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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[EVE Online nukes over a thousand botters from orbit]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/eve-online-nukes-over-a-thousand-botters-from-orbit/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/eve-online-nukes-over-a-thousand-botters-from-orbit/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/eve-online-nukes-over-a-thousand-botters-from-orbit/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/eve-online/" rel="tag">EVE Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/dev-diaries/" rel="tag">Dev Diaries</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sandbox/" rel="tag">Sandbox</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/eve-online-nukes-over-a-thousand-botters-from-orbit/"><img alt="Screenshot -- EVE Online" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/03/eve.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left; ">
	Look upon <a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/ccp-games">CCP's</a> works, ye botters, and despair! <em><a href="http://www.massively.com/category/eve-online">EVE Online</a></em> players recently noticed "by virtue of reading various shady forums" that the CCP team has suspended or banned a large number of botters. <a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/ccp-sreegs">CCP Sreegs</a> stopped by the official site today to respond to some of the community reactions to the mass bot-nuking. Many fans seem to believe that the bannings are a publicitity stunt to drum up interest in the upcoming Fanfest. CCP Sreegs responds that, of course, this isn't the case. He notes that during CCP's recent periods of turbulence, there was no team responsible for "handling the technology responsible for nuking botters," but now that there's a full team once more, "[CCP has] now thrown the switch again and turned on the catching bad guys machine."<br />
	<br />
	Other players are crying out that the current three-strike system is too soft-hearted. Sreegs respectfully disagrees, citing the fact that, of all players that go on to receive two strikes, only something like 3% go on to earn a third. But what's to stop these problem players from transferring their characters to a new account and carrying on as usual? Sreegs also announced that a new system is being put in place that will indefinitely revoke the character transfer privileges of any suspended players, no matter how many strikes they have against them. For the full story as well as a bit of insight as to how CCP deals with botters and cheaters, just click on through the link below.</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/eve-online-nukes-over-a-thousand-botters-from-orbit/">EVE Online nukes over a thousand botters from orbit</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/eve-online-nukes-over-a-thousand-botters-from-orbit/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20184000/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/01/eve-online-nukes-over-a-thousand-botters-from-orbit/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>anti-bots</category><category>anti-botting</category><category>anti-hack</category><category>anti-hacking</category><category>ban</category><category>banning</category><category>bans</category><category>bots</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>ccp</category><category>ccp-games</category><category>ccp-sreegs</category><category>eve</category><category>eve-online</category><category>featured</category><category>internet-spaceships</category><category>sandbox</category><category>sci-fi</category><category>security</category><category>spreadsheets-online</category><category>suspension</category><category>suspensions</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Daniel]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ask Massively: Thieving on the fast track edition]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/expansions/" rel="tag">Expansions</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/ask-massively/" rel="tag">Ask Massively</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/misc/" rel="tag">Miscellaneous</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/"><img alt="These are the markers used to cross our names off the credits. What? It's not the most tenuous connection I've used." src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/01/askmassively-epl-131-1328053677.jpg" /></a></div>
One of our readers was kind enough to point us to two sites that, once again, were stealing our posts without crediting our authors or anything like that. (I don't mean "this post looks suspiciously similar"; I mean abusing copy and paste.) Unfortunately, while we're aware of these things, there's not a whole lot we can do other than request that the sites get taken down. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but it's all we can do. I guess it's nice to be good enough that your work is worth stealing without credit? That's something.<br />
<br />
This week's installment of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Ask-Massively/">Ask Massively</a> isn't going to focus on that, however. Instead, we're going to focus on the recent spate of MMO litigation and the potential for a boxed <a href="http://www.riftgame.com"><em>RIFT</em></a> expansion. If you have a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of Ask Massively, mail it along to <a href="mailto:ask@massively.com">ask@massively.com</a> or leave a comment in the field below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Ask Massively: Thieving on the fast track edition</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/">Ask Massively: Thieving on the fast track edition</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20161421/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/02/ask-massively-thieving-on-the-fast-track-edition/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>ask-massively</category><category>Bethesda-Softworks</category><category>botters</category><category>boxed-expansion</category><category>column</category><category>columns</category><category>expansion</category><category>fallout</category><category>fallout-online</category><category>featured</category><category>interplay</category><category>jagex</category><category>lawsuit</category><category>lawsuits</category><category>litigation</category><category>mmo-industry</category><category>opinion</category><category>plagiarism</category><category>rift</category><category>scraping</category><category>site-scraping</category><category>trion</category><category>trion-worlds</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jagex wins court case against RuneScape botters]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/jagex-wins-court-case-against-runescape-botters/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/jagex-wins-court-case-against-runescape-botters/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/jagex-wins-court-case-against-runescape-botters/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/misc/" rel="tag">Miscellaneous</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/jagex-wins-court-case-against-runescape-botters/"><img alt="RuneScape - dragon food" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/01/runescape-6-1327343537.