"This is more than just unacceptable": Why bots are a major problem in the western version of Lost Ark

The western release of Lost Ark has many positives and some negatives, but its trouble with bots that is causing major headaches for Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG.

The presence of bots has been a long-standing issue in the game, which is quite natural in MMOs of this scale. While the developers have tried to curb the problem, there seems to be no end to it. Earlier, one forum user posted about the long queue times caused by bots on a particular server.

The post made by a player about the unbelievable queue times (Image via Lost Ark forums)

It's not too difficult to understand why players might use bots in the game. There are plenty of activities that require to be done daily. Some players resort to unfair means by using bots to grind their daily activities.

However, recent results have been far more dangerous, which has caused Amazon Games to step up their activities to combat it. So far, bots have been nothing but a nuisance for all players.

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Presence of bots is a major problem in the western version of Lost Ark

It is very easy for any player to use bots in Lost Ark. Even after Amazon Games has reportedly banned over a million bot accounts, the potential loss for someone using them is very small. The game is available for free, so a ban matters very little. This is perhaps the only reason why the nuisance of the bots has continued for so long.

What makes the problem of bots so bad has two angles. One is that these bots stay logged in to a server for a long time. This creates a situation, as reported above, where actual players are unable to get into the game.

While humans take breaks occasionally, bots continue to crowd the servers for a massive amount of time.

The second problem is the in-game gold, which is one of the most sought-after commodities. While bots are used to grind different activities, the target is to farm as much gold as possible. This gold is then sold to players for differential rates, which is completely against the terms and conditions.

Amazon Games has already taken steps to curb the situation, which has caused more problems for Lost Ark players. There were reports of legitimate players getting banned in the initial ban wave. Although their accounts have been recovered, they had to go through torrid times because of the fault of others.

Lost Ark isn't available across all regions. Even in places like Australia, there are no regional servers. Naturally, players have resorted to using VPN and software like exitlag to access the game smoothly. Last month, Amazon Games decided to entirely ban the use of all kinds of VPNs, which meant that many lost access to their accounts.

It's quite evident from the image above that the long queue times are back, which means that the bots are also back. Despite all the steps that Amazon Games has taken, players are the only ones who have suffered the most.

The suffering has occurred directly from the effects of the bots. Players being unable to play and wait for a long time is just one example. The fact that some can progress more without even playing creates an unfair playing field. Without the bots, those who use them would barely have any significant progress.

Those who have suffered have also been the victims of the steps taken by Amazon Games. While those banned have likely recreated another bot account, legitimate players have continued to suffer.

The ban on VPNs, for example, has resulted in the loss of accounts of many players who aren't in the legal regions. While the use of VPNs did break the terms and conditions, the reason for the restrictions was to do with the bots. Hence, bots have greatly plagued the players in Lost Ark, either directly or indirectly.