Poll of the Day > I created a bot in a video game, and botted for months without getting caught.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I stopped playing that game today.
Why did I waste all of my time doing that?

---

So you're a cheater

---

Greenfox111 posted...

So you're a cheater

Am I a cheater for writing software to automate a task?

---

Judgmenl posted...

Am I a cheater for writing software to automate a task?

Yes absolutely.

---

Judgmenl posted...

Am I a cheater for writing software to automate a task?

You said "without getting caught" so it sounds like you already know the answer

---

if said bot was explicitly not allowed, and you agreed to not make or use one when you agreed to their terms of service

then yes, absolutely.

---

Greenfox111 posted...

So you're a cheater

Yeah, wtf?

Judgmenl posted... Am I a cheater for writing software to automate a task?

Well, was it against the game's TOS?

---

Zeus posted...

Well, was it against the game's TOS?

Yea
I did it because I was bored and sick of doing a repetitive task over and over again.

---

I got more fulfillment writing the bot than I ever did playing the game.

---

I had way more fun playing Monopoly whenever I was the Banker, because then I could just sneak money out of the bank to pay for whatever I wanted as no as no one else was looking.
---

Judgmenl posted...

Am I a cheater for writing software to automate a task?

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Yes absolutely.

This. Especially if it was a multiplayer game.

---

Judgmenl posted...

Am I a cheater for writing software to automate a task?

If writing software to automate a task is against the rules of the scenario in which you're performing said task? Yes. Axiomatically.

Judgmenl posted...

I got more fulfillment writing the bot than I ever did playing the game.

That's fair, given that solving programming challenges is entertaining in its own right, but it's still cheating to actually deploy the bot. If you're going to bot for fun, make yourself an isolated copy of the game to run it in so you don't affect other players.

---

If only your abilities could be channeled for good instead of evil.

---

There is totally a fresh vidyagame concept ripe to pick for a persistent multiplayer world/game designed around to programming a character/bot for a rpg/cookieclicker gameplay

---

just sounds like factorio

---

Joe_Biden posted...

just sounds like factorio

It really does surprise me that TC couldn't get into Factorio. It just seems like such a good fit for his interests and skillset.

eating4fun posted...

There is totally a fresh vidyagame concept ripe to pick for a persistent multiplayer world/game designed around to programming a character/bot for a rpg/cookieclicker gameplay

It's not multiplayer, but Autonauts consists of programming robots to handle all of the in-game tasks. Kind of a similar concept.

---

Judgmenl posted...

Yea
I did it because I was bored and sick of doing a repetitive task over and over again.

Man, if you need wood in Runescape, you can just buy it from the GE.

adjl posted...

It really does surprise me that TC couldn't get into Factorio. It just seems like such a good fit for his interests and skillset.

Requires me to actually buy the game. I admit I know very little about it.

---

adjl posted...

If writing software to automate a task is against the rules of the scenario in which you're performing said task? Yes. Axiomatically.

That's fair, given that solving programming challenges is entertaining in its own right, but it's still cheating to actually deploy the bot. If you're going to bot for fun, make yourself an isolated copy of the game to run it in so you don't affect other players.

How is farming something going to have an effect on other people?
---

Judgmenl posted...

Requires me to actually buy the game. I admit I know very little about it.

I thought you already had it and tried it. Did I misinterpret you and you actually just said that you tried the demo? Or did I just completely misunderstand everything?

Revelation34 posted...

How is farming something going to have an effect on other people?

If it's a limited resource (which most things worth farming in multiplayer games are, in some capacity or another), by limiting its availability to legitimate players. Even if it's not, it still stands to affect the game's economy and/or player balance. Heck, if the game is popular enough, simply having the bot online takes away a spot on the server that a legitimate player could use.

It's not inconceivable that the bot in question could have been so completely isolated from other players as to have no effect, but that'd be quite the niche botting exercise.

---

Which game did you bot?

---

adjl posted...

I thought you already had it and tried it. Did I misinterpret you and you actually just said that you tried the demo? Or did I just completely misunderstand everything?

I think I remember that conversation. I mixed up Prison Architect and Factorio. I have Prison Architect (and tried it for a whole 5 minutes...), but never played Factorio.

SunWuKung420 posted...

Which game did you bot?

Star Trek Online

---

Judgmenl posted...

I think I remember that conversation. I mixed up Prison Architect and Factorio. I have Prison Architect (and tried it for a whole 5 minutes...), but never played Factorio.

Ah, so I'm not insane. I also played Prison Architect for like 5 minutes (86, but who's counting?). Conceptually, I'm interested, but it just wasn't what I was looking for at the time, so it didn't really hook me. I should give it another shot some time.

In that case, I would recommend Factorio. That's a whole game about automating the game to do your work for you, complete with actual opportunities for programming (which aren't at all necessary to finish it, but there's huge potential there, up to and including one dude building a ray casting engine that ran a simple FPS), which seems like something you'd enjoy. There's a demo, if you want to try before you buy, though it's worth noting that it never goes on sale, so it'll only ever be $30.

---

Because its fun, I totally get it. Did something similar with Hearthstone a while back.

It feels less like cheating when you do it yourself.

---