Recurring theme in ealand...

[Guest]

... private pizza houses.

Sure, they're not making as much money as they once did, but one can still make a decent amount of money on pizza. Especially when one person collects from all 4 sims, working all day long with max or near max skills.

The devs have long been taking suggestions for this problem. Is there an actual plan to eliminate these bots yet? I have heard about dynamic payouts, but will that significantly hurt the amount of money these bots are earning? Keeping in mind that many of these houses are running 24 hours per day, even a sharp decline in payout could still be overcome by the amount of time invested by these botters.

I think the only solution is to institute some element of randomness, which a bot cannot reproduce.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Is there an actual plan to eliminate these bots yet?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes.

I'm sure you understand why I can't go into more detail.

 

[Guest]

Thank ya much Pari

 

[Monkeybear]

I have a private pizza house.. dosn't mean I'm botting

 

[imported_SimTripps]

Me too - and no bots here, only humans &amp; bears lol...

 

[NightFlyer]

Apparently this is not a priority, according to Lee Fancey.

So much for a "new economy". The bots will take out all the money from the closed pool. No wonder our pay on money objects keeps going down.

Yeah, this is fun huh?

If EA plans to do anything at all regarding bots, and lord knows we have showed them many ways to combat them, they better get on it.

I won't be holding my breath.

Or maybe this is part of the plan to "encourage" us to buy EA money? HMMMM something to think about.

 

[Guest]

You have to be careful about how you take on a bot. Not only to you have to combat current bots, but you have anticipate their next move to get around what you have done to stop them in the first place. If all the devs due is fix the current problem, people will find a way to get around what they have done. This is why dealing with bots is really hard. You have to think of what are these botters going to do after you derail what they are currently doing.

Now just because a house is a private pizza house doesn't mean they are botting. When I had 4 accounts I would run all 4 in house alone. Why do you ask? Because it's easier not having to deal with anybody else when you are controlling 4 sims at once. On other occasions, I've been hanging out with friends and didn't want anybody to disturb the good, relaxing atmosphere.

You can't always assume that someone is botting. As far as it not being a top priority, I'm sure it is. I mean honestly, if you were planning on hitting botters hard would you let them know you were coming? I sure wouldn't. It would be a sneak attack. They wouldn't see it coming. This way, it ensures it will be a while before they come back because they have to make new accounts and new bot programs to get around whatever new has been done.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

**DELETED**

After reading the smart comments below this one, I've discovered I don't really care and I find that dwelling on people having their own paid for sims on a lot with their house closed to the general public is really none of anyone else's business.

Too many people are blowing crap out of proportion.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

True, Night, so true....

You want to know how to catch botters? Methodical click actions are a strong indicator. We as players cannot detect this, but admins and/or devs that have access to server logs can. Any actions that are repetitive, with each action timed at the exact same interval each time, are major suspect. The programs are coded that way - an action, or string of actions, are recorded and 'played' over and over. Bots will never be eliminated completely. Let's face it - there will always be some bratty programmer geek who will try to beat the system. It's a challenge for them - that's why they do it. It's the policing of it that's needed. And what about scamming? This to me is even MORE important than botters, since what a scammer is doing is an actual real life felony, and against the law.

But I am pissed at the silly dynamic lowered payouts too, and the unnecessary 'overwork penalties' that are levied on us all. Why must we suffer because of these few tricksy players? I say raise the payouts and eliminate the penalties, and start monitoring logs for suspect actions instead and dealing with them accordingly! Woot!

Sorry for the rambling - had to get it out lol... Ahhh I feel better now rofl...

 

[NightFlyer]

You missed the entire point of my post but thats ok, you usually do, let me reiterate for you.

If the bots get too out of control, which it will if not handled immediately, the economy will be skewed.

 

[NightFlyer]

..."But I am pissed at the silly dynamic lowered payouts too, and the unnecessary 'overwork penalties' that are levied on us all. Why must we suffer because of these few tricksy players? I say raise the payouts and eliminate the penalties, and start monitoring logs for suspect actions instead and dealing with them accordingly!"..



*APPLAUDS!!* loudly

 

[Roger Wilco]

<blockquote><hr>

I'm sure you understand why I can't go into more detail.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually no, I don't.

