The online role-playing game Throne and Liberty is set to be released in the West in 2024 and will adopt a free-to-play model. Those who already fear the next bot fiesta may be pleasantly surprised. The creative minds at NCSoft have come up with a clever way to effectively combat bot accounts.
How does Throne and Liberty deal with bots? The MMORPG from South Korea has a system that summons special creatures, the Phantom Knights, whenever a character behaves suspiciously in the game world.
This ghostly warrior then hunts down the alleged cheater and inflicts high damage with its attacks. Furthermore, it cannot be killed. Sounds unsettling, right? However, “real” players should find it easy to escape the Phantom Knight.
It’s a different story for cheaters who mindlessly follow their bot routine and therefore immediately rush into the deadly spirit. Bots that are outright besieged by the Phantom Knights barely gain anything during their farming rounds.
The closed beta trailer for Throne and Liberty:
Does this protection work flawlessly? In fact, there was a bug after the feature was implemented. The Phantom Knights were also hunting characters that were behaving normally and would sometimes appear at the most inconvenient moments, such as during dungeons or boss fights.
Last week, the developers provided a hotfix to ensure that the spectral guardians only chase those who deserve it, namely the bots. If this really works, other MMORPGs (especially those with a free-to-play model) may want to adopt the idea.
The biggest killjoy for MMO fans
Why are free-to-play MMORPGs such a hot topic? While bots can be found in all online role-playing games, most cheating accounts certainly appear in games that waive entry barriers such as purchase price or monthly subscriptions – just think of Lost Ark.
Due to the free access, so many bot characters flood the respective game world that the experience for regular MMORPG fans is noticeably ruined: farm spots are occupied around the clock, the economy suffers, and it is significantly less enjoyable to pursue a profession.
Similar systems have already existed in other MMORPGs. In Lineage 2, for example, you could attract a strong monster while fishing with a certain chance, which would devour bots for breakfast. What do you think: Should more MMORPGs rely on such gameplay protection measures?
If you want to know how NCSoft’s new online role-playing game performed in the last beta, check this out: Throne and Liberty was not allowed to be called Lineage, but plays like a modern Lineage 3
