I've been playing Aion now since it was released in NA and although I'm not entirely taken by the game, it's a welcome diversion from the other game I play. I've paid attention to the articles written here and the NCSoft forums and I'm aware of the spamming and botting issues that NCSoft has had in the past with their previous titles. However, I wasn't aware until today that, in Aion, there is no way to report botters. The in-game petition system does not work. According to the reponse I received when I tried to report a botter, it's under testing. Neither is there a way to report botters via the Aion or NCSoft websites that I've yet found.

As far as I have heard, blocking a spammer will automatically report them and NCSoft seems to have made some strides in fixing the problem with spammers specifically.

My questions are, has NCSoft made any public statements about their stance on botting? My guess is that they have and that they are against it. If that's so, why isn't there a channel available right now to report botters? Why has NCSoft, a company that has had a fair bit of experience with botting in their games in the past, neglected to put into place mechanisms to prevent it in Aion while they have obviously taken steps to prevent spamming?

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it brings NCSoft's motives into question. I likely will not continue my subscription, though that's no threat to them at this point. There are a number of other titles due to release in the next six months that I expect will already have such necessary mechanisms in place.