Proposal for In-Game Automation item to Address Macro Botting Issues

[Ahos Vsroi]

I have noticed a significant number of players using macros and bots to automate their actions within the game. I would like to propose a potential solution that could help address this issue while also benefiting both the players and the Entropia Universe community as a whole.

My suggestion is to introduce an in-game item, such as an implant or a pet, that would allow players to automate certain game functions in a manner similar to the external software many are currently using illegaly. The key difference would be that this solution would be fully supported by the game and would come with a significant cost, such as consuming large amounts of loot. This would build upon the existing "auto use tool" feature, but would take it a step further, allowing for more comprehensive automation.

In addition, I propose that the implant should have a support level based on the weapon’s advancement. The higher the weapon's level, the more advanced the implant required. This would create a deeper connection between the player's equipment and the implant, ensuring that high-level players would need higher-tier implants, which in turn would require more resources to craft. This way, the system would be balanced and provide more engagement in crafting.

However, it is important to consider the potential long-term effects on the game's ecosystem. If the implant requirements scale with weapon levels, it could lead to situations where lower-level mobs are overhunted, as many would choose easier and cheaper option. This could negatively impact the markup of items that drop from these mobs and create unbalace. To address this, crafting implants at every tier should require significant amounts of loot that primarily drops from lower-level mobs, ensuring that these mobs remain relevant and valuable in the game economy.

Furthermore, I believe these implants should be limited-use, rather than unlimited. This would prevent the market stimulation from being a one-off event and instead encourage players to regularly craft and obtain new implants. This would keep the economy dynamic and maintain a consistent demand for resources.

Additionally, to ensure transparency and fairness, I suggest that the use of this automated function should be clearly visible to other players, just as pets currently follow avatars. This would allow players to easily identify who is using the legal in-game automation versus those who continue to use external software. This visibility would help catch those who attempt to circumvent the system and continue to cheat.

The implementation of such a system could have several benefits. First, it would generate additional costs for players, potentially stimulating the economy and contributing to the stability of the in-game market. Players who currently use bots and macros could have a legal alternative for automating certain tasks, thus reducing the risk of bans. This would create a win-win situation, where players get the benefits of automation, and MindArk gains more control over this process while also benefiting from increased loot expenditure.

Additionally, creating a crafting tree to produce such implants or robotic pets could stimulate demand for resources that are currently being flooded into the market by botters. This could help counteract the inflation of certain items and contribute to a healthier in-game economy.

It could offer a way for players to save time by automating repetitive tasks, thus avoiding the monotony of hours spent pressing buttons.

 

[MrBabul]

People would still use macro build in their mouse or keyboard since it wont cost them anything.

 

[jetsina]

I prefer a level playing field, so if MA cannot beat the bots, or don't want to because of their turnovers, allow us all to use automation 24/7, and even more than one avatar to combat the alts problem too.
It's not ideal and doesn't address the past either, but perhaps something like this is a viable way forward?!

 

[BabyOxide]

24 / 7 automation is bad for the game economy.., just look at WOW. be it within the game or outside of the game.. the ultimate goal of automation is to FARM items or to have unfair advantage in certain competitions. etc.

botting does provide cheaper resources that everyone can then buy which in turns helps with economy.
however , but not overdoing it. as overdoing it harms the economy

afk - sweating itself is a burden (even tho its introduced into the game) just see how much sweat is produced on a large scale

crafting it self already has automation built in recently

fully intelligent completely automated botting - referring to mainly hunting and maybe mining (including, healing one self, reviving, buying ammo and repairing weapons, rinse and repeat) for the purpose of to accruing materials to then sell and withdraw is i think bad for the game itself,

however, i think limited scripting is fine, if u die and is afk then fk it,
if u didnt finish the kill and the mob regenerate for the next 5 hours, i think is okay,
if u weapon breaks and just changing targets until u die , that fine,
u are losing decay and wasting ammo,
24/7 hunting for the sake of hitting a hof, we all know, is near impossible to be positive even with normal hunting,
so there is probably unlikely to be positive in the long run and thus is actually profiting the game in the long run

we also have to get one thing straight
those who bot for the sake for botting to get hofs / globals and then gather materials to then just dump it into crafting or TT and lose it all in fact only helps the economy more or just get a lucky payday of which then a few months time throws it back in ....

