The players of Lost Ark are currently suffering from a massive bot influx. Amazon emphasizes that they are trying to get this issue under control. A user on reddit films how he bots on several PCs at the same time.
Update: In the meantime, there is a measure from Amazon against the bots and many players say it works.
“They are not afraid to block IPs,” uses the user OutTheory as a headline to provoke Amazon with a video. In it, at least seven PCs are shown, each running Lost Ark 16 times. OutTheory seems to have no fear of consequences. However, he does not show his face.
What kind of bots are these? The bots farm in-game gold to sell it for real money to players. This is called Real Money Trading, or RMT for short. Currently, there are so many of them that real players are getting stuck in queues when logging in.
Currently, the automated characters are not only running around in the low-level areas, as was the case at the release of Lost Ark. The bots have reached the endgame and are affecting the economy there. Several million gold are currently in the hands of the bots and are available for sale for real money.
The satisfaction of the players is decreasing further, which is visible in current reviews on Steam. Overall, the MMORPG now only achieves the rating “mixed”.
Amazon’s fight against the bots seems hopeless
What is Amazon doing about it? At the release of Lost Ark, it initially looked as if Amazon could get the bots under control. They banned over a million of them in one day. However, the current wave of bots seems to be causing the publisher bigger problems.
The publisher wants to fight the bots “on multiple fronts.” Not only are the bots threatened with a ban, but also players who purchase gold from them. Some of the bans are permanent, but many are temporarily limited to three days. They remove the purchased gold from the account.
Additionally, Amazon is trying to stop the bots by blocking IP addresses. However, they are hardly successful, as the botters can simply use VPN clients to obscure their own IP.
Community thinks the game is lost: In the comments on reddit, numerous users are mocking the publisher. Others are showing frustration. Many consider Lost Ark to be lost and see Amazon as incapable of combating the bot influx.
- redbombs says: “This is crazy. They are not even afraid to show it because they know nothing will happen.”
- anitime1 says: “The profit for them is too high. It will never stop.”
- defusingkittens says: “They will not stop until the game dies. Then the players who funded it will ask why their beautiful game is dead. This also happened with New World.”
- k1ng0fk1ngz says: “Imagine being stuck in the early 2000s believing that IP bans can really stop bots. Funny how AGS truly believes they are doing a good job.”
What do you think about the bot problem in Lost Ark? Is the responsibility with the players or with the publisher itself? Can the game still be saved, or is it soon facing death? Feel free to write us in the comments here on MeinMMO!
For active players in Lost Ark, there is also good news. A new patch along with a new class comes in June:
