An academic report on the impact of bots on economics and gameplay in MMORPGs

[bossland]

Now as the translation is done, here is the report.

http://www.honorbuddy.com/Expert_opinion_bots.pdf

The basic economic problems of many MMORPGs which originate from the uncontrolled production of values and the devaluation of goods and which manifest themselves as mudflation are obviously combatted only half-heartedly by most game operators. They are rather taken as an opportunity to attribute a decisive influence on the game economy by certain external factors which cannot, however, be definitively proven in scientific examinations (see Heeks 2009). It appears particularly remarkable that insofar as a corresponding influence is assumed it is not primarily eliminated or at least significantly limited by obvious technical measures (limitation of online time, automatic monitoring of transactions as in the real world, to name but two examples). This leads to the assumption that at least from an economic point of view, the overall effects for the relevant game operators are not so detrimental as is sometimes claimed.

and much more in there

 

[lightingthunder]

this will surely make blizzard lose in court
bossland we got your back, whole community supporting you!

 

[Floodman]

The author might want to spell check this document. There are multiple grammatical errors as well.

I don't know - I wasn't very impressed by it unfortunately. It lacks weight.

 

[Giwin]

I don't see the point in this, can this be used as a valid document which holds any value in your case against blizzard?

 

[Apoc]

The German version is the one that matters in court. The English translation is more for us to read, as well as Blizzard employees. (I doubt the same grammatical errors exist in the German version, but I don't speak German so I can't really comment)

 

[eZsp]

I understand Floodman & Giwin's concern. Seems like a brief history of botting followed by loosely backed justifications of why it's acceptable to ruin the game economy for our own gains. In great respect, I can't see this standing up in court but of course I wish Bossland & Co. all the best in this trying time. Keep fighting the good fight!

 

[incognitto]

This is indeed a very interesting article. What the previous comments fail to realise is that its not in 'true' botters interest to devalue the price of ingame items because it means for us to achieve what we want from it we require to bot even longer which can result in less play time ourselves. Be it for selling the gold or using the gold/bot for personal uses there would only be a minority that can say we dont care what it sells for because the bot did it. The vast majority of us bot for various reasons be it gold for personal use, leveling a new character or getting that rare mob we just dont have time to sit at a computer to sit and wait for or even a little bit on the side to supplement our income, the majority does not bot to ruin the game, we bot to keep up with those who can sit there for hours on end to obtain said items. I agree with one thing though it does really seem to lack weight, without statistics its more 1 persons opinion more then anything else. Not saying i dont agree with it just saying its missing proof just like blizzards 'expert' did.

Anyways best of luck me, my wife and child are praying that this works out well since both my wife and I bot so we can have the things we want in the game aswell as the things outside of the game.

Cheers
Incog

 

[jobwow]

very interesting thesus...i take a lot of pleasure to read it..Gratz.

 

[eZsp]

This is indeed a very interesting article. What the previous comments fail to realise is that its not in 'true' botters interest to devalue the price of ingame items because it means for us to achieve what we want from it we require to bot even longer which can result in less play time ourselves. Be it for selling the gold or using the gold/bot for personal uses there would only be a minority that can say we dont care what it sells for because the bot did it. The vast majority of us bot for various reasons be it gold for personal use, leveling a new character or getting that rare mob we just dont have time to sit at a computer to sit and wait for or even a little bit on the side to supplement our income, the majority does not bot to ruin the game, we bot to keep up with those who can sit there for hours on end to obtain said items. I agree with one thing though it does really seem to lack weight, without statistics its more 1 persons opinion more then anything else. Not saying i dont agree with it just saying its missing proof just like blizzards 'expert' did.

Anyways best of luck me, my wife and child are praying that this works out well since both my wife and I bot so we can have the things we want in the game aswell as the things outside of the game.

Cheers
Incog

I appreciate the fact that their are 'true' botters who solely participate in the use of Honorbuddy for personal improvement to their own quality of game play (and I do not fail to realise this). However, this still has a negative impact on the game environment and economy due to the opportunity cost that our consumption creates, whether we like it or not. Arguably, this is in smaller magnitude compared to bot farms who's agenda is to strip nodes and sell gold for RMT (seriously detrimental to the game economy) but the many innocent small parts equally add up to the largely guilty part. It's a sad reality, but even though the majority of us (such as yourself and I) are only looking to even the playing field, we negate the controlling factors that are put in place to distill the acquisition of such resources which ultimately unbalances the economy

But still... Honorbuddy till I (or it) die(s)! Long live Bossland!

 

[Idontcareatall]

Hmm, I think it does lack "weight"; but, a realistic and empirical conclusion would require and almost impossible, extensive and impartial investigation by Blizzard itself. What I do find here, is a credible and believable counter-opinion to that of Blizzard's. I know 3 people who Bot, myself and 2 friends. We Bot for the same reason, we are now in our mid-20's and do not have the leisure time/permission from girlfriends' to effectively maintain our characters economic/combat viability/general prestige. This is true to the point that the game would no longer be of interest to us. We would be forced to switch to a game that demands less persistent "time sinking", which is required to access "end game". We all have 2 WoW accounts, a farming account and a main account. We all Bot on both. We all pay ?18 a month to Blizzard. We would not without Honorbuddy.
In some cases botting does effect the internal games economies, however, if it harms the virtual economy is highly debatable and it certainly doesn't harm Blizzard's real economy!

I think the most convincing defence is that, the providers of bots have no contractual relationship with Blizzard. Therefore, how can Blizzard legally challenge Bossland's independent right to develop software? It is the user of the bot software that breaks a questionable EULA with the games provider. And, there are various and myriad ways that Blizzard could focus its time, effort and very substantial resources to preventing the latter mentioned in the "axis-of-bot" having a free reign to farm on.

Bossland should impress this on the court and imho, propose effective ways for Blizzard to attack the actual exploitative botters' not the software developers. In doing so you will protect most of your customers, who I posit are likely to be similar to me. Not professional gold sellers', but long-term players of the game. We casual botters will most likely never be discovered by Blizz, unless we make some schoolboy error and it will put emphasis on Blizzard to actually put its money where its mouth is. Prove that they lose money from botters not acrue it as I suspect; and then make it their own business to stop them.

Good Luck Bossland, your software has allowed me to keep playing one of my favourite games and to keep paying Blizzard good hard earned money for the privilage!

 

[eZsp]

I think the most convincing defence is that, the providers of bots have no contractual relationship with Blizzard. Therefore, how can Blizzard legally challenge Bossland's independent right to develop software? It is the user of the bot software that breaks a questionable EULA with the games provider. And, there are various and myriad ways that Blizzard could focus its time, effort and very substantial resources to preventing the latter mentioned in the "axis-of-bot" having a free reign to farm on.

Very good point.

 

[kravitz]

I think the most convincing defence is that, the providers of bots have no contractual relationship with Blizzard. Therefore, how can Blizzard legally challenge Bossland's independent right to develop software? It is the user of the bot software that breaks a questionable EULA with the games provider. And, there are various and myriad ways that Blizzard could focus its time, effort and very substantial resources to preventing the latter mentioned in the "axis-of-bot" having a free reign to farm on.

If Carl Jung and Sigmund Frued were still alive today Blizzard Ent. would have been shut down years ago due to the negative impacts it has had on the human psych.