This week on Video Game Tuesday I’m talking about something that annoys me and still somehow made me laugh this last week! It’s all about Botting and the Ramifications!

What is Botting?: Botting is the use of automated programs to do menial tasks in a video game without any user input, and is almost always against the terms of service of any game with an online component. People use it to level characters, farm materials or items that take time to obtain without actually having to work for it.

Why is it Bad?: I’ve heard people say that botting isn’t so bad, who does it hurt? Well it’s used extensively by Real Money Traders (RMT) to obtain and sell virtual currency for real money. This is a bannable offense in any online game, and it ruins any player run economies by making either the virtual currency worthless or by flooding the markets with items to drive down prices.  All of that is bad, and it’s why the developers will ban your ass if you use any bot, even if it’s just a “Fishing Bot” in World of Warcraft.

Why I was laughing: I find that people who don’t want to spend time earning items themselves as people who can’t obtain it do to skill or lack of time. The former is their fault, and the second may be due to various circumstances. However even than it’s still not okay to be using bots because you don’t have time. If you don’t have the time to play the game to earn those items you probably shouldn’t be playing that game in the first place.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday!