Scripts in PVP

[Astarica]

The pixel sampling stuff is usually more useful for PvE botting, like you check the pixel color on the target lifebar at the 0% mark, if it's not red then the target is dead then you loot, otherwise you continue doing whatever you were doing to damage it. Or you check if the pixel at 30% is red, and if not then they're in execute range. At least at a first glance I can't think of too many interesting thing you can possibly do that'd give you a significant advantage in PvP with pixel sampling.

[JP_Legatus]

well it seems slightly relevant since apparently some people are using scripts to respec super fast.... which is an advantage no matter how you spin it.

 

Respeccing and grabbing the huttball before the other team are two confirmed uses of macros in this game

[cashogy_reborn]

Respeccing and grabbing the huttball before the other team are two confirmed uses of macros in this game

 

grabbing huttball = macro

respecing = script

 

macros =/= scripts

 

 

grabbing the huttball isnt that big of a deal, spamming your mouseclick does about the same thing. and if you should be trying to CC opponents from getting the ball, not just trying to click-race them

[Syberduh]

Can you explain to me the difference between a macro and a script? I've tried googling around but the terms seem to be used pretty interchangeably.

[Gyronamics]

Can you explain to me the difference between a macro and a script? I've tried googling around but the terms seem to be used pretty interchangeably.

 

Typically macro refers to dumb automation of actions e.g. whatever a gaming keyboard will record and play back.

 

Scripted macros can and generally do react to events, their complexity and capability is limited by the person writing the script and the programmer who wrote the program the script runs in.

 

Many years ago I used a macro program which ran on pascal scripts to interact with a flash game. It could interact with npcs, rapidly clear their multiple chat bubbles faster than I could, fight, interrupt itself to heal, collect rewards, loop back through it all and shut itself down if death, inability to heal, reward caps or a game crash happened.

 

About 300 lines of code and I spent more time bugfixing than I did using it but ultimately it was able to run without being babysat for days on end.

 

That's what scripted macros can do.

 

The easy prey in this mmo is the space missions on rails which are themselves scripted (predictable and identical each time) which is why they got farmed by simple macro users.

 

Actually doing anything in the open world is much more complex and very prone to interference.

[DeadDogBarking]

yeh, I looked at it but it might as well be in chinese.

 

What is amusing is that all one needs to do is bind multiple buttons to 1 key and mash that key. 90% of people who play this game can't even press buttons anyway so they're already ahead of the game.

 

Besides, all Bioware has to do to screw up pixel readers is to have all bar procs change color randomly.

 

not an issue the scripts read x y coord and graphics recognition software is everywhere. My design teacher made us learn how to make and use macros and shortcuts and designed the test so that we could not pass it without these. My programming teachers let us use the internet for finals. How many programmers and computer graphics people play MMOs? The full scripts are not the big issue on non ranked servers. The FUBAR to damage order, ability execution and renedering caused by keypress spam with macros is really bad and obvious especially when you check your log and the character only uses instant abilities while moving in funny patters and never misses an ability proc. I tried to submit a request for investigation and was told to resubmit using /bugreport or something like, but could not copy and paste the detailed info I just sent. I put in Gen chat that I was recording the WZ and looking for movement attack macros and one person told me to L2P because Macros do not violate the TOS, and today on a server forum one person stated that they had a macro specifically for emotes(yes grey area based on BioWare replys). When someone is in front of me and not behind and I can not target closest player or do unpredictable damage while they hit with a series of subpar ablities/rotations while moving/jumping in patterns with zero tactical advantage I really have a hard time not thinking this is not a macro that exploits the combat movement resolution system and makes an easy button. I do check my logs and have found that I did get beat by many good players with great rotations, but this other part is constant and very frustrating.

[Syberduh]

Typically macro refers to dumb automation of actions e.g. whatever a gaming keyboard will record and play back.

 

Ok but a macro like that is still a script, albeit a simple one, isn't it?

[Gyronamics]

Ok but a macro like that is still a script, albeit a simple one, isn't it?

 

A recorded macro can be looked at as a passive script yes.

 

Locations of mouse, keystrokes, clicks, are recorded then played back.

 

But if anything is not where it's meant to be, excessive delays are caused by lag it all falls flat on its face.

 

 

An active script can sit there and only act when something is ready to be interacted with e.g. something has become the right colour/shape/other signal is recieved, as a real player would.

