BioIce

Computer. Ever since I got introduced to gaming via Runescape, it's often been the computer unless it's exclusive to handhelds. If I get stuck on getting the game working either I call on some helpful techies - har de har har - or search for a solution myself. There are places that have really, really old things you won't find in print or physical form anymore. Places where they got all sorts of things neatly arranged enough that a librarian wouldn't find fault with it. Just need to dig, is all. Best thing is, it's all free - though for some you might consider social interaction an easy enough cost to pay. I've been taught that with the right tools, going on a treasure hunt on the internet can be safe enough. Never got a virus. And also use your head.

Quote from the developer of another game on botting: Jae-Hyun Bae - Bots are a result of repetitive play. Bots happen because the player goes through boring repetitive gameplay and they don't feel like doing it. I assure you, Blade & Soul will never run out of content to make the players feel bored while they play. Source - http://www.bladeandsouldojo.com/topic/1225-g%E2%98%85star-2010-blade-soul-qa/ The Koreans sure know plenty on bots.

This reminds me of the preachers I'd find on their bots spamming Christianity in the Grand Exchange. I found it amusing, but for them it must've been serious business.

Sure it reflects what kind of persona you are playing. So what? The potential for evil has always been there. Doesn't mean players will most certainly slide into botting over time. It'll tempt them or it won't and reinforce their beliefs, but why worry over that unless they're your friends/family/clan? It's their own trial, so to speak. Worry about your own. Unfortunately, trying to help people change sounds like an excuse to force them to change if all they want is for you to leave them be and play your own game.

Try appeal to authority. Jagex's game, Jagex's rules. People are made up of individuals, and each one has their own idea of right and wrong. That means their idea of what is right may not necessarily be the same as yours. And in a game, if there is rampant cheating at the foundation then it means something in the game mechanics is broken. It's not the players alone, it's also the game at fault.

Have a shameless plug, below's a link to some proof it actually happened: http://forum.tip.it/topic/241579-great-orb-project-a-night-in-the-game/ EDIT: one of my favorites out of that.

I think you meant conscious choices, but whatever. A MMORPG like Runescape provides an escape, a short respite from your responsibilities. You can be whatever and whomever you please. Role-play, in short. The RP in MMORPG has to stand for something. Most people don't play this way. They project themselves onto their avatar, so they only have a main and maybe a pker or two, share private info with their friends, take their relationships outside the game, etc. That's fine. It's very human. But if you take it too seriously to the point that you're raging like a greater demon every time someone sets up a cannon or crashes your spot, oh boy :rolleyes: It's just a game. As for bots, leave that to Jagex to enforce (hah!) or spend your money elsewhere and get out of members. Or you can try to take matters into your own hands, sure, but do remember Runescape is not a second life. It's bloody entertainment. Trying to attach what you see as the breakdown of morals in current society to botting, is like...blaming domestic violence on Bollywood action movies. But by all means, if you suddenly get the urge to hunt bots and find it fun, go ahead. What I think of such doesn't matter, because it's your own idea of fun. Because I've nothing to do right now, let me spin you a brief yarn. TL;DR version - Girl makes new account that has no ties to her main, said account builds a clan revolving around a minigame, destroys same clan and community when it got boring and trolls them long-term, then plays something else on RS, blah blah blah moral or immoral person in reality or not, still pays taxes and abides by the law IRL.

Sounds epic. How do you find all of these RPGs? :blink: Digging on the internet. It's like one lovely giant treasure hunt. I remember having help with tracking down old movies in some obscure irc channels and boards, asking around for ftp servers where I can download them. Things have changed, but they haven't either. I wish I had some of Kirill's talent, but I can't carry a tune to save my life. Whistle or hum, maybe, but sing? Compose? Heh.

