With very limited amount of housing plots for a large game population, this creates a lot of competition for plots that happen to open up. For it to be balanced, invisible timers are put in place that let the plot be purchasable at a random time. The issue this creates is players that resort to scripts that allow them to continuously attempt to buy the plot without needing to physically be there. This is often how players end up winning houses as well, by breaking the ToS they agreed to by cheating because they feel that's the only way to win.
I have a few suggestions that I hope might offer a fix for the issues we have with this current system, with pros and cons for each.
Suggestions
Add More Housing (wards/plots)
Pro(s): This would lots of new plots for players to grab when readily available and would hopefully greatly decrease the amount of bots as there would be less competition for plots. More plots means more players get incentivized to buy a house, removing more gil from the economy.
Con(s): This is currently limited given the status of the pandemic limiting physical installation of new servers so this may take much longer than expected. This also does not guarantee that bots will disappear and not attempt to take every house that gets added, further measure would need to be taken to solve this particular issue.
Reduce the Plot Timer to about 2-4 Hours
Pro(s): Lessens the amount of time players have to wait for a house to become available to prevent possible physical or mental strain for having to wait. Still allows players to become aware of a newly available plot's presence.
Con(s): Does not fix the botting problem
Standard Housing Lottery System
Each player who wants to buy a house makes an inquiry on an open plot and obtains a ticket similar to a cactpot ticket which can then be turned in to acquire the plot if the numbers match up when the random housing timer expires. Winning numbers last for approx 8 hours to allow winner to claim their house, otherwise it is rerolled for the next person.
Pro(s): Allows multiple players to inquire on more than one plot without needing to "camp" placards. Allows for more flexible housing purchasing. Possibly prevents bots from winning by not giving them the winning number
Con(s): Much higher amount of players competing for the same plot makes winning much harder.
Anti-cheat/Anti-botting System
Pro(s): Curbs the botting problem immediately with a system that checks background applications/extra files in the game's folder. Conversely add an anti-botting system that requires players to complete a CAPTCHA or similar style problem when they do not move for 1-2 minutes, yet continue to make repetitive button presses like how a bot would.
Con(s): Disables player freedom to use external programs like parsers, texture mods, and anything else that isn't used to gain an advantage in-game. Anti-botting can probably be worked around/hacked.
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I have a few suggestions that I hope might offer a fix for the issues we have with this current system, with pros and cons for each.
Suggestions
Add More Housing (wards/plots)
Pro(s): This would lots of new plots for players to grab when readily available and would hopefully greatly decrease the amount of bots as there would be less competition for plots. More plots means more players get incentivized to buy a house, removing more gil from the economy.
Con(s): This is currently limited given the status of the pandemic limiting physical installation of new servers so this may take much longer than expected. This also does not guarantee that bots will disappear and not attempt to take every house that gets added, further measure would need to be taken to solve this particular issue.
Reduce the Plot Timer to about 2-4 Hours
Pro(s): Lessens the amount of time players have to wait for a house to become available to prevent possible physical or mental strain for having to wait. Still allows players to become aware of a newly available plot's presence.
Con(s): Does not fix the botting problem
Standard Housing Lottery System
Each player who wants to buy a house makes an inquiry on an open plot and obtains a ticket similar to a cactpot ticket which can then be turned in to acquire the plot if the numbers match up when the random housing timer expires. Winning numbers last for approx 8 hours to allow winner to claim their house, otherwise it is rerolled for the next person.
Pro(s): Allows multiple players to inquire on more than one plot without needing to "camp" placards. Allows for more flexible housing purchasing. Possibly prevents bots from winning by not giving them the winning number
Con(s): Much higher amount of players competing for the same plot makes winning much harder.
Anti-cheat/Anti-botting System
Pro(s): Curbs the botting problem immediately with a system that checks background applications/extra files in the game's folder. Conversely add an anti-botting system that requires players to complete a CAPTCHA or similar style problem when they do not move for 1-2 minutes, yet continue to make repetitive button presses like how a bot would.
Con(s): Disables player freedom to use external programs like parsers, texture mods, and anything else that isn't used to gain an advantage in-game. Anti-botting can probably be worked around/hacked.
Continue reading...