Opinion asked for ... given.

[Koeril]

Well, I'll miss my cleric bot for sure. Being allowed a single bot was one of the draws to this server for myself and likely a lot of others. Brainlessly being able to stay healed while grinding was nice and they regen'd mana like CRAZY. I do understand the changes though and in light of the problems - it just makes sense. I was one who exploited the bots in some of the ways stated, I confess I didn't know it was an exploit although it does make sense.

In some ways too, however, you are going to need to expect the server load to increase as people will likely run a second account now for healing, but with the expected upgrades, this shouldn't be a problem except until then. People played melee characters mostly because it was much easier to do that with a heal bot than to play a healer with a tank bot.

Overall, this change will hopefully be positive and people will stay, but for right now I need to go figure out how to be a better cleric! See ya!

[Jeido]

Understandable reasons Lillu, they are definitely an easy way to exploit in the state that they're currently in. Hopefully if they end up getting more developed then they'll be an option again

On a side note, Evolution will now be looking for a few more healers to pick up bot slack for raid mobs rampages/ae's!

[Banther]

just wanted to post my 2 coppers worth ..Hopefully this will bring more people to group i like to group and progress it doesnt have to be a guild thing or a me thing we can all have fun here and progress and without bots not sure its gonna help that much casue people will box i hate boxing but am left no choice casue people dont group ..I do on the other hand think the lower tier stuf should be braught down a tad to help lowbies level up.Anyway thats kind of my opinion of the bots best server out there still to date

[Bonehead]

I agree with the original poster, only having one bot was a draw to this server and has a warrior, I too will miss my cleric bot. I really enjoy playing on this server, I think the creators should be given props for coming up with a fun and exciting place to be. I like being part of the BETA, it looks like a lot of people are going to play it when it goes live.

I never thought of repopping a bot to take out a named, that is a huge exploit, and giving no drop items to a lvl 1 toon, not kool...

But, we are still in the Beta process, so, perhaps, maybe, something else could be done...like:

1. Make bot quests, say at level 30 you do a quest for the ability to have one bot, then level 55 get an other, and one more at 70 for a total of 3 bots to have. Still only able to summon one at a time, and each quest requires friends...

2. Put a time limit on how soon you can summon a bot. Your Shammy bot just died from a bad AE? Too bad, you'll not be able to call up another for 15 minutes.

3. Put level requirements on all gear to prevent low level exploits.

I know this would require time and effort, but I bet more people would play (and donate) more with the hope of having just one bot.

Just a suggestion,

Bone Head

[Lillu]

Thanks for all the input. I'm working hard to find a solution. BoT's will be back to the game very soon, I can promise that.

[Koeril]

Maybe make them like familiars? Is there a way to make them accept only items flagged a certain way, or no items at all? I like the idea of a cool down too - I think even as short as 5 minutes (after death) would make the exploitation stop. They could be like groupable augments or something?

Just some ideas ... don't know what constraints you have with the bot system.

[Mr_Magoo]