Call me jaded, but considering that EA has a five year history of less than stellar results at combating the macro users in TSO, I really don't understand the need for secrecy at all. Perhaps having your dev team developing yet another super duper secret plan without community input, comment, and suggested improvements might not be as smart idea of an idea as developing a better plan publicly. Last time they did it we got screen shift (or was it the OWP?) and we all know what a rousing success those have been at stomping out bots. Let's be honest, every one of EA's attempts over the years to fight macroing have failed.

As nice as coming up with a new plan is, combating macro's will continue to boil down to what it has always been - making judgment calls based on the evidence - and that's going to be a lot more dangerous in the soon to be EA Land world of simoleans having a real world value, don't you think? If not, go ask your legal department about the real life lawsuits banned players have been bringing against the Linden's.

I realize this is going to come off as sounding pompous, but yeah, there are indeed people playing TSO who know a lot about macro’s, the buying and selling of simoleans, detection countermeasures, etc, than you might think. Whatever you decide, tread carefully. The good ol’ days of being able to take money and ban accounts without fear of legal repercussions are coming to an end.

 

[NightFlyer]

This hasn't anything to do with paid accounts on lots closed to all but themselves, who cares about that? pfft

This has to do with actual third party programs (known as "bots") being used unchecked by EA.

You might want to try to keep up.

 

[NightFlyer]

BRAVO!! *applauds* Well said.

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

<blockquote><hr>

Apparently this is not a priority, according to Lee Fancey.

[/ QUOTE ]

With cash-IN, why would they want to solve the botting issue? Seriously.

Dynamic economy + bots = drained money, = more people buying cash from EA via paypal = company staying afloat. We've dealt with bots for years, and people still play, so it's not as if they'd figure we'd all of a sudden leave due to botters.

I love politic$.

 

[NightFlyer]

Exactly... see my post above on that.

 

[Guest]

Dynamic economy + bots = drained money,

Do you think the botters will merely sit on their Simoleans? They will either sell them back to EA or will sell them to other players. Or will try to until they trigger alarms and Sarah puts them out of business.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

This hasn't anything to do with paid accounts on lots closed to all but themselves, who cares about that? pfft

This has to do with actual third party programs (known as "bots") being used unchecked by EA.

You might want to try to keep up.

[/ QUOTE ]
You wanna know who cares about that???
Well, I'll tell ya - a buncha knotheads who believe that's it's impossible to lock your doors unless you are botting - therefore, being the upright and lawful citizens that they are, they report other players over and over and over. Never mind that the players in question are not really botting - these Sherlocks have it all figured out. The result is that many innocent players get fed up with the constant harrassment and leave the game - they did it before (to my FRIENDS!) and they will do it again.

As for this:
<blockquote><hr>

You might want to try to keep up.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm a little tired of self-righteous (biblical beasts of burden) deciding that their message is too important to be weighed down with common courtesy and respect.
If you want to start a fight, go to Iraq.

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

<blockquote><hr>

Dynamic economy + bots = drained money,

Do you think the botters will merely sit on their Simoleans? They will either sell them back to EA or will sell them to other players. Or will try to until they trigger alarms and Sarah puts them out of business.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, but if bots are constantly running, the money is constantly being drained, whether or not the simoleans are passed onto another player. I'm not bashing the dev team - if they are taking care of bots, good for them, but if they aren't, I can see why.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

They'll need to limit the amount of sell-back per acct. - or lower it drastically, like 1 cent per 100,000 simoleans - or EA will lose money lol...

I might get skewered for saying this, but the whole idea of a 'controlled' or 'fixed' economy in the game in the first place bothers me to no end lol.. I WANT my sim to be a millionaire, and if I work my sims hard and honestly to get there, I deserve it and so be it. That's what democracy is all about. Keeping us from getting there and controlling how we play the game is, IMHO, akin to communistic and 'big brother' governing. In real life, don't we have the right to live how we please as responsible adults, as long as it doesn't harm ourselves and others, in this nation? Shouldn't our game and our sims be like this as well? How would we like it if someone came along and said, 'Dear Customer: You have waaaay too much money in your Bank of America account... We will now be controlling what you earn, and will be wiping your account clean, to ensure that you earned your money honestly...'... Think about it rofl....