IT IS THOSE THAT BOT AND THEN SELL FOR PROFIT AND THEN WITHDRAW THE MONEY AND THEN COMING BACK TO BOT MORE are the ones we want to get rid off , they are the ones that kills the game and economy, because they only net gain.

and this can easily be caught by mindark, u bot .. fine.. but if we start seeing u keeping getting pay check after pay check .. then something is wrong...
if u bot and wins competition after competition ... then thats just unfair advantage. once twice may be let u off, but if u consistently bot and win ... something is wrong....

the problem with botting in other games is because there is ZERO cost, time is cost, and they are exchange automated time from multiple accounts to become the richest player in the game , this is akin to printing money and causing inflation

however, in entropia this is completely different, even if u bot on normal routines, ur still spending money.
the only bad thing about botting in entropia ruining the game, is when the botting is used to win competitions or to make profit and runaway.

the game itself has provided all the tools akin to botting
auto shooting function, auto loot rings, long range weapons, revive pills, medi stim, next target button, external legal loggers ...


i know some of you are eyeing me.. im just a fking stupid gambler so.... ur safe from me... i've lost enough, and no amount of fair or unfair advantage can turn my game around at least not in the foreseeable 30 years or so by then im probably dead anyway

 

[B-K-K]

24 / 7 automation is bad for the game economy.., just look at WOW. be it within the game or outside of the game.. the ultimate goal of automation is to FARM items or to have unfair advantage in certain competitions. etc.

botting does provide cheaper resources that everyone can then buy which in turns helps with economy.
however , but not overdoing it. as overdoing it harms the economy

afk - sweating itself is a burden (even tho its introduced into the game) just see how much sweat is produced on a large scale

crafting it self already has automation built in recently

fully intelligent completely automated botting - referring to mainly hunting and maybe mining (including, healing one self, reviving, buying ammo and repairing weapons, rinse and repeat) for the purpose of to accruing materials to then sell and withdraw is i think bad for the game itself,

however, i think limited scripting is fine, if u die and is afk then fk it,
if u didnt finish the kill and the mob regenerate for the next 5 hours, i think is okay,
if u weapon breaks and just changing targets until u die , that fine,
u are losing decay and wasting ammo,
24/7 hunting for the sake of hitting a hof, we all know, is near impossible to be positive even with normal hunting,
so there is probably unlikely to be positive in the long run and thus is actually profiting the game in the long run

we also have to get one thing straight
those who bot for the sake for botting to get hofs / globals and then gather materials to then just dump it into crafting or TT and lose it all in fact only helps the economy more or just get a lucky payday of which then a few months time throws it back in ....

IT IS THOSE THAT BOT AND THEN SELL FOR PROFIT AND THEN WITHDRAW THE MONEY AND THEN COMING BACK TO BOT MORE are the ones we want to get rid off , they are the ones that kills the game and economy, because they only net gain.

and this can easily be caught by mindark, u bot .. fine.. but if we start seeing u keeping getting pay check after pay check .. then something is wrong...
if u bot and wins competition after competition ... then thats just unfair advantage. once twice may be let u off, but if u consistently bot and win ... something is wrong....

the problem with botting in other games is because there is ZERO cost, time is cost, and they are exchange automated time from multiple accounts to become the richest player in the game , this is akin to printing money and causing inflation

however, in entropia this is completely different, even if u bot on normal routines, ur still spending money.
the only bad thing about botting in entropia ruining the game, is when the botting is used to win competitions or to make profit and runaway.

the game itself has provided all the tools akin to botting
auto shooting function, auto loot rings, long range weapons, revive pills, medi stim, next target button, external legal loggers ...


i know some of you are eyeing me.. im just a fking stupid gambler so.... ur safe from me... i've lost enough, and no amount of fair or unfair advantage can turn my game around at least not in the foreseeable 30 years or so by then im probably dead anyway

I don't know who you are - But you are one of the first to get it. Congrats, you have my respect

 

[SoberPhil]

I prefer a level playing field, so if MA cannot beat the bots, or don't want to because of their turnovers, allow us all to use automation 24/7, and even more than one avatar to combat the alts problem too.
It's not ideal and doesn't address the past either, but perhaps something like this is a viable way forward?!

