30 replies to this topic

[Neo Nugget]

Earlier today, Gaile Gray posted on the official forums to clarify ArenaNet's stance on macros and multi-boxing. It's a subject that hasn't always been clear to players, so it's a good idea to read over it to make sure everybody is on the same page. Better safe than sorry, right?

As part of ArenaNet’s policy on third-party programs, we are often asked about multi-boxing and the use of macros. Here is our policy:

Macros
Guild Wars 2 players are permitted to use macros as long as the macros are programmed with a 1 key for 1 function protocol.

• This means that if you program a macro, it must require one keystroke per action. You may not program a single key to perform multiple functions.
  
• For example, if you Press A and it results in the casting of a single skill, you’re ok. If you Press A and it casts multiple spells, you’re not ok.
  
• You cannot program a macro to performs the same or multiple actions on more than one account at a time.
  
• You cannot program an “auto-clicker” macro that, for instance, opens chests while you play elsewhere.

Dual- or Multi-Boxing

• You may use more than one account at the same time.
  
• You may use more than one computer at the same time.
  
• You must be actively playing on each account.
  
• And as stated above, you may not program your keyboard to perform functions on more than one account at a time.
  
• For example, if you press W on your keyboard to move forward, a single character on a single account should move forward. The keystroke or mouse click should not perform functions on more than one account.

[tr1age]

[quote]"For example, if you press W on your keyboard to move forward, a single character on a single account should move forward. The keystroke or mouse click should not perform functions on more than one account."[/quote]

Kinda defeats multi boxing lol.  

[quote]"For example, if you Press A and it results in the casting of a single skill, you’re ok. If you Press A and it casts multiple spells, you’re not ok."[/quote]

Uhm... do they know we all have razor mice and G4 keyboards that basically do that functionality as second nature now?

I will happily go on record saying i have one key that turns off my UI snaps a screenshot then turns the UI back on. OMG BAN ME!

Edited by Khalija, 28 February 2013 - 01:45 AM.
fixed font issues

[Schnolltz]

[quote name='tr1age' timestamp='1362014564' post='2172272']
Kinda defeats multi boxing lol.  



Uhm... do they know we all have razor mice and G4 keyboards that basically do that functionality as second nature now?

I will happily go on record saying i have one key that turns off my UI snaps a screenshot then turns the UI back on. OMG BAN ME!
[/quote]

you can assign a key for screenshots without ui

[tr1age]

[quote name='Schnolltz' timestamp='1362016279' post='2172286']
you can assign a key for screenshots without ui
[/quote]

I think this was only a beta feature anyway not the point and Thanks for the font fixes!

[Strawberry Nubcake]

[quote name='tr1age' timestamp='1362014564' post='2172272']
Kinda defeats multi boxing lol.  

Uhm... do they know we all have razor mice and G4 keyboards that basically do that functionality as second nature now?

I will happily go on record saying i have one key that turns off my UI snaps a screenshot then turns the UI back on. OMG BAN ME!
[/quote]

Everyone can afford a fancy gaming keyboard and/or mouse?  News to me!  The only reason pressing a G key would perform more than one action is because you programmed it to do that.  That's why it may be second nature to you.  I have a G15 and G600 which haven't been programmed to activate more than one action per button.  Being able to cast spells with my thumb makes my in-game life easy enough.

I think some people have said they wanted to play with one account and have the other online for chat or RP purposes.  Those people wouldn't need to set up a program to control 2+ clients with one keyboard.  That rule only defeats the purpose multi-boxing for another reason.

Edited by Strawberry Nubcake, 28 February 2013 - 02:01 AM.

[Senatic]

I guess I'm getting banned then, cus I've been using a mouse macro to double click fast by holding in a mouse key - not only is it macroing a left click twice (that's a ban right there according to this) but it also does it for as long as I hold it it. Very useful when I wanna use up a bunch of jugs/drops of karma(which I currently have over 1000 of sitting in the bank) or open a ton of bags without getting carpel tunnel syndrome. Cus god forbid I save myself a physical injury because of a clunky and stupid UI design choice..

But seriously, this is just stupid "official company policy" crap, I'd be surprised if any of this was actually reinforced other then when looking at botting and such. So I don't think us normal players need to worry much.

[BlaineTog]

They're probably just trying to cover their butts so they can ban obvious gold sellers' farming accounts, and also so you don't need macros to play sPvP competitively.  I doubt they'll actually ban anyone for doing this benignly.

Edited by BlaineTog, 28 February 2013 - 02:05 AM.