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/jagex">Jagex Games Studio</a> is trumpeting its legal victory against Mark and Eric Snellman. The brothers formed a company called <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/impulse-software">Impulse Software</a>, which now owes Jagex unspecified damages following a two-year legal battle concerning macro and botting tools for the company's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/runescape"><em>RuneScape</em></a> MMO.<br />
<br />
The brothers have been muzzled as a result of an injunction, and they are forbidden from discussing Jagex, <em>RuneScape</em>, or the lawsuit. Additionally, the pair must relinquish "all websites, domains, source code and customer details to Jagex along with all the details of all those individuals who have developed scripts for iBOT and sold or re-sold those scripts," according to a company press release.<br />
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Jagex CEO <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/mark-gerhard">Mark Gerhard</a> vowed to protect <em>RuneScape</em> users from similar threats in the future. "We have spared no expense fighting this case, as demonstrated by the seven figure bill this action has cost, but the point of this and other cases of its kind is that we will continue bring to justice those who set out to harm the game or our beloved community. We are delighted to say that we have convincingly neutered them after a very long battle," he said.<br />
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Jagex also says that its "Bot Nuke" operation, which began in October and includes a suite of code obfuscation tools, has rendered 98% of <em>RuneScape</em> bots obsolete.<br />
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[Source: Jagex press release]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/jagex-wins-court-case-against-runescape-botters/">Jagex wins court case against RuneScape botters</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/jagex-wins-court-case-against-runescape-botters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20154694/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/jagex-wins-court-case-against-runescape-botters/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>bot-nuke</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>browser-based</category><category>eric-snellman</category><category>f2p</category><category>fantasy</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>ibot</category><category>impulse-software</category><category>jagex</category><category>jagex-games-studio</category><category>legal</category><category>mark-gerhard</category><category>mark-snellman</category><category>runescape</category><category>snellman-brothers</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jef Reahard]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Daily Grind: Are alts and mules a form of cheating?]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/07/the-daily-grind-are-alts-and-mules-a-form-of-cheating/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/07/the-daily-grind-are-alts-and-mules-a-form-of-cheating/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/07/the-daily-grind-are-alts-and-mules-a-form-of-cheating/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-daily-grind/" rel="tag">The Daily Grind</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/misc/" rel="tag">Miscellaneous</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/07/the-daily-grind-are-alts-and-mules-a-form-of-cheating/"><img alt="Mule Photograph by Einar Faanes" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/11/mule.jpg" /></a></div>
In response to Beau's recent <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Free-For-All/">Free For All</a> column on the topic of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/">botters and cheaters</a>, reader Keith wrote in to suggest that there's another form of cheating much more common and pervasive: the use of alternate characters. In games like <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/EVE-Online/">EVE Online</a></em> or <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Star-Wars-Galaxie/">Star Wars Galaxies</a></em>, which limit the number of characters players can create, extra accounts are manipulated to allow a single player access to more skills through alts ("skill mules"), more storage space ("bank mules" and "auction mules"), or more avenues for safe PvP scouting. But the problem occurs in alt-friendly games too, like <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/World-of-Warcraft/">World of Warcraft</a></em>, where it's not uncommon to see someone five-boxing an entire team of Shamans, or <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Ultima-Online/">Ultima Online</a></em>, where it's standard practice for every player to have a "craft mule" who loads up on tradeskills (to the detriment of the player economy).<br />
<br />
What do you think? Are alts and mules just another form of cheating, one that allows players with excess character slots or extra accounts unfair advantages? Or are "slave" characters just a natural and necessary part of online gaming?<br />
<br />
