The Botting Epidemic in ESO

[βird]

It’s getting a bit ridiculous. I can’t enter Bal Foyen, or any of the starter zones to try to harvest crafting materials, without seeing at least 7 bots using a script and running from resource node to resource node.
No matter how many I report, the next day a new one is back in the same area, with some dumb name like xxxyyyzzz. These accounts are all being made for third-party sites that sell gold for irl money.
When is Zenimax going to fix the crazy bot problem? Can’t you shut down the websites, or limit the number of accounts one IP can have to prevent multiple bot accounts? Or have some code that detects if a player is using a script to harvest resources?
Eventually if this isn't taken care if, it can cause problems with the in game economy due to gold/price inflation. I've seen it happen to WoW, i've seen it happen to TF2, and this game is next if something isn't done to stop the problem.

[Crixus]

引用自 Psyringe：

引用自 Marauder：

They are very easy to notice, they pause after each kill or node before moving to the next, they basically move as you would imagine a bot to move. Pick up a node, pause and move on.

Hm. How would you discern this "botting" behavior from a player who harvests a node, alt-tabs out of the game to look at a guide or map, then goes back into the game and and goes to the next location that the guide/map shows him?

I actually would expect some _humans_ to pause, but not bots, since those just follow a script and hence don't have to go out of the game to look something up.

Again, I'm not saying there are no bots, but I don't see why "pausing after harvesting" would be a safe indicator for spotting a bot. If that were the basis for reporting characters as bots, I would expect a lot of false positives to happen.

Do people actually farm nodes that way ? That seems like a very slow way of farming, you can see any node around you very easily and just run and collect them without needing to know exactly where they are at. And after farming for just a short time it's pretty easy to learn where all the nodes are anyway.

But yes I see your point, maybe not all of them are bots, but most of them are very easy to notice, it just means following them a little while if you really want to find out. Them pausing is only one giveaway. The way they fight is another.

One other big thing I noticed about bots is they don't seem to know if a node has already been harvested, where any human would, simple by looking. Even if someone is using a mod to see nodes they wouldn't run all the way up to it if it has already been taken, a bot does though.

[βird]

引用自 Psyringe：

引用自 Blazebeak：

I decided to take a few hours out of my time and made a handy guide that explains everything you need to know about the bot problem in ESO, since some people didn't seem to know much about it. It is a bit long but it covers pretty much everything. Hope you guys enjoy~

This is an excellent guide. While I was critical of the thread here, and still think that some of your criteria are too weak (like "auto-declines duels") and may lead to the reporting of honest players who just use a low-level alt for resource gathering, the wealth of information in this guide, the clear and succinct writing, and the excellent example images and videos, outweigh these concerns.

I would still suggest to add the information that there are also honest players who use low-level alts for resource gathering, and that these might fulfill several of the criteria as well. I think (6) is the strongest criterion, for everything else I can see a valid reason for an honest human player to exhibit the same behavior (not sure about (3), will have to run a test on that).

But in any case, good work!

I did say on the last 2 points that not all low level players are bots, and should only be used as a red flag, not that they are bots. I did state that in 2 seperate parts. Durning the ways to identify, and before the section before. By auto decline I mean as soon as it is sent, it gets declined. Not even half a second before sent. But I do understand, that one can be kinda weak.

[βird]

引用自 Marauder：

引用自 Psyringe：

Hm. How would you discern this "botting" behavior from a player who harvests a node, alt-tabs out of the game to look at a guide or map, then goes back into the game and and goes to the next location that the guide/map shows him?

I actually would expect some _humans_ to pause, but not bots, since those just follow a script and hence don't have to go out of the game to look something up.

Again, I'm not saying there are no bots, but I don't see why "pausing after harvesting" would be a safe indicator for spotting a bot. If that were the basis for reporting characters as bots, I would expect a lot of false positives to happen.

Do people actually farm nodes that way ? That seems like a very slow way of farming, you can see any node around you very easily and just run and collect them without needing to know exactly where they are at. And after farming for just a short time it's pretty easy to learn where all the nodes are anyway.

But yes I see your point, maybe not all of them are bots, but most of them are very easy to notice, it just means following them a little while if you really want to find out. Them pausing is only one giveaway. The way they fight is another.

One other big thing I noticed about bots is they don't seem to know if a node has already been harvested, where any human would, simple by looking. Even if someone is using a mod to see nodes they wouldn't run all the way up to it if it has already been taken, a bot does though.

They do farm nodes that way. Even I do it. It is just more efficient to go to a zone with tons of nodes close to eachother and farm them when you need some materials to craft or to sell for gold, rather than wander around in the large zones where the nodes are more spread out. It's why if you go to Bal Foyen in the day, specificly Dhalmora Wayshine and look around, you will see high level players zooming around the perimeter on mounts looking for nodes.

[Psyringe]

引用自 Blazebeak：

By auto decline I mean as soon as it is sent, it gets declined. Not even half a second before sent. But I do understand, that one can be kinda weak.

I was under the impression that this is always the case, when the player has activated the auto-decline flag in the game settings. And since many players don't want to do PvP at all, I would assume that the percentage of players who have this checkmark set, is fairly high. I mean, why would you put up with 1-3 unwanted dueling requests any time you enter a bigger town, when you can just click a checkmark in your settings and be done with it? ;)

[βird]

引用自 Psyringe：

引用自 Blazebeak：

By auto decline I mean as soon as it is sent, it gets declined. Not even half a second before sent. But I do understand, that one can be kinda weak.

I was under the impression that this is always the case, when the player has activated the auto-decline flag in the game settings. And since many players don't want to do PvP at all, I would assume that the percentage of players who have this checkmark set, is fairly high. I mean, why would you put up with 1-3 unwanted dueling requests any time you enter a bigger town, when you can just click a checkmark in your settings and be done with it? ;)

That may be true... I will remove that. Ty.