This is one way to go forward which would be fair towards existing players, but is rampant botting a good and sustainable solution for the longterm development of an MMO? It's been going on for years in here and look at the situation now.

Another solution would be to make the gameplay itself more engaging, introduce doge/roll mechanics needed to avoid extra powerful mob hits, change the way critical hits work so that the player would need to perform certain actions to score extra damage...

 

[jetsina]

is rampant botting a good and sustainable solution for the longterm development of an MMO?

My question on that is whether rampant botting is the same for MA as an increase in player numbers, but as increased hours per avatar instead.
If yes, then they'd just need to keep balance due to higher turnovers, but all would be fine, or even better if we all could do a few hours of live play and 20 or so hours of botting every day (if we wanted to).
In no, then why is it not the same? Is it because behaviour would cluster a lot around the same activities that are more easily bottable, which might affect the balance in ways a non-bot MMO wouldn't?

Your suggested solution is something I like, but it would require more work (and thinking) to be done by MA.
I think it is more likely that MA opens up the ease of official botting, rather than fight against it. It's less work for them, and more turnover.
And officially allowing more avatars per player (alts) would help balance things out I think. Maybe introduce families of sub-avatars, so that it is not unlimited, but do something about the sole player per person in a huge universe thing by allowing us more.

 

[SoberPhil]

Your suggested solution is something I like, but it would require more work (and thinking) to be done by MA.
I think it is more likely that MA opens up the ease of official botting, rather than fight against it. It's less work for them, and more turnover.
And officially allowing more avatars per player (alts) would help balance things out I think. Maybe introduce families of sub-avatars, so that it is not unlimited

This is true given the current state of things. I wish it was different tho.

 

[forest900]

 

[das]

I prefer a level playing field, so if MA cannot beat the bots, or don't want to because of their turnovers, allow us all to use automation 24/7, and even more than one avatar to combat the alts problem too.
It's not ideal and doesn't address the past either, but perhaps something like this is a viable way forward?!

& why would losing (read depo'ing ppl) try to compete with that? It's what we've been seeing for a few years now

 

[B-K-K]

& why would losing (read depo'ing ppl) try to compete with that? It's what we've been seeing for a few years now

I’ll let you in on a well kept secret - Botters lose orda way faster than you, even faster than you can imagine

That’s why MA doesn’t do anything about it - that’s what so many people don’t understand - Using bots/macro does not increase your return in any way - And even with 150 looter, you will still not make lasting profit by botting.

Being smart, selling when MU is high, don’t TT you loot - Take every measurement to not loose peds (And no I’m not the best at that - But I know people who are awesome at it )

 

[bigPaul]

Proposal for In-Game Automation item to Address ALL Issues​

 

[atomicstorm]

I’ll let you in on a well kept secret - Botters lose orda way faster than you, even faster than you can imagine

That’s why MA doesn’t do anything about it - that’s what so many people don’t understand - Using bots/macro does not increase your return in any way - And even with 150 looter, you will still not make lasting profit by botting.

Being smart, selling when MU is high, don’t TT you loot - Take every measurement to not loose peds (And no I’m not the best at that - But I know people who are awesome at it )

Sadly, BKK is correct and to do the bottom with high turnover requires a lot of peds - almost like crafting. Sometimes you have to wait a year to sell stuff.

 

[TheOneOmega]

The part largely missing in Entropia is strategic differentiation of contextual gear choices. Many types of UL items are both so costly and so undifferentiated that the optimal "strategy" is to purchase a single item of that type and grind with it in every context eternally. If item choices were less obvious and more dynamic (oh it's raining now, I'd better switch to this gun which does better in rain, but then I lose my crit bonus so I should also change this armor piece, but then I have more speed than I need for this mob so I can switch to this other ring, but it's also night time, so that ring doesn't get this other bonus, etc.), then Entropia gameplay could still be engaging with the actual F-mashing on autopilot. Crafting is at least one step in this direction as Blueprint choice affords being perpetually reevaluated based on market conditions, but there is a lot of room for richer strategic differentiation in crafting as well.