[Strawberry Nubcake]

[quote name='Senatic' timestamp='1362016924' post='2172294']
I guess I'm getting banned then, cus I've been using a mouse macro to double click fast by holding in a mouse key - not only is it macroing a left click twice (that's a ban right there according to this) but it also does it for as long as I hold it it. Very useful when I wanna use up a bunch of jugs/drops of karma(which I currently have over 1000 of sitting in the bank) or open a ton of bags without getting carpel tunnel syndrome. Cus god forbid I save myself a physical injury because of a clunky and stupid UI design choice..

But seriously, this is just stupid "official company policy" crap, I'd be surprised if any of this was actually reinforced other then when looking at botting and such. So I don't think us normal players need to worry much.
[/quote]
Have you tried using Anet's suggestion forum to request a "consume/open all" option for those types of items?  I think it would be nice to have and keep people like you from getting hit with the banscythe.

[Azure Skye]

[quote name='Senatic' timestamp='1362016924' post='2172294']
I guess I'm getting banned then, cus I've been using a mouse macro to double click fast by holding in a mouse key - not only is it macroing a left click twice (that's a ban right there according to this) but it also does it for as long as I hold it it. Very useful when I wanna use up a bunch of jugs/drops of karma(which I currently have over 1000 of sitting in the bank) or open a ton of bags without getting carpel tunnel syndrome. Cus god forbid I save myself a physical injury because of a clunky and stupid UI design choice..

But seriously, this is just stupid "official company policy" crap, I'd be surprised if any of this was actually reinforced other then when looking at botting and such. So I don't think us normal players need to worry much.
[/quote]You sound the like the people like from Guild Wars 1, when we were doing the Drunkard title back then. Lol  So much clicking. @.@

[relyk]

They sanction basic macros and multi-boxing and all people want to do is bitch. It's not like they've changed their stance.

[pumpkin pie]

it basically says do not cheat!

[Majic]

Based on what I'm seeing here, if you see the classic "multi-box blob" of characters all moving and attacking in unison, they are doing so in violation of this policy, and it's reportable.

That's a pretty big difference from LOTRO, for example, where such an arrangement is perfectly legal (and made especially easy by the /follow command) and usable to deadly effect in PvP.

I like this policy better.

[Ritualist]

Now they just start need to implementing these policies. I mean, they are aware of the shit-ton of the gathering bots that are in the game, no?

[Trei]

[quote name='Ritualist' timestamp='1362032766' post='2172374']
Now they just start need to implementing these policies. I mean, they are aware of the shit-ton of the gathering bots that are in the game, no?
[/quote] You meant "enforce" these policies.
They have clearly been implemented.

[Uziel]

Someone at anet needs to open 2 mil karma worth of orr boxes without an auto-clicker or macro....

[Lordkrall]

[quote name='Uziel' timestamp='1362037246' post='2172394']
Someone at anet needs to open 2 mil karma worth of orr boxes without an auto-clicker or macro....
[/quote]

Not that hard.

[Waar Kijk Je Naar]

[quote name='Uziel' timestamp='1362037246' post='2172394']
Someone at anet needs to open 2 mil karma worth of orr boxes without an auto-clicker or macro....
[/quote]
And the karma consumables you get from this 2m karma, and the extra boxes you get from the ~1-1,5m+ karma you get from them, and the consumables you get from this karma, and so on...
[quote name='Lordkrall' timestamp='1362037651' post='2172402']
Not that hard.
[/quote]
It's not hard, but it's rather unhealthy for both your fingers and your mouse.

Edited by Waar Kijk Je Naar, 28 February 2013 - 07:52 AM.

[Ara]

I use autohotkey and made these scripts:
- switch armor sets in one click because there is no "gear manager".
- auto fire when I buy like 250-500 spy kits ( or now grawl totems and the like ) because we can't type the number of items we want to buy.
- a toggle between a large (11x11) "all in one bag" inventory for when I need to, say, recycle ; and a tiny (4x5) inventory in separate bags mode that is always shown on screen for fast consumable access.

And finally I plan to make a script that would switch between sets of traits.

I'm crossing my fingers not to get banned because now I can't go back doing these chores. I'm not here to be the UI's b*tch, I'm here to play and have fun !

[Lordkrall]

I would say all of those scripts would be considered banable.

