Is it safe to report players who are using bots to AFK farm?

[Endless Soul.5178]

> @Teratus.2859 said:

> It really doesn't matter to me.. I see characters standing around in a group spamming some aoe skill.. I don't care if they are at the computer but doing something else.. they are still not playing the game and getting rewarded for it.

>

> By my definition that's no different than afk farming so I have no issue with reporting them on sight.

>

> Considering minions masters are common culprits of this and I happen to be a big fan of the minions myself.. I consider myself personally invested in cutting down these afk players when I find them.

> I certainly don't want to see minions.. a mechanic I love in gw2 get changed in any way because some people are abusing it like this.

 

This is pretty much my stance on the subject as I main a reaper minion master. These AFK farming necros are really making the rest of us honest necromancer players look bad, and we're hated enough as it is.

 

However, reporting is about all we can do. As @Illconceived Was Na.9781 has repeatedly said, not just in this thread, but also many others on the same subject, I report everyone in that group and move on. Let the GMs sort it out.

[Ashamir.9574]

> @Teratus.2859 said:

> It really doesn't matter to me.. I see characters standing around in a group spamming some aoe skill.. **I don't care** if they are at the computer but doing something else.. they are still not playing the game and getting rewarded for it.

>

> **By my definition** that's no different than afk farming so I have no issue with reporting them on sight.

 

That's the problem I have with this whole topic:

 

There are rules in place for what you can do and what you can't do. I posted them further up. It doesn't matter what someone's personal opinion is of those rules.

 

You think they shouldn't be able to play the game that way. You don't like it, and because you don't like it "by your definition" it's bad and supposed to be forbidden. Your opinion however, is subjective. There is nothing in the TOS or stated by devs that outright forbids anyone from parking their character in a farm spot, activating autocast and then doing whatever they want. As long as they don't leave the game for itself completely and are somewhat responsive, what they're doing will max get them a temp ban.

 

If there's a veteran up for the WvW Veteran Creature Slayer for example, and people wait with the kill for someone from another server running there, and that person after getting the daily kills the players that waited for them, that person is a kitten. If I had any say in the matter, in that case you'd get a temp WvW ban for not knowing how to be decent human being. Luckily I don't, however.

 

It's the same for the afk farming. "But they stand there and autocast and only check in from time to time, it's not how the game should be played!!!" is a subjective opinion of some people. Other people disagree.

 

That's one of the reasons why players opinions on who should be banned for what are mostly not implemented in games. We're not objective.

 

(Do I afk farm? No. I think it's boring shit. Do I think using bots or macros is bad? Unless they do it in a competitive part of the game I don't really give a kitten. It's forbidden by TOS however, so they get banned, case closed. Same for going perma afk farm. Did I care for Auric Basin multiloot? Nope. Still people loved it and everyone was crying when they fixed it. Somehow however, standing there farming seems to be much worse than logging from map to map for almost an hour to stack loot. Go figure.)

 

EDIT:

 

> @Shikigami.4013 said:

 

> I said "when you go to a farming spot" which equals "a place where it is beneficial for your character to be at"

> I said "then go afk" which equals "Unresponsive to interaction with GMs" because when you are afk you cannot interact with GMs. If you can answer a GM you were not afk, you were just not using the keyboard. Not using it is not the same as being away from it. Maybe your definiton of "away" differs from what people generally define as "away". For me "afk" means you are not there. Sleeping, working, doing gardenwork, school, eating, whatever. That is "being away".

> I said "and put any spell or attack on autocast" which equals "Using skill (1 or more) while afk".

> So I basically wrote exactly the three points which you quoted with the intention of proving what I wrote was wrong.

 

Afk means "away from keyboard". There is no definition on how long afk has to be. As "responsive to GM" means that you have to answer the GM in a resonable time – let's say a few minutes – you can go afk, check back every x amount of minutes and still be responsive to GM. So unless you are afk _for a long period of time_ as I phrased it, or perma afk, I see no problem. Go to the spot, go away to do something else, never check back = not allowed according to what Chris said, i.e. you can get banned.

[PookieDaWombat.6209]

> @"Teofa Tsavo.9863" said:

> Depending how long it goes on, I report them once every day. Botters used to camp a place or a farm loop for literally weeks. Underwear BearBows, auggghhh!

