Botting Runs Rampant In Elder Scrolls Online

If you're not familiar with the term "botting", it's essentially when players either find an exploit to gain experience without actually being at the keyboard/console, or they use an automated program that completes tasks for them on loop.  Botting typically takes place in MMORPG games, since leveling and grinding are huge parts of the game.  Botting is especially prevalent in games like Runescape, where players can download programs that essentially play the game for them, doing things like leveling skills or training combat.  

Botting has now found its way to Elder Scrolls Online.  Players have found ways to level up their ranged skills, by finding a safe spot, and either holding down the heavy attack button with a rubber band or using a macro.  They can leave their playing firing in a certain direction for hours, while everytime the mobs (enemies) spawn back, they get experience for killing them.  This hurts the gameplay experience in many ways, but it's also just straight up cancerous to the community.  Exploits are very common in MMORPG's.  For instance, grinding spots are very common in ESO.  Essentially, there are certain areas in the game where enemies have a faster than usual spawn rate.  Players who want to level up can kill these mobs over and over again, leveling up along the way.  It's a boring leveling method, but much faster than questing.  Grind spots are technically not exploits, but ZeniMax does fix them from time to time, although more always come to the surface.

Grinding doesn't hurt anyone since it's mostly for players who wish to level up as fast as possible, while other players can just choose to quest.  Botting isn't at all an efficient or fast way to gain experience, but it's simply the easiest and laziest method since it requires no commitment.  This is a problem that needs to be resolved.  After all, we don't want ESO to turn into Runescape where a huge percentage of servers are solely filled with bots.  It's kind of annoying when you're putting in time and commitment to achieve a goal, while you see bot's completing the same achievements.  It hurts the community as a whole in the long run.

Some fixes for this problem could include logging players off due to inactive movement instead of the inactivity of controller input.  Logging into the game and seeing clumps of players mindlessly shooting in one direction like zombies isn't the most immersive experience.  I mean seriously, what's the point in spending time in a game, if you're not actually accomplishing the goals yourself? Hopefully, ZeniMax addresses this issue soon.  Before then, if you see players botting, take a second to report them if you care about the community of ESO.  Happy grinding!