It all depends on how intense the botting was. What do I mean by this? Well, botting a few mil XP in Woodcutting is not deserving of the same punishment as making countless mule accounts to make coal and profit billions from. So, how should they actually be punished? Well, obviously punishing them individually will make some cases very difficult. However, I think it is the best way to actually make punishments fair, without allowing serious offenders to get off lightly, whilst allowing people who made a mistake just once to never get a chance to play again. So really, although every case needs to be treated seperate to similar cases, there are guidelines that could be followed, such as...
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If XP based botting (ie botting for personal XP / highscores rank, not primarily for items):
-> First offence = Full Stats Reset + PKP Reset (+ any items gained inadvertently)
-> Second offence = Full Account Reset
-> Third offence = Ban on the account
If item-oriented botting:
-> First offence = Full Account Reset + Tempban (of any account that can be directly linked to the players involved)
-> Second offence = Unappealable ban / IPban
*if mule acccounts used:
-> First offence = IPban / Fullban
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Arguably, one could claim that they were attempting to only gain XP, not items, if items such as Super Prayers were produced, at which point it would be impossible to prove which is the true intention, and so it would be safest to go with the tougher guidelines, else it could be loopholed.
Why do I believe this is the best solution? Well, unlike others who appear to have no remorse and don't believe that people are deserving of a second chance, this new system would mean that only those with truly bad intentions would have serious punishments, of which they cannot redeem themselves. This would mean that players who make a simple mistake early on would not be unable to play again - if they then chose to continue botting, despite previously being punished, then they would have intentions that they cannot deny and have already been harshly warned for / punished for already.
It could be argued that people who bot will already have bad intentions, but if you don't give them a chance to change, especially if their 'crime' is so little in comparison to others, you'll only be reducing the player base when it would not be necessary; a simple reset would be enough to prevent further offences for most people. If not, well, then it's their own fault for continuing when they know that the punishment for such actions is only set to increase rapidly.
The current system does not work because it does not account for different scenarios and quite honestly, any determined, bad-intentioned botter could get around it without much hassle. It is necessary for the system to change, but if it is made too tough then you will lose valuable members of the community, as well as numbers, when such issues are not required. If each case is taken to be the same, even in the future, as it is now, then the problem will continue; the only people who would realistically be affected by the tougher rules, if they are 'set in stone', would be the 'one-off' botters who would not repeat offend under much lower punishments than some have suggested.
Something else to consider would be banning all forms of macros / auto-clickers as well. This could prevent people botting altogether in any shape or form. The punishment would still have to vary however, else you'd be punishing one player for auto-ing an inventory of logs to burn in a few seconds the same as you would punish another player who is legitimately botting and not just saving the self from repetitive, dull actions. Small, insignificant macros could still be allowed, such as for the Firemaking example given above, but anything as 'sophisticated' as cutting trees / thieving from Rogues could be counted as punishable.
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Elite reborn wrote:
We have had countless warnings in the forums + by staff members ingame telling members of the community NOT to bot, yet they still continue to do so. I think a permanent ban might be needed.
Until you see the reality of the punishment on yourself, it can often be difficult to understand just how large the offence is. You cannot learn if you are not given the chance to do so.
Hentai yum wrote:voted other, fullban those nubs
Why? Fullbanning them is completely unnecessary, especially for the majority of offenders. Perhaps in the extreme cases of mules bringing in billions to the economy, but for the average Joe who slips up, that would not be fair.
Thoby wrote:Depends if you want it to be a slap on the wrists, or an actual punishment.
This should be the rule (IMO):
1st - Perm ban of botted account + if items are transferred to another account, clean the mains bank.
2nd - Temp-Ipban
3rd - Perm Full/Ip Ban
Serious problems need serious solutions.
This is getting out of hand, make people aware of the fact that botting is REALLY bad.
I largely agree with this, but it is too intense at the first stage. Few players will bother starting a new account if you take away their 200+ hours because of an innocent mistake, when a smaller reset would prevent any other offence. The aim of these punishments are to prevent the massive problem of continuous botters & their effects on the economy / other players, not to be unremorseful to those who would benefit more from a lesser punishment. Also, if someone uses a VPN, the IP's may never be linkable to them, so they'd have to check trade-logs and such, else your second punishment would be largely pointless at preventing those who would the punishments the most.
