Do I sound pissed? Good, because I am. Some jerk used the in-game “Report A Bot” feature of Atlantica Online on Elphame, my wife’s Level 9x Axe character, while she (the avatar) was in a player versus player match. Good thing I was on hand to type in the code that would prevent the character from falling into ban hell.

Don’t get me wrong. A “Report” feature in a massively multiplayer online game like Atlantica Online is great. It encourages the participation of well-meaning players to rid the gaming environment of unwanted characters, particularly bots. Those who don’t know what bots are should read a previous MMOtaku post detailing the harmful effects of bots and botting in a virtual world.

Going back to the reason why I’m pissed … it’s because there’s nothing there to stop unscrupulous players from abusing the “Report” function. So what happens to those who are AFK, or those who have other business aside from staring at the computer monitor for hours on end? In Atlantica Online, when you access the “Report” function by right-clicking on a character and clicking on the word “Report,” the reported player must enter a four-digit code. Once the code is entered correctly and before the 60-second timer runs out, the reported character becomes safe from further intrusions into his or her credibility. But what if the player who owns a character can’t input the code because he or she is away from the keyboard? Can the system differentiate between a player that’s botting and a player that’s simply AFK?

To add insult to injury, my character, Cooky, was also subjected to some sort of a bot or hack check. At least, paranoia aside, that’s what it looked like. After one of Cooky’s PvP matches, her opponent was “seen” saying, “check negative,” or something to that effect. Perhaps the game moderators want to check under Cooky’s skirt as well, eh?

I plan to write NDOORS, developer and operator of Atlantica Online, and give their top honchos a good lashing.

Hello! Protect good and loyal players! Don’t punish us by allowing stupid players to abuse the very function that helps well-meaning players to clean up the mess that bots and hackers make.

Post from: MMOtaku

Have party, will grind. That’s the name of the game whenever my former Perfect World Philippines Tiger Server clanmaster winwin and his brother weejay are online on the North American Rohan: Blood Feud server Akhma. The brothers don’t seem to get tired of hacking and slashing (and shooting arrows and spells) at the mobs that spawn in their chosen hunting ground, Shadow Gorge.

Back when I was playing Rohan: Blood Feud on the Marea server, I used to go around the different towns—Einhoren, Vena, Kai’inon, Rev’Decca, Par’Talucca and Montt—and grabbing all the quests available before setting out to eliminate monsters required by the quests. Some quests gave decent experience points and other rewards, some did not. Bottomline: I still ended up grinding my characters rear bumpers off.

When I finally convinced winwin and weejay to join me in the world of Rohan: Blood Feud, I relocated from Marea to Akhma and tried to play the game winwin’s way—grinding, all the way up from Level 1. It was fine at first, and I made Level 25 in a couple of days, but the experience points waned soon after.

The low experience point modifier of x5 per 25 party kills didn’t help much. I’d probably do much better with the increasing experience point modifier for solo grinding at x7 for the first 20 kills. The brothers mirrored my thoughts, but decided to continue on their wanton slaughter of beasts, minus my knight, who went solo.

Here’s a brief description of Rohan: Blood Feud’s unique M. KILL (Monster Kill) system:

In Rohan bonus EXP are awarded for killing every 20 monsters. Additional EXPs are awarded ranging from multiples of 7 to 19 times the original EXP. Accordingly, it is advantageous to hunt a monster exceeding your level as the 20th monster to level-up. Additional EXPs are awarded for every 20 monsters hunted, and the most bonus EXPs are awarded for the 100th monster captured. But rather than hunting distant monsters and wasting time to acquire bonus points, it is beneficial to hunt monsters emerging nearby at comparably high levels.

In hindsight, I realize that solo leveling, with the help of experience points from quests, may be more rewarding, but nothing can replace the fun I have at grinding with a group of friends. I mean, that’s the very essence of massively multiplayer online role-playing games … playing with people from other places and from all walks of life, exchanging stories and making more friends.

So my suggestion is, party up and let the slaughter begin!

Post from: MMOtaku

I could just imagine the horror of watching valuable Internet and computer rental time (fact: most online games fanatics in the Philippines play at Internet cafes) run out while trying in vain to click on the Teleporter NPC. Shame on you, veteran Perfect World players! This goes out especially to joycee of the Guardians and jOaNnE of BlackLisT. Apparently, becoming veterans hasn’t improved your maturity.

Here’s how the area around the Dragon City South teleporter looks on a normal day:

Here’s how it looked when the inconsiderate yaojings blocked the Teleporter NPC:

Post from: MMOtaku

First off, I’d like to thank MMOtaku’s avid readers, those who visit the blog every day, those who come and go for a dose of MMORPG news, reviews and what-have-yous, and those who have dropped in just to take a gander at what we have to offer. Without your constant support, MMOtaku would have floundered a long time ago.

Second, I’d like the acknowledge the inputs and help of several key people in the life of MMOtaku. To Mike Leaño, former b5media Video Games Channel editor, for putting trust in my abilities to bring the blog to life; to PJ Punla, pioneer blogger and player of Granado Espada Southeast Asia, for showing me that love for video games extends beyond playing them; to Siege Malvar and Alcarcalimo, for keeping me on my toes, a constant reminder that MMOtaku does have readers who crave insights on MMOs available in the market today; and to Joyce, my wife, for being the rigid wall off of which I throw my ideas to see if they stick.

Third and last, I salute the growing online games industry in Asia for giving us topnotch games (yes, despite Mike Leaño’s opinion that MMOGs developed in Asia are, ehem, excrement. These games are getting better, and they’re grabbing the attention of MMOG players in different parts of the globe.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I give you the best of MMOtaku:

November 2008
Granado Espada SEA pioneer pooh-poohs IP e-Games’ ‘mishandling’ of game
Zhu Xian: I came, I saw, I … got disappointed
Endless fun with Perfect World character customization

October 2008
Beach Volleyball Online: The latest craze
Florensia: Kill-stealers and other dregs of society are moving in
RF Online to go offline in November

September 2008
E-Games clamps down on Cabal botters
Perfect World: Bots popping out of the woodwork
NBA Street Online: Soon, real soon
Requiem Bloodymare: New race, yes, but what’s there to like?

August 2008
MMO Etiquette: Stop poking me!
Granado Espada fails to please Chinese market

July 2008
9you crushes Audition shutdown rumor
China’s online games market: 147 million players!
Dragon Nest: The King of MMORPGs

June 2008
Perfect World inks deal with IP e-Games
Requiem Bloodymare launched
Perfect World: Jump hack? Stop crying wolf

May 2008
MMO Etiquette: Pay it forward
Fly For Fun Penya Hack!
Khan Online Philippines bows out

April 2008
Philippines to host Ragnarok World Championships
In this part of the world, MMORPGs and cosplay go hand in hand
Pandora Saga to grace Philippine shores

March 2008
Fantasy Westward Journey online posts 166 million concurrent users
They’re cute and cuddly, and they’re coming to your PC
Not so supa anymore

February 2008
RF Online Crimson Dawn is now online
Blog post on Perfect World clan too hot to handle?
Third job classes coming to Ragnarok Online
Blog post on Perfect World clan’s struggle stirs hornets’ nest

January 2008
GigaMedia bags license to operate Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Reign of Revolution: No rules, just power
Counter-Strike Online to give other online shooters a run for their money
Top Ten Thursdays: Best MMORPGs in the Philippines

December 2007
China’s Perfect World claims strong presence in Asian MMORPG capital Korea
What’s in a(n MMOPRPG) name?
The Vista Trap: How to make your Asian MMOs work on Microsoft’s latest baby
FlyFF Philippines launches Volcane Legends
MMO war: Korea versus China

November 2007
Craving for a slice of Zhu Xian
Asian MMO, meet world

Screenshot taken by Joel from the online game Perfect World, developed by Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd. and published in the Philippines by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

Active bots are one thing—by active, I mean moving and killing monsters—since you can’t really tell if the character is being controlled by a program or a living, breathing human being. The only time you can distinguish whether a character is a bot is when it starts stealing your precious kills and loot, or when it runs into obstacles and is unable to stop. These two bozos, on the other hand, take the cake since their being suspended in mid-air and taking no action whatsoever for hours on end clearly indicates they’re bots.

