Bots in Multiplayer: Fact or Fiction or Both?

[Geochild]

I was playing an async multiplayer game with the player HearOlexio. I can't be certain if the game started with real humans playing, but I very intentionally made sure the game had set players and not AI. I had a discussion with HearOlexio in the previous game we both were in as well where the same thing happened. We were playing against a computer and not other humans.

I took this screenshot hoping to find out if these other two players were bots.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3328704094

After that I did some reading and found an old thread where the developer commented that this occurs because humans join the game and then drop out, so the in game AI takes over.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1689500/discussions/0/4330854141562788440/

But this has me wondering, could these in fact be other accounts that are simply running their own bot to play against other players and bots? Perhaps the bot creator wanted to have some fun seeing if they could do it? Perhaps the bot creator is farming for achievements? Perhaps the bot creator is farming games to add to it's library for training?

What do other humans do to find games with other humans? I was asked to join this group a few months back but it's just the guy who created it, another, and myself.
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/duneimperium
Needless to say it's pretty quiet over there.

I'm really trying to find out what other folks are doing to play real humans who want to play a FULL game and not drop out if they are bored or are loosing or other motivation that I am unaware of. Do any humans have any advice for us other humans?

I think that if a person created a bot for the purposes I speculated on above it would be kind of neat. In fact, I'd willingly sign up to play against other peoples bots for fun and training. :) I'd just like to know and understand when it's happening.

* Most of us understand that there is no ranked mode yet and I think that discussion has been rehashed so many times that perhaps you would consider leaving those kinds of comments out of this tread. What are folks doing NOW to find games with humans? Thanks!

-Michael

[Twelvefield]

Don't do what I do, and you'll be jess fine.

[Truelazy]

Originally posted by Geochild:

I was playing an async multiplayer game with the player HearOlexio. I can't be certain if the game started with real humans playing, but I very intentionally made sure the game had set players and not AI. I had a discussion with HearOlexio in the previous game we both were in as well where the same thing happened. We were playing against a computer and not other humans.

I took this screenshot hoping to find out if these other two players were bots.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3328704094

After that I did some reading and found an old thread where the developer commented that this occurs because humans join the game and then drop out, so the in game AI takes over.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1689500/discussions/0/4330854141562788440/

But this has me wondering, could these in fact be other accounts that are simply running their own bot to play against other players and bots? Perhaps the bot creator wanted to have some fun seeing if they could do it? Perhaps the bot creator is farming for achievements? Perhaps the bot creator is farming games to add to it's library for training?

What do other humans do to find games with other humans? I was asked to join this group a few months back but it's just the guy who created it, another, and myself.
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/duneimperium
Needless to say it's pretty quiet over there.

I'm really trying to find out what other folks are doing to play real humans who want to play a FULL game and not drop out if they are bored or are loosing or other motivation that I am unaware of. Do any humans have any advice for us other humans?

I think that if a person created a bot for the purposes I speculated on above it would be kind of neat. In fact, I'd willingly sign up to play against other peoples bots for fun and training. :) I'd just like to know and understand when it's happening.

* Most of us understand that there is no ranked mode yet and I think that discussion has been rehashed so many times that perhaps you would consider leaving those kinds of comments out of this tread. What are folks doing NOW to find games with humans? Thanks!

-Michael

Hi!
No offends, but your post is really weird... I mean why do you think someone is creating bots to play with you?
I think people sometimes leave from the beggining just because they didnt get a position or leader they want and the game takes control over them.
Concerning your question i would advise you to create live games and hope players wont leave;)
But yeah, leavers is a huge problem...

[Geochild]

I can see how I could have been more clear. I am asking a few questions in my post and could have put this more succinctly.

I believe that the vast majority of what is happening is people leaving the game and those left are playing against the in game AI.

I am speculating about the creation of bots and wondering if this goes on. If it does, how and why?

I am asking if people have a different method of finding games. You suggest setting up live games and perhaps I'll have better luck. Thanks for that suggestion.

[View The Phenom]

Try setting up games through Discord, in my experience that tends to result in fewer leavers (although it doesn't eliminate them) since you're putting in effort to at least "meet" your opponents. And if it has any sort of system/method for tracking people who do spoil games by leaving, they'll simply be noted and weeded out for future games.

I don't know which server you could use, maybe Dire Wolf's official server? I only play with friends when doing multiplayer, but when I still played against "randoms" in other games Discord was always the best option for titles like this. Anything else just makes it really easy for players to leave whenever they want.

[Geochild]

View The Phenom: Thanks for the tip. I think that is great advice. I'll try going to Dire Wolf's Discord.

Truelazy: I've played a few games now where I joined a game and just waited for others to show up to play. These were worth the wait and were quite enjoyable.

[Geochild]

Thought I'd update this by plugging the new Xi Ranked Mode! Just got done with my first game and this is all I really want, a proper incentive to keep people from quitting. I'm ok enjoying my tea while I wait to queue up!