Dealing with the Idiots of Online Gaming: Aion Edition

We are encouraged, as players, by NCSoft GMs, to keep reporting these spammers and indeed we should be. Every reporting is a tiny step on the way to spam-free chat.

As easy as it is to get absolutely frustrated by this whole thing, it's good to keep in mind the fact that there have been reports of gold farming services in World of Warcraft surviving two years without even a proverbial scratch from Blizzard. Two years! This information alone is enough to motivate me to stick with Aion, as NCSoft have put forth a lot of initiative already and if they keep it up I don't see any reason why Aion can't prevail as an even cleaner, gold-farmer-free MMO.

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Idiot 2: The Bot

Although not technically operated by a human player whilst in-game, the bot was definitely programmed by an idiot. Bots are easily identified by their keyboard-mashy names like 'fdfdg' and 'lkljl'. They prance around; sometimes solo, sometimes in groups of two or three, killing, killing, killing then resting simultaneously before killing again. They're getting kills real players should be getting and, most painful of all, getting loot real players should be getting.

'Who cares!' you're thinking. Well, I do. I don't especially like it when a bot is the lucky one to pick up that once-in-a-lifetime orange item (true story). It's probably only going to get sold to fuel their gold farming business and not for pwning mobs like it should be damn well used.

They say the best revenge is living well. Well, I say balls to that; let's have some fun.
The best way to have fun with these little wastes of space we call bots, is to ruin their little pre-programmed 'life'.

Say you find a bot, perhaps two, running around, pre-determinedly killing mobs in the area; you have a couple of options.

The 'I don't care' option: Go ballistic in the area and kill all the mobs the bots are programmed to kill. Just go nuts; slaughter everything in sight. Soon enough the bots will be thoroughly confused and will run around aimlessly. This is a pretty huge disrupting in the pattern a bot is programmed to carry out, so a big high-five for you if you choose to carry this out. Unfortunately that's about all the gratification you get out of this method; a smug sense of anarchic justice and accomplishment.

For the more practical player, however, I would recommend…

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The 'resourceful' option: follow, loot, repeat. This method is for the sensible people out there with some patience and don't mind running alongside bot one and two: 'fgfgs' and 'hjgjh'.

Simply fight alongside the bots, out dps-ing them on every mob and harvesting the spoils.

Think of the bots as friendly, generous NPCs who don't talk but really don't mind helping you out with these mobs.

If you have a spare few hours and can manage this technique I don't see why a snazzy little profit can't be made.

Let's hope, Daevas, for a time of peace; an age free of spam and mindless bots. A time where an orange weapon drop means being angry at another player for looting it and not having to take it out on a soulless bot.

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