While I have no truck in this BGS thing, I do have a truck in the coding of tools for Elite. I have an extensive collection.
My collection is pretty small, mainly because I don't really have the time and coding skills. It's getting bigger though.
which rely on the Journal as their data source.
(they) couldn't fight (bots), so they reduced all access to possible data streams.
Yeah - I'd hate to see that functionality disabled.
The journal, the API and the public databases like eddb, edsm and INARA really enrich the game.
From a business standpoint, allocating resources to such a shifting problem, brings in no money. And money is what a keeps the game afloat.
I agree, and aside from money - implementing a lot of client-side monitoring and confirmation / authentication routines tends to slow things down. There's lots of reasons Frontier will struggle to find long-term solutions to the problem.
To catch them in the act, you need an FDev employee online and in the same instance, to watch and record what can only be 'an automated act'.
If you care about the issue, please listen to JTrinity give a full briefing from the 58 minute mark in this Podcast. It really does give a solid grounding in what has happened so far. Including "catching them in the act".
http://laveradio.com/lave-radio-episode-216/
No amount of 'our records show' is useful.
I disagree.
There is a lot of useful information to be gained by analysing data if the data is captured consistently with a high resolution.
There are other people who are looking at different data sources, but I am concentrating on what is publicly visible.
As time goes by, and the automated accounts continue without interruption, the cumulative weight of data brings a higher degree of substantiation to the claims.
And the other problem is shifting claims. Previously, it was claimed they were in open, and recently (above) the claim has shifted to 'only in PG and solo'.
This is correct.
Please listen to JTrinity on the Lave Radio Podcast episode 216 from about the 58 minute mark for a full briefing of the state of play and the timeline.
In September - December last year the automated accounts were not only active in Open, but they also had public visibility through EDSM. Lots of good "direct evidence" was obtained at that time and there were two ban waves, that lasted one month each.
what you do have is circumstantial
I don't disagree.
But I challenge the notion that there are teams of "Professional Players" who can sustain Cutter traffic numbers of over 160 24/7 for days at a time.
Name a team?
- Actually don't, as that's the fastest way to get moderated on this topic.
But my point remains - who has the capability?
There is no doubt that FDev probably have a historical log of activity.
I used to think that too. Really.
Again - I urge you to listen to JTrinity from the 58 minute mark in Episode 216 of Lave Radio podcast.
Actually if you pull it up on the twitch stream, you get some of the videos they are talking about as well.
But her briefing will undermine your confidence in Frontier's ability to monitor individual player activity.
I have completely moved to the position that Frontier have very little active telemetry, and zero historical telemetry.
I just hope, FDev don't make the knee-jerk reaction and start limiting the data we currently have. Because it would not fix the problem.
Yeah - I agree with you there.
In fact - in the scenario where botting becomes commonplace and normalised, data limitation will just benefit those who already have a head start.
But in all, I don't think you'll see a lot of action.
Elite is a niche game.
BGS is a niche activity.
The targeted groups represent a tiny minority of the player base.
Yeah it's sad that some people are giving up and leaving the game, but there's really not that many departing.
And in the meantime you have people like me, who are trying to "think like the botter"
How are they doing this?
What tools are available?
Which one are they using?
Why did they have their non-anonymised data linked to EDSM?
How can I parse a menu?
What do the "steps" in the data tell me?
How many instances of Elite could my PC sustain simultaneously?
How would I do this?
How can I make my traffic monitoring macro more robust so it can run while I'm at work?
I'm still having fun, and last night spent a bunch of time in Gateway with some good Alliance CMDRs flogging away at some pew pew.
But three hours during the day was spent doing data entry and tinkering with macros.
If you look at the graph, you'll see they've already moved on from the last system.
They've been gone for a day already, so they should be solidly into their next deployment.
Wherever they are - Cutter traffic should be showing at least 50 by now,
So if anyone knows where they've moved to, please PM me and I'll move my monitor guy.
Thanks,
much appreciated.