Katran Luftschreck
Royal Ammatar Engineering Corps
48
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Posted - 2012.09.15 17:46:00 -
[1] - Quote
The question I must ask is "What kind of bots are we talking about?" Bots get used for everything in this game, be it mining or missions.
Does anyone honestly believe that there is even one 23/7 Alliance border gatecamp in operation that isn't entirely manned by bots?
Does anyone honestly believe that there isn't even one mining bot operation running in those fifty Hulk null-sec mining fleets that eat entire systems daily?
Rat farming? Bots. Mining? Bots. Gate camping? Bots.
But see the problem isn't the bots. The problem is in the structure of the game itself. The first problem is that (just as in real life) automation is employed when a task becomes too freakin' dull for human beings to tolerate any more. How many hours can any sane person sit in place and cycle through a bunch of rocks? How many hours can any sane person sit next to a disruption bubble next to a gate? Yet the structure of the game mechanics makes these tasks necessary.
Pay attention here, CCP: MMOs are games. Games are supposed to be fun. Sitting in gate camps and staring at rocks isn't fun. We only do these things because you force us to. Now I know here is where many of you say "I don't mine, I just pew-pew all day lulz kee kee lol rotfl ohgodImgonnadieavirgin lolololololol" Alright, fine, but that ship you're flying? Someone else built that from a blueprint that required minerals that came from asteroids. Your PvP Superflash Leetard Deluxe Special Edition that you love so much only exists because somebody out there spent a lot of time mining asteroids. If every miner in the game quit you wouldn't have your shiny spaceships anymore, capeche? CCP would have to start seeding ships & modules into the game at whatever prices they felt fit. Sometimes I wonder why they don't do exactly this, but that's not my decision.
The second problem is that, by accident or design, people are more obsessed with ISK than anything else. "But of course!" you say, "That's the whole point of the game!" To which I reply, "Is it?" Do you ever take a moment to step back from your endless ISK grinding and ask "What do I need all this ISK for, anyway?" Buy a better ship? Okay, why do you need a better ship? To do harder tasks and make even more ISK? It's the same circular argument that plagues the MMO industry in general: Spend gold to buy bigger swords to fight bigger monsters that drop more gold so you can buy bigger swords. It's a hamster wheel and those who aren't blind to it are sick of it.
The question you might want to ask instead is "What kind of impact will my character have in the game? Will have had stood out in any way? Will people remember me? What will they say? What will I say about my character when reminiscing about EvE ten years from now?"
"I made a lot of ISK using bots!"
*golf clap*
And there you have it: A combination of forcing people to partake in lots of boring as heck gameplay mechanics and a tunnel-vision mentality towards gameplay goals have created the "bot problem." And I use quotation marks for a reason: Bots are not the real problem. Bots are a symptom of the real problem.
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