As RuneScape staggers under the assault of thousands of bots, Jagex is pulling out a pair of big guns to meet the problem head-on. The first weapon was yesterday's "Bot-Nuking Day," in which a patch was released that was supposed to deal with 98% of the botting in the game. The second is an official email sent to suspected botters threatening them with a class-action lawsuit if they don't desist.

In the email, Jagex calls out the suspected behavior and offers the player a "one-time amnesty lifeline" to shape up. These players will be placed on a watch list and will be monitored for any further botting action. If the player persists in cheating, then Jagex promises to not only remove their account permanently but to include the player in a mass lawsuit.

"If you ignore our offer and instead continue use botting software, we reserve our rights to pursue statutory damages against you for between $200 to $2,500 per act of past, present, and/or future botting," the letter states.

A Jagex mod on the RuneScape forums confirmed that these emails are real.

Too little too late.

I agree it's far too late, should've been done years ago. But it's not too little, as of now the game is as bot-free as it was in RSclassic, just look at F2P worlds. RSbuddy, powerbot, nexus etc are all down and more updates are planned for the future.

Sueing botters is a horrible idea.  They'll end up bleeding members and money like no other.  Not to mention the amount of cases that will get thrown out.

Dumb, just dumb.

Originally posted by Quesa

Sueing botters is a horrible idea.  They'll end up bleeding members and money like no other.  Not to mention the amount of cases that will get thrown out.

Dumb, just dumb.

  Heh - I think it's more the threat they're going after.  That being said, I'm really surprised another company hasn't followed up on the earlier 'wins' in American courts.  There's already precedence for TOS and EULA being acceptable (mainly courtesy of Mythic) to the courts, and 'damages' being awarded (courtesy of Blizzard).  I really doubt they'll pursue this, however if they do - don't discount the courts.

Bot #1 <in robot voice>: "Damn. It. *Beep Boop*. I. Got. Sued."

Bot #2 <also in robot voice>: "Me. Too. *Beep Beep* W.T.F. How. Did. They. Find. Us."

Bot #1: "Did. You. Hide. *Beep Beep* The. Port. Node. *Boop*"

Bot #2: "No. *Boop Boop* I. Thought. You. Did. *Beep* I. Thought. 3. Did. *Beep*"

Bot #3: "You. Dumb. Ass. *Bip Beep Boop* You. Have. Ruined. Us."

Bot #1: "Shut. Up. You. Noob. *Boop* Your. Mom. Was. A. *Bip* Toaster. And. She. Put. Out. *Boop*"

Runescape has such a horrible policy. "Well our game has tons of bots and hackers but we WILL NOT under ANY circumstance refund ANY items/gold lost to hackers." I wonder why everyone who plays that game hacks/bots. After losing 1.3 BILLION gold to a hacker I decided that the game wasn't worth playing after they gave me the BS that "earning back your lost items can be a fun and rewarding experience" Yeah go $%&^ yourself.

---

Originally posted by XxGrimmxX
Runescape has such a horrible policy. "Well our game has tons of bots and hackers but we WILL NOT under ANY circumstance refund ANY items/gold lost to hackers." I wonder why everyone who plays that game hacks/bots. After losing 1.3 BILLION gold to a hacker I decided that the game wasn't worth playing after they gave me the BS that "earning back your lost items can be a fun and rewarding experience" Yeah go $%&^ yourself.

---

agree with you here, support is worse then at some f2p asians MMO. =D

so far I can notice constant update flows (like every 40-60 min) which keeps bot away as they need to upgrade too soon.

I doubt it constant or effective measure, as well as it was "latest find", I guess, sorry to tell, Jagex made RS temporary clean to look good at RuneFest, as other way they could be just ashamed.

I have feeling bot will be back after RF, as now servers have 250-450 people on (except like 5 busy servers) down from 1300-1800.
means they will loose money next month if bot stay away (may be took hard decision to loose on some November subs but keep face at RF).

