The number of players in Lost Ark is suddenly dropping drastically – almost 2/3 of its players are lost in one go. According to Amazon, these were all bots that are now banned.
Just a few days ago, Lost Ark had around 300,000 active players per day. Now the peak shows only about 89,000.
After some players wondered about the sharp decline in the statistics, publisher Amazon Games released a statement in the official forum about it. Amazon says they have “applied new, effective tactics” to get rid of bots in Lost Ark. Players can expect a positive effect from it, according to Amazon.
In the coming months, we plan to carry out further ban waves and promise to make our methods for identifying bots even better.
Amazon has been fighting the bot problem since the release in early 2022. They flood the starting area, farm gold, and sell it for real money. This is called Real Money Trading, or RMT for short. Anyone buying gold for real money in Lost Ark can assume that it was farmed by bots.
In the video, you can see the crossover of Lost Ark and The Witcher:
Users in the reddit thread seem less than enthusiastic about the bans
As there have been several ban waves in the past, players seem to expect little from the current one. Some of them are commenting under a reddit thread on the topic.
We summarize a few of the statements for you:
- zoomborg: “I would rather see RMT players permanently banned. Then the bots would have no one to sell the gold to.”
- Stylu_U: “At least they are doing something instead of ignoring the problem.”
- MadeByeHideoForHideo: “Nothing is done – complaint. Something is done – complaint. Something tells me the players wanted something they could hate instead of an improvement of the game.”
- spacecreated1234: “I only believe it when I see it. Every one of these ban waves has been useless after 3 days.”
- ORS823: “They’ll be back tomorrow, as always. I can’t wait for my friend adhvhvhd to come back.”
So the reddit users see no point in banning the bots, as they will return anyway as long as RMT exists. Many are calling for harsher penalties for gold buyers, as the banning of bots will achieve little or nothing in the long run.
What do you think about the current ban wave in Lost Ark? Will Amazon Games manage to curb the problem this time? Or are the reddit users right and the bots will be back in the MMORPG by tomorrow? What do you think about Real Money Trading? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments here on MeinMMO!
Besides Lost Ark, there will be more exciting MMORPGs this year:
The 3 MMORPGs you are most looking forward to in 2023 – for one, even 31% are waiting
