[Celestrana]

The "Bot Motel" is much like the "Rat Motel". The rats check in, but they don't check out. In this case it's bots.

Quote

Disclaimer:



The idea behind the "Bot Motel" is to help catch and get rid of very basic bots. I don't have any experience with bots nor do I understand how bots identify whatever they are cutting/mining/fishing/etc nor do I want this thread to become a discussion about the complexity of bot programming, as it is starting to become. I want this thread to be as productive and positive as possible. If you don't agree with a person's idea, state why you don't agree and respond with an idea that you believe to be better or improve upon the idea.

The Idea:



The "Bot Motel" would be a random event that teleports the bot/player to an island or a version of ScapeRune that mimics the actual gaming area to trick the bots it's at the same tree/rock/fishing spot (Resources) it was cutting/mining/fishing. All the Resources will be in the same place, appear to be the same but behave entirely different. Instead of the Resources giving out their respective item like usual, it will give out nothing so that the bot's inventory does not fill up and thus they do not need to go to a bank. The only way out of the "Bot Motel" is by human intervention.

Blipi2 said:

sounds great, but what if you like as a normal player.. walk around with 100 mil or something (not that I would walk around with that much while skilling) but still and those pick-pocketers steal every little penny? Surprised

or other valueables Razz



Still, Great Idea Smile



hmm.. How about you get mugged everytime you chop/mine/fish something of course you would get a message about this before you do any actions

kelbri said:

Here's the real kicker... Why not, instead of imps pick pocketing, or setting up fake bankers or anything like that, that makes your stuff dissapear, just make it so that...



You never get anything from the rock, tree, fishing spot that you are working on...



The tree looks like a Yew, you can click it like a Yew, it gives you all the same messages as a Yew, but you never get a single log from it. Just chop and chop and chop. That way, it fools the bot into thinking it's cutting down a Yew tree, but because their inventory never fills up, they never think that they have to bank, just keep chopping. Then, you can have your "mass bannings" every day at 'time X'. The question is, would this fool bots, or do they stop doing their macro after X amount of time if they don't get anything, and move on?

zaaps1 said:

Not an island, a macro and easily detect that it's not in the right place. May an exact replica of the place it was in? The Mysterious Box would not work. How do you think macros can avoid (not avoid, but you know what I mean) what makes you think they won't avoid this?



Good basic idea, but you need to work it out a bit more

Getting Rid of the Bots:



Since we want to get rid of the bots, the one sure fire way is to permanently ban ("perm ban") the botting account. We want to give the person running the bots as much grief as possible since we'll assume that the bots are running totally without human intervention. We make this assumption just to keep the "Bot Motel" as simple as possible to achieve the goal of getting rid of the bots.



So, under what conditions does the "perm ban" occurr? It occurrs if the bot does not leave the "Bot Motel" after an appointed time limit. On a server side appointed time, the "Bot Motel" is flushed of all its bots. This can happen on an hourly basis or daily basis, just to keep the time period reasonable. As a safe-guard to prevent players from inadvertently being "perm banned", 5 minutes prior to the banning time, no further players/bots are teleported into the "Bot Motel". Everybody that is still stuck in the "Bot Motel" is given a chance to leave by one of the methods described below. Since this is just an idea and it isn't fully realized, we'll discuss and determine what is a suitable "escape method".





What Happens in the "Bot Motel":



The bots will have free reign to continue whatever they're doing. Sometimes players will inadvertently get transported to the "Bot Motel", such as the way random events work. So, how does the player escape from the "Bot Motel"? We give the player an exit that only a player can get through.



Here are some of the ideas that have been presented thus far.





1. The "No-Action" Action Timer



Upon entering the "Bot Motel" the player will see a message stating that they've entered the "Bot Motel" and in order for them to leave, they'll have to wait a short time period and they'll be teleported out. When they are waiting, they cannot perform any in-game action with the exception of using the chat system. This is similar to one of the tests in the quest Recruitment Drive in which the player must do absolutely nothing to pass the test.



The player will see how a red-text timer counter in the corner of their playing area, counting down until the player will be teleported out of the "Bot Motel". In order for this counter to start counting-down, they must not do anything at all. If the player even moves a step, the counter will reset. To not make the wait painfully long, the count-down timer will have a maximum of 15 seconds.

Packer15 said:

Well actually I think the timer is an amazing idea, extremely inventive. But no matter what you do people will always complain so I would just keep the timer, but maybe like give you 15 seconds to put in a pin number (it will tell you the number to put in) and the time it takes you plus the accuracy determine how long you have to wait.

2. The "Mysterious Box" Scenario



This is a "Mysterious Box" -- we can think of a better name later -- that you need to solve in order for you to get out of the "Bot Motel". Since some of the posters have claimed that bots can easily defeat this problem, here are a few possible scenarios that we can discuss or expand upon.