[Syberduh]

Ok then. I just wanted to dispel the false distinction between "script" and "macro" that's been thrown around a lot over the past few days. It seems the true distinction is between passive scripts ("macros") and active scripts that can respond to input from the game rather than executing a pre-set series of commands no matter what is happening in-game.

[ToMyMa]

grabbing huttball = macro

respecing = script

 

macros =/= scripts

 

 

grabbing the huttball isnt that big of a deal, spamming your mouseclick does about the same thing. and if you should be trying to CC opponents from getting the ball, not just trying to click-race them

 

Yeah, because whoever lives in Dublin will win

 

 

But I heard some people rebind their scroll to rightclick so that their clicking gets faster...

[Icykill_]

Sorry for the Necro... I only just found this thread while researching scripts on the web

 

I have a few current questions-

Does anyone still think these are being used?

Since Strong Holds was released are non pvp people using these in pvp so they don't have to learn pvp to get their Strong Hold stuff??

With 12x XP before the expansion, are people using these in pvp because they are lvling too fast and don't know the class yet??

As the original poster "called" out Pot5 guilds as using them the most... Has the transfer of a lot of these guilds seen an increase on Harbinger??

 

I know I haven't seen anything prevelant in ranked... Ranked players shouldn't need these scripts... And they would easily spot them and ridicule the people using them as they smashed them into oblivion

But I have seen an increase in, let's say "strange or dodgy" incidents in regs of all levels... Now this won't affect the good players... But it definitely affects the average or new players... These players get frustrated and stop PVPing before they can get good... It's easy for good players to say L2P to those less capable... But "if" dodgy stuff "is" happening then the less capable usually leave pvp altogether... Of course a good team would roll over those cheating every time... Scripting or other cheating will never replace knowledge, skill or tactics... How can a script know when to disengage and run to the other node to stop a cap... How does a script know when or if you should break a cc on you to get full resolve, make a cap or stop a cap or score in Hutt Ball... Sure those "scripters" might have the highest dps... But did they win the match or did they really contribute to your team or did they just run around death matching all match because they can't "really" pvp?

Anyone who has constantly PVPd from launch has seen it all... From speed hacks to bots in the game... So we know it is possible to change the parameters in the game... Even the people who say "hacks" don't happen have admitted that this is possible... From what I have researched and seen, there are lots of places you can get pre-done scripts now and info on how to set them up... so you don't even need to know anything really on how it works...

You just need to copy paste this info... This has become so easy for non tech people to use... It reminds me of the recent DDOS attack "hackers" on the EA servers this week... Most of them are just kids... Have limited tech knowledge and are able to take down the EA servers... Of course they aren't real hackers... Just people using other people's work...

 

So can anyone intelligently answer my opening questions without Trolling?... I would like to know what people are seeing or experiencing

[JackNader]

Macro and simple scripting programs have been shipping with just about every single piece of gaming hardware for the past 15 years. There are also hundreds of free stand alone programs on the internet which anybody can download and use. It is common knowledge that macro/ scripts are being used heavily in all single player and online games. What is more shocking to me is that you do not know this and have taken it upon yourself to crusade against it. A bit of advice tho, you are completely wasting your time. You are not going to change a culture that is fully imbedded and corporate sponsored. Biowares official stance on these programs is ludicrous and they know it. At launch they sponsored an official keyboard with built in macro software.

 

In saying all that... these programs are a double edged sword. They simplify the amount of buttons you need to press at the expense of control. Meaning, anyone with even half a brain will notice that your abilities always fire off the same way and counter. You will also get abilities firing off in an inefficient manner. An example is if you bind force charge to all your attack buttons. This will do more to hurt you than help you. It will get you killed in pve when you are attacking a target that someone knocks off an edge. I have seen people leap to their death many times because of it. I always laugh and respond to the player "macro's are bad yo!." The more you macro / script, the less control you have. It's that simple.

 

Full blown botting, while annoying, isn't that big of a deal. I doubt it is even that common as it takes a heck of a lot of programing knowledge to pull off. My main complaint about them is that they ruin the PvP environment because bots make useless teammates. Botting is used for mundane farming purposes, be it experience, credits, chests, warzone coms or valor. Bots do not have any advantage over an actual player. They are completely inferior because they lack the ability to predict and counter future actions. I don't care how good a bot script is, it is incapable of performing at the level of an actual player.

 

In PvE it is a different story because the encounters, for the most part are predictable and static. I don't even really care if they are in my raids. At least they do a half decent job of punching out DPS.

