L2J Server

Well, hen we are talking about way to prevent bot in the game, this suggestion could seem funny...

What about ADDING bot support in L2J ?

Let me ellaborate.

It'd have to be A PROTECTED access (either using the server key already used between L2LS and L2GS or some other interface) so only bots hosted by the server owner would be allowed to connect.

The bots would have to be light on ressources and would need to have some AI to make them behave "player-like".

Why add bot to a server ? to compensate for the lack of players !!!

L2 is a game where the trade economy is very important. You need many mats/keymats to build anything, which means either farming mats or buying them... But on a server with 10-40 players, it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to buy them... Everyone keeps it's own mats to build it's high-grade equipment.

This result in insane drop rates, with the inventory filling up very fast... and these drop rates apply to everything (mats, keymats but also fulldrops)

A possible soluton would be to make them available in stores... except that it'd bring to 0 the interrest to farming it (infinite supply). Solution would be to have bots going to farm, to sell what they farmed (and, why not, to buy from players).

But having these bot connect through the normal gaming interface would hinder the bot detection... thus the need for some "protected bot path" (which could also grant them some extra rights like auto-equipment, auto-adena, ...)

Vapulabe wrote:It'd have to be A PROTECTED access (either using the server key already used between L2LS and L2GS or some other interface) so only bots hosted by the server owner would be allowed to connect.

Sounds pretty senseless to me. If you're planning on running bots and selling whatever they farm - you might as well add those items you'd expect to farm / sell to a NPC-store, you could even specify a quantity per x time so they won't be available unlimited.

Also, afaik all current 'bot protection' is configurable, so you are pretty much set to go already.

Vapulabe wrote:It'd have to be A PROTECTED access (either using the server key already used between L2LS and L2GS or some other interface) so only bots hosted by the server owner would be allowed to connect.

To achieve that you are back on the same subject as the other thread

All is very easy. You just need to find a way to remove all others bots except server owner's

macdonald12 wrote:

Vapulabe wrote:It'd have to be A PROTECTED access (either using the server key already used between L2LS and L2GS or some other interface) so only bots hosted by the server owner would be allowed to connect.

Sounds pretty senseless to me. If you're planning on running bots and selling whatever they farm - you might as well add those items you'd expect to farm / sell to a NPC-store, you could even specify a quantity per x time so they won't be available unlimited.

Well, the idea is to have the bots following the game market... Prices would not be fixed but would follow the simple 'offer/demand" rule...

If a bot sells 1000 stems for 1500 adena, he may try to increase it's price the next time and try to sell the same for 1600 adena... If he don't manage to sell it's stems, it'll lower the price... but never below the trader's price.

If the bots can see that other players are setting up stores, he may check the prices on the store and take actions about it... either buy to sell at higher price, or adjust his own price...

The advantage of a good bot interface is that it'll allow the host the bots on another computer, and to have several AI for the bots (some more agressive in their prices policy, other less agressive, ...) mimicking a real market, unlike fixed prices at traders

macdonald12 wrote: Also, afaik all current 'bot protection' is configurable, so you are pretty much set to go already.

Vapulabe wrote:It'd have to be A PROTECTED access (either using the server key already used between L2LS and L2GS or some other interface) so only bots hosted by the server owner would be allowed to connect.

To achieve that you are back on the same subject as the other thread

Well, by using a separate access for the server bots, it'll be easier to NOT take them in account when trying to ban unauthorized bots. Hunting bots is a really difficult problem. using lots of criterias + statistics is a good way to do an initial filtering... but you really don't want to have your results biased because of your oawn bots or have the list of potential bots full of your own bots...

the protected interface could also allow some other things like bypassing some parts of the system (for example, screening the bot from some kind of packets, allowing some "bot specific" commands, packets or features (for example, allowing the bots to "create" some items or adena at will, blocking chat/group/... packets, ...)

I know that some admins setup servers with insane rates (you kill 2 monsters and you're 2 levels higher and have got one million adena)... but try a server with rates like 2/2/3/3/3 or even 1/1/1/1/1 and with only an handful (10-15) players... you're unlikely to keep your players for a long time !!! And one of the main problems is precisely the lack of economic environment in the game.

If your server is powerful enough, and you are willing to program a little (ok, maybe a lot) you could create a server side bot that is similar to an NPC. The hardest thing to do would be to program the AI for the bot, IMHO. If you don't want them on the server, then you could set up a system similar to the loginserver<->gameserver connection and create a totally new connection path for these bots. Again, the AI could prove the most difficult, but you would also need to program the server and client interface, since you wouldn't have access to the server's internals from a client. I would also suggest that this connection path be encrypted much the same way the client is.

Well, by having the bot an external program, it'll allow to easily tweak their AI (more easily than if it was a L2J NPC). I'd also allow to put the AI charge on some other computer (as you said, the key in that kind of bots is their AI).

About the protocol, it may be the same than client protocol, maybe with some extra packets (or some other way to give "extra power" to these bots).

Basically, they'll need at least to be able to move, go in trade/craft mode, check some player's trade list, know the store prices (maybe without needing to go to the shop), "create" adena or items (like a GM),...

The protected (crypto) path is not needed (which may mean less CPU to use server side) as these connexions will probably only be done in the local net (and not on internet) and there would be no need to alter the bot packets as it'll already have the right to dupe, TP, ...

Server part should be as light as possible, to allow 20-30 bots to be present without eating too much ressources.

Well, the same idea could be useful for the NPC... having a server core which manages players and NPC in world and NPC behaviour/AI in some external program(s) could lower the charge on a very busy server (having 3 or 4 separate servers : Login/Community, Game and NPC)

(having 3 or 4 separate servers : Login/Community, Game and NPC)

that is starting to sound much like l2off...

Is it on official or on L2J ?

I think is a really nice system, gz for his server staff.

--Edit: Link removed. No advertising allowed.

looks like client modding to me, their patch is huge lol

simple bot script will be able to bypass it.

JIV wrote:simple bot script will be able to bypass it.

It's not a simple string, doubt it.

ZaKaX wrote:

JIV wrote:simple bot script will be able to bypass it.

It's not a simple string, doubt it.

As i doubt the Client has support for that - graphical- catcha in it's original form, i imagine the server simply sends a packet to a modified client as to which captcha to generate and display. Handle the packet properly and i bet it will be a string after all

And? Image stored with exact name in client files -> open utx, view files, match codes with filenames -> on recieve that html parse image name and send proper code.