 

[imported_debslee]

Guys, I have read this post and hesistated to comment, but I think that you can summise, attack, critise all you want but at the end of the day, there will always be scammers/bots out there - you will never rid the world of them, and I think that we know very little of what goes on behind the scenes. As Pari said above, its acknowledged, and so leave them to get on with it. If a lot wants to pizza and close their doors, that is their perogative...they are playing the game as they want and it doesnt necessarily mean they are bots.

As Lee said on a lot in EA Land the other night, you will see dynamic payouts change constantly - from bigger payouts, to smaller and perhaps even nothing! Its all based on the economy (the bigger picture) and something we all need to get our heads around. So lets build a bridge, get over it, or take a bag of cement and harden up.......I think its going to be interesting but fun times ahead!

*steps off her soap box*

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

Yep, if ya got your doors locked and your at a money house....ya must be bottin! I think that players need to stop being so paranoid and nosey about what everyone else may be doing at their homes.

After all these years, my houses are all locked including my money house. Though I rarely land there, sometimes I'll get my sims together for a nice round of pizza. Not so much for the money but just because it's fun to do.

But since I have 4 of my accounts {which have been paid ever since created} and I have them in a 'private' house doing pizza without aid of any software....then I could be turned in for botting?

I happen to know of a paranoid skitzo that sits in his 'closed' house with his multiples either crafting, skilling, etc. and he will 'peruse' the city map looking for what he 'thinks' are botters. He will sit and complain about how TSO won't bust the botters. Kinda ironic that it isn't considered botting to have multiples on a lot unless they are making simoleans?

 

[Guest]

Not so much for the money but just because it's fun to do.

Precisely. Have payouts on money objects cut way back if the house is locked. That way even if bots are running in a locked house, they won't be making much money. And people can have fun doing money objects with their multiple accounts or with their friends in peace.

If people want full payouts, they can leave the property open for inspection.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

Sorry, but that's a silly idea... Guess you didn't read my replies lol...

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

I'm not sure cutting back on payouts just because a house is locked is really the answer. Personally, if I'm doing pizza and I don't have a roomie available, it's almost impossible to leave your house open.

Instead of slapping hands and going to all the effort to make it a tedious job to play pizza, why not attach some kind of 'easter eggs' to the pizza machine. Say random items or credit or something fun the players could receive. These could randomly pop up that would require the players to click off in order to continue making pizza? That way the actually real players enjoying the game would have little fun surprises and botters would have to try to figure out how to circumvent it.

(and I'm sorry Anon.....I like my privacy even if I'm not doing pizza and I find it to 'Big Brotherish' to be forced to allow people to come onto my lot if I don't want them there. And doing pizza while hosting is impossible.)

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Not so much for the money but just because it's fun to do.

Precisely. Have payouts on money objects cut way back if the house is locked. That way even if bots are running in a locked house, they won't be making much money. And people can have fun doing money objects with their multiple accounts or with their friends in peace.

If people want full payouts, they can leave the property open for inspection.

[/ QUOTE ]
"Inspection"????????!!!!!
By who? The local Player Police???
Screw that - If I want to lock my doors to play pizza or code or maze or band or Ring Around the Rosie - that's what I'll do.
Nobody but EA has ANY right or authorization to enter my lot if I don't want 'em there. And they don't need the doors unlocked to get in.
What's more - if they WERE to take that suggestion and tell me that I could only get the same payout as everybody else IF I left my lot open to any yahoo that wanted to walk in and give me grief - I would leave the game so fast there would be a sonic boom.
Player's have the option to lock their lot for a reason - privacy. Privacy to talk, work, play - whatever.
All you people that just can't STAND not being able to control other's gameplay; write and market your own game - let's see how well you do.

 

[Guest]

I like my privacy

I never said anyone would be forced to have their property open. Only those who want to have full payouts enabled. Hosting is hosting; pizza is pizza.

 

[imported_debslee]

[/ QUOTE ]
"Inspection"????????!!!!!
By who? The local Player Police???
Screw that - If I want to lock my doors to play pizza or code or maze or band or Ring Around the Rosie - that's what I'll do.


[/ QUOTE ]

LMAO - HERE HERE!

