Guild Wars 2

How can I tell if someone is botting?
I want to be able to make sure before I report them for it. I’m sure there are the easy ones, like them just sitting there using the same skill over and over (which I’ve seen). Also I don’t want to report someone for just not talking either, which is what I myself usually do (not talk at all that is). Thanks.

You can’t know for certain, but they won’t be simply banned without an investigation (which is why it takes so long to get the scammers and goldsellers banned as well I think).

If they’re just standing there, not moving or using a heal, using the same ability over and over then they’re probably a botter.

Real players will move unpredictably and heal themselves at least once if they’re getting attacked. Even bad players. Observe their behaviour for a couple of minutes and if you genuinely think that they’re botting then report them, if you’re still uncertain then leave them alone.

An example I’ve seen was a guy near a waypoint in one of the snowy lv30-40 zones.

He was standing firing at nothing with all his engineer turrets up.
When he was attacked by anything his character would target that creature and auto-attack until dead. Then he could continue auto-attacking even with nothing there.

Turns out that there were 2 events that frequently happened in that location, myself and a friend managed to lure enough mobs to him to kill him off, then stood around to make sure he wasn’t revived before being dc’d for afk.

If in doubt, report as a bot. Anet will get a snapshot of that persons activity, and you won’t be penalized for an honest mistake.

At the Arena yesterday there were 2 botters. I reported both. 1 was a Warrior spamming arrows into the center of the arena for about 3 hours non-stop after i reported him. The other Ranger would go afk for an hour or two and cast a predictable trap pattern every 10-15 seconds. He would also say, “sic em” to his pet every time a mob spawned but did not move or loot.

Neither of them were looting mobs or moving at all. But, both were over levelled (down-levelled) and are back today doing the same thing. There are 5-7 people at the Arena and 2 of them are obvious botters. However, I did catch one of them logging in and out. I sent him a tell asking him if he was going to be spamming arrows for the next 5 hours. He logged out immediately and has not returned.

I find it hilarious that we can spot them, but ANet takes forever to identify them.

As for looking for botters, any time you see an exact pattern, its probably a bot. If you report them, ANET will probably send them a message asking a question to verify if it is a real person, or look at their activity during the time in question. Report people you suspect of botting, and then let the jury decide.

I did speak to the Ranger and he played dumb. First, he said he wasn’t botting and then he said he was eating. He must chew more than 32 times or eat at a trough because 2 hours is a long time not to move or loot.

Seems pretty crazy that he wasn’t looting. The “F” button looting in this game seems like it would actually make things a lot easier for them to program.

Well, he may have been looting mobs that die in loot range, but nothing his pet killed at a distance. Like I said, if you come by the arena today you will see him on my server. He is easy to spot because the NPC is spamming him with conversation because he is obviously clicking him to keep from being logged. He is not using traps today, but sending his pet in and spamming the NPC dialogue. Still not moving lol.

Also, he was trained by one of the spawns after his pet died and didn’t flinch.

Khaldar.7486:

I find it hilarious that we can spot them, but ANet takes forever to identify them.

No one would find it hilarious if they got it wrong and banned innocent players for botting. Especially if they just took players word for it and banned everyone who was reported.

I suspect that’s why it’s taking them so long to deal with stolen accounts too – they want to make sure it was stolen and they’re not just giving it right back to the gold seller.

Danikat.8537:

Khaldar.7486:

I find it hilarious that we can spot them, but ANet takes forever to identify them.

No one would find it hilarious if they got it wrong and banned innocent players for botting. Especially if they just took players word for it and banned everyone who was reported.

I suspect that’s why it’s taking them so long to deal with stolen accounts too – they want to make sure it was stolen and they’re not just giving it right back to the gold seller.

I understand the quandary. However, banning an account and having a player appeal to the ban at the very least removes the botter for a short run. That is how many MMOs handle botting bans.

It is only permanent if your appeal fails. But most MMOs usually give 1 reinstatement. My WoW account got hacked while I was on a 6-month hiatus. I came back to a banned account for botting. They reinstated, but warned me if it happens again that they would not reinstate.

Thanks for the responses. The main reason I ask is because twice now (with different people), I’ve seem people at the centaur’s trying to repair the bridge in Kessix Hills event that were just using an attack without moving at all (or with anything in range). I’ve reported 5 people, in two days, so I just to make sure its ok, and I’m not going to get penalized for abusing the reporting (or whatever that message was).

Swordfish.5241:

As for looking for botters, any time you see an exact pattern, its probably a bot. If you report them, ANET will probably send them a message asking a question to verify if it is a real person, or look at their activity during the time in question. Report people you suspect of botting, and then let the jury decide.

But if its just a message they send, and the person happens to look at it (or somehow otherwise get it), then they’ll just keep doing it.

Danikat.8537:

Khaldar.7486:

I find it hilarious that we can spot them, but ANet takes forever to identify them.

No one would find it hilarious if they got it wrong and banned innocent players for botting. Especially if they just took players word for it and banned everyone who was reported.

