So, what's the deal with tons Archeology bots?

[Deztru]

I have leveled Archeology to 2 characters, during that leveling I never ever saw anyone surveying other than me that was not a bot.

What's the deal with such a large scale botting on archeology? Every bot is level 85 with Scroll of Resurrection, so there's is some hacker behind all this.

Is it really that profitable to farm gold with Archeology?

[Odobisean]

I don't think people are using the bots for money, they are likely just using it to level up their Archaeology.

[Deleted]

The most boring profession in-game, what do you think?

[Zergin8r]

I guess with some items selling for 200g at vendors, with 1000 bots going you might be able to make a decent amount of gold? But yeah from personal experience they seem to be hacked inactive accounts, since 2 of my friends came online recently who quit in Cata, and both of them were on 85 characters. When they did not reply in game I sent texts and they both said they were not playing anymore.

[mirthen]

I know some of the things can sell quite nice on the AH. Last i looked the Mantid ones were going for about 100g each. the tol'vir hieroglyphics can sell for up to 400g each on the AH.

- - - Updated - - -

I would say yeah, you can farm gold using arch, quite well actually. However part of it is due to not that many people realizing you can do so. Its boring, and extremely grinding to do. So a bot doing it, yeah i can certainly see that. Either just to level/complete achievements, or to make gold.

[Zhinkis]

I have leveled Archeology to 2 characters, during that leveling I never ever saw anyone surveying other than me that was not a bot.

What's the deal with such a large scale botting on archeology? Every bot is level 85 with Scroll of Resurrection, so there's is some hacker behind all this.

Is it really that profitable to farm gold with Archeology?

It's boring to level up.

[S7orm]

low profile. People will report instantly if someone try to kill their mobs (> time wasted to relevel another bot to replace the one got banned), but you can dig as much as you want and most of people won't even notice you're there
or maybe they're offering a complete leveling + profession leveling pack

[Illiterate]

It's good exp. I used it in cata to lvl all my alts.

[Dakara]

I have leveled Archeology to 2 characters, during that leveling I never ever saw anyone surveying other than me that was not a bot.

What's the deal with such a large scale botting on archeology? Every bot is level 85 with Scroll of Resurrection, so there's is some hacker behind all this.

Is it really that profitable to farm gold with Archeology?

How do you know they were bots? Just out of curiosity.... I'm not calling you out or anything, I'm sure there's plenty of bots in all facets of the game, but so many times I read about people "encountering bots", and their reasoning always seems a bit thin.

I've been known to grind for hours. I ignore 99% of ingame tells from people I don't know, infact, I often have whispers turned off. I get to know a specific route and follow it (when gathering), when I'm on a gathering/Archaeology "mission" I'll do it for several days straight before stopping for a month or more.

I wonder if anyone's ever reported me for botting? I know at least one person contacted my GM because I was ignoring them... the GM then said in /guild "DAKARA ARE YOU BOTTTING?!?!" made me chuckle.

Bottom line is, there are some very very boring aspects in WOW.... and many "real" players do them while watching TV/listening music and could care less about the Vigilante Bot Police stalking them.

As Blizzard have said countless times, there's nothing in the rules that say someone has to respond to a /whisper. Of course, someone running face first into a rock for 6 hours, might be a stronger give away.

I remember a few years back, someone having a QQ about bots on the Blizzard forums... they went on a rant about a select few players who were "always at the same spot, at the same time, every day".... it attracted a Blue response saying something along the lines of, "How do you know X player is farming from 8pm - midnight every night, unless you're there also watching them.... hang on, are you a bot?" Think it was back in TBC when bots were a bit scarcer.

[Nanotech]

How do you know they were bots?

Not sure how to be sure you spotted an archy bot, to some people I've probably looked like a bot while doing archy before cause I could go on for many hours on end. But there are easy giveaways for spotting gathering bots. For instance, in MOP you'd see level 85-86 toons in Jade Forest/Valley "flying" through the air on their mounts mining/herbing. They weren't flying as much as just staggering weirdly, but still high up in the air. In Cata and Wrath you had bots who traveled underground and would only peak out of the ground to mine/herb. I often see people fishing in the same spot for literally weeks at time (I'll add them to friends list and when I log in at any odd hour of the day or night for a minute to check auctions, they'll be in the same spot, still fishing, for many many days, weeks, months. Also, in Wrath I remember Icecrown was bot central for mob killing bots. I'd bring my priest and mind control them off cliffs to their deaths, they'd come right back and resume their botting, until next mind control,I could kill them 30-40 times in a row and it would make no difference.

It kind of bothers me how nonchalant people are about botting these days. Even with something as boring as archy, I still think botting is straight up cheating.

[Fungj]

It's a more safe way to lvl with a bot then dungs or BGs as it might not be a questing profile for MoP zones.

[Deleted]

i always see 85 paladins doing archeology, always 85 paladins.

[Hottage]

The most boring profession in-game, what do you think?

I'll see your Archeology and raise you Fishing.

[Dakara]

I've been called a bot on multiple occasions. Mostly because mindlessly grind professions like fishing and archaeology when I decide to do them and I dont always check my whispers tab unless I've friends online. Even when I do reply as you said some people are under the impression that bots are advanced enough to talk, so... Yeah. Paranoia.

Though, you can spot an actual bot from watching their movements! Bots for example don't strafe, so their turns will be sudden and jagged. They don't ever jump unless they get stuck on an item for too long. They tend to stop for a set amount of time between digs, so it has a sort of rhythm to it. They don't seem at all to act much like players.

Bolded: But that's what I find confusing... How do you(we) know bots don't strafe/jump? Surely if that's all it took to "spot a bot" it would have been coded in a long long time ago. Lets also not forget.... keyboard turners exist, and not everyone runs around jumping.

I probably sound like I'm "defending" the bots here, so please understand, that is not my intention. But I'll never accept the fact that all players "act the same way" so someone "different" is a bot. I spent 6 months with my right arm (I'm right handed) in full cast (past my elbow) that kept it locked at 90 degrees. I continued to play WOW via keyboard turning and sometimes click to move with my left hand. This was before the days of bot paranoia.... today I probably would have had 100 reports.

I come across plenty of players in LFR/RBG's who I'm more certain of botting, as in these settings I think it stands out much more e.g. in LFR, I often see "players" who can't "run back" to the group without dying to trash because they follow the exact same route every time, which isn't the one the tank took... especially in Forgotten Depths. I've seen people die in a continuous loop to the trash after Tortos trying to rejoin the raid. Not once or twice, I'm talking 10-15+ deaths.... without saying a word.

Once again, not 100% certain to be a bot. Could be a parent let their 2 year old have a go, but in the open world, I don't believe there is a certain way "all players behave". Unless they get stuck of course, and don't timeout (DC). Someone running face first into a tree for several hours, probably isn't a player.

[Blithe]

As with all of the secondary professions - they're extremely boring and non-sensical to level up on more than one character, so of course they're going to bot to maximize the levels of these mindless grinds. I don't blame them at all... but that doesn't make me *for* using a bot either.