While I think the capcha thing is an extremely bad idea, your numbers should probably rather be based on active player counts and not all time copies sold so you're way, way off here. Also consider that the community based stuff is a big part of what actually keeps players around long-term in MMOs and the effects go beyond the individuals here.
Proposal Discussion Anti Botting Agreement Idea 3.1 Player incentivised, VR compatible in-station "not-a-literal-Captcha"
- Thread starter Jane Turner
- Start date
While I think the capcha thing is an extremely bad idea, your numbers should probably rather be based on active player counts and not all time copies sold so you're way, way off here. Also consider that the community based stuff is a big part of what actually keeps players around long-term in MMOs and the effects go beyond the individuals here.
Allow me to direct you tohttps://www.sagittarius-eye.com/downloads/archive/#issue18
Article is on "Ghost Ships" and shows some rather interesting evidence.
You can do the same for bgs bounties. Park your afk turret boat in a res site and watch the fireworks. If you want more action you could let your npc fly the mother ship and stash the fighter behind a rock. No bots, beside FDev provided, ones needed.
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Jane Turner
Volunteer Moderator
Would you not contemplate rewarded mission variation - which is actually what the basis of the idea is?
That would just be a 'extra line' to code.. The arms race was already mentioned.
Why are you failing to get botting accounts banned in the first place?? Cause you can not provide the names?
*(Edit: The Original post was changed, so I have removed my post.
So what was here will not be reposted by me.)
& New: Please don't implement annoying stuff just to spite the alleged bots...
So what was here will not be reposted by me.)
& New: Please don't implement annoying stuff just to spite the alleged bots...
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Jane Turner
Volunteer Moderator
Possibly - though my understanding is the Peer to Peer nature of the game is something of a handicap. There are other suggestions to this end in the pipeline.
I mean, witch hunting is one of the most valid concerns about this whole initiative, so yes, providing names that could end up with innocent CMDR's harassed by a well intended, but nonetheless misguided initiative is not something that we want to happen.
It's important to point out, that every suggestion, love it or hate it, comes out of FDev's inaction on the issue. The community doing their job for them is not ideal, but way better than doing nothing.
I'm convinced it'll either be too simple or too much work to implement, the only thing mentioned that I think could have merit without being too hard to implement is this based on this:
- Should make it harder for simple scripted bots [anecdotal evidence suggests 5th columning in Power PLay is dramatically reduced after interface changes]
Again.. Arms race
I think a minimal amount of arms racing is okay to at least create a barrier to entry if significant gameplay changes are too much work. It's just a subjective question of what the reasonable amount is - which is really for Frontier to decide.
Ah perfect! I've been looking for someone to give me the active player count. FDev will only give how many copies have been "sold?". So, how many active players are there? All we have to go off of is the information given to us, otherwise, we're just making stuff up.
But seriously, the group of people who will actually be driven away from the game by BGS botting problems or the actual botting problem itself must be so insignificant to FDev that in the multiple years that people have been complaining about it, FDev has done... what? Well, I guess not much or we wouldn't still be talking about it. And who has been driven away? Was there some mass exodus no one seemed to notice? Seems there are many of the same people complaining about it now as were years ago. Sure, someone might point out 10, 20, or even 100 people by name who quit the game over botting (although I doubt it), but it's not a thorn in FDev's side to lose them, at least not enough to invest money in finding ways to annoy their players with ani-botting hoops. So regardless of the numbers, FDev has shown through their action, or inaction, over the years, that either botting is not a significant problem or the number of people quitting the game must be insignificantly small compared to whatever the "active player" base is and so a solution is not worth the investment. The community is greater than people RP'ing playing the BGS.
...either that, or they have a solution, it took a really long time to implement, and they just aren't talking about it yet but it will be here with Odyssey. However, if I were a betting man, and I am, I wouldn't bet on this being the case.
¯\(ツ)/¯
An anecdotal article in a fan magazine from four years ago is not evidence of a widespread problem worthy of a drastic, game-altering reaction by the developers.
As a console player I can't help but ask, but how much control do programs such as VA and the like give over a ship?
If it's enough to fly a ship, the supposed botting might be so bad because FD is allowing their use (even though they technically violate the EULA), and the botters are likely taking advantage of it, knowing that FD can't use the information that these programs are running to ban them, as they might end up banning non-bots.
That could be why FD needs manual reports from players.
If it's enough to fly a ship, the supposed botting might be so bad because FD is allowing their use (even though they technically violate the EULA), and the botters are likely taking advantage of it, knowing that FD can't use the information that these programs are running to ban them, as they might end up banning non-bots.
That could be why FD needs manual reports from players.
That's the group the article was talking about... so... ಠ_ಠ
But also...
I rest my case...
Again, need real evidence that this is a widespread, player shedding, game killing problem that requires all players to prove they're human.
That's the group the article was talking about... so... ಠ_ಠ
But also...
I rest my case...
Again, need real evidence that this is a widespread, player shedding, game-killing problem that requires all players to prove they're human.
I mean, sure thing. It's okay to be skeptical, but my threshold is different. As it was mentioned earlier, if we go by "absolute undeniable proof" with enough proof to convict them of magnicide in the hague, asking this out of players is a bit strange since there's no way we can provide you with said proof. We don't own the company, we can't do those kinds of analytics.
The thing is though, if you think this isn't at least suspicious enough to warrant some raised eyebrows, in truth you're not being honest with yourself, that or willfully ignoring the evidence for reasons I wouldn't be able to guess.
This isn't even necessary, it should probably only be applied to accounts that are suspicious. And to come to the conclusion that something is suspicious, well, it is far easier to do that, than to start handing out permabans which could end up with innocent CMDR's in the crossfire.
The short of it... is that 99.9% of commanders wouldn't ever be bothered by such a thing, because they'd never encounter it. Human beings don't complete 1000 missions a day in the same system for 6 months straight, 24/7, with 40 other accounts in the same system doing the exact same thing.
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So you have proof?