[john_jet_au]

Yeah, I always have auto-decline on. I don't want to duel other players and I got sick and tired of having to respond while trying to do other things, when a request came in. It happens alot when you are lockpicking a treasure chest or just before a Dolmen appears.

As for Bots. I often harvest resources in Bal Foyen. And if you can run and sprint which I often do and good couple of hours can net you a load of resources.

However it is not only Bots who ignore Runestones. I have a crap-load of these already and I will run past them, as 1- They are not a valuable commodity to sell. Other players don't want to buy them 2- I'm level 50 in Enchanting so I only now need to use a limited number of runes for writs. So, collecting runes with no-levels, is pretty pointless and I tend to leave them.

I had people often ping me, to accuse me of being a bot but its usually those players on mounts who still miss out even though I am running. It happens. Just like when I get to a node and someone gets to it at the same time and claims it. Its annoying but you move onto the next one.

Also I might add, its not hard to recognize the patterns of nodes spawning in a place like Bal Foyen. So no doubt again someone could accuse me of being a bot, becasue I recognise and take advantage of the spawn rates, getting me more resources.

If you are ever in Bal Foyen at the same time as me - My characters name is Tobias'en - don't be surprised if I don't acknowledge you, but I'll be too busy playing the game.

[βird]

引用自 john_jet_au：

Yeah, I always have auto-decline on. I don't want to duel other players and I got sick and tired of having to respond while trying to do other things, when a request came in. It happens alot when you are lockpicking a treasure chest or just before a Dolmen appears.

As for Bots. I often harvest resources in Bal Foyen. And if you can run and sprint which I often do and good couple of hours can net you a load of resources.

However it is not only Bots who ignore Runestones. I have a crap-load of these already and I will run past them, as 1- They are not a valuable commodity to sell. Other players don't want to buy them 2- I'm level 50 in Enchanting so I only now need to use a limited number of runes for writs. So, collecting runes with no-levels, is pretty pointless and I tend to leave them.

I had people often ping me, to accuse me of being a bot but its usually those players on mounts who still miss out even though I am running. It happens. Just like when I get to a node and someone gets to it at the same time and claims it. Its annoying but you move onto the next one.

Also I might add, its not hard to recognize the patterns of nodes spawning in a place like Bal Foyen. So no doubt again someone could accuse me of being a bot, becasue I recognise and take advantage of the spawn rates, getting me more resources.

If you are ever in Bal Foyen at the same time as me - My characters name is Tobias'en - don't be surprised if I don't acknowledge you, but I'll be too busy playing the game.

A ton of people ignore runestones, but I meant more of the fact that you will see them harvesting anything they find except runestones. Maybe I should make that more clear though.

[Sir Seal The Slippery]

Also had the,,pleasure''to encounter a bot train in glenumbra.
Around 10-15 people taking the exact same path,all of them templars,all of them spamming the same skill.
Took the time to make some screens and report all of them(not a easy task i might add,because they are constantly moving and its not so easy to report them that way).

On the other side,i also saw some people in battlegrounds who played like they are bots,but they could really just be people who have no idea how stuff works.

[kip]

引用自 Blazebeak：

I decided to take a few hours out of my time and made a handy guide that explains everything you need to know about the bot problem in ESO, since some people didn't seem to know much about it. It is a bit long but it covers pretty much everything. Hope you guys enjoy~
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398934561

A good guide on bots!

A couple of more points in regards to identfying bots -

All bots will follow the exact same path with no variation to it. If you're unsure if a player is a bot, follow them for awhile and watch. A normal player, even if they're running a harvesting path, will vary in their course (e.g they might jump over a rock one time but not jump over the same rock again when they return to it). A bot will perform the exact same action everytime.

Bots will often (but not always) have nonsensical names. Single harvesting bots are usually level 3, using 2H and dressed in prisoner garb.

A bot is incapable of forward thinking like a normal player is. Therefore bots will not (indeed, cannot) dodge out of the red nor can they sidestep to avoid attacks. Bots also cannot step backwards.

[Pancake is Me]

Might be anti-social non RP players that act like bots :P I used to make a mistake and report them for being bots only then did they spoke.

[βird]

I'll add any small bits of important info people are talking about and think may be needed in the morning.
Not trying to shill or anything, but feel free to upvote or downvote the guide or whatever, so more people can read it and be informed about the problem.

[kip]

引用自 Blazebeak：

I'll add any small bits of important info people are talking about and think may be needed in the morning.
Not trying to shill or anything, but feel free to upvote or downvote the guide or whatever, so more people can read it and be informed about the problem.

If you want to add this to your guide, the 'Bot Scanner 2000' add-on is extremely good for reporting bots as it makes it quick & simple and provides Zeni with all info such as location etc. It's also excellent for reporting bot trains

http://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1818-BotScanner2000.html

[Sogreth]

How can you be sure they are bots? Many players will mindlessly farm resources. I do it.

I play WoW to, and do it there as well. I remember a conga line of farmers gathering Starlight Rose. And not a single one of them was a bot.

Maybe they aren't banning them, because they aren't bots.

[sax5thave]

If you really think its bots and it's that bothersome, check their path and just run it backwards. Do that long enough and you'll get most of the mats and the bots won't. Of course, being bots, the actual person isn't have their time wasted. If it means that much to you.

[Prince Vegeta]

How is this still an argument? xD
Google "ESO Bot Trains"
https://i.redd.it/srxgushj75qy.jpg
Argument over.

Now that's over, I don't really think there's much to do about it if folks are willing to spend so much money on throw away accounts.