<img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.massively.com/media/2010/09/coffee.jpg" style="padding-right: 10px;" vspace="0" /><em>Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's <a href="http://www.massively.com/category/the-daily-grind/">Daily Grind</a>!</em><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/07/the-daily-grind-are-alts-and-mules-a-form-of-cheating/">The Daily Grind: Are alts and mules a form of cheating?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/07/the-daily-grind-are-alts-and-mules-a-form-of-cheating/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20099856/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/07/the-daily-grind-are-alts-and-mules-a-form-of-cheating/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>ah-mule</category><category>alt</category><category>alternate-characters</category><category>alts</category><category>auction-mule</category><category>bank-mule</category><category>bank-mules</category><category>botters</category><category>brianna-royce-tdg</category><category>cheaters</category><category>cheating</category><category>eve</category><category>eve-online</category><category>mule</category><category>mules</category><category>multi-boxing</category><category>opinion</category><category>reader-mail</category><category>skill-mule</category><category>slave</category><category>slaves</category><category>star-wars-galaxies</category><category>swg</category><category>tdg</category><category>the-daily-grind</category><category>Ultima-Online</category><category>uo</category><category>World-of-Warcraft</category><category>wow</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brianna Royce]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[This Week in MMO: MechWarrior edition]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/humor/" rel="tag">Humor</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/misc/" rel="tag">Miscellaneous</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mechwarrior-online/" rel="tag">MechWarrior Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/"><img alt="TWIMMO" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/11/twimmo.jpg" /></a></div>
In this week's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/this-week-in-mmo">TWIMMO</a>, Mike B aka Fony, Josh Allen, and Mike Schaffnit join host <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Gary-Gannon/">Gary Gannon</a> for <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/GamebreakerTV/">Gamebreaker.TV's</a> weekly chat about recent MMO stories. They kick things off by pondering how a video stuffed with anti-gay slurs slipped by <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Blizzard-Entertainment/">Blizzard Entertainment</a> (and a lot of the folks in the live crowd, as well) at <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/BlizzCon-2011/">BlizzCon</a>. They also gush like fanboys about the newly announced F2P <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/MechWarrior-Online/">MechWarrior Online</a></em> MMO before spending some airtime on <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/PlanetSide-2/">PlanetSide 2</a></em>, <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/World-of-Darkness/">World of Darkness</a></em>, and <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/RuneScape/">RuneScape</a></em>.<br />
<br />
Hit the break for the full show!<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>This Week in MMO: MechWarrior edition</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/">This Week in MMO: MechWarrior edition</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:45:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20098142/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/this-week-in-mmo-mechwarrior-edition/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>Blizzard</category><category>Blizzard-Entertainment</category><category>blizzcon</category><category>blizzcon-2011</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>ccp</category><category>ccp-games</category><category>dc-universe-online</category><category>dcuo</category><category>gamebreaker</category><category>gamebreaker-tv</category><category>gamebreakertv</category><category>gary-gannon</category><category>jagex</category><category>layoffs</category><category>mechwarrior</category><category>mechwarrior-mmo</category><category>mechwarrior-online</category><category>piranha-games</category><category>planetside-2</category><category>runescape</category><category>soe</category><category>Sony-Online-Entertainment</category><category>this-week-in-mmo</category><category>twimmo</category><category>video</category><category>videocast</category><category>videos</category><category>wod</category><category>world-of-darkness</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brianna Royce]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:45:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Free for All: The real damage of botting, in the words of a botter]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/runescape/" rel="tag">RuneScape</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browser</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-for-all/" rel="tag">Free for All</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter"><img alt="RuneScape screenshot" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/11/runescape.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 4px; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 4px; " /></a></div>
I received an interesting email from someone the other day, someone who wanted to let me in on the lifestyle of a botter. Frankly I was a little embarrassed for the guy since he seemed to believe me to be naive about the entire process. The truth is that I have met plenty of shady characters and heard stories that would make your eyes bug out of your head. I've heard these stories from the developers and players themselves. There truly is some nasty stuff going on in MMO gaming.<br />
<br />
The saddest thing is that cheaters honestly think that what they do cannot possibly result in much harm for the game they are botting in, cheating at, or hacking up. It's sad because the truth is that a cheater, as <em>one</em> person, might not have much of an impact on the game. Add up several thousands of these scam artists and the results are mindboggling. Drive by your local dump to see just how much trash can pile up, <em>one</em> person at a time.<br />
<br />