 

Summary

 

Main reasons people use macros / scripts

1) Streamline controls

2) Remap keys / bind keys that the game presently cannot handle

3) Disability ( I knew a guy who played first person shooters with 1 arm)

4) Laziness

5) They perceive it will give them an edge ( Most games do a really good job of limiting any time / response advantage ) - Swtor has the global cooldown

 

Main reason people use bots

1) Mundane farming (Used almost exclusively by companies who parasite of games and generate cashflow from them.)

Edited November 26, 2014 by JackNader

[AlrikFassbauer]

Macros & Scripting would be a dream for Farmers.

 

They'd get to the top far faster, and get the feeling of domination much more often because of that.

They'd be trolling any Newbies by dominating them through Macros & Scripting - and they'd chat via voice chat how "cool" it is to defeat Newbies that fast. Trolling has become a sport, then.

[Icykill_]

Macro and simple scripting programs have been shipping with just about every single piece of gaming hardware for the past 15 years. There are also hundreds of free stand alone programs on the internet which anybody can download and use. It is common knowledge that macro/ scripts are being used heavily in all single player and online games. What is more shocking to me is that you do not know this and have taken it upon yourself to crusade against it. A bit of advice tho, you are completely wasting your time. You are not going to change a culture that is fully imbedded and corporate sponsored. Biowares official stance on these programs is ludicrous and they know it. At launch they sponsored an official keyboard with built in macro software.

 

In saying all that... these programs are a double edged sword. They simplify the amount of buttons you need to press at the expense of control. Meaning, anyone with even half a brain will notice that your abilities always fire off the same way and counter. You will also get abilities firing off in an inefficient manner. An example is if you bind force charge to all your attack buttons. This will do more to hurt you than help you. It will get you killed in pve when you are attacking a target that someone knocks off an edge. I have seen people leap to their death many times because of it. I always laugh and respond to the player "macro's are bad yo!." The more you macro / script, the less control you have. It's that simple.

 

Full blown botting, while annoying, isn't that big of a deal. I doubt it is even that common as it takes a heck of a lot of programing knowledge to pull off. My main complaint about them is that they ruin the PvP environment because bots make useless teammates. Botting is used for mundane farming purposes, be it experience, credits, chests, warzone coms or valor. Bots do not have any advantage over an actual player. They are completely inferior because they lack the ability to predict and counter future actions. I don't care how good a bot script is, it is incapable of performing at the level of an actual player.

 

In PvE it is a different story because the encounters, for the most part are predictable and static. I don't even really care if they are in my raids. At least they do a half decent job of punching out DPS.

 

Summary

 

Main reasons people use macros / scripts

1) Streamline controls

2) Remap keys / bind keys that the game presently cannot handle

3) Disability ( I knew a guy who played first person shooters with 1 arm)

4) Laziness

5) They perceive it will give them an edge ( Most games do a really good job of limiting any time / response advantage ) - Swtor has the global cooldown

 

Main reason people use bots

1) Mundane farming (Used almost exclusively by companies who parasite of games and generate cashflow from them.)

 

Firstly let me say... I do know what Macros are and have used them... I know what a basic script is... What was new to me was what the OP stated and what others linked with regards to the player just needing to use the mouse to move and the rest was done for them... When you do a search and find out you can just cut and paste these scripts straight into the memory addresses and game key bindings.. It is an eye opener...

I am also not on a "crusade"... Just because I was asking if this was still happening a lot or had increased doesn't mean I'm on a crusade... I am just interested

Also I never said the people using them were good players... If anything I said they were bad... I also said that a competent player can counter anyone using these... What I asked and suspected was that "bad" PvE people who just want conquest points use these so they don't need to learn how to pvp

Anyway I have no intention of having an argument with you... So unless you have some new information... Thanks for your point of view

[Icykill_]

They'd be trolling any Newbies.... and they'd chat via voice chat how "cool" it is to defeat Newbies that fast.

 

Trolling has become a sport, then.

 

How I wish that wasn't true... Trolling as a sport is one of the most antisocial, dysfunctional and saddest forms of mental illnesses... These trolls have no self esteem and prey on others to try to make them selves feel better from their own inadequacies... Studies have shown that a large majority of people who troll are bullied themselves in real life and dont have the ability to socially interact in real life situations... By trolling on line or in games it is just another form of bullying... Studies also show that the worst someone trolls... The more likely they are the target of constant bullying themselves... The worst the bullying gets the worst they troll

It really is sad that there are so many people out there that have this problem... I feel bad for them... They should seek some professional help in real life...