The worst part about this botting problem is that it makes Yaojings, or werefoxes, look real bad since most botters, particularly those who are after expensive monster drops, prefer to use this type of character for the express reason that they deal both magical (innate ability) and physical damage (courtesy of their pets).

There are more bots out there, and I’ll do my best to document them all. I just wish Level Up! Games, local publisher and operator of Perfect World, will do something about the problem. No, I don’t want to file a customer support ticket since I don’t really have the time to fill up a complaint. What players need is a no-nonsense and dedicated game moderator who would scour the gaming world of Pangu in search of these vile characters.

Screenshot taken and modified by Joel from the online game Perfect World, developed by Perfect World Co. Ltd. of China and published in the Philippines by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

While playing my Mercenary yesterday, I came across a player who, using his mother tongue, cussed and hurled invectives at other players. Gee, how brave of him, cursing from the comfort of his own home other players who haven’t done anything wrong against him. Unfortunately for the offending player, some people, including yours truly, understood every word he typed, including the phrase “Mga tanga at bakla kayong lahat!” which translates into “You are all idiots and gay!” It’s so sad to witness someone from my little tropical country log in to a game played mostly in North America and Europe and curse other players.

About an hour later, while hunting Devil Walkers and Devil Walker Shooters, two other players kept on stealing my kills. What’s the matter, boys? Can’t tank the mobs? Uhmm, maybe because the mobs’ levels (10) are way beyond your levels (4 and 5). I only remember the in-game name of one of the players. Optimus isn’t really that hard to forget. Anyway, Optimus and friend, I know you’re looking for shortcuts, but kill-stealing isn’t really a good way.

Less than an hour after the duo stole my kills, another player, sasukeee, did the same thing but with a twist. The twist was him sending my female avatar a private message asking if I “wanted to be his girlfriend.” Ewwwww. Listen up, sasukeee, if you think girls (even girl players) will be turned on by your behavior (kill-stealing, harassment, etc.), think again. What a dolt!

I’m not the only one complaining. Florensia’s world chat is replete with messages from players who claim that other players have either stolen their kills or harassed them in some way.

Now, I’m beginning to wonder what the administrators of Florensia are doing about this. If the fact that even game moderators or GMs get cursed by players while they’re online is any indication, I’d say that Florensia’s future looks bleak.

Here’s Mister sasukeee trying to figure out if my hawt mercenary is worth harassing.

Mister sasukeee finally makes his move. Hint: Stealing kills doesn’t attract chicks.

Screenshots taken by Joel from the online game Florensia, copyright Burda:ic GmbH.

Post from: MMOtaku

But wait, that’s not the point of this particular posting. It’s about an unscrupulous player seeking to make a buck or two out of hoodwinking his fellow players. Check out our conversation, through private messaging in the online game Perfect World, below (translated, of course):

darkwolf: kua (Bastardized Filipino word for older brother)
darkwolf: pssst!
darkwolf: kua (I can’t imagine why most players can’t type “kuya” when it’s just four letters)
me: po (Yes)? get to the point, please, so we won’t waste too much of our time.
darkwolf: pwd poh mkihati sa acc moh? (Again, bastardized Filipino words. here’s a rough translation: “Can you share your account with me?”)
me: ngek (A local expression of surprise, or something akin to “What in the nine hells for?”)
darkwolf: yaw muh lgay aq yuan dyan sa acc muh? (Sigh. More bastardized words. Translation: “Don’t you want me to put yuan [the in-game currency] in your account?”)
darkwolf: 50m (or 50 million yuan, of course. This seemed like his punchline, poorly delivered)
me: dali dali gumawa ng account makikishare ka pa (It’s so easy to make an account, why would you want to share in my account?)
me: I wasn’t born yesterday, darkwolf.
darkwolf: kk ayw muh ayuz lng (It’s okay [if] you don’t want to [share your account]).

What a freakin’ no0b! What? What’s that? It’s not clear whether he was out to scam me? Hello! He was asking to share my account. Coming from a total stranger, that should be enough to send alarm bells ringing all over your system. The guy was also offering 50 million yuan. Yeah, right. More like, “Let me siphon whatever yuan your character has in his/her inventory and storage.”

The problem is a lot of other players will probably fall for this trick. Ahh, the lure of quick cash.

Screenshot taken by Joel from the online game Perfect World, developed by Perfect World Co. Ltd. of China and published in the Philippines by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

Here’s an excerpt from the comment of player pintados26 (note: I took the liberty of translating it from my mother tongue into English):

Why do my characters always get blocked when I’ve already paid for the bot I’m using in Cabal Online? To think that I also topped up for premium service. If bots are illegal, then why do you sell them?

Hahaha! What did I tell you? Hilarious, right? Sorry, pintados26, but I just had to get it off of my chest.

Okay, let’s sort out your complaint, shall we? First, MMOtaku and its publisher, b5media, are in no way connected to IP E-Games, operator of Cabal Online Philippines. So posting your complaint here will probably get you nowhere.

Second, we haven’t heard of an online game that espouses the use of bots and other third party programs. It’s just not possible. They’d lose a lot of revenue by doing that since non-botters, those who spend more than what you botters ever spend in an MMORPG lifetime, would get turned off by the proliferation of hacks.

Third, the site you bought your precious bot from, presumably CabalRider, or a very enterprising but devious player, is, I’m sure, also not connected to IP E-Games. The online games operator would probably shut it down in an instant, if ever it figures out how to do it. So it’s also safe to say that IP E-Games does not sell bots, especially those that may cause their products irreversible harm.

Fourth and last, if you only take the time to visit the Cabal Online Philippines website, you’ll learn that:

CABAL releases a New BOT/HACK Policy!

In our pursuit to make Cabal truly bot-free, we are implementing a new policy against the use of bots and third party programs. This is to ensure that Cabal remains a vibrant and dynamic virtual world with real people playing the game. This program is for players who have their accounts frozen due to violations of the Cabal anti-bot/hack policies.

E-Games does not intend to legalize the use of bots. Despite our best efforts to educate players why botting is illegal, people will still find ways to create and use these programs for Cabal.

Go check out the list of violations and their corresponding penalties here.

As for you, pintados26, there’s only one thing I can say, “That’ll learn ‘ya.”

Post from: MMOtaku

Imagine our despair when my wife and I found a couple of yaojings, or werefoxes, on a killing spree, unmindful of other player characters in the area they were haunting in the virtual world of Pangu in Perfect World. To make sure we weren’t unduly accusing anyone of botting, we conducted the test that we had seen a game moderator conduct on suspected bots a few weeks ago.

We tried to lure them into small talk. No go. We tried to see if they’d refrain from going after monsters that we had already engaged in combat. Sure enough, kill-stealing seemed to be normal to them. We tried asking them to refrain from stealing our kills. Fat chance of them asking. Sigh.

Only one logical conclusion: The pair were bots, programmed to kill mobs, and to keep on killing till either it runs out of pots or gets killed in action.

Screenshots taken by Joel and Joyce from the online game Perfect World, developed by Perfect World Co. Ltd. and published in our little corner of the world by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

No, the names—Vanilla Cake, Mocha Cake and Pandan Cake—are not the only telltale signs that the three characters, thieves, are all bots. Movement and attack pattern also give them away. They all move in the same path and attack the same monsters.

Are bots really an integral part of today’s Ragnarok Online? If so, then what’s the use of having this annual Ragnarok World Championships? Might as well have a bunch of bots sit behind those consoles at the tournament.

Post from: MMOtaku