>

> Since they spammed f, my "kindhearted" Mesmer would portal them into a nearby tent or structure so they wouldn't freeze to death.

>

 

ooooh, you just gave me a reason to play my mesmer. :)

[Teofa Tsavo.9863]

> @PookieDaWombat.6209 said:

> > @"Teofa Tsavo.9863" said:

> > Depending how long it goes on, I report them once every day. Botters used to camp a place or a farm loop for literally weeks. Underwear BearBows, auggghhh!

> >

> > Since they spammed f, my "kindhearted" Mesmer would portal them into a nearby tent or structure so they wouldn't freeze to death.

> >

>

> ooooh, you just gave me a reason to play my mesmer. :)

 

Pact mastery killed that fun, mostly. Still works on the throwaway core bots.

 

[Ellisande.5218]

Instead of focusing on the bots, focus on the problem causing the bots. And that problem is too much pointless unnecessary grind.

[mauried.5608]

One of the problems with the bot issue is people claim that this behaviour is not playing the game.

Most MMOs, and this one is no exception do not define what is required to be playing the game.

Generally botting requires 3rd party software , but the difficult area is where players can in fact play their characters unattended

without using 3rd party software, and this really an unintended consequence of any game that allows pets.

As for the reasons for this, all MMos require grind as without it players would go through all the games content far too quickly and the complain that there is nothing for them to do.

 

 

 

[Shikigami.4013]

> @mauried.5608 said:

> One of the problems with the bot issue is people claim that this behaviour is not playing the game.

> Most MMOs, and this one is no exception do not define what is required to be playing the game.

> Generally botting requires 3rd party software , but the difficult area is where players can in fact play their characters unattended

> without using 3rd party software, and this really an unintended consequence of any game that allows pets.

> As for the reasons for this, all MMos require grind as without it players would go through all the games content far too quickly and the complain that there is nothing for them to do.

>

Common sense can tell people what is "playing the game". Unfortunately many people lack it and think **every little thing** has to be spelled out for them up to the most tiny little detail.

 

If you are not playing the game, you are not playing the game. Is that not clear enough? If an ingame function makes your char do things, why would anyone in their right mind label that as "playing the game". Same goes for bots, autoclicker software, mouse/keyboard software and anything else that makes your char do anything that not **you** made him do yourself.

 

If you are away from your keyboard, you are away from your keyboard, aka "afk". Why is that not clear? Why do people need to argue about **how long** they need to be away from the keyboard up to the exact amount of minutes, or **how far** they need to be away from it? Am I afk when getting a drink? Am I afk when going to the toilet? Am I afk walking the dog? Am I afk while I sleep? Any clarification will never be good enough for these people, and even in the hypothetical situation that the game maker would tell them "anything longer than 10 minutes is not ok" they would ask for the number of seconds. When told the number of seconds they will start asking about which hypothetical emergency situations might be exceptions. People like that **never** stop.

 

And most MMOs have pretty clear rules that say what is allowed and what not, and for those with lack of common sense they are usually clarified like in posts as the one from the old forums which was already quoted above:

 

>@"Chris Cleary.8017" wrote about what forbidden AFK farming is:

>1) Using skill (1 or more) while AFK

>2) AFKing in a place where it is beneficial for your character to be at

>3) Unresponsive to interaction with GMs

>If all 3 of these apply to what you are doing, you may get actioned for it.

 

For those with no common sense, who actively try to do forbidden things by looking for tiny loopholes in what was said, nothing can be done. Those with common sense know that in every game having software/bots play the game for you is forbidden, and if there is a game where it is not forbidden it is a huge exception and everyone in that game will know about it and probably do it.

 

[JVJD.4912]

Using any sort of bot or automated should be reported op

[Kal Bhairav.6589]

> @Shikigami.4013 said:

> > @"Kal Bhairav.6589":

> > "I mind my own business and move along."

>

> Not caring for broken rules by other players is a sign of egoism - as long as you think it does not affect you, you don't care. Not a nice trait.

>

>

 

There are way more important things in my life than bothering with some afk farmers or whatever in game. I am not sure that is egoism.

 

Eitherway, I really don't care if someone afk farms or aoe farms. I just try my best to have fun playing instead worried about gold or what others doing.