I want to shine some light on just how damaging botting can be. Click past the cut.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Free for All: The real damage of botting, in the words of a botter</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/">Free for All: The real damage of botting, in the words of a botter</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20095159/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/02/free-for-all-the-real-damage-of-botting-in-the-words-of-a-botter/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>beau-hindman</category><category>bot</category><category>bots</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>ffa-pvp</category><category>free-for-all</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>ftp</category><category>gold-farming</category><category>greed</category><category>hackers</category><category>hacking</category><category>jagex</category><category>mark-gerhard</category><category>runescape</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Beau Hindman]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jagex levies a lawsuit against RuneScape botters]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/26/jagex-levies-a-lawsuit-against-runescape-botters/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/26/jagex-levies-a-lawsuit-against-runescape-botters/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/26/jagex-levies-a-lawsuit-against-runescape-botters/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/runescape/" rel="tag">RuneScape</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/26/jagex-levies-a-lawsuit-against-runescape-botters/"><img alt="RuneScape" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/clans1trimmed.jpg" /></a></div>
As <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/runescape/"><em>RuneScape </em></a>staggers under the assault of thousands of bots, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/jagex/">Jagex</a> is pulling out a pair of big guns to meet the problem head-on. The first weapon was yesterday's "<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/23/runescape-celebrates-bot-nuking-day-this-tuesday/">Bot-Nuking Day</a>," in which a patch was released that was supposed to deal with 98% of the botting in the game. The second is an official email sent to suspected botters threatening them with a class-action lawsuit if they don't desist.<br />
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<a href="http://services.runescape.com/m=forum/forums.ws?14,15,831,63310676">In the email</a>, Jagex calls out the suspected behavior and offers the player a "one-time amnesty lifeline" to shape up. These players will be placed on a watch list and will be monitored for any further botting action. If the player persists in cheating, then Jagex promises to not only remove their account permanently but to include the player in a mass lawsuit.<br />
<br />
"If you ignore our offer and instead continue use botting software, we reserve our rights to pursue statutory damages against you for between $200 to $2,500 per act of past, present, and/or future botting," the letter states.<br />
<br />
A Jagex mod on the <em>RuneScape </em>forums confirmed that these emails are real.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/26/jagex-levies-a-lawsuit-against-runescape-botters/">Jagex levies a lawsuit against RuneScape botters</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/26/jagex-levies-a-lawsuit-against-runescape-botters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20090907/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/26/jagex-levies-a-lawsuit-against-runescape-botters/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>amnesty</category><category>bot</category><category>bots</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>class-action-lawsuit</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>jagex</category><category>lawsuit</category><category>legal</category><category>legal-action</category><category>runescape</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fighting the EverQuest hacking wildfire]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/fighting-the-everquest-hacking-wildfire/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/fighting-the-everquest-hacking-wildfire/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/fighting-the-everquest-hacking-wildfire/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/everquest/" rel="tag">EverQuest</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/bugs/" rel="tag">Bugs</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/fighting-the-everquest-hacking-wildfire/"><img alt="EQ" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/eq.jpg" /></a></div>
While hacking and botting may not be a source of frustration to you in your daily MMO, to the denizens of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/everquest"><em>EverQuest</em></a>, it is a real and ever-present headache. In what is already not the easiest MMO on the planet, players are experiencing an onslaught of hackers who go out of their way to ruin the fun for everyone.<br />
<br />
In a three-part series, <a href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/features/everquest/hacking-eq-part-one">Ten Ton Hammer</a> exposes the systematic problem of rampant hacking in the game, especially on the new progression servers. While guilds are doing their part to crack down on hackers in their midst, it doesn't seem to be enough to stem the flow, especially as with a much smaller team in place these days.<br />
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Ultimately, fighting this problem does not seem to be <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/soe/">SOE's</a> current priority. <em>EQ </em>Producer <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Thom-Terrazas/">Thom Terazzas</a> addressed the issue of hacking by saying, "The expansion is something that we're really focused on right now. That has gotten, I would say, 80 percent of the focus here. So doing anything that dramatically combats the hacking is something that we would really like to do, but it is not something we've been able to do."<br />
<br />