[/ QUOTE ]
Nobody but EA has ANY right or authorization to enter my lot if I don't want 'em there. And they don't need the doors unlocked to get in.
What's more - if they WERE to take that suggestion and tell me that I could only get the same payout as everybody else IF I left my lot open to any yahoo that wanted to walk in and give me grief - I would leave the game so fast there would be a sonic boom.
Player's have the option to lock their lot for a reason - privacy. Privacy to talk, work, play - whatever.
All you people that just can't STAND not being able to control other's gameplay; write and market your own game - let's see how well you do.

[/ QUOTE ]

*Hands Donnovan a sedative......*

I totally agree with you buddy!

 

[Zinzi]

<blockquote><hr>

..."But I am pissed at the silly dynamic lowered payouts too, and the unnecessary 'overwork penalties' that are levied on us all. Why must we suffer because of these few tricksy players? I say raise the payouts and eliminate the penalties, and start monitoring logs for suspect actions instead and dealing with them accordingly!"..



*APPLAUDS!!* loudly

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah; me too! It's really pissing me off that the payouts are so low - and no one has had time to raise all skills to a level of being able to make money off all money objects as yet... it's draining my energy to type and type for bloody hours just to be able to buy some simple things... I am considering not playing this game anymore, seriously. I am a fairly new player and this is not keeping my attention.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Not so much for the money but just because it's fun to do.

Precisely. Have payouts on money objects cut way back if the house is locked. That way even if bots are running in a locked house, they won't be making much money. And people can have fun doing money objects with their multiple accounts or with their friends in peace.

If people want full payouts, they can leave the property open for inspection.

[/ QUOTE ]
"Inspection"????????!!!!!
By who? The local Player Police???
Screw that - If I want to lock my doors to play pizza or code or maze or band or Ring Around the Rosie - that's what I'll do.
Nobody but EA has ANY right or authorization to enter my lot if I don't want 'em there. And they don't need the doors unlocked to get in.
What's more - if they WERE to take that suggestion and tell me that I could only get the same payout as everybody else IF I left my lot open to any yahoo that wanted to walk in and give me grief - I would leave the game so fast there would be a sonic boom.
Player's have the option to lock their lot for a reason - privacy. Privacy to talk, work, play - whatever.
All you people that just can't STAND not being able to control other's gameplay; write and market your own game - let's see how well you do.

[/ QUOTE ]


<font color="red">X </font> to everything Donovan said in this post and his previous post.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

Me too - Donovan you rock.. When I read, 'Ring Around the Rosey', I nearly fell off my chair I was laughing so hard lol...

Hey, maybe that's why EA Land properties have no roofs, so the Property Police can peer in even if the doors are locked lol..

 

[imported_debslee]

Zinzi..I want to encourage you as a new player to not get so focussed on the payouts that you loose the whole purpose of the game. Yes, agree we need to skill and we need to make money...but I have found that a majority of the fun I have is the social interaction within the house during making money or skill. The antics that people get up to and above all, the really kewl friends I have made here. So whilst, yes the dynamic payouts are not the greatest at the moment, it wont always be like this. Please read the wiki where Luc explains the payouts, and this might help give you a better understanding of the "bigger picture".

Dynamic Payouts

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Yeah; me too! It's really pissing me off that the payouts are so low - and no one has had time to raise all skills to a level of being able to make money off all money objects as yet... it's draining my energy to type and type for bloody hours just to be able to buy some simple things... I am considering not playing this game anymore, seriously. I am a fairly new player and this is not keeping my attention.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you considered trying code?

I just played code with sims with the following skills: body 16, mech 15, logic 11

I made $1708 in one greening, the owner of the machine made $2212

Not bad money and very enjoyable !

Oh yeah and the front door was locked as the only thing on the lot is a code machine. Its much easier to play with the door closed and not have to worry about being interrupted mid game. I really don't like the idea of earning less with the doors locked, not one little bit.

Polly

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Yeah; me too! It's really pissing me off that the payouts are so low - and no one has had time to raise all skills to a level of being able to make money off all money objects as yet... it's draining my energy to type and type for bloody hours just to be able to buy some simple things... I am considering not playing this game anymore, seriously. I am a fairly new player and this is not keeping my attention.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you considered trying code?

I just played code with sims with the following skills: body 16, mech 15, logic 11

I made $1708 in one greening, the owner of the machine made $2212

Not bad money and very enjoyable !

