So, how do you stop bots? And with particular ref to potentially high(er) yielding activities such as events?
By making gameplay that is difficult to automate due to a large number of variables. Abyssal Deadspace is a pretty good example (at least on higher difficulty tiers). Bots are primarily used for things that are repetitive: Mining and nullsec ratting, because these things have very little variation in whatâs going on and what you have to do.
I would be surprised if thereâs any serious botting effort going on for events. Events only last for 2 weeks and each one works differently, so a bot creator would have to figure out how the event works and adjust the bot to deal with it for such a short period with very little time to prepare in advance (events are typically not on SiSi for very long and may not even go live in the exact same form). Itâs much easier to just keep doing what youâre doing.
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OK. Thatâs clear. And presumably if events are that complicated, then afk is not really a viable game play option either? Which again rules out a reason for active redeem buttons?
Although, of course, perhaps the auto redeem is a deliberate limiter - in the same way as timing out players who have blitzed too many sites in any 24 hour period is?
Obligatory: Can I have your stuff? 
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True, the estimate is not correct, I ran the numbers.
Apparently the drop rates have been "rectified* but between having 320 points to 1350 ( stopping pressing it now) i havenât got a single Cold Iron skin ( got 3 prior to it) and not a single Dark Blood Drop , and for reference iâve done the sites in Null sec.
As for the other loot, i apparently have 500M in fireworks - basically worthless, 14.5M in Ammo and 190M in boosters ( est of 450M). Lastly BPâs - 20 basic/ 9 Standard and 1 Advanced which would be nice but near impossible to get the materials as below:
1 x Electronic Link
1 x Data Processor
1 x Positron Cord
1 x Current Amplifier
Mined the ore, got the PI, but couple days in and i either have to get the stuff hauled in from Jita ( while corp/alliance is war decâed) or personally go down there and take it back. SO ⌠unless you have the stuff on hand in essence a total waste of time - given you have a good reprocessing levels too.
For anyone wondering whether to do the sites - i would suggest MAYBE if want the four skins from the event page but other than that not worth the grind
The only reason i normally do the events is for the boosters and the odd good skin but this time seems to be more hassle than its worth⌠and before i get raged at - its âMYâ opinion - if its fun for you fair enough but for me its not and not worth the isk to grind.
Overall the concept to include Builders/PI/ Industry was a good one but the execution was bad - should;ve had 3+ sites differing in drops.
- