MMO Botters Jailed In Korea

MMO cheaters beware – a Korean court has sentenced two distributors of the “LinMate” bot to 24 months in jail and are levying a fine of 10 million won (about $10,560 USD).

The accused are unrepentant, and still doubt that NCSoft really wants to pursue gamers using “farmers” and “bots.” Some gamers blame the game developers, accusing them of deliberately looking the other way when it comes to bots, because they may stand to lose profits if bots are banned.

“The Seoul Central District Court last week sentenced two distributors of ‘LinMate’ computer program to suspended jail terms of two years and a 10-million won penalty on the charge of obstructing NCSoft’s operation of its ‘Lineage’ game.

“Bots,” such as LinMate, are programs that plays games on “autopilot,” without the presence of a gamer. They are used  by lazy gamers who are bored of monotonous play (which begs the question of why they are playing in the first place).  More significantly, illegal businesses use these programs to collect game items or virtual currency that convert to legal tender on trading Web sites.

“Many gamers have blamed game companies like NCSoft, saying that they have been deliberately overlooking the use of bots, because they are worried that they may lose profit if bots are banned. “We think that NCSoft themselves want those cheating tools to be used,Â’Â’ says one bot programmer. “Many gamers pay service fees for two accounts at the same time, one for himself and one for the Bot. If NCSoft bans the use of Bot that means its revenue will decrease by half.”

NCSoft officially condemns such programs as illegal. Bots and farmers are one of the main reasons many U.S. and Canadian gamers discontinued playing Lineage and Lineage 2

The game developer – one of Korea‘s largest – consulted authorities about the case in 2004. They do not plan to immediate leverage the courtÂ’s decision to root out schemes right away, however.

“We have been sending letters of warning to the vendors [of bots]. But there is no pending case now,” says NCSoft spokesperson Lee Hwa-soo. “We hope the vendors now understand that they can be accused anytime.”

LinMate one of hundreds of autopilot programs appearing in online computer games, including Lineage, Mu, Rohan and RF Online. Such programs also known as Macros in game circles.

Gamers often prefer to call Bots third-party programs, distinguishing them from computer hacking. Hacking programs infiltrate the gameÂ’s main server and often damage it, whereas third-party programs do no harm to the server or the system, as they run separately on the userÂ’s own PC and do not directly access the server.

MMO cheaters beware – a Korean court has sentenced two distributors of the “LinMate” bot to 24 months in jail and are levying a fine of 10 million won (about $10,560 USD).

The accused are unrepentant, and still doubt that NCSoft really wants to pursue gamers using “farmers” and “bots.” Some gamers blame the game developers, accusing them of deliberately looking the other way when it comes to bots, because they may stand to lose profits if bots are banned.

“The Seoul Central District Court last week sentenced two distributors of ‘LinMate’ computer program to suspended jail terms of two years and a 10-million won penalty on the charge of obstructing NCSoft’s operation of its ‘Lineage’ game.

“Bots,” such as LinMate, are programs that plays games on “autopilot,” without the presence of a gamer. They are used  by lazy gamers who are bored of monotonous play (which begs the question of why they are playing in the first place).  More significantly, illegal businesses use these programs to collect game items or virtual currency that convert to legal tender on trading Web sites.

“Many gamers have blamed game companies like NCSoft, saying that they have been deliberately overlooking the use of bots, because they are worried that they may lose profit if bots are banned. “We think that NCSoft themselves want those cheating tools to be used,Â’Â’ says one bot programmer. “Many gamers pay service fees for two accounts at the same time, one for himself and one for the Bot. If NCSoft bans the use of Bot that means its revenue will decrease by half.”

NCSoft officially condemns such programs as illegal. Bots and farmers are one of the main reasons many U.S. and Canadian gamers discontinued playing Lineage and Lineage 2

The game developer – one of Korea‘s largest – consulted authorities about the case in 2004. They do not plan to immediate leverage the courtÂ’s decision to root out schemes right away, however.

“We have been sending letters of warning to the vendors [of bots]. But there is no pending case now,” says NCSoft spokesperson Lee Hwa-soo. “We hope the vendors now understand that they can be accused anytime.”

LinMate one of hundreds of autopilot programs appearing in online computer games, including Lineage, Mu, Rohan and RF Online. Such programs also known as Macros in game circles.

Gamers often prefer to call Bots third-party programs, distinguishing them from computer hacking. Hacking programs infiltrate the gameÂ’s main server and often damage it, whereas third-party programs do no harm to the server or the system, as they run separately on the userÂ’s own PC and do not directly access the server.