A. The Wieldable "Mysterious Box"



We've had some rather strange wieldable items before but never a box! But, as a wise man long ago once said, "There's a first time for everything". So, upon entering "Bot Motel", the bot/player is given a "Mysterious Box" on one of free equip slots. If the bot/player has all of their inventory slots occupied then it will go into their inventory and needs to be equipped manually. Once equipped, the player will have to "Operate" and solve the puzzle. We can discuss the puzzle.

allan1114 said:

Thats a good idea. The box can appear in a random place in your inventory or maybe it would be wielded as one of your weapons or armor. That way the bots cant be programmed to click the box.

B. The "Mysterious Box", the "Mysterious Chest" and the "Escape Button"



You're given a "Mysterious Box" that you need to solve to get three more "Mysterious Boxes". Solving these three "Mysterious Boxes" will get you three puzzle pieces, that when put together, turns into a "Mysterious Key". You then use this "Mysterious Key" to open a "Mysterious Chest" to get an "Escape Button". You then use/operate this "Escape Button" and get teleported out of the "Bot Motel".





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



So everybody, submit ideas to me and I'll add to the main post to help flesh out the idea further. If this somehow becomes a popular thread, I might submit this onto the Official Forums. Anything to help us get rid of bots is worth a try, right?

[Theoknight2]

wow thats pretty good. Make fake shops too that you pay for it, but you don't get the goods.

[kinggabe]

Pretty interesting idea you have there, It does seem pretty good and almost flawless, but i think the perm banning is a little over the top, I think they should just stay there forever until they just stand around for the minute or so.

[Packer15]

This is actually a pretty good idea except people will complain about having to wait for a minute. But I'm not sure if you should put it on forums cause now all the people who make bots or macros can read it.

[Celestrana]

kinggabe said:

Pretty interesting idea you have there, It does seem pretty good and almost flawless, but i think the perm banning is a little over the top, I think they should just stay there forever until they just stand around for the minute or so.

I think we want to get rid of the bots since that island will be very crowded after an day or so of bots being teleported to the island.



Maybe there are separate islands for different bots? A Tree Island, an Ore Island, a Fishing Island (Celestrana: but what's the point? oh well), a Green Dragon Island, a Blue Dragon Island, a Black Dragon Island (maybe), etc etc etc.

[Celestrana]

Packer15 said:

This is actually a pretty good idea except people will complain about having to wait for a minute. But I'm not sure if you should put it on forums cause now all the people who make bots or macros can read it.

What do you suggest instead of the timer?



A super "Mysterious Box" that gives you three other M.Boxes that you have to open to get a "Puzzle key" which you put together that gives you a randomly generated "pin" that you have to enter on a chest that opens up and you get an "Escape button" that you have to use to get teleported off the island?



Let's have some ideas!

[Packer15]

Well actually I think the timer is an amazing idea, extremely inventive. But no matter what you do people will always complain so I would just keep the timer, but maybe like give you 15 seconds to put in a pin number (it will tell you the number to put in) and the time it takes you plus the accuracy determine how long you have to wait.

[Blipi2]

sounds great, but what if you like as a normal player.. walk around with 100 mil or something (not that I would walk around with that much while skilling) but still and those pick-pocketers steal every little penny?

or other valueables



Still, Great Idea



hmm.. How about you get mugged everytime you chop/mine/fish something of course you would get a message about this before you do any actions

[Celestrana]

Blipi2 said:

sounds great, but what if you like as a normal player.. walk around with 100 mil or something (not that I would walk around with that much while skilling) but still and those pick-pocketers steal every little penny?

or other valueables



Still, Great Idea



hmm.. How about you get mugged everytime you chop/mine/fish something of course you would get a message about this before you do any actions

I like your suggestion! I'll add it in after dinner or something.

Let's keep the feedback coming, people!



Actually, we'll skip the Imps mugging you blind and just have all the trees, ore rocks, fishing spots behave like in the Manage Thy Kingdom mini-game.



Maybe cutting/mining/fishing one of the resources puts an item in your inventory that happens to look like a log/ore/fish that has a stacking counter on it. This counter increases your waiting time as the stacking number increases and this will add 5 seconds to your exit timer. Since the bots will blindly continue cutting/mining/fishing, their counter will increase to an incredibly long time and they will essentially be unable to get off the island. This counter persists even after you log out of the game.



What does everybody think of this idea? I'll edit by first post later (again).



EDIT: The stacking counter multiplied by 5 is added to your initial count down timer and the timer doesn't start decrement if you're cutting/mining/fishing while on the island.

[kelbri]

Here's the real kicker... Why not, instead of imps pick pocketing, or setting up fake bankers or anything like that, that makes your stuff dissapear, just make it so that...



You never get anything from the rock, tree, fishing spot that you are working on...



The tree looks like a Yew, you can click it like a Yew, it gives you all the same messages as a Yew, but you never get a single log from it. Just chop and chop and chop. That way, it fools the bot into thinking it's cutting down a Yew tree, but because their inventory never fills up, they never think that they have to bank, just keep chopping. Then, you can have your "mass bannings" every day at 'time X'. The question is, would this fool bots, or do they stop doing their macro after X amount of time if they don't get anything, and move on?

