In the latest Derping Through War podcast, episode 11, the hosts get to debating if using ISBoxer, a program that allows your mouse and key commands to be replicated to multiple application, is acceptable in EVE Online or not. Currently CCP has allowed this application to fall under the list of acceptable utility applications to use, like macro keys on fancier keyboards and mice.
Well, CCP is wrong. Using ISBoxer is still botting and CCP should disallow its usage.
Botting
First off, let’s look at the reason that ISBoxer is currently allowed while normal botting is not.
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| I am a bot. |
A “bot” is a pilot in EVE who is operated by a third party program operating via a script that the program follows. This is primarily seen in tasks that don’t require a lot of decision making like belt ratting or mining, although some bot behaviour can be very nuanced.
CCP has been waging a war on banning accounts that use botting and any associated accounts as the activity has several deleterious effects on the game world. For one, because they can sustain operations much longer and more consistently than a human can, they can generate more resources/wealth and this impacts the economy in the long term with widespread bot use. Secondly, it creates the imbalance where pilots/organizations that utilize botting have an advantage over competitors forcing players to operate at a disadvantage or join botting themselves. Thirdly, since botting is used to amass in game wealth quickly and efficiently with the fewest humans involved, it is a common tool of Real Money Traders who can be shady and dangerous to their customers.
So CCP has rightly declared botting an exploit and bannable offence.
ISBoxer
ISBoxer, on the other hand is not considered and exploit mainly because (1) is it human-directed therefore does not have a bot’s ability to operate consistently and for long periods of time, and (2) is currently not a main tool of wealth generation so is not noticeably affecting the economy or being used by RMTers.
One example of the use of ISBoxer is a single man mining fleet where the human uses the program to order multiple mining ships to mine the asteroids. Another example is the one given in the DtW podcast where a single human operated a small fleet of ships for PvP purposes. In these cases the operated ships have to be virtually the same and the client layout of each account needs to be near exact with the same overview settings and everything, but once setup you basically operate any number of ships your computer can handle clients for as if they were just one.
Its not widespread yet but I think it will be over time as pilots move to min-max their experience as the majority almost always do in order to be competitive. Why have a fleet of 5 guys when everyone can ISBox 3 accounts easily and have 15 ships? Why mine by myself in one ship if I can increase my profit by mining in 5? And CCP says its ok.
Isn’t ISBoxer just like Multi-Boxing?
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| Not Me. |
No, its not. Multi-boxing, i.e. having multiple clients open at the same time and doing things in each of them, is different because as a human you can only really pay full attention to one at a time. I cannot give an order at exactly the same time to both clients, I need to switch back and forth and while working on one, the other is unattended and essentially vulnerable to mistakes.
One could argue that an improperly setup interface for ISBoxer can lead to mistakes as well but that is more of a mechanical setup issue and not a human mental error issue. Once perfectly setup, multi-boxing can still allow for human error, ISBoxer cannot. The number of times I’ve heard someone on comms say “just wait, I need to move my other ship” or “dammit, I missed warp because I was on the other client” from multi boxing players is very high. Multi-boxing is human-intensive, ISBoxing is not.
In essence, ISBoxer is just a bot that doesn’t have a preset script to follow, but rather follows you.
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| -THIS UNIT IS WATCHING MASTER- |
This is why I think CCP is wrong on this issue and should change their stance. A bot is a bot is a bot. It shouldn’t matter if the bot is independent or dependent on the player for their instructions, it still allows a single human to sustain larger operations over long periods of time with fewer mistakes than a human without using ISBoxer would be able to. It doesn’t matter that it does not affect the economy or is not a tool of the Real Money Traders. Its a bot, and CCP should make it an exploit.
– Kirith Kodachi
We are proud to bring you the stories, opinions and musings of a long time pilot who has dabbled in everything New Eden has to offer, he writes and podcasts about his opinions and adventures at Ninveah.com
