The Mana World Forums

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Sorry but this sounds pretty annoying for non-botters.

I agree that the best solution to the botting problem is to make the combat system so complex that a human player can play much better than a trivial computer program, but the result should be a more interesting game for the human player and not reduce the gameplay quality.

It's easy to program around that idea. And it would render any other shortcuts using that key useless.

I always thought that a battle system in which the monster initiates battle by targeting a player, as opposed to what happens now where the player targets a monster and begins to attack would, in theory, cut down the botting. If the server is smart enough to not tell an enemy to attack an player that is just standing still or who is obviously just holding down the attack button, that could eliminate some botting. Also the basic attack, by holding down one button with a coin or something, was very minimal. You'd have to work with skills/magic/moves more than just swinging your sword.

A monster with a ranged attack; when hit it moves one square away from the attacker, then shoots from there.
I picture this as a mutation to existing monsters, not a new monster type.

(Doesn't stop programmed bots, but should kill CTRL+A botters.)

the best thing is to have to move while fighting like around every 5 min or so you have to move or the server will kick you

SpamMaster wrote:Is it possible (I suppose it would be) to use a bot which senses the position of the monster?

Yes, absolutely possible. It is also possible to code a bot that moves randomly , so it would be harder to identify. And bypass all tricks, you've proposed.
It's also possible to make a bot, that senses GM's presence (GM's nick is highlighted, so his/her presence is sent to the client), or senses rapid change of location (bot check area). Or even has a simple talk-bot, who will answer questions.

Maybe such a bot already exists? Who knows? How can we be sure? This is not even difficult to code, I can easily visualise such program in mind. I cannot really make it, because the only one programming language I know is useless in this case (not to mention, that my last program has been written about 10 years ago).

It is impossible to completely get rid of botting, but human is always harder to be cheated.

since the botter moves randomly how about placing an obvious environment trap. like indestructible venus fly trap. when the botter steps in gnaw!!! and he's dead. but the players can avoid them because they can see it and obviously he will avoid the trap.

remove the environment trap every 30 minutes then again respawn them randomly all over places without placing them under the players. or once the trap is used remove it and respawn it again in different position.

Easy for a programmed bot to ignore.

good point. humans learn and try to perfect it.

maybe we can make the name invisible then auto generate some random name? I'm implying on the trap.

the botters detect the monster by their name or id number.

but with traps we can change it randomly for about 30 minutes or so.

If it keeps changing like that, how will players know to avoid it?

I'm not a fan of Runescape, but having played a short while, I think they did a really good job at deterring botters. I would rather see something like what they did than what you have proposed here. The trick is making it simple and entertaining for players, while making it complicated and a deterrent to botters. Your proposal makes it complicated for both.

Here is a writeup of what Runescape has done...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneScape

"Random events are short interludes that occur during the game, requiring some form of player input.[69] They were introduced to deter players from using automated programs, known as macros or bots.[70] When a player receives a random event, they will be teleported to a secluded area, and must complete the event before they are allowed to leave. The likelihood of a player receiving a random event is based on the player's total skill level, as well as their past success in dealing with random events.[71] Players are rewarded for responding correctly to random events.[69]

Jagex revealed on 27 March 2008 that it intended to reassess the random event system because "the threat of bots and macros has been largely removed."[70] These plans were enacted on 25 February 2009, with several random events being either altered or removed from the game.[71]"

jaxad0127 wrote:If it keeps changing like that, how will players know to avoid it?

you can still see the trap even though the name is invisible. beside it can make you alert

If you can see it, then the client wknows what to draw and the bots know to avoid that.

ouch! jaxad0127 shot me down real good. I only know about bot using console so I'm not sure.
I'm all out of ideas. I guess there aren't real permanent solutions for anti-bot.