[zaaps1]

Not an island, a macro and easily detect that it's not in the right place. May an exact replica of the place it was in? The Mysterious Box would not work. How do you think macros can avoid (not avoid, but you know what I mean) what makes you think they won't avoid this?



Good basic idea, but you need to work it out a bit more

[littleboy]

I love this idea



We'd need quite a few new servers to fit these bots in tho





I like the idea of a (insert macroe'd item or skill) that would never give you anything.

[Celestrana]

zaaps1 said:

Not an island, a macro and easily detect that it's not in the right place. May an exact replica of the place it was in? The Mysterious Box would not work. How do you think macros can avoid (not avoid, but you know what I mean) what makes you think they won't avoid this?



Good basic idea, but you need to work it out a bit more

An island or otherwise, I don't know the complexity of bots nor do I know how they work. I also don't want people discussing various techniques that bots use to identify the tree/rock/fishing spot they're at because that will get this thread locked very quickly, which I don't want to happen.



Now, the Mysterious Box can be immediately placed into the player's inventory to give them the Escape Button to use, so I'm not sure how the bot will "avoid" getting the Mysterious Box?



Can you suggest a plausible solution?

[Guthix_Girl]

Celestrana said:

Maybe cutting/mining/fishing one of the resources puts an item in your inventory that happens to look like a log/ore/fish that has a stacking counter on it. This counter increases your waiting time as the stacking number increases and this will add 5 seconds to your exit timer. Since the bots will blindly continue cutting/mining/fishing, their counter will increase to an incredibly long time and they will essentially be unable to get off the island. This counter persists even after you log out of the game.



What does everybody think of this idea? I'll edit by first post later (again).



EDIT: The stacking counter multiplied by 5 is added to your initial count down timer and the timer doesn't start decrement if you're cutting/mining/fishing while on the island.

oh oh and maybe once the stacker gets to a certain number like in the thousands or maybe millions i dunno.. something bad happens to the bot.. like a perm ban or something that comes out to kill it? i dunno just an idea. a bad one if that but hey whatever

[nomar04]

A mysterious box is one of the easiest things for a bot to overcome. The server sends the bot the information it is looking for, and the bot then interprets that into which square, even at a certain time. Any ideas that need input from a bot are very easy to overcome, and do not stop macroers.



The idea where there is a tree, rock, etc. that does not give you items is good to prevent a bot from becoming full, and not perform any actions.



I don't think that this will stop all bots, because some might be able to figure it out without any new programming, because some are very advanced. Eventually, they will find out how to get past this random. It will stop a lot of bots, and banning them will force them to make new accounts, and start over. Just like any random, it will become a nuisance to players, and won't stop bots.

[Celestrana]

Guthix_Girl said:

Celestrana said:

Maybe cutting/mining/fishing one of the resources puts an item in your inventory that happens to look like a log/ore/fish that has a stacking counter on it. This counter increases your waiting time as the stacking number increases and this will add 5 seconds to your exit timer. Since the bots will blindly continue cutting/mining/fishing, their counter will increase to an incredibly long time and they will essentially be unable to get off the island. This counter persists even after you log out of the game.



What does everybody think of this idea? I'll edit by first post later (again).



EDIT: The stacking counter multiplied by 5 is added to your initial count down timer and the timer doesn't start decrement if you're cutting/mining/fishing while on the island.

oh oh and maybe once the stacker gets to a certain number like in the thousands or maybe millions i dunno.. something bad happens to the bot.. like a perm ban or something that comes out to kill it? i dunno just an idea. a bad one if that but hey whatever

LOL! For some reason that reminded me of the old text-based Zork adventure games.



Zork game:

"Your lantern sputters out and you are in the darkness." You try to move East three times to get back into a lit area. On your second East move you get the message "You've been in the darkness too long. You've been eaten by a Grue."

[allan1114]

Thats a good idea. The box can appear in a random place in your inventory or maybe it would be wielded as one of your weapons or armor. That way the bots cant be programmed to click the box.

[Albel_8492ed]

Thats a good idea... no wait this is a great idea. A random event that could get rid of bots... i support

-Support-

[Lucapher]

I dont think this will be put into the game since the random events work fine now and they are still banning bot users

[Celestrana]

Lucapher said:

I dont think this will be put into the game since the random events work fine now and they are still banning bot users

Read my Disclaimer at the top.



If it's not a positive or productive post, then why bother posting at all? Plus, all suggestions and speculations are hypothetical update suggestions.



They do not need to be real nor do they need to be taken overly seriously by the Jagex team. We're all fans who would like to see different things in the game that can enrich the gaming experience. Have you not played a game and said to yourself, "If this game had this particular feature, then I'd be able to do this awesome and useful action."



Sometimes I think I've lost all faith in humanity because of all the negativity that people tend to generate.