Location: Home / Terms of Service / Triggers & Bots

Triggers and Bots

The only trigger you may use while away from your keyboard is one to keep keep you online but nothing else; i.e. one to stop the mud putting you into the "void" and logging you out. Using programs, scripts, and/or triggers to play the game for you in any way in your absence is considered "bot playing", and this is not allowed.

Note that "away from your keyboard" means "not at your keyboard, or at your keyboard but not paying attention to the mud." If you have a mud client in a window in the background and you're not paying attention to it, then the above restrictions still apply. A good simple guideline is the ability to respond to tells promptly. Remember, having the "AFK" flag up is not necessarily the same thing as being away from your keyboard. However, even being able to respond to a tell is not an excuse for an outright bot playing the game for you.

The issue of triggers while you _are_ at your keyboard is not as cut-and- dried, but still important. You personally should still be making the executive decisions. As with any other mud rule, if you are unsure whether something you plan to do is illegal or not, ask an imm before continuing.

Here is a recent post on the announcement board to help clarify the situation:

There appears to be some confusion on what constitutes a bot. I'll try to simplify it. Just *being at the screen* does not excuse a bot. If you have a set of triggers scanning for and automatically killing mobs, spelling yourself or people up in response to triggers, scan areas for gold etc, they *ARE* illegal regardless of whether or not you are at your screen. If your scripts are playing the game for you, they are illegal whether you are at the screen or not.

One good question to ask yourself would be:

"If I suddenly had to leave the screen in an emergency, would the triggers that I have running leave me botting and unable to respond?"

If the answer to that question is yes, you should turn them off.

No-one has a problem with triggers that just help you play the game, quaff potions in combat, rewield after a disarm etc because if you walk away from the screen once your current fight is done you will no longer be playing the game. You have to be careful with spell "recast" triggers as obviously they can keep going without you.

Once again, you cannot "accidentally" create a bot. It takes talent and work, or at least a conscious effort to go download one. Bots are being removed on sight and being high level is no excuse. You do not need to freak out about if your borderline trigger will get you nuked, if a trigger is inappropriate you will be told first with no other consequences - unless it clearly IS a deliberate bot.

Feel free to mail "imm" on personal with any other questions.

Thanks,
Lasher