[Literaltruth]

[quote name='Ritualist' timestamp='1362032766' post='2172374']
Now they just start need to implementing these policies. I mean, they are aware of the shit-ton of the gathering bots that are in the game, no?
[/quote]

Yes they will be aware...but generally MMOs want to ban bots in a huge wave rather than taking out individuals.  What they will usually do (and this goes for GW2, WoW, SWTOR and any other MMO) is identify the bots from player reports and monitor them closely.  They will wait until they identify all the various security loopholes and hacks that the bots are using and develop ways to counter them all.  Then one day they will introduce a patch that basically cuts off all the botters in one huge fell swoop.  This is generally seen as a much more effective way of combating the problem that going around banning individual accounts or closing holes one at a time (partly since this kind of massive action will put some of the smaller commercial botting people out of business completely or make them move on to another game and partly since doing that kind of "war of attrition" against individual botters ends up with there never being a perceivable down-swing in their numbers so the player base can't see the results - I still remember the first bot-banning pass they did in this game where it went from bots everywhere to them all disappearing overnight).

[BrettM]

So, IS there a GW2 equivalent to GWMultiLaunch available? I'd buy a storage account in a heartbeat if there is. Good for ANet's bottom line and good for me. Without it, having a mule account is more trouble than it's worth. Though I wonder why ANet would even leave this up to third parties rather than producing their own multi-launch program, given the financial incentives they have to encourage multiple accounts.

[Strawberry Nubcake]

[quote name='Ara' timestamp='1362041921' post='2172425']
I'm crossing my fingers not to get banned because now I can't go back doing these chores. I'm not here to be the UI's b*tch, I'm here to play and have fun !
[/quote]
You can actually go back to doing those things without scripts.  You just don't want to.  There's a difference.

[BlaineTog]

[quote name='Azure Skye' timestamp='1362017307' post='2172299']
You sound the like the people like from Guild Wars 1, when we were doing the Drunkard title back then. Lol  So much clicking. @.@
[/quote]I don't know if they changed how alchohol worked later in the game's cycle but when I went for Drunkard you had to get up to 5 stacks of inebriation and then stay there for 1000 minutes by popping a drink every minute.  You couldn't just double-click booze a thousand times, you had to methodically maintain your character's drunken state.

[Vancext]

Ugh. The only macro I want is the one that saves my finger and 1 key from grenade/bomb kit.

[Darkobra]

[quote name='Waar Kijk Je Naar' timestamp='1362037961' post='2172406']
It's not hard, but it's rather unhealthy for both your fingers and your mouse.
[/quote]

Fingers? Definitely not. The amount of practice a musician puts in every day is far more strenuous than you clicking a mouse a few thousand times.

The mouse? That I can agree with, depending on how fast you're doing it.

[El Duderino]

[quote name='Darkobra' timestamp='1362079682' post='2172721']
Fingers? Definitely not. The amount of practice a musician puts in every day is far more strenuous than you clicking a mouse a few thousand times.

The mouse? That I can agree with, depending on how fast you're doing it.
[/quote]

[url="http://ergo.berkeley.edu/docs/1999keirergo.pdf"]http://ergo.berkeley.edu/docs/1999keirergo.pdf[/url]

Berkeley disagrees with you.

[BlaineTog]

[quote name='Vancext' timestamp='1362077834' post='2172704']
Ugh. The only macro I want is the one that saves my finger and 1 key from grenade/bomb kit.
[/quote]This is honestly the biggest reason I don't use the Grenade kit, except under water.  That, and I dislike weapons where you just spam everything as soon as it's off cooldown.  I just wish it were possible to smartcast by holding down some other button, like shift+click or something.

[Cheferos]

[quote name='BlaineTog' timestamp='1362077083' post='2172696']
I don't know if they changed how alchohol worked later in the game's cycle but when I went for Drunkard you had to get up to 5 stacks of inebriation and then stay there for 1000 minutes by popping a drink every minute.  You couldn't just double-click booze a thousand times, you had to methodically maintain your character's drunken state.
[/quote]

In fact, they did later change the alcohol title.  I don't remember the date they did it, but now you just basically double-click your way to a title if you have the booze.  I do remember the day it came out though, and for days after, the time remaining of favor of the gods was constantly maxed out from people insta-maxing the drukard title.

[BlaineTog]

[quote name='Cheferos' timestamp='1362095051' post='2172865']
In fact, they did later change the alcohol title.  I don't remember the date they did it, but now you just basically double-click your way to a title if you have the booze.  I do remember the day it came out though, and for days after, the time remaining of favor of the gods was constantly maxed out from people insta-maxing the drukard title.
[/quote]Aww man, I did it the hard way!  My dorm room didn't even get wifi so I had to run an ethernet cable to the front room so I could click while watching TV.

The times, they are a changin'.

[Eon Lilu]

I have seen alot of players that are not bots but are using one keyboard to control multiple accounts.

They will run in the same lines and do the same actions like bots. Was speaking to one of them in game and he said he was using multiple accounts but only one input device to control both characters.

Kinda hard to tell the difference.

Edited by Eon Lilu, 01 March 2013 - 02:33 AM.