The Torment of Sisyphus

It is said there is no recourse for the scourge of botters. Botters in EVE will thwart the most cunning devices used to stop their nefarious activity.

And yet, in the panoply of human misery that we so freely inflict upon one another there are things we can do, that CCP can do, to make the botting experience a bitterly frustrating one.

1. At random intervals, set the bot account’s SP amount to 0. They can now no longer fly any ship. No more botting.

2. At random intervals, set the wallet to 0 ISK. They can no longer afford to buy anything. No more botting.

3. At random intervals, remove injected skill books. Using skill injectors will no longer work. No more botting.

4. At random intervals, remove all the ships in their inventory.

5. When an account is flagged as a known botting account, revisit them on a more regular basis and see whether their values have gone up again so that they can resume their illicit activities? And set them back to 0.

“But,” I hear you say, “they can just buy PLEX for their account, buy skill books, buy skill injectors, buy/make new ships, and carry on.”

To which the answer is: how many times will they do that until that sum goes to zero? At what point does it become so much of a pain in the nether regions that it’s no longer worth the effort? How many times would someone sit there and click through the interface, giving CCP more of their money to purchase the PLEX to be able to carry on their illegal activities?

The point is pain. The point is frustration. Not because we want that for them but because we want to protect and preserve that wonderful universe for the people who genuinely want to engage with it, warts and all.

When the pain of botting becomes more than the pleasure derived from it, the botting activity will stop.

The Elysian minds in fair and far Reykjavik would be able to devise a cinematic that is displayed where the botting account is directly confronted with the proof of their activity, and where punishment is meted out in a swift and certain manner.

The message would borrow from the lessons of the Sisters of the Bene Gesserit, of Frank Herbert’s Dune fame, whereby the announcement of the impending punishment is in itself a punishment. “We are aware of your activity, you know it is illegal. We will always protect ourselves against the likes of you. We are looking out for you. We will be watching you. We will never relent. You will never win.”

There is no greater punishment than despair. It should be meted out with great eagerness and enthusiasm and in copious amounts. CCP wanted EVE Online to be a bleak and dark land where pain is part of the experience. Botting accounts seem like the natural target to feel the impact of the most exquisite Hobbesian hellhole in the realm of digital entertainment. 

I do not believe in the invincibility of botters. It only depends on what CCP is prepared to do to protect us from these evil ne’er do-wells. If the punishment is factored in and considered to be ‘the cost of doing business', then it’s not an effective punishment. An effective punishment is providing a disincentive to the activity that needs to stop. The fact that this is an unpleasant experience for the perpetrator is a key factor of the punishment process.