Die qRO Bot Hunter gehen so vor:
Quote:
Jay's Bot Hunting Guide, v1.0
For your viewing pleasure, and since I am no longer part of the team, I present to you a guide to catching bots! This is more designed for qRO.HR, not qRO.LR for the curious GMs on that server. At the end of reading this, you should hopefully have a better understanding of how bots operate, the popular/not-so-popular maps they can be found on, why people bot/why you should bother catching them, and the usual things to look out for while hunting.
If you have any questions regarding anything, I can be contacted on one of the following in-game names:
- null
- JayZ
- Jayden
- Asclepius
- Linux
- Holocaust
Note that there may be a very small chance that it's not me who is on my name, but 99% of the time, it's me. :P
The way I found out how to find and kill bots effectively was with experience after banning so many. You'll generally know what to look out for eventually. However, if you wish, a good way to learn about botting is to think like one. Just remember, there are real people acting behind these devious characters used to potentially mess up an entire server's economy. You can read the OpenKore forums (), which has extensive discussions about botting in general. Note that this is just to serve as a purpose for how they're able to avoid GMs and such; I'll explain this briefly a little bit later on in the article. You'll need to register first.
Anyway, moving on to my guide now...
The maps.
- Hidden Dungeon 03 (prt_maze03); used for hunting Yggdrasil Seeds, Yggdrasilberries, Tough Scale-like Stems, Rough Elunium, and Rough Oridecon. Most popular botting spot, check here often!
- Gonryun Dungeon 01 (gon_dun10); used for hunting Dead Branches, Strange Steel Pieces, and Black Bear Skins.
- Mt. Mjolnir 01 (mjolnir_01); used for hunting Acorns and Fluff.
- Payon Dungeon 04 (pay_dun03); used for hunting Nine-Tails.
- Beach Dungeon 02 (beach_dun2); used for hunting Elunium and Rough Elunium.
- Glast Heim Chivalry 01 and 02 (gl_knt01/gl_knt02); used for hunting Elunium, Oridecon, and Abyssmal Knight Cards.
Some of the less common botting places:
- Geffen Field 05 (gef_fild05); used for hunting Witherless Roses.
- Beach Dungeon 01 (beach_dun); used for hunting Gold Rings and Horrendous Hair.
- Comodo Field 01 (cmd_fild01); used for hunting Yggdrasil Seeds.
Nowadays, botting isn't as common as it once was as Elder Willows no longer drop Dead Branches. pay_fild07 and moc_fild03 were both very popular botting spots due to them. As strange as it sounds, the whole act of botting has been in decline ever since, but that doesn't mean the act will ever die completely. Not even close.
The most popular TOWN for bots is Comodo on qRO.HR. A certain group of Brazilians who hang (or hung, around my time) in Comodo were in charge of running a multitude of bots. These bots kept traveling to storage, as well as a certain tool dealer they used to sell items which they did not need, before using the warp NPC to go back to their desired location.
This is the NPC which was used by these bots:
Whether these people are still operating these bots, or even playing qRO, is unknown to me. I know that up until the start of February '06, they were. It's worth to occasionally check and sit there while you're busy handling PMs, requests, or whatever.
Identifying and catching them.
Believe it or not, there are certain classes that bot more than others. The most common bots appear to be Assassin Crosses, followed by Whitesmiths, Lord Knights, and Champions. Usually bots will only melee the monster, others will only use one certain type of skill over and over. You will rarely see a Professor, High Priest, or a High Wizard botting.
You normally could just start talking to everyone you see on the map, and those who won't answer you when you say "hi" or "1+2 = ?" can be assumed botting. This is a method I rather not use until after identifying them - or not - first of all, so here is the what to look out for (note, stay hidden unless stated otherwise):
1. Getting started.
Well, obviously you use @whomap <map_name>, pick anyone who is on the map, followed by @follow <name> to get started.
2. Picking up items.
While you're following a player, the first thing I usually look for is the way they pick up items. You'll find that the majority of bots turn off the autoloot feature to prevent becoming overweight too quickly. If they continually pick up one (or two in some cases) item(s) VERY quickly without even bothering with the other items on the ground, be very suspicious of them. This is not always the case. Clever bots will pick up certain items relatively slower than others will, so keep a close watch on which items they selectively loot. Also note, I've never seen a bot that mistakingly picks up items they weren't supposed to be looting, so keep that in mind. Some will autoloot everything and continually travel to their storage. If you've understood all of this, or the bot is autoloot everything skip to step 3.
