The number of bots has increased so much since the expansion and something needs to be done. Now that I’ve stated the obvious, here is something that I think could be an effective workaround until AGS finds a better solution.
A lot of ppl have been demanding that anyone reported as a bot gets flagged. This of course would be abused. I’m not a fan of forced PvP, but I believe there is a way to make this idea work.
What is the one thing pretty much every bot does that makes us know they are for sure bots? They attempt to harvest nodes that have already been done.
So, why not implement a system that will flag anyone that attempts to harvest an “empty” node more than twice in a 5 min period?
I can count on one hand how many times I’ve accidentally attempted to harvest an empty node since launch, so it’s not very likely to affect actual players.
And yes, a player could use this method to flag themselves intentionally, but so what? I’m not a pvper so maybe there’s something I’m missing. But I think you should be allowed to turn on your PvP flag anywhere, and then have to go to a sanctuary for turning it off.
I would happily turn on my PVP flag to kill a bot. This method seems to have very little chance of catching an innocent player.
Plus it would give PVPers something to do. If they want to hunt bots they can go to an area where bots are active, harvest the nodes and then kill the bots when they get flagged for being bots.
(And really, why couldn’t AGS use this method to to identify and ban bots? Normal players aren’t going around attempting to harvest empty nodes).
Anyway, just a thought. And as I said, I’m not a pvper, so I might have missed a critical point with this, but something needs to be done, and I thought this would be more practical than allowing players to force a flag on someone.