So. Can we talk about the bot problem on off shards here ?

[Kelmvor]

Share tactics ? Ways to stop them ? Why the devs don't ban them ?

 

[Keven2002]

There are a handful of ways to stop them but I'd be careful doing most of them (like luring/blocking) because that can actually get your account actioned; the ol 2 wrongs don't make a right.

The Devs do (supposedly) ban them as per the newsletter stats. This is one of the topics the Devs have purposefully decided to be vague/discrete on how things are handled so nobody knows the full story. Some people say that as long as the accounts can reply to a GM (which would be easy to build into a script) they will leave them alone. Other say that the scripters have it setup so that an alert goes off when a GM appears so that they hop on the keyboard and start interacting normally with GM; the problem here is that they don't seem to really ban scripting, per se, and it's really more about unattended macroing. As long as you are at your keyboard it doesn't matter if you are scripting (according to the people who believe this).

 

[Luc of Legends]

I say don't ban them. Instead, have a way to detect bots/UMers discreetly and then flip a "switch" that makes them grey and 100% attackable regardless of the rule set!

 

[Omnicron]

I say don't ban them. Instead, have a way to detect bots/UMers discreetly and then flip a "switch" that makes them grey and 100% attackable regardless of the rule set!

This is actually a decent idea. Holy moly!

 

[Cinderella]

I say don't ban them. Instead, have a way to detect bots/UMers discreetly and then flip a "switch" that makes them grey and 100% attackable regardless of the rule set!

that would be good if it would work on the right people.

I was running from room to room in the last dungeon and got hit with the afk bug. like an afk person would be running while opening doors and precasting an energy bolt

 

[shootgun]

Just adding this information here, there is an AMA from a Broadsword ex-employee. He said that, they were explicitly instructed to not take an action if the player is around and responding to queries from GMs no matter how suspicions a bot/persons actions are. They also had 3 employees at different timezones covering different shifts. That was 4 years ago.

What is happening now is that, UO is running out of money. So they only have 1 GM. He is offline during the night shift and he is also very busy during the day with higher priority tasks.
Basically, right now there is nobody to go after the bots and it is their policy to not go after them automatically. Also, forget about the bots, there are people using exploits in front of everyone's eyes in the game and they are not banned.

 

[Kelmvor]

This is actually a decent idea. Holy moly!

I mean this is in fel. just kill me but the it doesn't matter. they die. Said guild running the bot still knows you are around workin a spawn and bot is back up soon anyway. Hm maybe it is time to move on. Spawns are supposed to carry a risk of getting raided, not a guarantee.

 

[Kelmvor]

Just adding this information here, there is an AMA from a Broadsword ex-employee. He said that, they were explicitly instructed to not take an action if the player is around and responding to queries from GMs no matter how suspicions a bot/persons actions are. They also had 3 employees at different timezones covering different shifts. That was 4 years ago.

What is happening now is that, UO is running out of money. So they only have 1 GM. He is offline during the night shift and he is also very busy during the day with higher priority tasks.
Basically, right now there is nobody to go after the bots and it is their policy to not go after them automatically. Also, forget about the bots, there are people using exploits in front of everyone's eyes in the game and they are not banned.

aye. i saw that post. wish theyd do different/better. catch more flies with honey you know.