 

[Shikigami.4013]

The existance of something more important has never been a valid reason to regard all less important things as irrelevant. It is a poor excuse for your egoism, and as you don't even seem to know the meaning of the word: It is about you putting your self-interest as the base for your ethical or moral choices. As in "I don't care because I don't think it affects me negatively, all I care about is my own fun".

[RobMonty.3719]

Where do we report players who are possibly and most likely using macros to pull 5 skills in PVP in less then a second?

So obvious its a macro and really in the tournaments, most people are so tired of this exploiting...

 

Thanks

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"RobMonty.3719" said:

> Where do we report players who are possibly and most likely using macros to pull 5 skills in PVP in less then a second?

> So obvious its a macro and really in the tournaments, most people are so tired of this exploiting...

>

> Thanks

 

* Report: Botting if you want the easy route, via the in-game tool.

* If you want to take the time to type up a description, create a support ticket.

* If you know how to replicate what they did, you can mail exploits@arena.net (doesn't sound as if you do in this case).

 

PS even if you have screenshots and/or video evidence, be sure to type up your explanation. Don't assume that it's as obvious to others as it is to you.

[Little Leaver.9513]

hmm, a little nervous now for my new necro. I did plan on her being a minion master so it could help me get the materials I needed for legendaries mostly (Honestly, obtaining some of the mats are a pain if you don't obtain a lot of gold to buy the mats). But from what I'm reading, if I stand still with my minions up and let them kill for me, I'll be very likely reported on the spot?

[Sesbog.8705]

If the bots do not interfere with you personally, then you do not need to send anything. Do not prevent others from playing as they want.

 

Salty anti bots

[Galaa.8475]

or, or, you can just leave folks alone and mind what you are doing. just a thought. not that any of it matters anyway in the big picture of things.

[RoseofGilead.8907]

> @"Little Leaver.9513" said:

> hmm, a little nervous now for my new necro. I did plan on her being a minion master so it could help me get the materials I needed for legendaries mostly (Honestly, obtaining some of the mats are a pain if you don't obtain a lot of gold to buy the mats). But from what I'm reading, if I stand still with my minions up and let them kill for me, I'll be very likely reported on the spot?

 

If you know you'll be doing things that are against the rules (ie. going off to the store while you leave your minions out to kill things for you in-game), then you might have something to worry about. If you plan to just play the game normally, then you have nothing to worry about.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

> @"RoseofGilead.8907" said:

> > @"Little Leaver.9513" said:

> > hmm, a little nervous now for my new necro. I did plan on her being a minion master so it could help me get the materials I needed for legendaries mostly (Honestly, obtaining some of the mats are a pain if you don't obtain a lot of gold to buy the mats). But from what I'm reading, if I stand still with my minions up and let them kill for me, I'll be very likely reported on the spot?

>

> If you know you'll be doing things that are against the rules (ie. going off to the store while you leave your minions out to kill things for you in-game), then you might have something to worry about. If you plan to just play the game normally, then you have nothing to worry about.

 

Maybe take a look at Rankor Ruins or Thistlereed Grove in Timberline Falls and let us know if you think those hoards of AFK macro farmers/bots have anything to worry about.. they seems to have been away shopping for months....

[Drecien.4508]

I have a guild member who had a stroke some years ago and lost most of the function to his right arm. He plays a reaper minion mancer so that there is always "someone" there to help and he can be tanky. People see him moving slow, cause of the disability and report him for afk farming and then message him nasty messages that hes getting reported. So the people that are helped by the way the game is made, autoloot, minions are subjected to kittenness from people who think they are gm's. Let that sink in before you decide you are the judge and jury and start whispering garbage at people.

And i do not condone afk farming. but we are not the deciders, thats anets job.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

> @"Drecien.4508" said:

> I have a guild member who had a stroke some years ago and lost most of the function to his right arm. He plays a reaper minion mancer so that there is always "someone" there to help and he can be tanky. People see him moving slow, cause of the disability and report him for afk farming and then message him nasty messages that hes getting reported. So the people that are helped by the way the game is made, autoloot, minions are subjected to kittenness from people who think they are gm's. Let that sink in before you decide you are the judge and jury and start whispering garbage at people.

> And i do not condone afk farming. but we are not the deciders, thats anets job.

 

There is a huge difference between someone moving slowly around the maps and those staying put in the same place auto spamming the same skill or set of skills with impeccable timing 24/7 for months and months on end.