Thieving Bots Possible Solutions / Open Discussion

[Im HC]

Hello, as we all know there is a current issue with mass amounts of thieving bots flooding the servers. These bots are diluting the markets with tons of gold. There is also a huge RWT scene behind them. I wont get into those details, but lets just say its worse than any other RSPS I have been on (although it is a newer issue within the past couple years). There is a couple of ways we can steer these bots away, although for the most part they will continue to try and find other methods to make money as this is the most popular RSPS currently. These bots ruin the state of the game by bringing in large amounts of gp and lowering donations to the server because RWTing is obviously a way cheaper way to get donation ranks/items. 

-First off I believe there should be a dedicated staff or two who can tp players and are actively sighting out these bots. I saw Spooky doing this a week or two ago but this is not sustainable since he is an owner and has other problems to worry about/ a 2000 player (consistently online) server to run with the other owner David.  This staff member could even get paid and as David has many trusted staff from his other server he will be able to find someone fit for the job. Some may think that this is a waste of money but in fact it will make the server money. It is an investment. This is because RWT takes away donations from the server since it is a lot cheaper. I have been experimenting with the Ardy hero bots myself. If you kill one Ardy hero, they immediately run to the next. They even have a splasher on one to make sure they can not be stopped by people killing the heros. There is one account W-Y who has achieved 200mill thieving last night and he is still there theiving on world 1 12 hours later. Go check for yourself he may still be there to this minute... Obviously he is a bot and no regular player is playing the game to thieve for days/weeks straight..  

 

-A second way to alleviate this problem would be also hiring someone to actively check trade logs and check for RWTing. Obviously I do not know how much you guys are stopping RWTing as of now since I am not staff, but with the mass influx of bots there still has to be a large amount of players participating in the exchange of Zaros gold for other currencies. In my opinion it should be a 2 staff team, both checking bots and Rwting for 4-6hours a day. In the long run this will make the server money, and help the economy by bringing back donations and stopping the dilution of gold coins.

 

-A third fix to this problem could be a cooldown on thieving for coin bags. There could be a certain limit to coinbags you can obtain in a 6hour period. Obviously this can be tinkered for the hour period and amount of coinbags at the time. I will leave this up to the community and staff to decide. Obviously they can switch bots but this makes the process more tedious by having to do so, and retrain an accounts thieving up. 

-A fourth solution could be to add a minimum total level required to thieve for coin pouches. If you check some of the bots they have very low total levels. This is another way to make the process slightly harder. Again I will leave it up to the staff and community to decide the total level required but it should be somewhere in the 750 range for regulars, and perhaps nothing for realists or lower for realist accounts. 

 

By adding all of these solutions together we can crush these bots attempts at RWTing which both ruins the economy and takes donations away from the server we all love. This ultimately takes away from the servers budget and in the end limits content/quality for us real players. 

 

Thanks for reading and please add your opinions/criticism.

Edited December 27, 2020 by Im HC

[hoodrat]

Thank you Kanye, very cool!

[grian]

Thank you Kanye, I'll put down what i put in discord.

 

1. there were 2 staff who did shit like this, they both quit cos server is shitty, unfortunate

2.same as above

3. mouse recorder, automated waits

3.1 . fast has made a good point in conversation on discord, it would limit gold being brought in regardless, i think this is fine

4. aids for regular players which usually start acc by thieving, i.e not good at all lad

Edited December 27, 2020 by grian

[Slayex]

Thanks for sharing @Im HC. I must admit, even as an Ironman - these bots are very frustrating. If we step back and look at the big picture, the continuation of these bots will be the downfall of Zaros. From an administrative perspective, the increased player count is great - but only in the short term. In the long-run, these players who risk being banned for botting are obviously also going to risk being banned for RWTing. Not only are these bots making the prices of items dramatically increase (making gameplay for legitimate players harder), but it's also reducing the number of donations Zaros receives. It's in the best interest of everyone involved to remove bots from the game entirely. 

I feel as though a server wide bot prevention initiative is necessary (seeing as thieving is not the only bot people are using).

Here's a simple suggestion:

On random interval every 15-45 minutes an NPC appears, following your character.

Once this character appears, you will be able to finish your current task, but must speak with him before being able to do anything else afterwards.

This NPC will randomly ask you to either answer a question, complete a puzzle or perform an emote - and reward you with both coins and an experience lamp upon successful completion. 

Failure to complete the NPC's task within a certain timeframe will teleport you to a zone - making bot detection much easier for staff members. 