Oh yeah and the front door was locked as the only thing on the lot is a code machine. Its much easier to play with the door closed and not have to worry about being interrupted mid game. I really don't like the idea of earning less with the doors locked, not one little bit.

Polly

[/ QUOTE ]

So naughty and scandalous!

 

[Guest]

There is a simple way of combating bots but It can possibly be abused. If us sims had our OWN police force or FBI in game we could police our own cities for this type of unscrupulous activity. Its simple, get enough people to complain about a bot-house and have it shut down. Allow agents to enter if nobody responds OR just able to monitor their activity.

Its simple but i doubt they would do it. Realistically its the ONLY way to stop
many many bots.

self governance is key since players outnumber cheaters and observe the cities 23-7. if EA is not willing to combat this type of activity players and users of TSO should push for regulation of online games such as TSO to force companies to enforce their EULA.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Not so much for the money but just because it's fun to do.

Precisely. Have payouts on money objects cut way back if the house is locked. That way even if bots are running in a locked house, they won't be making much money. And people can have fun doing money objects with their multiple accounts or with their friends in peace.

If people want full payouts, they can leave the property open for inspection.

[/ QUOTE ]

I get the feeling that this might be *tongue in cheek* but actually that's not a bad idea....after all if someone doesn't have anything to hide then they shouldn't be hiding, right? But it sounds like from some of what I heard people are growing bigger cajones after getting away with botting for so long, and now actually doing it in real money houses, so that wouldn't stop ALL the botting. What might though, is if somehow the system could detect when more than one the same person's sims are on a pizza table, their payout is the same as it would be for a person's single sim....so if 1 sim makes $8k in a round then if they have 3-4 sims on the table, they wouldn't get 8kx3-4, they'd only get say 10k. Botters could still make money, but they'd make it alooooooot slower that way, and most would figure out that it's just not work the headache to only make $10k total for 4 sims in a pizza round, and they wouldn't have as many simoleans to sell, thus the economy would get flooded in at least a slower pace.

Yes, I have my flame resistant outfit on as I type this!

 

[imported_debslee]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Not so much for the money but just because it's fun to do.

Precisely. Have payouts on money objects cut way back if the house is locked. That way even if bots are running in a locked house, they won't be making much money. And people can have fun doing money objects with their multiple accounts or with their friends in peace.

If people want full payouts, they can leave the property open for inspection.

[/ QUOTE ]

I get the feeling that this might be *tongue in cheek* but actually that's not a bad idea....after all if someone doesn't have anything to hide then they shouldn't be hiding, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

You are joking right??????
*sigh* I would like to just point everyone back to the top of this post - Pari is aware of it.....lets leave it to them to decide the best way to tackle this.

 

[Zinzi]

<blockquote><hr>

Zinzi..I want to encourage you as a new player to not get so focussed on the payouts that you loose the whole purpose of the game. Yes, agree we need to skill and we need to make money...but I have found that a majority of the fun I have is the social interaction within the house during making money or skill. The antics that people get up to and above all, the really kewl friends I have made here. So whilst, yes the dynamic payouts are not the greatest at the moment, it wont always be like this. Please read the wiki where Luc explains the payouts, and this might help give you a better understanding of the "bigger picture".

Dynamic Payouts

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for the link. Yes - I understand about the economy having to change but as far as I have understood it went beserk due to a glitch in the game that allowed for 'cheating' or enormous payouts... None the less; I am not playing to 'make lots of money' - not be famous, popular or anything else - I just really, really wanna build my house... lol... And maybe I just don't have the patience... but it was just such a let down when the payout was cut in half from one day to the next... And yes; you can meet interesting people in the game and I have... But to be honest - I am not an extremely social person - in the sense that I can be; can have lots of fun conversations - but when it comes to having roommates - I don't work too well; because it has to be someone that I really, really do feel I have something special with and that takes time... I am the same way in rl - and this is 'real' to me too since we are dealing with real people behind the sims...

So I have to build my houses, buy my size 8 lots - on my own. And that takes a lot of money (even with two accounts; that's my only roomie - me... haha.)

