One DBG policy that makes their actual enforcement less clear is that when someone is banned for botting it's done discreetly and when you see someone just gone one day you know if that person just moved on from EQ or was banned.
I like your post and I agree with the sentiment 100%. But, did you mean "when someone is banned for botting..." or did you mean "if someone is banned for botting..."? Just clarifying, in case maybe you really do know somebody that was banned for botting (not just AFK play)? EDIT: Maybe there's too much confusion over the term "botting". I consider botting to be automating characters, regardless of whether the player is AFK or not. As far as I know, there aren't any rules against "botting" (although there certainly is plenty of hate!).
It'd be more correct to just say, "when someone you think is cheating suddenly disappears, you don't know whether they were banned or just left." To add on to my previous statement, if DBG did a ban wave, it'd be much more effective if, after whatever appeal process takes place, DBG announced: *The names of all the characters that were banned *The guilds those characters were in *If the information exists, the previous guilds associated with those characters or even the account in general A guild knowing their reputation could be tarnished as a result of a cheater will make them think twice about inviting someone that is known to bot.
As it is used in relation to disciplinary action in EQ, there is the implication it allows you to perform actions either specifically banned or against the rules, something that can not be done by a person sitting at the keyboard. Performing a rapid series of commands faster then humanly possible or circumventing the delay timers built into the client are ~bad bots. A bot that does the same things as someone holding their finger down on a macro key should be fine IMHO and I think DB has said as much.
The Twitch channels are still up and one of them has a banner that refers directly to being banned. I suspect posting it would get me in trouble with Dreamweaver so I have to be quite koi about the whole thing.
DBG doesnt have the enough employees to police every server, which is why so many policy and rules are broken and typically ignored. Like Community Standards, where everyone claims a mob "is a DPS race" (from a post by a lazy GM who doenst want to deal with the tickets anymore) when its clearly Kill Stealing, which I see as a form of griefing done by higher level players that are bored as hell and just want to start drama in general chat. I've had this happen 3 times now and no one from DBG cared that it was reported. Sure they tell you "something is being done", like we're supposed to believe that. WE are expected to believe it. And when the offending player laughs are you when you openly accuse them of harassment the next time it happens, it diminishes what little faith anyone has in the competency of DBG staff. I watch some stream of a guy 24 box a raid to hate, you can tell he is using a 3rd party app it doesnt show on screen but quite obvious it was quite obvious on the stream if you knew where to look and how certain things were being done.The program was on the computer not facing stream cam, since it doesnt need to be on all the computers (minimized or not). But hey we get it, he has to pay for all those boxes somehow right? farm krono items and sell trade for more krono, free to play at its most abusive, and DBG cant prove a thing so they ignore it. TBH, it appears to be a crapshoot, I use a Logitech keyboard that has programmable macros, essentially a key press repeater function. So other than map mods, use addons at your own risk just dont push too much and keep it simple.
The only way you are getting a ban or warning is as follows: You send in a ticket with a video of yourself cheating. Tried this three times in the past few years, only 1 account ever got banned. You train someone who recorded it. I've gotten a few folks a small vacation it seems. /tell a GM you are cheating and show some proof when they ask you. Haven't tried yet At this point DBG appears to be incapable of enforcement for whatever reason. I could be wrong but the feeling is do whatever at least on a TLP server. No idea on Live don't play there at all. Botting appears to be the #1 complaint, there are plenty of other hacks around but most of those folks seem to be smart enough to hide it quite well.
Nobody really seems to be concerned about botting or hacking on Live servers. My theories on why: 1) Far less contested content, because most loot is No Drop (not tradeable) and any missions/tasks that people might want to repeat are instanced. 2) Player reputations, guild reputations, and friendships mean a lot more to people because they have been developing them for years, not days/weeks/months. An account on a Live server can easily have thousands of dollars invested in it just in monthly fees, and even more hours in time spent. Meanwhile, a griefer on a TLP server might have less at risk than one high-end drink at a bar. 3) Lower overall population. The impact of this factor is apparent during the initial release of an expansion, when initial zones are overcrowded and people accidentally step on each other's toes, but it usually dies out quickly. To clarify: I believe 3rd-party software usage is at least as popular on Live servers as it is on TLP servers, but the Live game is designed with less inherent PVP. On Live servers, people are free to play how they want to without stepping on each other (as much).
Thanks everybody, for taking the time to respond. After reading through the replies I have a good feel for what's allowed and what's not (although the rules of conduct and past consistency seem to leave room for negotiation). I'm not one for walking the fence, so I feel the line I've drawn for myself keeps me safe. @Dreamweaver - thanks for chiming in and leaving this open for others to view! Welcome to the new position.
