EVE General Discussion

Since Tengus and Hulks all require significant training, surely there's a pattern there at the account level that CCP can look at?

The botter would probably have a set plan for efficiency's-sake - a bunch of accounts created at the same time, with the same implants applied, all doing the exact same skill plan, in the same area, but without any sec-status changes or NPC kills (assuming they're not used much before getting into a Tengu). Even the same or similar IP address and credit card (unless someone in-game supplies them with PLEX) are clues.

Those things don't make them bots, but it's certainly suspicious enough behaviour to justify having a look.

I'm no programmer, but is there not a way that the server could detect repetitive, script like actions? I've watched these russian ratters in 0.0, they initiate warp to their POS/planet/safe as soon as someone enters local, presumably their farming actions are similarly obviously automated. I would also propose a thread in which we share tricks for catching them, I've heard of anchoring a bubble in a belt, aggressing yourself then logging off in said bubble so you don't warp off, on log in you're instantly in a belt ready to point, either play the odds or stick someone in every belt.

Every time someone comes up with this idea, even in jest, god kills a kitten.

Please, think of the kittens.

CCP have only ever taken moderate action against botters in the past for 2 reasons. Those same 2 reasons are why there's no chance at all of them going on some insane bottkilling rampage again either now, or any time Soon™

1. MONEY. It doesn't matter whether these bots pay with cc or (more likely) PLEX, it's a large chunk of cash coming in, for those of you that didn't notice, CCP is kinda broke atm so I can't see finance being too happy with a pile of accounts nuked, no matter how 'right' it is to do so.


2. RISK. Even if 99% of accounts banned for botting are bots, getting it wrong for 1% has the potential to be a severe PR mess, especially if the story gets run my multiple gaming sites, they really do have to be damn sure that someone is a bot and not just a focused/efficent player. The potential consequences of getting it wrong in terms of losing more genuine subs (not sush a problem), and discouraging potential new players that're reading about how people are getting wrongly banned for botting (much more of a problem) are just too high to afford many screwups.

I am on your side Malona Sky on this one.


There is a new pest in Eve: it is botting Tengus in Anomalies

Belt botting is pretty dead. Why? Because it is not at all as profitable as Tengus in Anos. A belt ratting raven creates in Dotlan maybe 100-200 wrecks/h and you can only use 1 or 2 per system. for one Raven/Drake it is appr. 1000 in 23/7. Often it gets disturbed and then it is way less. A tengu group in Anos creates up to 10000+ NPC kills in 1 system. Today there are often groups of 4-5 tengus in deadends with high enough sec status.

The sad thing is:

this are the same guys, who did it big years ago already. There seem to be some organized crime style cheating going on. Why should a mafia group not target gold shop-like a MMORPG like Eve for RMT business?

Which leads us to the possible reasons, why CCP fail so horribly:

1) They completely sleep and know nothing about what is going on out there. The way, they failed with their event fleet would indicat this, too. Naive geeks.

2) They know, what is going on and profit from it, too

3) CCP are blackmailed by the RMT guys. We speak about a bigger picture here: These guys can hire PL and other mercs, form alliances, are known to bribe alliances leaders or important FCs of hostile alliances with real $ and make them remove either legit player groups, who just want to play the game for fun (what it is supposed to be) or fight vs other RMT empires. All big alliance blocks have today connections to RMT business groups.

If you know of a way one player can beat a 30+ fleet of tech 2 ships and battleships, feel free to tell me smart ass.

Probing them only works, if the gate is not bubbled with a gazillon of large bubbles and they start botting again after you left with your probes in th system and if they are close to the gate. A lot of "ifs". Also 4 tengus nuke a small tackle in 1 volley, so the DPS ship need to be there very quick, too. Otherwise they warp out very fast. There is a reason, why there are so many of them and so few of them get killed.

The best method to catch one, is to AWOX. Blue tackle alt. But only a handful of ppl care to do this from time to time, so it is only a drop on a hot stone. Also if there would be more awoxers, they certainly adapt their standing lists.

Btw. I have a list with potential bots. It shows something really disturbing:

All the guys, who I suspect to be bots, because other evidence let me say, this might be bots, are very often online and green. There will always be a strong correlation between online time and botting. Somebody, who runs a bot, only runs it, because he automated some repeating, brainmelting, boring actions. The longer he runs his cheat program, the more he profits. So these are online very often and out of that list I have a high number of "players" green and only a few red all the time.

I have another list. Famous PVPers, I fought against, and which I watch. This list is the total opposite. It is more than 90 % red, not online, and only a few come sometimes online to play the game. I see it also in my own corp. The participation for pvp is shockingly low, out of the whole group. It appears to me, most players, who play this game longer and are honest, have already given up and no more play Eveonline. Sometimes some of them have nothing to do and then they play the game again for a few days or weeks a couple of hours more a week. But most players, who play this for years, lost the passion, which they once had for the game.

And I think, I know the reason: If you do not cheat, you will be always just a victim in the great end game to the professinals, who make RL money with it. They either try to bribe good PVPers or sell them ISK. They do not like PVPers, who not work for them as mercs, not pay rent or do not buy ISK from them. These kind of players, they try to grief out of the game and they did this very successful with certainly thousands of players.

Herzog, Is the bot operator also a 'neckbeard' by chance? Does he like ponies?

Every time someone makes this suggestion, god kills a kitten.

Please, think of the kittens.