I suspect that’s why it’s taking them so long to deal with stolen accounts too – they want to make sure it was stolen and they’re not just giving it right back to the gold seller.

I definitely wouldn’t find that hilarious. I do hope they people I reported get reprimanded for doing it, and a given a second chance. After that, its their own fault if they lose their account.

Well, someone just came by the Warrior bot at the Arena and said he has been here for 3 days spamming. They said that they reported him as well both times they saw him here before.

Well, botting doesn’t look like a ANet priority. And with so many people engaged in it at Events, why should people be afraid to do it in the open?

Thellena.5967:

You can’t know for certain, but they won’t be simply banned without an investigation (which is why it takes so long to get the scammers and goldsellers banned as well I think).

If they’re just standing there, not moving or using a heal, using the same ability over and over then they’re probably a botter.

Real players will move unpredictably and heal themselves at least once if they’re getting attacked. Even bad players. Observe their behaviour for a couple of minutes and if you genuinely think that they’re botting then report them, if you’re still uncertain then leave them alone.

This is NOT the behavior of the bots for GW2. This is the behavior of someone who’s using the standard interface with auto-fire turned on.

Bots for GW2 do move around and use abilities, gather loot, and whatnot. They’ll either follow a path, or roam a particular area.

I was farming trolls with a group of people the other day and ran across a group of 3 botters in the area. Description of the bot I saw (And probably what will be most common):

All 3 were rangers, using bows and shooting from incredible range (I even stood next to one and tried to shoot what he was shooting and couldn’t hit).
After whatever they are aiming at dies, they instantly teleport to the body (I’m guessing to loot).
A few seconds after teleporting they are in a sort of standby mode (I’m guessing so the bot can process the loot).
Rinse and repeat!

We managed to grab a Fraps recording and someone reported it. Hopefully that is enough to get them banned since it’s pretty obvious, especially when you see 3 people doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

mulch.2586:

Thellena.5967:

You can’t know for certain, but they won’t be simply banned without an investigation (which is why it takes so long to get the scammers and goldsellers banned as well I think).

If they’re just standing there, not moving or using a heal, using the same ability over and over then they’re probably a botter.

Real players will move unpredictably and heal themselves at least once if they’re getting attacked. Even bad players. Observe their behaviour for a couple of minutes and if you genuinely think that they’re botting then report them, if you’re still uncertain then leave them alone.

This is NOT the behavior of the bots for GW2. This is the behavior of someone who’s using the standard interface with auto-fire turned on.

Bots for GW2 do move around and use abilities, gather loot, and whatnot. They’ll either follow a path, or roam a particular area.

Not if they are Event spawn camping!

Khaldar.7486:

Well, someone just came by the Warrior bot at the Arena and said he has been here for 3 days spamming. They said that they reported him as well both times they saw him here before.

Well, botting doesn’t look like a ANet priority. And with so many people engaged in it at Events, why should people be afraid to do it in the open?

With GW1, ArenaNet typically banned bots in batches, rather than individually as they’re reported. This makes it harder for the botters to adapt their programs to avoid detection. It also, unfortunately, means that you’ll see the same botters around for a little while until the next batch gets banned.

Botting is certainly an ANet priority, though. Just because they haven’t banned 1 or 2 specific bots yet doesn’t mean they’re ignoring it. Wait and see. Sometimes when the botters go down, they go down in public humiliation.

Khaldar.7486:

mulch.2586:

Thellena.5967:

You can’t know for certain, but they won’t be simply banned without an investigation (which is why it takes so long to get the scammers and goldsellers banned as well I think).

If they’re just standing there, not moving or using a heal, using the same ability over and over then they’re probably a botter.

Real players will move unpredictably and heal themselves at least once if they’re getting attacked. Even bad players. Observe their behaviour for a couple of minutes and if you genuinely think that they’re botting then report them, if you’re still uncertain then leave them alone.

This is NOT the behavior of the bots for GW2. This is the behavior of someone who’s using the standard interface with auto-fire turned on.

Bots for GW2 do move around and use abilities, gather loot, and whatnot. They’ll either follow a path, or roam a particular area.

Not if they are Event spawn camping!

Event spawn camping isn’t botting, though, and certainly doesn’t require anything more than the built-in GW2 interface.

To answer your question as per personal experience, if they are in your spot: botting, if you are online for 24 hours a day watching them and they dont group with you: botting, and especially if they dont respond to the commonplace tells I receive like: “F*** you botter” they are botting, because such a warm introduction DICTATES greetings from other humans.

I remember when I played the game in pre release… about a week in people started joining the game, LOGGING ON to say “find friends noobs” and harass others for botting/hacking/sucking/etc…. anything. I miss pre release let the botters bot, just give me the community that played the game rather than complained back… I miss it

I got one killed yesterday.

He was hanging around a farm in gandarren fields moving a small amount every so often then spamming one and repeating.

Led some mobs into him to test if he would heal. Sure enough he died!