I actually did get to build a great skillhouse - and had roomies - but chose to give one roomie all of it - simply because I couldn't deal with having to be 'social' all the time... So the next house I build will be something where I am certain not a whole lot of people will wanna come... lol... Might sound strange and I don't wanna be writing a whole novel.. but anyways - as far as the code and all that - I did try pizza once and it was fun and I may try some more of the 'group-objects' again... But I am somewhat a loner as I said in the above... Anyway - ty to both of you who responded to me, I shall try to be a little more patient... And not give up just yet.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Not so much for the money but just because it's fun to do.

Precisely. Have payouts on money objects cut way back if the house is locked. That way even if bots are running in a locked house, they won't be making much money. And people can have fun doing money objects with their multiple accounts or with their friends in peace.

If people want full payouts, they can leave the property open for inspection.

[/ QUOTE ]

I get the feeling that this might be *tongue in cheek* but actually that's not a bad idea....after all if someone doesn't have anything to hide then they shouldn't be hiding, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

You are joking right??????
*sigh* I would like to just point everyone back to the top of this post - Pari is aware of it.....lets leave it to them to decide the best way to tackle this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, not kidding at all. I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to make sure that EA Land does not end up in 12-24 months as flooded as the production cities are now. If that means that I have to keep my doors open, or at least on 'admit list', then that's what it takes. There is going to be no 3rd start. If we end up where we are in the production cities again then that's just gonna be the way things are, which means the doom of the game. I'm very glad that they are aware of it, but being aware of something is only half the battle in fixing it. The rest is figuring out HOW to fix it and then implementing that plan. It doesn't hurt for us to give them suggestions on what we think might work, or to state an idea and ask them if it's even feasible to do what we are asking for. Being pro-active is the only thing that is going to change things....sitting on the sidelines and trusting that they can handle it is what got us in the position that we're in now. Doesn't mean we have to be ugly and demand that the devs like or follow our advice on the different plans, but we have to be willing to help brainstorm, IMO.

 

[imported_debslee]

[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you for the link. Yes - I understand about the economy having to change but as far as I have understood it went beserk due to a glitch in the game that allowed for 'cheating' or enormous payouts...


[/ QUOTE ]
Yes this was in the production cities - that is why they are keeping a much tighter control over the economy so that it does not get out of hand, and clamp down on the cheating/bots etc.

[/ QUOTE ]
So I have to build my houses, buy my size 8 lots - on my own. And that takes a lot of money (even with two accounts; that's my only roomie - me... haha.)


[/ QUOTE ]
Join the club....the nice thing is that we are all facing the same thing - so you are not alone! (for what its worth)!!!

[/ QUOTE ]
I shall try to be a little more patient... And not give up just yet.

[/ QUOTE ]
I am so thrilled to hear that,

and I think the tip on the group objects is a good idea, we need to be creative and at the same time flexible - because then we will have the most fun!

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

So I have to build my houses, buy my size 8 lots - on my own. And that takes a lot of money (even with two accounts; that's my only roomie - me... haha.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can sympathize partly as I have trust issues myself sometimes. The building permission thing with owners being able to stop their roomies from building helped me alot with this. I was able to take on roomies, and get to know them and have their help without having to worry that I'd log on the next day and my lot would be trashed. I remember once right after the launch of the game, long before building permissions I came home from a few days in the hospital no less, only to log in the game and find out that this guy I'd taken on as a roomie had erased all the walls, took as much furniture as he could, and placed trash piles in the place of what he took to give the appearance of a RL person coming in and taking a sledgehammer or chainsaw to your furniture

. The building permissions though don't make it quite as necessary to be so guarded though. You just have to set standards that you want for your roomies (having so much experience in TSO, and hosting, having creativity at least high enough to do serenade, and having cooking @ 15+ to make HC very filling to the guests were mine) and then slowly step out of that comfort zone and start seeking. Strike up conversations with newbie sims that you see when you're skilling since we're all doing that now. I bet within a week or so you'll find someone that you just *click* with. If you don't step out of your shell though, you're cheating yourself out of the opportunity for that to happen. Things were always set up so that the best way to get what you wanted was to work in groups, hence the MM part of the MMORPG classification of TSO. If the social aspect wasn't so important, players could just play offline The Sims since it has alot more to do content wise. I do play TS2 also, but when I do its in windowed mode and I have yahoo up so I don't get lonely. If somebody IMs me and I don't feel like talking, and they just want to chit-chat rather than actually needing a shoulder to cry on or whatever, I will tell them I'm not feeling well and would rather just have some me time. Most people are very understanding of that, especially since if they DO need a shoulder, then I will listen to them and try to help even if I really don't feel good myself.