Ok, I understand the whole idea of wanting us to group more without the assistance of a bot but also not everyone can or wants to box 3 or 4 characters be it hardware, connection or just dont like the hassle of juggling them around and there just isn't enough content beyond seb/solb/valor that you can solo or duo at this point, I know you have said that this is not a solo server but on the other hand its not going to be much fun if everything has to be done grouped that causes alot of down time sitting around waiting lfg ect. the bots made the server fun and enjoyable if you know my character (Magoo) which was rarely seen without his cleric bot (Medic) then you would know that bots had nothing to do with grouping I was 95% of the time grouped with someone somewhere but thats not really the bot issue. As far as exploits go like transfering no drop items to other characters on the account thats been apart of bot history for some time now just throw some scare tactics out there in shout or motd then monitor it from time to time, band a few accounts without question and the dedicated will honor this and not do it. Now with the exploit of popping bots one after the other to benifit on killing something that is just way to powerful to kill either because your bot needs mana or your using a tank or melee bot in my opinion this is another really well rounded reason to monitor from time to time with warnings and or bandings just be careful not to get popping a bot because someone left group or died mid fight on you confused as an expoilt for this. For those who enjoy the server and want to remain playing on this server they should honor the servers policy and not use bot type exploits maybe some need warnings or maybe they are just tards that like to hack and slash via exploits but eventually they will burn out or get busted. Anyway I could go on about different stuff all day like this but mainly just wanted to say something about the bots how I really enjoyed having the bots for buffing,solo'ing,group balancing ect. Im not an exploiter and actually to further mention i haven't played on a single emu server without mq until now, yes I had it on when I first started playing a day or two but then I realized it wasnt needed this server is fun and exciting around every corner not because I dont know whats around the corner because alot of it is default eq placement but the difficulty level and posibly of new content that I didnt want mq to ruin it for me anymore. Now for my final opinion based on the last almost 24hrs lol , I didnt like it not because im addicted to having a bot but because im one that cant stand the juggling of 3+ characters I found the server to be very hard to solo or duo got into a little raiding and grouping but that soon ended and i found myself sitting in the forest wanting too do something but not enough on to do anything and it was pretty much that way all night so all in all losing my bots killed it for me and if it continues this way im sure to lose interest but dont get me wrong im going to give it a few days to see how it pans out but for the first almost 24hrs its been pretty boring at level 70 with 350+ aas theres not much to do tbh. ok ive rambled enough maybe you get my opinion maybe not with all this said please gimme my bots back .... Mr Magoo

[Lillu]

Thanks for all the input. I'm working hard to find a solution. BoT's will be back to the game very soon, I can promise that.

To reply your post and calm you down Magoo, read above again. and maybe this post once again..

However a few thoughts so you see whats going on atm:
- Anyone playing 24/7 on any server will get bored after a while, I can't offer for you more content atm than what we have. We are working on it tho, doing our best
- You are the best equiped warrior on the server, with prolly the most powerfull boxed crew. 1 bot doesnt change anything you can or can't do. I don't really understand your concerns
- About treating ppl with ban if they exploit: regardless my posts, my /motd, my previous actions, I STILL do ban ppl on a daily basis. They just never learn, and tbh I'm sick of it, there is zero tolerance now
- This is a beta server, and still not fully done with the basic content. if I would have time, I would post the overall server goal and the upcoming contents too. but atm I'm doing nothing but trying to sort the fix out and handling a drama because of ppl loosing 1 bot..

I'm more than upset and disappointed that ppl are speaking of our server as a place where they started and keep playing because of the 1 bot they can summon. That tells me this server is nothing special, but a place where ppl actually can use bots without paying 50 usd for it. It's really sad.

Once again, and for the last time, I myself, and a few other kind ppl are doing their best to solve this issue. I do nothing but this atm.

[Chicah]

Here are my thoughts about the whole BOT situation.

Ive never really been a fan of them,nor ever will be.
Ive used them but just cause im to lazy to box sometimes.
In my opinion people just want them cause they are used to play with them here and they make things SO MUCH EASIER.

From a cleric main player point of view bots totally make u useless,cause bots regen faster bots get no aggro,bots seem to be able to med while meleeing.
The only stuff real clerics are needed for are raids,everyone knows that ,but likes to hide this fact cause its so comfortable with their OP bots.

The decision to put them in again was wrong imo Lillu,dont think cause a handfull people comes here crying about the loss,that everyone wants them back.

IF i have to be able to solo everything with Bot_001 i can just go buy Gay of Persia and play a single player game.

But i trust in you Lillu,that u ll sort things out soon enough.
Remember my idea of setting BOT maxlvl to 65;)

[Tyler]

Bots are a tough subject. Unfortunately, we are in a situation that we either disable them or allow them at the current build our server is running on, no further modification seems possible.

I sincerly hope that with the next rev some sort of tweaking is possible and bots will be looked at again.

A bot as last resort before you idle in the Forest - sure. A bot over a real player - hell no.

This is an online game, our server is built to encourage people to group, not solo. Experience things together, have a good time while owning mobs.