So the means justify the ends for that lot, then? To be honest, I've gone down that route before, and I didn't really consider it as playing. I had an entire backlog of books, stories, and work to get me through to my 99s. The only times I "played" and paid attention were during clan events, quests, managing trade and the minigames. Playing this way once was enough, and when the trade limit era began there was an end to that play style for me. There's little hope in expecting for any change in attitude if all skills are raised to 120, because that is what the crowd who have plenty of 99s under their belt would want. Players want to get further and further away from what's seen as become increasingly common: too many people have 99s. Somehow they believe their ranks and reputation become tarnished because of that.

Perhaps to you it would feel worthless that way. To her it mightn't be, wouldn't know anyway since you and I aren't privy to her thoughts when she reached 120. So tell me, how is playing in w61 "cheating" to you then, when another particular pure f2p player got his 120 dg on that very world?

Have another song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kiaQyYq3yg This is from The Dragon Knight Saga. Kirill Pokrovsky's the composer.

Two seconds because it doesn't look like grinding, mayhap? Or maybe because it's not your cup of tea? But that is beside the point. My point being that I should be able to, but currently I cannot. There's just little variety in normal firemaking aside from mainly burning different types of logs. That pattern goes for a number of other skills, mainly the gathering ones that are botted most. If new content cannot equal or beat normal grinding then there isn't any point doing it, a practical attitude that's been there for a long time. Little anyone can do about it. However, if Jagex's little activities and diversions gave experience equal to normal grind methods perhaps there'll be a change. Then it'll come down to how clunky and "fun" their minigames are. You'd soon see a shift in the community at large from "how fast can I get to 99" to "what's fun to get to 99?" They're not likely to up the experience rate though, what with all the nerfs they put into experience gain for certain skills in dungeoneering. Which is a pity.

This again, Animorph? Tez from the short time I was acquainted with her has always maintained that she doesn't want to be on the list. Ever. No rank, no problem. For you. As to how Tez did it - you ought to have spotted her plenty of times in world 61 after she was done with world1/7 for dungeoneering. Start a witch hunt by all means, but don't be surprised when you come up with nothing but chatter.

What point was missed? Unless you give xp fast and now then the ipod generation doesn't like it. There's plenty of players who don't mind the 'grind' and actually treat it as part of the game. It's called patience and the feeling that something you've worked towards has been worthwhile. Try it sometime. Still missed the point. <_< The point is that we'd prefer CONTENT over more levels -- i.e. - making skills "useful", etc. :thumbup: Exactly. As beaten to death as it is, the reason the majority of people grind is to reach what they think is the real meat of the game, meaning the point when the skill becomes useful or gives them access to content. Granted, there should be a balance between grinding and unlocking new content because there is such a thing as too much to do. Heh. Take firemaking. If they made firemaking more flexible - hell, I wish they allowed me to interact more with the environment using this skill instead of having it be primarily for lighting cooking fires. If I use a tinderbox on an Ardougne guardsman I damn well ought to get more than the nothing interesting message happens, I want to see that man trailing smoke and running around like a...well, a man on fire. I get some experience for firemaking and a chance for combat experience when guard reinforcements descend on me. If I wanted to stab a dwarf with a chisel, I ought to be able to and get my ass kicked for it. As it were I have to settle with a pickaxe, which is fine enough, I suppose. Simple things like having everyday tools interact with the everyday environment, giving experience in certain skills - even as a simple text message - would help tremendously with lifting the grind. Far as I'm concerned Runescape has sandbox gameplay elements Jagex has barely scratched the surface of. EDIT: Come to think on it, logs should burst into flame when I use fire combat spells on them, with higher level spells giving a risk of turning low level logs into blasted cinders instead of a roaring bonfire. But what do I get? "Nothing interesting happens."

:lol: Ah ty! And keep up whatever you're doing, be it good, no good, bad, or terrible. :smile: We (or at least I) depend on you. Peaceful song. Almost too peaceful. Heh. Omitting the "e" in a youtube link leads to one of the most common scams in its history.

A most fortunate unbirthday to you. Now if I can just work up the mood to completely disable that blasted comment feature in profile, I'd not be prodded at replying. Have a song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I82d6NBRFjA No worries, it won't blast your ears. As to what I've been up to - no good, as usual.