That last part was kinda off track, but the main point is that the way things are now is the way things have always been....they are trying to encourage others not to play on their own so much and to ban together to get things done. It's not always easy at first for those who are more shy or introverted, but it's still possible to find people you can get along with, even if you don't end up being BFFs.

 

[Guest]

I get the feeling that this might be *tongue in cheek*

Me say something that is *tongue in cheek*? Never!

But it could well be *stir the pot*.

Actually, I don't think that bots will be a significant factor because EA has an incentive to control them now as opposed to a negative incentive before. The negative in the past was the expenditure of resources to control something that would have required a significant amount of resources to really control. It appears EA bit the bullet and developed a system for Sarah to keep tabs on the economy. At least they think they have.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

There is a simple way of combating bots but It can possibly be abused. If us sims had our OWN police force or FBI in game we could police our own cities for this type of unscrupulous activity. Its simple, get enough people to complain about a bot-house and have it shut down. Allow agents to enter if nobody responds OR just able to monitor their activity.

Its simple but i doubt they would do it. Realistically its the ONLY way to stop
many many bots.

self governance is key since players outnumber cheaters and observe the cities 23-7. if EA is not willing to combat this type of activity players and users of TSO should push for regulation of online games such as TSO to force companies to enforce their EULA.

[/ QUOTE ]
Now, now - you're just saying that to see poor Donavan explode, aren'tcha?

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

There is a simple way of combating bots but It can possibly be abused. If us sims had our OWN police force or FBI in game we could police our own cities for this type of unscrupulous activity. Its simple, get enough people to complain about a bot-house and have it shut down. Allow agents to enter if nobody responds OR just able to monitor their activity.

Its simple but i doubt they would do it. Realistically its the ONLY way to stop
many many bots.

self governance is key since players outnumber cheaters and observe the cities 23-7. if EA is not willing to combat this type of activity players and users of TSO should push for regulation of online games such as TSO to force companies to enforce their EULA.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to disagree with this. There is no way that we can prove that someone is botting. Plain and simple, we can't see the server side to see the data that the devs see. Not only that, with the age restrictions on this game, your self serving militia would be a group of friends <u>could</u> possibly just be out to get someone they don't like. It's a teenage thing. We all know how that works.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

There is a simple way of combating bots but It can possibly be abused. If us sims had our OWN police force or FBI in game we could police our own cities for this type of unscrupulous activity. Its simple, get enough people to complain about a bot-house and have it shut down. Allow agents to enter if nobody responds OR just able to monitor their activity.

Its simple but i doubt they would do it. Realistically its the ONLY way to stop
many many bots.

self governance is key since players outnumber cheaters and observe the cities 23-7. if EA is not willing to combat this type of activity players and users of TSO should push for regulation of online games such as TSO to force companies to enforce their EULA.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to disagree with this. There is no way that we can prove that someone is botting. Plain and simple, we can't see the server side to see the data that the devs see. Not only that, with the age restrictions on this game, your self serving militia would be a group of friends <u>could</u> possibly just be out to get someone they don't like. It's a teenage thing. We all know how that works.

[/ QUOTE ]

I see your point, but I think Evanerick was talking about enabling the group of players he's talking about TO be able to see a portion of what only the devs can see now, but obviously keep them from being able to tweak any data. Read-only vs. writable files comes to mind as a comparison. And definitely your fear of a group of friends getting together to ban a person who's not doing anything wrong is valid, but that happens now....when you report a person, most of the time the complaint is completely ignored, but sure as gun's iron alot of the complaints that they do take seriously are against playes who really are innocent. Having a 'militia' might make that more of a possibility, but as far as I am concerned it would be a 1 strike and you're out kind of thing. If you participated in trying to get a person banned, and there was evidence that it was just a revenge/retribution thing rather than a valid case of botting with proof to back it up, then sorry bud, you lose your 'deputy badge', and the person that got banned could have their account restored by EA.

