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With the crackdowns on cheaters that began in January, there's been an influx of even more questions submitted to the Justice team about it all. Here's a few of the big ones, answered: <b>I THINK someone MIGHT be cheating, what do I do? Whereas cheating, especially usage of third party programs, packet-editing, and real-money trading (RMT) are highly illegal in the Kingdoms, and nobody likes a cheater, the last thing we want is to waste investigators' time and energy on witch hunts. I encourage everyone, as a policy, whether you're a "bot hunter" or just a denizen enjoying the lands, to get into the habit of documentation. The Justice Team needs concrete evidence in all its operations in order to function, as hear-say and rumors don't give us the means to act. I stress: Never rely on rumor and hearsay in these matters. The objective is to help the community, not spread toxic conspiracy theories that waste our energy. Get the "receipts." <b>What's this about videos of cheaters? Video is only acceptable as evidence when forwarding clips for the investigation of third party usage (i.e. botting, autohunting, autocrafting, macro abuse). Video must be submitted along with screenshots taken of the same event being reported, using the approved methods (Scroll Lock key, Ctrl+3, Ctrl+4). The videos must be emailed (or a link to the videos) off-game to the Justice representative receiving the report, and must be able to clearly view the client screen (no odd cropping/blurring). If you need help or tips on how to take video, please write me an n-mail. <b>What if I encounter cheating in person, can I do anything? First and foremost, use the /justice and /report functions to try to ping a Judge or Archon. (You can also whisper a Judge that is online). If someone is available, they will confer with you about the problem. Next, ready your documentation of screenshots and video capture, as the Judge or Archon will need your help getting the evidence. Note: Saging/World Shouting for help usually proves to be unhelpful, as it often ends up alerting the cheaters that they've been caught before evidence can be gathered. <b>Can I bother the cheater? Here is where it gets tricky. Legal actions you CAN take involve speaking to the botter, gathering documentation, and standing clear out of the way. Do NOT attempt to hinder their activities in ANY way without implicit guidance from the Justice Team or Archons, as the infringing character is still unfortunately protected by laws when it comes to harassment, hunting laws, and murder/attempted murder. When you speak to the alleged botter, speak with a timestamp (ex. "Yo, it's 5:45pm EST 3/11/26") for your evidence to note the passage of time and help legitimize the screenshots and any video being taken. Vigilante justice does not help us in these matters, and can actually hinder investigations. And dealing with someone breaking the law while trying to bust others breaking the law ends up in a heartbreaking situation. <b>What kinds of bots are there? This is the second-most common question we receive, for sure. The best way I can answer this is to say that bots are tricky, and you have to be creative in your engagement and hair-trigger quick to get the documentation. Cheaters get more and more innovative in their insistence on breaking the laws and ToS. You'd think that with all the effort spent in trying to circumnavigate being caught, they'd better use that energy to do things the legitimate way, but they don't. (Continued on next page) | |