Terazzas followed that up by talking with the Customer Service team and promised that the hackings will receive higher priority once the expansion crunch is over. In the meantime, he urged players to file reports with CS if hacking was observed.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/fighting-the-everquest-hacking-wildfire/">Fighting the EverQuest hacking wildfire</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/fighting-the-everquest-hacking-wildfire/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20075339/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/fighting-the-everquest-hacking-wildfire/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>bot</category><category>bots</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>cs</category><category>customer-service</category><category>eq</category><category>everquest</category><category>expose</category><category>hack</category><category>hacked</category><category>hackers</category><category>hacking</category><category>hackings</category><category>interview</category><category>soe</category><category>sony-online-entertainment</category><category>ten-ton-hammer</category><category>Thom-Terazzas</category><category>tth</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[EVE Online introduces new bot-reporting feature]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/eve-online-introduces-new-bot-reporting-feature/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/eve-online-introduces-new-bot-reporting-feature/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/eve-online-introduces-new-bot-reporting-feature/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/eve-online/" rel="tag">EVE Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/patches/" rel="tag">Patches</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/eve-online-introduces-new-bot-reporting-feature/"><img alt="EVE Online title image" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/08/evebots-title.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px;" /></a></div>
Botting is an almost universal problem in the MMO scene, disrupting in-game economies and often funding shady RMT operations. <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/eve-online/">EVE Online</a></em> has always been a <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/19/eve-evolved-the-rmt-problem/">big target for the RMT industry</a> as much of a character's progression relies on in-game currency. In a world where you can buy a bigger ship, better modules and even the loyalty of player-run mercenary corporations, demand for the illicit sale of ISK is high.<br />
<br />
Several years ago <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/17/eve-onlines-anti-rmt-operation-unholy-rage-bans-over-6200-accou/">CCP banned over 6200 botters</a> as part of Operation Unholy Rage and launched the PLEX system to provide a legitimate way to buy ISK that doesn't harm the game economy and helps cash-poor players fund their subscription with in-game ISK. This week, CCP continued its plans to rid New Eden of bots with a devblog on its recently implemented "report bot" feature. <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&amp;bid=945">The devblog explains</a> how to identify a bot, how to report it and the steps GMs take after investigation of reported characters.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/eve-online-introduces-new-bot-reporting-feature/">EVE Online introduces new bot-reporting feature</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/eve-online-introduces-new-bot-reporting-feature/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20021017/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/eve-online-introduces-new-bot-reporting-feature/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>anti-rmt</category><category>bot</category><category>bots</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>ccp</category><category>ccp-eve</category><category>ccp-games</category><category>eve</category><category>eve-ccp</category><category>eve-mmorpg</category><category>eve-online</category><category>news</category><category>rmt</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brendan Drain]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[A look back at Aion's first month and impressions]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/a-look-back-at-aions-first-month-and-impressions/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/a-look-back-at-aions-first-month-and-impressions/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/a-look-back-at-aions-first-month-and-impressions/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/aion/" rel="tag">Aion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/massively-hands-on/" rel="tag">Massively Hands-on</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://massively.com/category/aion"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/10/aion-1256516336.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
43,829 minutes. That's roughly how long <a href="http://aiononline.com"><em>Aion</em></a>'s been out in the West. Depending on your tolerance for grinding, it may or may not have felt like that amount of time passed. There's no doubt it's been a busy month full of ups and downs, so we'd like to take an extensive look back at the last 30-days and give our impressions on the game.<br /> <br /> <strong>Smooth criminal </strong><br /> <br /> <a href="http://massively.com/category/aion"><em> Aion</em></a> experienced one of the most technically smooth launches in MMO history, which was the result of hard work, innovative design, tough decision-making, and of course nearly a year between the Eastern and Western releases. Anti-cheat software, GameGuard, was stripped from the client <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/18/aion-say-goodbye-to-gameguard-for-now/">in the 11th hour</a>. This no doubt eliminated most of the open-beta issues that would have sent a lot of potential players packing shortly after release. Players just aren't as forgiving as they used to be.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/a-look-back-at-aions-first-month-and-impressions/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>A look back at Aion's first month and impressions</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/a-look-back-at-aions-first-month-and-impressions/">A look back at Aion's first month and impressions</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/a-look-back-at-aions-first-month-and-impressions/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19207731/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/a-look-back-at-aions-first-month-and-impressions/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>aion</category><category>botters</category><category>featured</category><category>first-month</category><category>gameguard</category><category>grinding</category><category>impressions</category><category>nc-west</category><category>ncsoft</category><category>spammers</category><category>xp-grind</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brooke Pilley]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[GDC China 09: Netease speaks on combating botters]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/12/gdc-china-09-netease-speaks-on-combating-botters/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/12/gdc-china-09-netease-speaks-on-combating-botters/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/12/gdc-china-09-netease-speaks-on-combating-botters/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25604"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/10/fwjbot.