Oi, Caj. What'd you think the bot developers were then, some malignant devils spawned from the frozen depths of their parents' basement with wayyy too much time on their hands? (I'm guessing you thought they'd be much, much older, say someone in their late 20s.) It might not be a cut and paste job, but it sure reads like one of those shoddy articles some fools would make to drive traffic onto their blog in order to get a quarter of a penny in advertising revenue. However, I wouldn't be adverse to a rewrite as I mentioned before. There are plenty of times when people in here have attacked the poster and not the poster's argument, sure. Then there are some folk in here that like to speak in blunt terms and get mistaken for attacking. But if one side generally refuses to rise to the bait then it tends to die down. As for the prevailing attitudes you see as "elitist" - IMO blame the game's current problems. It's been poisoned with neglect and greed. Hardly a place promoting general goodwill in the community at large. EDIT: I say current, but these problems - such as botting - have always been there. Only the problems seem to have intensified with the return of FT.

Mmm. Take a look at your constitution level on the statistics display when that happens.

Atmosphere, and people wanted more underwater-related things. It's a pirate quest after all.

He supposedly researched his subject. I damn well expect there to be evidence of this research, preferably presented in blunt layman's terms for those who can't understand words with more than one syllable. If he wants to keep stating the obvious, fine by me - but don't expect rainbows and unicorns from everybody if they start critiquing it. From my own recent experience I've bumped into at least three clans that have a predominant number of botters and it's always for the same reason that they bot: too much grinding. It can be argued that they haven't any patience, that it's a MMORPG so what the hell were they expecting when they signed up, but they've the mindset of, "we are here to play and have fun. Why should we waste time doing something boring when we could be having fun?" They bot to their desired levels to get access or an advantage in what they think is the actual content of the game - monster hunting/slayer, quests, certain minigames - because the grind outmasses the content. A lot of 'em are returning players from the free trade era. There were a few who wanted to find out how to sell gold for IRL cash in order to maintain membership but they were in the minority, and it was either frowned upon or snapped up by scammers.

Let the boy retreat. His ego is bruised as it is. Mayhap he will take the time to properly write an article this time.

So, Noble. You like reading things that reinforce your point of view on matters like botting, is that correct? That's like enjoying a propaganda broadsheet. But to each their own, I suppose.

Reads like a sensationalist article with absolutely no depth whatsoever. It'd be below a third-rate text advertisement. Even those have standards. Cite your sources. Include more detail. Bring things to a conclusion instead of merely laying things out. What are you getting at? The ideas presented - what there is of 'em - aren't laid out well. You give hints of things only to jerk the reader's attention elsewhere. As it is, this draft brings nothing new to the table by reciting common knowledge and would hardly be tip.it article worthy. Granted, there are articles that shouldn't have made the cut in previous Times but this is painfully more so if it were published in the Times. I repeat, there's hardly any depth to this piece. Research is mentioned but little of its details are given out. Kindly go back to the drawing board and redo this.

I seem to recall when the abomination called Final Fantasy XIV first came out, a lot of the gameplay/interface was based around anti-botting. Made for a very clunky, half-baked, unresponsive experience. The tick system in Runescape is bad enough.

OMFG REPORTED. <3: Oh hi. As if they'd do anything. I've been using adblock since...well, feels like forever. :rolleyes: And even if they did, they won't get 'em all. Hah! Restarting servers at random can end up being a headache for players. I'd be interested to see a machine-learning bot become proficient in Runescape. But it'd work. What is wrong about the server restarting once a day, at most? Unless you play for 18 hours a day, you won't really be effected. Start a farm run? Finish it, make a samdwich, and come back. DKing? Go up, make a sandwich, and come back. Skilling? Sandwich and come back. PKing? Post on RSOF how you lost a kill of someone with dss and claws and come back. It would work until bots come along with an auto-login script. Come to think on it, they might already have since they can bypass the auto-logout feature.