I don't want to be bad predictor, but I guess bot will be back soon.

For my part I'll never pay for RS again (f2p still fun when you are on public etc comp), as Jagex lie makes me mad. =P

GL Jagex lol

How the hell does a case with one complaintant qualify for class action status?

The vast majority of botters are seemingly from China...it's said China actively encourages the farming of gold...good luck suing them in Chinese courts.

All they'll end up doing is taking action against a minority of botters, who typically aren't the ones selling the gold for a large monetary profit.

Despite some here dont eather have faith in this fight agains bots(always whiners nomatter what devs do)or angry that they maybe soon can't buy any gold anymore i say....

RESPECT DEVS for combatting this cancer that botters and cheaters are.

I realy hope many more developers of other games follow runescape example.

LOL I'm not insane to buy RS gold & what makes me angry for real is to pay for play broken game, I think RS not worth money / time spent on it now...

False promises make it even worse....

Agree game should be fixed, many need to be revamp, gring fest stopped & some fun added.
Only not agree to pay for it!

Unfortunately I took long term sub as Jagex lured me to this decision by "we know how to get rid of bots" lie? underestimation? who knows... but it broke any enjoyment of further playing.

Keep looking forward for GW 2 to never pay sub to Jagex again!

Bots keep the prices of all the goods low so thats good for the consumers

LOL.  That made me laugh!  I can't believe it.  Well sure seems effective xD Hah.  Actually suing botters.  Teehee.

Reminds me of Nexon taking legal action against MapleStory private servers.  There were rumours of Nexon people actually going to someone's house and taking/breaking their PC.  While that may be simply unrealistic it's certainly silly and amusing.

Originally posted by Mr.Happy

Bots keep the prices of all the goods low so thats good for the consumers

Not true...

Bots farm goods / gold -> Goods are sold overpriced -> Gold is sold for money

BOTS ARE BAD FOR AN MMO ECONOMY IN EVERY WAY

 This post is pure retarded ..........

 1st theres no internation law against botting .

 2 nd theres no courts anywhere in the world that would waste there time to hear a case where no law has been broken .

 3 rd To attempt to sway a court to veiw mmo game money as a true currency would " if they were to sway a court" open up every mmo in the world to a endless line of lawsuits by disgruntal players.

 its a 2 edged sword if they happen to make it to were mmo game money has a value in the court , so that they can get charges on botters  , then that same game currency now have moitary value to players that have been banned from games or lost items to hackers in games ,

 90% of the worlds mmo's would be bankrupt in a year even if they happened to win every case against them the shear amount of legal fees would put them under.

 Not to mention , we play in a world of proxies . you have to be able to prove where the crime was comitted . travel to the point the crime was committed and file charges and return to the same point for each and every court hearing.

 If they get a law passed sure hope all the mmo companys invest in lear jets. travel expences are going to be crazy.

Originally posted by farfanugon

 This post is pure retarded ..........

 1st theres no internation law against botting .

 2 nd theres no courts anywhere in the world that would waste there time to hear a case where no law has been broken .

 3 rd To attempt to sway a court to veiw mmo game money as a true currency would " if they were to sway a court" open up every mmo in the world to a endless line of lawsuits by disgruntal players.

 its a 2 edged sword if they happen to make it to were mmo game money has a value in the court , so that they can get charges on botters  , then that same game currency now have moitary value to players that have been banned from games or lost items to hackers in games ,

 90% of the worlds mmo's would be bankrupt in a year even if they happened to win every case against them the shear amount of legal fees would put them under.

 Not to mention , we play in a world of proxies . you have to be able to prove where the crime was comitted . travel to the point the crime was committed and file charges and return to the same point for each and every court hearing.

 If they get a law passed sure hope all the mmo companys invest in lear jets. travel expences are going to be crazy.

 

Dutch High Court already has made a ruling on digital theft earlier this year (a teen-age kid got robbed f his Runescape stuff by 2 other kids of his school). Also, Blizzard was able to get the scripter of some botting program fined. So I guess with this Jagex thinks to have an opening.

Personally, I think they don't stand a chance to prosecute the botters themselfs. Not with those made-up fines at least.

Originally posted by Reizla

Originally posted by farfanugon

 This post is pure retarded ..........

 1st theres no internation law against botting .

 2 nd theres no courts anywhere in the world that would waste there time to hear a case where no law has been broken .

 3 rd To attempt to sway a court to veiw mmo game money as a true currency would " if they were to sway a court" open up every mmo in the world to a endless line of lawsuits by disgruntal players.

 its a 2 edged sword if they happen to make it to were mmo game money has a value in the court , so that they can get charges on botters  , then that same game currency now have moitary value to players that have been banned from games or lost items to hackers in games ,

 90% of the worlds mmo's would be bankrupt in a year even if they happened to win every case against them the shear amount of legal fees would put them under.

 Not to mention , we play in a world of proxies . you have to be able to prove where the crime was comitted . travel to the point the crime was committed and file charges and return to the same point for each and every court hearing.

 If they get a law passed sure hope all the mmo companys invest in lear jets. travel expences are going to be crazy.

 

Dutch High Court already has made a ruling on digital theft earlier this year (a teen-age kid got robbed f his Runescape stuff by 2 other kids of his school). Also, Blizzard was able to get the scripter of some botting program fined. So I guess with this Jagex thinks to have an opening.

Personally, I think they don't stand a chance to prosecute the botters themselfs. Not with those made-up fines at least.

Both of you are missing the point here, it's not about bringing charges to botters, it's about suing them for profitting off of someone elses property, which can and has been done.

Originally posted by Distopia

Originally posted by Reizla

Originally posted by farfanugon

 This post is pure retarded ..........

 1st theres no internation law against botting .

 2 nd theres no courts anywhere in the world that would waste there time to hear a case where no law has been broken .

 3 rd To attempt to sway a court to veiw mmo game money as a true currency would " if they were to sway a court" open up every mmo in the world to a endless line of lawsuits by disgruntal players.

 its a 2 edged sword if they happen to make it to were mmo game money has a value in the court , so that they can get charges on botters  , then that same game currency now have moitary value to players that have been banned from games or lost items to hackers in games ,

 90% of the worlds mmo's would be bankrupt in a year even if they happened to win every case against them the shear amount of legal fees would put them under.

 Not to mention , we play in a world of proxies . you have to be able to prove where the crime was comitted . travel to the point the crime was committed and file charges and return to the same point for each and every court hearing.

 If they get a law passed sure hope all the mmo companys invest in lear jets. travel expences are going to be crazy.

 

Dutch High Court already has made a ruling on digital theft earlier this year (a teen-age kid got robbed f his Runescape stuff by 2 other kids of his school). Also, Blizzard was able to get the scripter of some botting program fined. So I guess with this Jagex thinks to have an opening.

Personally, I think they don't stand a chance to prosecute the botters themselfs. Not with those made-up fines at least.

Both of you are missing the point here, it's not about bringing charges to botters, it's about suing them for profitting off of someone elses property, which can and has been done.

         But for 1 thing , ALL the MMO companys in the world already swear noting in game has any value at all , that it is the service its self that is of value , to go threw with it in the manner you post would open a whole new can of worms. and im sure the American courts would be very fast to not only accept the cases as you stated but also quickly convict .

 The same day the courts had a conviction , the case law would be in effect showing MMO ingame items as haveing a monitary value , Guess what !!! now the tax mans comming . This would be loke cutting off your arm to get rid of a hang nail. NO NO wait it would be like cutting off your arm and all your buddies arms cuz you had a hang nail.  Every MMO in the world would be effected .

Side effect of this announcement. I had a phishing eMail for a Runescape account, telling me my account was under investigation and I had to respond to it. I don't have a Runescape account, but I was amazed to see it being phished ;)