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<div align="left"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/gdc-china-2009">GDC China 2009</a> is currently in high gear until tomorrow, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about some of the panels today! One of the highlights for the MMO industry was certainly <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25604">the talk given by Yunfeng Lin</a>, the design director at <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/netease">NetEase</a>, on keeping up with botters and bot programs.<br /><br />NetEase, the operator of the three <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_Westward_Journey"><em>Westward Journey</em></a> games, <a href="http://corp.163.com/eng/games/fly_for_fun.html" style="font-style: italic;">Flyff</a> (and here's the <a href="http://flyff.gpotato.com/?m=welcome">American version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Flyff</span>)</a>, and the 100 pound gorilla that is <a href="http://www.warcraftchina.com/" style="font-style: italic;">World of Warcraft</a>, is in a very unique position to speak on the troubles botters present to online communities. <span style="font-style: italic;">Westward Journey</span> and <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft" style="font-style: italic;">World of Warcraft</a> both draw huge numbers of people in China, but that also means they draw a huge number of botters.</div>
</div><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/12/gdc-china-09-netease-speaks-on-combating-botters/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>GDC China 09: Netease speaks on combating botters</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/12/gdc-china-09-netease-speaks-on-combating-botters/">GDC China 09: Netease speaks on combating botters</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25604>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/12/gdc-china-09-netease-speaks-on-combating-botters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19193091/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/10/12/gdc-china-09-netease-speaks-on-combating-botters/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>blizzard</category><category>bots</category><category>botters</category><category>gdc-china</category><category>gdc-china-2009</category><category>gold-farmers</category><category>netease</category><category>online-community</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wow</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Seraphina Brennan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Silkroad Online says no to botters]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/silkroad-online-says-no-to-botters/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/silkroad-online-says-no-to-botters/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/silkroad-online-says-no-to-botters/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/at-a-glance/" rel="tag">At a glance</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/historical/" rel="tag">Historical</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/silkroad-online/" rel="tag">Silkroad Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.joymax.com/silkroad/"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/09/srobots.jpg"  alt="" /></a><br /></div>
No botters!  Bad botters!  Down!  Ban!  You're banned!<br /><br />Well, that's not exactly how bannings go, but <em><a href="http://www.joymax.com/silkroad/">Silkroad Online</a></em> is starting to crack down on their botting problem.  The game has recently changed their anti-botting rules, converting over to a three strike policy.  The first instance of your account being suspected, you get a 7 day ban.  The next time your account gets flagged, it's a 14 day ban.  And, if your account gets flagged a third and final time for the use of illegal programs, you can kiss your account goodbye.<br /><br />It's a pretty strict system, doubly so for a free-to-play game.  Usually we see larger MMO developers, like <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/square-enix">Square-Enix</a> and <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/ccp">CCP</a>, moving towards initiatives like these.  However, it's clear that <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/joymax">Joymax</a> is interested in cleaning up their game, a move that many will undoubtedly enjoy.<br /><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/silkroad-online-says-no-to-botters/">Silkroad Online says no to botters</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.joymax.com/silkroad/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/silkroad-online-says-no-to-botters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19176753/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/09/28/silkroad-online-says-no-to-botters/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>ban</category><category>botters</category><category>botting</category><category>clean-campaign</category><category>joymax</category><category>silk-road</category><category>silk-road-online</category><category>silkroad-online</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Seraphina Brennan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[YS Online wants you to bomb botters]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/09/ys-online-wants-you-to-bomb-botters/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/09/ys-online-wants-you-to-bomb-botters/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/09/ys-online-wants-you-to-bomb-botters/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/betas/" rel="tag">Betas</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/new-titles/" rel="tag">New titles</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/humor/" rel="tag">Humor</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.ysonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8703"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/06/ysonlineautobomb580.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
