Botting and its Ethical Issues

Bot or Robot is a popular term in online gaming which is form of hacking or cheating in online games. Bots are programs installed in your computer which when launched, automatically launches a specific online game. The Bot is then configured to suit your needs weather it be farming or leveling up.

Botting is illegal in most of the online games because it gives an undue advantage over other players and of course, it is a hack program. It is also the cause of account termination in some cases.

2 kinds of Robots

To date, there are two kinds of robot that may be used in online games:

1. Speed Hack (Cheat Engine) - Speed hackers use Cheat Engine, a program down loadable free over the internet. Of course anti hacking programs like Game Guard prevent Cheat engine from accessing the game. Thus, another hacking program is needed for CE to access the game. This program is known a GG bypass also downloadable but with a fee. This program increases the attack speed to an illegal level that the user's character would seem to be using one skill but in fact, is using several skills dealing multiple hits with 1 blow. Speed hack is used for farming and PVP (Player versus Player) mode. In farming, SH is used for Mobs that are hard to kill and those that drops rare loots or items.

2. Normal Bot - works like an actual player is playing the game but with a little difference. A normal bot is configured through a control panel where you can adjust almost everything including Auto hp/mp potion clicking, attack radius, loot radius, loot filtering, auto loot, and auto sell. all the user has to do is check on its character once in a while and select its farming/leveling area.This Robot does not need a bypass program for it to start and is easily purchased over the internet.

Speed Hack Or Normal Bot

As far as ethics is concerned, both are cheats and therefore unethical. However, it would really depend on the factors concerning the player. If the player is a home based worker or an employee whose task requires that he should be in front of the computer almost all the time, a normal bot would be advised as the most ethical choice of all the unethical hack programs enumerated.

In contrast, Speed Hack is unacceptable. because it tampers with the natural or legal speed of attack and would therefore cause undue advantage during a PVP match.

Ultimately, do not use hacking programs in your online game if you do not really need one. Players who play in internet cafe's are discouraged to use bots because a player can only gain advantage using normal bots if they have their own computers.