very simple macro on one of my mouse buttons to double click so that I don't have to actually double click the mouse. Is this not allowed? Will that kind of macro be detected by your system and flagged? I just don't want to get flagged for using something like that. Or I hope I haven't already been since I haven't been home yet to check.

You said "related to resource gathering." Does that mean it's okay to use macros elsewhere then?

 

Tis a great pleasure to find another willing soul. Yes, I'll happily share the burden. For the good of the world of course. 8^)

 

I think the key here is whether the macro is used for exploitation.

 

Thank you Berek for the information and the numbers. This is what many, many of us want to hear. Keep up the good work.

 

That's pretty subjective though. Some would say any macro is cheating.

 

It is true that we are still in development. It is also true that we are in persistence and have a real economy inside and outside the game. Real dollars are changing hands and these farming botters are at the core of it. They are affecting the economy inside and outside the game. Development or not, when real money is in play things need to be strict and punishment swift.

 

Don't think I've ever played or heard of a game successfully eliminating botters and farmers. AFAIK they will create a new account, rinse and repeat.

Not that the effort doesn't produce some level of effect, but often it inflames honest members who get banned for repeating a key stroke sequence over and over while not paying attention to the game/screen.

But hey, good luck with that.

 

I use a Logitech G510s keyboard which comes with software to set of tons of gaming macros,but I never used it in Warcraft,nor do I use it in SoTa. Sometimes it can come across as a false positive as botting and I never wanted to risk it. It is true that I am not using it to it's fullest, but I always view it is better to be safe than sorry. As to date, personally I have never seen one exploit, so accidental or not, I am safe there.

I do agree with banned accounts and 30 day suspensions because we are in persistence,the game being released can have nothing to do with this. As long as there is a process to be certain that the bans or suspensions are the answer for each case, this is what the game needs to provide a healthy state.

 

A macro that only presses one key? Why would you need a macro for that? Just press the E key. . or remap it to another key in options menu. I use mostly the number pad for playing the entire game and I remapped the E key to my "end" button so I don't have to move my hand at all.

 

This is true.
With all of the connection issues some players are having it would be easy to mistake the log on / log off of a frequent disconnect as an exploit. (it is not).
When that happens I'm sure the appearance on the server side of things is that the player is logging on and off to exploit the scene. Getting a ban for such activity seems extreme and should be just a PM or in game message to query the player to see what is actually happening.

Many of you, like I have multiple accounts, (legally) and have never knowingly abused the system. Activity of logging each of the characters on and off from the same IP address could be easily misinterpreted (especially by a computer instead of a real admin monitor).

A simple in game whisper would find out if the player was an unattended bot...
Then a follow up email to let the player know what was observed and give them an opportunity to explain before a ban or a deletion of a character.

Frequent disconnects and reconnects could be any number of things other than an exploit.

 

Here is why.
i.e. If you use a Steam controller, you can use macro keys to speak to the NPC.
One key can ask "What is your name" and another can be for "My name is..."
There a many tasks that are done over and over that can be automated.
Hopefully these are not consider exploits.

Disclaimer: I do not use a Steam controller or macro keys because this is an outstanding for SOtA

 

I think those concerned with the wrong people getting banned just need to understand that these players didn't get booted because of one piece of data. It's multiple data points and repeated activity that was deemed inappropriate. Sure, you can set triggers to alert you for suspicious behavior, but the next step is to collect/investigate more data to be certain that it wasn't a false alarm.

From the original post's description, and knowing for how long Chris has had bans and exploits mentioned in his standup notes, this wasn't something they just did on a whim.

 

Not true.
I rarely see "whispers", since I don't spend my time watching chat while fighting, harvesting, or crafting for that matter....

 

This is not true LoneStranger, no warning nothing, just kicked from the game. I know this happens, nothing saying hey the game is showing an exploit because of x, just bam ban them, and then that player cannot play until the misunderstanding is corrected which sometimes is on the weekend. It causes a lot of frustration and sometimes anger to those it happens to. There should be a ton more tolerance right now.

oops edited repeats

and yes it was almost on a whim. The system shows you earn too much gold and you are banned, just like that, like for instance a pledge item sells and it is worth quite a lot and then the system says ooooh they are making too much cash, then they are banned. Come on so restrictive is not necessarily fun.

 

You were banned? What for?

 

This is disconcerting, @majoria70 .
You're saying that you know someone who was banned - for having too much gold ? Gold that they acquired by selling a high value pledge item ?
Surely there was more to it than that....

 

I didn't say they got warnings. I said that Portalarium monitors the behavior. Yes, if you earn too much too fast they will investigate. As far as I have ever seen explained, there is no automatic system permaban. Perhaps throttles are in place, but those are meant to be a stopgap until Portalarium can look at the situation.

I'd really like to know why you think it was on a 'whim.' I'd also like to know why you think there should be more tolerance now that persistence is here and real money is being put into the system continually. Once these things happen you can't just fix the problem and wipe the entire world clean. It changes from the exploiters 'helping fix a broken system' to 'cheating people out of their money.'

 

Our Devs gather empirical evidence as well.

The botters are not auto-banned. Its investigated. Players are 'shadowed'.

As far as gold, large sums of gold have already been exchanged in-game between players. As long as its legit there is no problem.

I was mistakenly banned a long time ago for kill counts, when the system was first implemented.
I know of no one since that time who was auto-banned.