Folks we've gotta do something. I'm with Roger....his post was rather 'rough around the edges' as far as not being very diplomatic in wording, but he's 100% right. It would make alot of us more warm and fuzzy to have *some* kind of idea which direction they plan on going, especially if what the person who said Lee said this was a low priority is true. How low is low, as far as a timeframe. Every day they delay a fix is another day that this economy is gonna get in just as much of a pickle as it is now. To me that makes it at least a midline priority if not top priority. In fact, I'd like to see something done before the merges even take place, so that the sims that are botting in the production cities now can't come into EA Land and repeat it, even though the simoleans they got from botting will be gone unless they went out and bought a bunch of rares, which is highly likely, but nobody has enough money in EA Land for rares yet, so that's not much of a biggie

 

[Guest]

agreed, having players be the police in the game is the worst scenario. There are those who always *think* theyre right and those who swear they know it all and as many described here they play with lcked doors. just because doors r locked doesn't negate cheating, nor does playing multiple accounts. we've already seen in production cities many innocent sims being reported and this will happen again.. I seriously don't think botting is all that big an issue anymore to be honest..

whats worse is the afkers whgo override the timeout feature and by wrse i mean way overly done.. go to any skill house and my bet is 80% of sims are afk skilling.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

I seriously don't think botting is all that big an issue anymore to be honest..

[/ QUOTE ]

The ventilation system under rocks isn't the best, though I guess it would be warm and cozy under there in the winter.

Bots are not as rampant in the production cities because everybody knows there's gona be a money wipe. If the money wipe had not been announced, everybody and their Aunt Hattie would be botting again because they'd want to either undercut EA and sell to the players, or just sell the simoleans to EA to pay for their accounts for a year or so. It's not a huge issue in EA Land *YET* but why let it get to that point before doing something about it when there's an option to do it ahead of time. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

<blockquote><hr>

whats worse is the afkers whgo override the timeout feature and by wrse i mean way overly done.. go to any skill house and my bet is 80% of sims are afk skilling.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that this is a problem too, but I don't consider it worse because simply overriding timeout is not going to hurt the game in any way, unless it's a store owner doing it, or it's ROOMIES in a skill house doing it so they can stay open longer and beat the other people in hours for the top 100 list. All it takes to fix that though is for the people who answer the reports sent in by players to get more serious about suspending/banning the ones that do it. No coding is needed by the devs for that one.

 

[Guest]

I'm trying to think of a way to say this seriously without coming off as rude, but I just don't see a diplomatic way to be said.

Allowing the bunch of babies that play this game any sort of power would be a complete disaster. It might be funny to watch, but a disaster nonetheless.

I'm going to not concern myself with what EA has opted to do with this issue. As Gamer Anon stated EA does have a vested interest in how money is made in this game now.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Allowing the bunch of babies that play this game any sort of power would be a complete disaster. It might be funny to watch, but a disaster nonetheless.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh I definitely agree. The guidelines for being able to do this should have to be as strict as they are here......at the very least. Eligible people should have to be over 18 years old, NEVER having been suspended from the game, and have a certain amount of paid time under their belts before even being considered. I say paid time because I don't mean those playing the 90 day game just to keep their sims alive. I'm talking about at least anywhere from 365 to 1095 (1-3 years) ENTILEMENT time. I think that will help alot with the maturity factor, but its not fool-proof of course. The group would still have to be monitored pretty closely and irresponsible behavior handled swiftly for it to work.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Allowing the bunch of babies that play this game any sort of power would be a complete disaster. It might be funny to watch, but a disaster nonetheless.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh I definitely agree. The guidelines for being able to do this should have to be as strict as they are here......at the very least. Eligible people should have to be over 18 years old, NEVER having been suspended from the game, and have a certain amount of paid time under their belts before even being considered. I say paid time because I don't mean those playing the 90 day game just to keep their sims alive. I'm talking about at least anywhere from 365 to 1095 (1-3 years) ENTILEMENT time. I think that will help alot with the maturity factor, but its not fool-proof of course. The group would still have to be monitored pretty closely and irresponsible behavior handled swiftly for it to work.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've known of people who have that entitlement time and they bot, and some scam.

I know of people on this very forum who are looked to as community building posters who have botted themselves.

This idea has been visited many times here on stratics in different capacities...
and
Nope I don't think there is anyway for this to work out.
If there are going to be in game monitors they should be contracted under EA and not have any ties to the game so that a judgment could not be called to question.