Botting has been around for years in OSRS already, but the question remains: is it good or bad?
Botting has always been a controversial topic even among other online games. Often seen as negative, botting has become rampant in the online community that has put a damper on the experience of many other players who are just trying to have fun in the game. Despite this, the Old School RuneScape community has been divided about whether it’s good or bad. Imagine accumulating millions of OSRS gold and OSRS GP in just a matter of an hour or two without doing all the hard work that usually comes with it. However, it’s understandable that this invalidates the efforts of other players who play the game fair and square without the extra modifications. Is botting good for the players? Or does it hinder the community and shouldn’t be ignored?
What is Botting?
Botting is also known as using macros. By using third-party software, players can do tasks automatically, meaning they don’t have to even lift their fingers to do the menial tasks they need to get stronger in Old School RuneScape. For example, if there’s a player that wants to raise the stats of their Woodcutting skill, then they’ll have to chop down numerous trees to make them into the wood and thus increasing their skill level. This usually means that they need to grind for a few hours and constantly repeat the same process over and over until they’re satisfied with how many stats they’ve accumulated. But with bots, they can simply let the software do their magic and not even have to play the game. They can just simply leave their computer on or do something else entirely. With bots, players can rack up OSRS gold and OSRS GP easily.
Different Types of Botting
- Auto Typing
Auto typing programs are by far the most annoying to deal with for other players. These programs can be used to send the same message over and over. For those that have gone to World 301 Varrock West Bank, then they’ll know exactly what this is. Auto typing programs are commonly used in highly populated areas to gain more traction. From there, the person that’s using this type of bot will simply spam the same message in the public chat. To put it simply, this type of program is often used for advertisement. Whether it be for trading or something completely unrelated to OSRS, the continuous spam can be a nuisance for many players who are interacting with another player through the public chat bar.
- Auto Clicking
To sum it up, auto-clicking programs are software where it lets players repeatedly click either a certain spot or many locations faster than what could normally be done with a mouse. Through this program, players can perform simple actions such as Alchemy with ease. It can also be used to farm OSRS items and level up skills so long as the players map out the spots that they want the program to click. It’s a heavily used tool by many botting enthusiasts in OSRS and is regarded by many as “cheating”. Now, whether or not it is cheating is still up for debate, but at the end of the day, this type of bot still exists and is widely available for everyone to have access to.
- Auto Buying
Out of the three programs that were talked about, this is the least popular option that botters usually take simply because it doesn’t offer as much convenience compared to the other two that are on this list. Auto-buying programs are essentially third-party software that is used to buy large amounts of OSRS items such as twisted bow from shops. Usually used for trading, it’s a great way of buying OSRS items in bulk within seconds.
Conclusion
To this day, botting is still an issue that has been plaguing Jagex’s games despite players capable of being banned by them should Jagex detect any use of third-party software. Botting is inherently bad, despite the convenience that it offers to the players. The point of most MMO games, including OSRS, is the grind and having to earn everything from scratch. Should players just resort to botting every activity, it will not only make the in-game economy suffer, but it ultimately defeats the purpose of playing the game in the first place. While it’s understandable that some players don’t like the boring and monotonous process of training skills or farming OSRS gold, it makes everything far less playable for actual honest players. What do you think about the botting situation? Is it good or bad for OSRS? Let us know your thoughts about this down below.