Botters can be a hassle. Trust us, we know. We too have felt the sting of automatic programming when waiting for that quest monster to spawn, or for that rare monster pops up on the battlefield. Sure, we can report the problem to Game Masters for them to fix, but that's not even a full guarantee that the problem will be taken care of. Plus, don't you always love the satisifaction of dealing with botters yourself?<br /><br />Now you can take matters into your own hands in <a href="http://www.ysonline.com/"><em>YS Online</em></a>, the currently Europe only MMO based off of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys_(series)">popular YS series of RPGs</a>. YS offers all players the ability to carry <a href="http://www.ysonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8703">items known as Auto Bombs</a>, which are available from all vendors for 1 copper a piece.  All one has to do is simply take the bomb and throw it at the supposed botter.  Once it hits, they'll have a small window to complete <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha">a simple captcha</a> -- a word shown in picture format that they have to type into the box below the picture.  If they fail to complete the captcha, they'll gain a debuff where they can't do anything for 30 minutes.  Painful, no?<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/09/ys-online-wants-you-to-bomb-botters/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>YS Online wants you to bomb botters</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/09/ys-online-wants-you-to-bomb-botters/">YS Online wants you to bomb botters</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.ysonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8703>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/09/ys-online-wants-you-to-bomb-botters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19060970/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/09/ys-online-wants-you-to-bomb-botters/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>afk-players</category><category>auto-bomb</category><category>botters</category><category>closed-beta</category><category>europe</category><category>key-to-play</category><category>keytoplay</category><category>macroers</category><category>ys</category><category>ys-online</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Seraphina Brennan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[SOE hires crime fighting gnomes to fend off credit card worms]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/soe-hires-crime-fighting-gnomes-to-fend-off-credit-card-worms/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/soe-hires-crime-fighting-gnomes-to-fend-off-credit-card-worms/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/soe-hires-crime-fighting-gnomes-to-fend-off-credit-card-worms/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/everquest/" rel="tag">EverQuest</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/everquest-ii/" rel="tag">EverQuest II</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/pirates-of-the-burning-sea/" rel="tag">Pirates of the Burning Sea</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/planetside/" rel="tag">PlanetSide</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/interviews/" rel="tag">Interviews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-agency/" rel="tag">The Agency</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-wars-galaxies/" rel="tag">Star Wars Galaxies</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/vanguard/" rel="tag">Vanguard</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-realms/" rel="tag">Free Realms</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legends-of-norrath/" rel="tag">Legends of Norrath</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/dc-universe-online/" rel="tag">DC Universe Online</a></p><img hspace="4" height="338" border="1" align="right" width="225" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/02/trenchcoat.jpg" />Online credit card fraud is big business and even MMORPGs aren't safe from it's far reach. We recently had a chance to sit down with Executive Director of Global Customer Service, <a href="http://massively.com/tag/brad-wilcox/">Brad Wilcox</a>, and discuss how <a href="http://www.station.sony.com/">SOE</a> is dealing with <a href="http://massively.com/tag/gold-selling">gold selling</a> and <a href="http://massively.com/tag/power-leveling/">power-leveling</a> services for their games. They are taking this war so seriously that they have put all transactional business under keen gnomish scrutiny.<br /><br /><strong>Can you tell us how this fraud prevention task force came to be?</strong><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brad Wilcox:</span> Since the inception of <span style="font-style: italic;">EQ1</span>, we always had components of a fraud prevention team. These were game masters and individuals tasked with looking at the game economy and making sure that people weren't exploiting. Since September 2007, we started to see a big increase in fraudulent activity in regards to stolen credit cards. That is when it was decided to put a few more resources specifically related to the fraud that was happening with accounts and subs being created with these stolen credit cards. That's when we formed what we call the NUGIT team, which stands for <em>Norrathian Underground Gnome Investigation Team</em>. As you can tell by the name, our employees enjoy having as much fun on the back end as we do on the front end of these games<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/soe-hires-crime-fighting-gnomes-to-fend-off-credit-card-worms/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>SOE hires crime fighting gnomes to fend off credit card worms</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/soe-hires-crime-fighting-gnomes-to-fend-off-credit-card-worms/">SOE hires crime fighting gnomes to fend off credit card worms</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/soe-hires-crime-fighting-gnomes-to-fend-off-credit-card-worms/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1457488/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/soe-hires-crime-fighting-gnomes-to-fend-off-credit-card-worms/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>botters</category><category>brad-wilcox</category><category>farmers</category><category>fraud</category><category>gold-selling</category><category>mules</category><category>power-leveling</category><category>rmt</category><category>soe</category><category>spammers</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brooke Pilley]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