Additionally, for people skilling/pvming while watching shows/films (not botting) - a notification option for the client when this NPC appears would be great (sound + bubble). This way people can't complain/say they didn't notice the NPC. 

 

[Im HC]

4 minutes ago, Slayex said:

Thanks for sharing @Im HC. I must admit, even as an Ironman - these bots are very frustrating. If we step back and look at the big picture, the continuation of these bots will be the downfall of Zaros. From an administrative perspective, the increased player count is great - but only in the short term. In the long-run, these players who risk being banned for botting are obviously also going to risk being banned for RWTing. Not only are these bots making the prices of items dramatically increase (making gameplay for legitimate players harder), but it's also reducing the number of donations Zaros receives. It's in the best interest of everyone involved to remove bots from the game entirely. 

I feel as though a server wide bot prevention initiative is necessary (seeing as thieving is not the only bot people are using).

Here's a simple suggestion:

On random interval every 15-45 minutes an NPC appears, following your character.

Once this character appears, you will be able to finish your current task, but must speak with him before being able to do anything else afterwards.

This NPC will randomly ask you to either answer a question, complete a puzzle or perform an emote - and reward you with both coins and an experience lamp upon successful completion. 

Failure to complete the NPC's task within a certain timeframe will teleport you to a zone - making bot detection much easier for staff members. 

Additionally, for people skilling/pvming while watching shows/films (not botting) - a notification option for the client when this NPC appears would be great (sound + bubble). This way people can't complain/say they didn't notice the NPC. 

 

I like it, appreciate the suggestion

[Andreas]

On 12/27/2020 at 7:12 PM, Im HC said:

Hello, as we all know there is a current issue with mass amounts of thieving bots flooding the servers. These bots are diluting the markets with tons of gold. There is also a huge RWT scene behind them. I wont get into those details, but lets just say its worse than any other RSPS I have been on (although it is a newer issue within the past couple years). There is a couple of ways we can steer these bots away, although for the most part they will continue to try and find other methods to make money as this is the most popular RSPS currently. These bots ruin the state of the game by bringing in large amounts of gp and lowering donations to the server because RWTing is obviously a way cheaper way to get donation ranks/items. 

-First off I believe there should be a dedicated staff or two who can tp players and are actively sighting out these bots. I saw Spooky doing this a week or two ago but this is not sustainable since he is an owner and has other problems to worry about/ a 2000 player (consistently online) server to run with the other owner David.  This staff member could even get paid and as David has many trusted staff from his other server he will be able to find someone fit for the job. Some may think that this is a waste of money but in fact it will make the server money. It is an investment. This is because RWT takes away donations from the server since it is a lot cheaper. I have been experimenting with the Ardy hero bots myself. If you kill one Ardy hero, they immediately run to the next. They even have a splasher on one to make sure they can not be stopped by people killing the heros. There is one account W-Y who has achieved 200mill thieving last night and he is still there theiving on world 1 12 hours later. Go check for yourself he may still be there to this minute... Obviously he is a bot and no regular player is playing the game to thieve for days/weeks straight..  

 

-A second way to alleviate this problem would be also hiring someone to actively check trade logs and check for RWTing. Obviously I do not know how much you guys are stopping RWTing as of now since I am not staff, but with the mass influx of bots there still has to be a large amount of players participating in the exchange of Zaros gold for other currencies. In my opinion it should be a 2 staff team, both checking bots and Rwting for 4-6hours a day. In the long run this will make the server money, and help the economy by bringing back donations and stopping the dilution of gold coins.

 

-A third fix to this problem could be a cooldown on thieving for coin bags. There could be a certain limit to coinbags you can obtain in a 6hour period. Obviously this can be tinkered for the hour period and amount of coinbags at the time. I will leave this up to the community and staff to decide. Obviously they can switch bots but this makes the process more tedious by having to do so, and retrain an accounts thieving up. 

-A fourth solution could be to add a minimum total level required to thieve for coin pouches. If you check some of the bots they have very low total levels. This is another way to make the process slightly harder. Again I will leave it up to the staff and community to decide the total level required but it should be somewhere in the 750 range for regulars, and perhaps nothing for realists or lower for realist accounts. 

 

By adding all of these solutions together we can crush these bots attempts at RWTing which both ruins the economy and takes donations away from the server we all love. This ultimately takes away from the servers budget and in the end limits content/quality for us real players. 

 

Thanks for reading and please add your opinions/criticism.

Thank you for taking the time to write a suggestion, this should no longer be an issue.