Lost Ark Update Look to Combat Bots

Lost Ark is still seeing a tremendous number of players log in daily. The game is a lot of fun, no doubt. While it may have some small pay-to-win mechanics, you can still enjoy the entire game without spending a dime. But players who spend money will progress faster than most.

Anyway, that’s not the biggest problem now. The biggest issue plaguing Lost Ark is how many bots are in the game. Even with Amazon Game Studios and Smilegate RPG trying to keep bots out, they keep sneaking back in.

Some players might not notice bots too much, but they can sometimes hinder a person’s experience. Bots are in many games, but they appear more in MMOs due to their grinding nature. Lost Ark bots are usually farming for Lost Ark gold and items, which can cause some problems in the long run.

Let’s talk about what bots are and how the developers plan on fixing this problem.

What Are Bots?

Bots are characters controlled by computers or AI. Players mostly use bots to automate tasks that require a lot of grinding. For example, players will set up macros for the computer to use and simulate mouse and keyboard inputs. This is one of the reasons why bots populate MMOs so much.

In the case of Lost Ark, bots are used to grind quests for Lost Ark currency to trade and sell with other players.

How Many Bans Have Happened So Far?

So far, there have been over one million bots banned. This is just the first of many more to come. The developers and publishers state that they will continue to roll out ban waves regularly.

With bots constantly making their way into the game, this could be a long battle for the developers and publishers. But they are also introducing more methods to help prevent bots from getting into their game.

The methods they are using to keep bots out may also affect free-to-play players. So this could affect the player base because many players are probably still entirely free-to-play. This method they are introducing will require players to spend money. Let’s go into more detail right now.

Also Read: Lost Ark Knowledge Transfer Guide

How Are They Keeping Bots Out?

A few moments ago, Amazon Game Studios and Smilegate RPG implemented several things to help fix the bot problem within Lost Ark. They are already doing ban waves to take bots out of Lost Ark. Still, they are adding other methods as well.

The following way to combat bots is to limit an account’s access to some social mechanics, like player interactions and chat windows. Players’ accounts that have a good or trusted standing on Steam or Lost Ark will have full access.

The problem with this method is this it requires players to have spent at least five dollars on their Steam account. So while this should stop people using bots from creating more funds, it also forces players free-to-play players to spend some money to access full features.

I don’t think this will affect many players, but it will affect players that have used Steam only for Lost Ark.

Adverse Side Effects of Bots?

Bots in MMOs are an overall bad experience for a lot of players. Sometimes they can be minor inconveniences, but other times they can impact the entire player base. Let’s start with the big one. Lost Ark bots can ruin the economy of a game.

They grind and farm for Lost Ark gold and Lost Ark items and then try to sell them to players. When this happens, prices drop alarming, ruining others trying to sell things. They also start spamming a lot in the chat window. This affects players trying to find or find genuine players to interact with.

For the EU, this is an even bigger problem. European Central server is overpopulated at times, causing long queue times for others. Bots are taking up server space that could be going to actual players. While this isn’t so much a problem in the US, it is still a problem, especially when it stops people from playing a game when they want to.

Honestly, there are no benefits to bots, which is why many people want them gone from the game. Then you see a lot of bots with the same outfit standing around an NPC for a quest. Not harmful, just annoying.

Conclusion

In short, the developers are working hard to stop all of these bots from getting into Lost Ark. Not only do bots take up a lot of the server capacity, but they also are ruining the game’s economy and taking up a lot of the chat screen. They are also just a general annoyance.

Some bots can get into dungeons and raids, ruining others’ experiences. Hopefully, the methods the developers implement will cut down on bots without hurting a lot of the free-to-play players.

What are your thoughts on the bot situation and how Amazon Game Studios and Smilegate RPG handle it? Let us know in the comments.

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Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter