So Fdev announced the new features coming on the 23rd, and for newbies this is fantastic. I'm sure everyone remembers their first time trying to figure out how the hell to navigate supercruise and undoubtedly this will make learning experience less daunting.
But unfortunately that's where the positive nature of these “training wheels” features ends, because undocking, and supercruise throttle where arguably the hardest parts of scripting for botters. The undetectable version of bot software we know of rely on visual cues to reference its position or it's place in a sequence of events such as undocking, lifting off, aiming for the mailslot and being out of mass lock range. Now the game does the majority of this for them, providing botters with a reliable in game solution.
The details of botting and their effects on the game we detailed here. But in a nutshell, botting has proven to be a destructive force in BGS and Powerplay. It has been the cause of a subversion of powerplays intended purpose and its enjoyable mechanics, it has caused the collapse of BGS operations across the bubble, doing damage to multiple Alliance PMFs, contributing to the collapse of Mobius' faction, and attacks which have bled over to other targets like Privateers Alliance.
And throughout this FDev has been silent. Milk-toast responses, little to no feedback and no actions on our reports.
On a personal note, it's clear to me that FDev has a vision for this game, and that vision is hindered by their previous iterations and features. BGS was put into the game to give life, and players have turned it into a gameplay feature. Powerplay was dissolved into a husk of the strategy experience it was meant to be, and with no development on it core players are leaving and the gameplay continues to stagnate. I feel the same way about multi crew, it feels tacked on and not even close to the type of gameplay FDev wants or wanted, and that shows as they try and wrestle in additional features such as exploration multicrew.
So the best solution? Just delete powerplay. At this point Fdevs clearly going for a different experience to the one we currently have. One that favours the macro experiences of a player to the broader experiences of large groups. BGS is a much larger beast, with too many player factions to attack to cause as big an upset as a focused group of 11 powers. but I wonder how long before even BGS isn't safe.
For me, the lack of foresight from Fdev before they started developing these new features is really a betrayal to the players that spent so much time trying to report and clear up their game of abusive practices. The lack of response to those fighting bots, the lack of action on bots, and now the active development of tools that benefit bots, shows me whos side FDev is really on.
So congratulations bots. You win.
But unfortunately that's where the positive nature of these “training wheels” features ends, because undocking, and supercruise throttle where arguably the hardest parts of scripting for botters. The undetectable version of bot software we know of rely on visual cues to reference its position or it's place in a sequence of events such as undocking, lifting off, aiming for the mailslot and being out of mass lock range. Now the game does the majority of this for them, providing botters with a reliable in game solution.
The details of botting and their effects on the game we detailed here. But in a nutshell, botting has proven to be a destructive force in BGS and Powerplay. It has been the cause of a subversion of powerplays intended purpose and its enjoyable mechanics, it has caused the collapse of BGS operations across the bubble, doing damage to multiple Alliance PMFs, contributing to the collapse of Mobius' faction, and attacks which have bled over to other targets like Privateers Alliance.
And throughout this FDev has been silent. Milk-toast responses, little to no feedback and no actions on our reports.
On a personal note, it's clear to me that FDev has a vision for this game, and that vision is hindered by their previous iterations and features. BGS was put into the game to give life, and players have turned it into a gameplay feature. Powerplay was dissolved into a husk of the strategy experience it was meant to be, and with no development on it core players are leaving and the gameplay continues to stagnate. I feel the same way about multi crew, it feels tacked on and not even close to the type of gameplay FDev wants or wanted, and that shows as they try and wrestle in additional features such as exploration multicrew.
So the best solution? Just delete powerplay. At this point Fdevs clearly going for a different experience to the one we currently have. One that favours the macro experiences of a player to the broader experiences of large groups. BGS is a much larger beast, with too many player factions to attack to cause as big an upset as a focused group of 11 powers. but I wonder how long before even BGS isn't safe.
For me, the lack of foresight from Fdev before they started developing these new features is really a betrayal to the players that spent so much time trying to report and clear up their game of abusive practices. The lack of response to those fighting bots, the lack of action on bots, and now the active development of tools that benefit bots, shows me whos side FDev is really on.
So congratulations bots. You win.
