MMORPG bots

A MMORPG bot is a video game bot for automating certain actions (such as gaining experience and virtual supplies or adding custom features and interactions to the game) in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Bots can control existing game client's inputs, outputs and/or network streams, or act as clients by themselves. A common use of bots is for tedious tasks, which generaly fall under the category of grinding.

Since they introduce an unfair advantage, the use of bots for players' benefit is usually considered cheating and is discouraged. Many companies that oversee MMORPGs put much effort into detecting and banning bots. For instance, in 2011 RuneScape banned 1.5 million bot accounts in a single day in a publicized "bot nuking event"[1] and sued a company that made RuneScape bots for copyright infringement and computer fraud.[2] The Glider bot, a bot written for World of Warcraft, was targeted by Blizzard Entertainment on copyright infringement grounds, resulting in a legal battle that Blizzard ultimately won.[3][4]

On the other hand, the benefits of operating a MMORPG bot can include faster advancement through the game and earning in-game currency, which can even be exchanged for real currency. For example, the sometimes-repetitive nature of EVE Online gameplay has resulted in a large amount of player botting activity, which CCP has aggressively tried to end.[5][6]

Some games openly permit bots, like Magic World Online, Angels Online and Shattered Dimension Online. GodsWar Online has a programmed bot in its client known as AFK mode.

A pair of RuneScape bot accounts spamming messages about third-party websites where gold can be purchased. Note the lengths the messages go to in order to avoid the spam filters built into the game that are supposed to prevent spamming, such as rendering ".com" as the text "="= C : () :: /\/\"

Another category of MMORPG bots interact with the game world through in-game chat. Early versions of the modern chatterbot started to appear in MMORPGs in the 1980s and have only gotten more advanced since then.[7] More often, though, bots that use the chat system are used for spamming and promotional activities. A significant portion of these bots advertise unauthorized marketplaces for in-game items, and are sometimes operated in tandem with other bots that earn in-game currency, as mentioned above.

See also

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.