3. Movement.
Bots are designed to take the quickest routes possible. That is, you won't see a bot zig-zagging across the screen, or walking wobbly. They will always walk straight, except when they need to turn, or when there is their desired monster on the screen. Not much else to say, you'll eventually pick this up this 'sense' after a while.
4. Unhide, ask questions, say hi, etc.
From now on, the methods you'll be using require you to stay unhidden. When you first unhide, you'll normally find some who will log out straight away. ALWAYS assume that it's a bot and get a full GM/admin to ban the account. This is one of the popular ways that people use to avoid a game master, despite how lame of an attempt it is. If they're still on your screen and walking/attacking monsters, begin by saying "hello", "oi", "hey", or something equivelant. Use various forms of greeting another player, as not all people speak English. Most will continue to walk away or attack other monsters. Say "hello" again, or ask a simply question such as "1+2 = ?", which all people should be able to understand and answer.
Note: Some bots are designed to autorespond. That is, to respond with a specific phrase, or use a bunch of different phrases. Always watch out for these; just because they responded to you, doesn't necessarily mean that it's not a bot. A good way to spot the difference is at the speed they respond to you. Some will type about six words in around a second after you've said something, which you should be quite suspicious of. Some will autorespond in a foreign phrase to confuse you. So, don't let that confuse you.
Also Note: During this process, if you notice them log out, assume that they're a bot and get somebody to ban them, as some botting programs are designed to make a noise on their computer when there is a GM on their screen. These people can then take the necessary action to avoid being punished, whether it would be logging out or, more cunningly, carry on a conversation with you and halt their program. It is advised to carry out this procedure quickly so this doesn't happen. If at first they blatantly ignored you, and you were made 99% sure that they were bots from steps 2 and 3, then it's usually okay to jail the character in question. Or if you're positive of it, it's fine to request a ban on the account. You won't normallly come across this situation too often, but sometimes it does happen, so be wary of it as it's one of the most difficult circumstances to handle in your botting career, but managable if you know what to do.
5. Recall.
So they're still ignoring you? Or you're still rather suspicious of them? Start using @recall <name> ! Most normal people will get annoyed at you, all the bots will do is ignore you and carry on with what they're doing. If the latter is the case...
6. It's safe to ban them.
You've taken the necessary steps in identifying if somebody is a bot or not. You will rarely find a real person acting like a bot, most people with common sense will respond to a GM when they're asked to, so it was their own fault for such to occur if they complained to you afterwards. If you're a full GM, you can go as far as using @kill <name> and using the skill Resurrection on your skill list. They will walk away immediately and resume with what they're doing if they were a bot. Another thing you could do is heal the monster they're attacking, real people will normally go "wtf?", but that shouldn't happen if you've been through the previous steps and tried it anyway. That's only if you want to make sure of it.
After all this is done, just ban them, or get somebody to jail them. A word of warning about jailing them is that some people often run their botting programs while playing qRO on their real account; since bots like to travel to their storage and deposit their goods, they can simply get on a different character on the botted account, and transfer their items to their real account to avoid all their goods to go to waste. Jailing them unfortunately does very little. This is why it's preferred to get somebody to ban them sooner, rather than later.
Otherwise, you don't need to do anything more.
Why do people bot?
Each have their different reasons. From what I have noticed, the most common reasons people bot on the HR server is for:
- items needed for certain headgears, such as Acorns (Lazy Raccoon Hat), Tough Scale-like Stems (Raccoon Hat), and Black Bear Skins (Furry Hat).
- items they can use to assist them in PvP/WoE, directly or indirectly (Yggdrasil Seeds, Yggdrasilberries, Elunium, Oridecon).
- items they can use for fun, in general, or to attain rare items in a different form (Dead Branches).
- items they can use to attain zeny quickly (Witherless Roses, vending the aforementioned items with their merchant character, etc).
This always leads to one problem: the already messed up economy. We have enough zeny floating around on the server, we don't need more people who get such items in an illegal manner to contribute to the downfall of the economy on the HR server (whatever's left of it). Hence...
Why you, the GMs, should seek them out!
Not only will you be helping the economy, but you will also be teaching them how futile it is to be botting on qRO in the first place. I've known numerous people, even groups of people who consistently used to bot on the server, who no longer bot after banning accounts which contained over 50,000 botted seeds and berries each! This is why you shouldn't just assume this is just another minor issue on the server, it can become quite serious if left for too long without anything being done about the matter.
If you have questions, or you're unsure of some things, you can speak to me in-game or my MSN is in my profile. Or, just respond here. I'd be happy to help out!
Best regards.
Nun könnt ihr es easy umgehen :]
Viel spaß!
