Is there a cheating epidemic with Rare Goods hauling?

[DemiserofD]

I get it, rare goods were really good this week.

But...things like this make zero sense with JUST that:

Even at the best possible efficiency, that's fifteen man hours of hauling.

For a system nobody was really even fighting for, for the last, I dunno, 12 hours of that.

And that's just the most egregious example. There are dozens more, with similar absurd totals.

What possible reason is there to have multiple systems going to 200k with nobody else in range to compete? Systems going to 200k or 300k, despite zero competition? Systems at 700-900k with only moderate resistance on the other side? The ONLY reason I can think for this is that someone set up an automatic hauling macro and left it on while they went afk.

Is there a cheating epidemic here?

 

[Bigmaec]

No cheating, just people doing 400 ton runs for Archon Delaine (in my case) in systems the boss told me to haul to
There is just no oppositon because frankly why should there be? Most of those systems are in the middle of nothing or already controlled territory. In case of Guerrongal I put in maybe 30000 control points myself, by hauling stuff (in open by the way) there instead of doing the CG (need the Pacifiers).

 

[Agrippa]

There are a lot more examples, which especially in view of the overall hauling hours, not just of a single system, but of the powers overall make OPs point likely.

 

[SlickPBW]

For a while, 600 ton runs of cigars were available.

 

[Agrippa]

We had 400 ton runs before. The current wave exceeded that massively. And the point made by the OP is the excessive amount that makes no sense, since it could have been used to acquire an additional system, if a player would have been behind the wheel. This looks as if a bot did it.

 

[Bigmaec]

For a while, 600 ton runs of cigars were available.

Relics, but yes

 

[DrakeAurum]

Yeah, I did plenty of 400 ton runs with the relics, not working to swing any systems, just to gain merits and increase rank. Went from mid-teens rank to over 60 in a few days, stopped when I'd got all the module unlocks I was after.

Personally I spread out my runs between half a dozen different acquisition systems, not visiting any one system more than 2 or 3 times.

 

[CMDR Nathan Atterlein]

We had 400 ton runs before. The current wave exceeded that massively. And the point made by the OP is the excessive amount that makes no sense, since it could have been used to acquire an additional system, if a player would have been behind the wheel. This looks as if a bot did it.

Usually against calling for bots, but such senseless waste of merits is indicative of a distinct lack of conscious input.

 

[SlickPBW]

Relics, but yes

Dangit! you're right. When I got old, 2 things really bothered me: my memory started to go,.... and something else I can't remember right now.

 

[bilowik]

Top 10 enjoyers and those who don’t realize excess acquisition merits don’t carry over. Quicker to keep doing the same system rather than burn time trying to find the a new system every handful of trips.

Maybe there’s something about botting in Elite that I don’t understand but I can’t follow the idea that if someone could manage to bot rare trade they’d be incapable of having it cycle through a list of unoccupied systems after every X number of runs? Or even just read the journal for current merit count and then cycle to the next system once it is complete? Those two things are logistically dead simple comparatively.

Edit: Or are we claiming that some other simpler activity is being botted and relics were meant to mask that? I’d say that’s quite a claim when a simpler and more obvious answer is already there.

 

[Robert Rockbite]

Relics are not the only reason for the merit madness.
For example, recent CGs have pushed some systems to boom and miners went brrr.
A colonized system of mine has been mined to > 500 % Acquisition - and there is no opposition in range.

 

[CMDR Nathan Atterlein]

Top 10 enjoyers and those who don’t realize excess acquisition merits don’t carry over. Quicker to keep doing the same system rather than burn time trying to find the a new system every handful of trips.

Maybe there’s something about botting in Elite that I don’t understand but I can’t follow the idea that if someone could manage to bot rare trade they’d be incapable of having it cycle through a list of unoccupied systems after every X number of runs? Or even just read the journal for current merit count and then cycle to the next system once it is complete? Those two things are logistically dead simple comparatively.

Edit: Or are we claiming that some other simpler activity is being botted and relics were meant to mask that? I’d say that’s quite a claim when a simpler and more obvious answer is already there.

It's just a possibility. Bots likely work during player downtime, and I'm pretty sure you can't make it read current merit levels (especially how infrequently it updates), so the only option for bots is to just let it rip until the conscious one returns.