I think it can be extended to other lengths of time. AFK for dinner, heck even AFK for work.

Bots are not creative. I just played a game w/ a few ppl where this one new player was running a bot and hadn't checked the screen in at least a day. We obliterated the game, he was hiding on a planet and I didn't feel like detting perfectly good planets just to kill him. After the last 2 days of his corp getting plastered he finally came to keys long enough to grab a cloak and cloak out. A lot of good that bot did.

Numerous times I've seen entire corps getting botted and the controlling player die on something. Their entire corp is then null. I saw it on a BYOC game once, the guy was pgridding and died when he over-estimated a macro's speed. He died, left the planet sitting there... his entire corp soon joined him.

There are some real tactical downsides to botting your entire corp. I don't feel a need to make special rules about the situation... real game play will level the odds anyway. I just think it's crappy way to play and wish ppl wouldn't do it. Most of all I dislike the attitude that's sprung up of people just coming on, loading a bot and leaving... thinking that's all they need to do. "Hey, I turned on a bot, what else do you want?!" ... ugh.

I agree completely that one player controlling an entire corp of bots is a definite disadvantage compared to an active team on the other side. I also agree that it's sucks when someone logs on and then you never hear from them again, unless of course they let you know that before they joined up. The bots can be used in stupid ways and they can be abused in a way that mimics duping, but I never had a real problem with that myself. Actually I think that a person who logs in, turns on a bot, then walks away for the duration of the game would have done the exact same thing without a bot. At least with the bot on, they can serve a purpose while they are busy/lazy/whatever the reason.

The experience I have always had in a game is many times there is only one person at keys at a given time. Sometimes that was me, and sometimes it wasn't. Differing schedules sometimes dictate the style of play. If you know who you are corping with, you know whether they want you to use their turns or not most of the time. You get used to what time they are going to be coming to keys, and make sure to use their turns if necessary so they don't overflow. To me that is just another aspect of being a part of a team.

I don't have the ability to play anymore, so I am not sure why I am even worrying about this topic but I thought it should be said.

I believe that bots allow people who otherwise wouldn't have the time to commit play the game at a competitive level. There will be some who never move on beyond letting someone else control them, but those people are always going to be around.

MD

1) My bot is a full blown helper...just like Swath
2) Solo vs Bot.....get corpies....Prom's non-stop whining about this issue is enuff.
2a) I use my Bot when I play Solo .
3) Few players will stick around Just to be someones Dupe.
4) Bot's allow peeps with different schedules to play.
5) Bot's allow you to just walk away and eat dinner etc without problems.


Trying to get peeps together to SDT most days is inconvient...without Bots my corp would rarely be able to cash......its why I wrote it in the first place.

Try Writing one then get back to me on complaints.


my 2 c

This conversation is pretty much a waste of time. Scripts & bots will be used, dupes and cheats will play, and there's not much any of us can do about it except choose not to play. As a sysop, there's not much I can do about it on my server, let alone as a player on someone else's server. The only one that can change game play is the one that has the code, and at this time he would be known as J.P. The only suggestion that I have for sysops that really want to eliminate scripts is to set the max commands per cycle to 2. Of course this will seem like drastic lag to the players that do try to run scripts and they'll probably not return to your server.

Especially since it started from of a lack of reading comprehension in another thread.

Cerne

I'm not sure where you come up with whining when this is a discussion, some prefer solo play and some prefer corp play - I prefer solo and not relying on someone to bail me out. Your attitude toward anyone that disagrees with your point of view seems to elicit a negative response - so, PH, quit whining about the discussion.

The use of bots is still someone playing someone elses turns and actions. A bot used by a solo is, as Zark stated, just another script - basically a menu type seleciton of the script to use. Can't get a corpie to play his/her turns, well that is just a crying shame. Can't run team SDT because of conflicting schedules, get different corpies. Don't cry because a corpie doesn't do what they are supposed to (or what you want them to) do. I see botted players as nothing but glorified dupes. ICQ 4-5 people, have them log in turn on their bot and now you have a corp that does exactly what you want done.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

No I like the corpies I got...We interact on voice..talk about different thing etc etc...more to corpies than a time and place to cash.

If you like solo play Prom then Play solo games...simple.

Scripts that use Corpies are interesting . We have some that use 3 or more in concert.

Low turns = Mbbs = Megarob

This means cashing gets done pretty much anytime some is at keys and the ports are up. All you need is a couple corpies with Bots running. Cashing is not my favorite thing in the game and anything that makes it easier I'm all for.

Bots are here to stay as is Swath Zoc and any number of helpers.

Ps...the whining comment came from the same thing being said with the solo/corpie thing being beaten to death on multiple threads....The horse is Dead...Dead ...Dead.....we get it you and Cerne cant find a regular corpie

lol, all I can do is laugh at what you say. There is a reason I play solo - being a corpie, IMHO, means being at keys and playing my turns. Real life dictates that my playing time is sporadic at best, with a few days where I can devote the time a corpie should, but most of the time AFK. If I corp, I support the corp - not some botted player that logs in and doesn't play the game. Players who cannot devote the time necessary should seriously consider solo play as they will not let anyone down when RL takes them elsewhere.

I would not corp with someone who did not play their turns, and I don't expect to corp when I can't pull my share.

I will agree with you on the interesting part from a scripting standpoint on the multiple corpie scripts. Making the scripts work together and recovering (probably the hardest part) is an interesting aspect.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

Im Prom is has more then a few people that would play with him. but cerne yeah probably not.

Conversation's can only be a waste of time by someone who doesn't want to be involved in it. Now if ya meant its a waste of time cause there will ALWAYS be bots whether its mom or another bot and there is no point in arguing, then yes. We all have our own opinions and own styles, no point in trying to get everyone to see each others point of view or OPINION.

Laff, Cerne the lack of reading comprehension can only be your own. The third post in your thread was the beginning of this one. Other then using the bot as a dupe, the point was WHAT else could possibly be so revolting about m()m bot since it was the only one mentioned.

Bot vs. Dupe the only real 'dupelike' part of a bot is the status command that shows the currentline prompt info.
Everything else is just ss command/suggestions that may or may not be caught and acted on by a waiting script.

One of the things that attracts me to tradewars is the ability to script solutions to problems. Anything that you do in a repetative way in the game makes you go;
" Hmm, aren't repetative tasks made for computers/machines? " --or--
" Darn, I just can't type that fast, couldn't a computer type that faster, with less mistakes? "
So to be able to craft scripts to deal with problems in a creative way is, at least for me, a huge part of the game.

I look at a bot as a solution to key time.

ps <-----== worst botboy offender there is... will bot for giggles

>crosby tickle on laugh return

Dealing with repetitive chores is a scripts job, not a bot. I have no problem with bots in general. The problem lies within how the bot is being used. If 1 person on a corp of 5 is playing the turns of any of the other 4 corp members on a constant basis, that is no better than duping. Now; if a player is away from the keys, and the one at the keys wants to bot him to run saveme, a torp script, citkill, etc., then that isn't a problem in my opinion. The difference between a script and a bot, is that a regular script is activated by the current user, a bot is a means of letting other users activate the scripts for that user. Huge difference there.

Thats what I was tryin to say, good explaination!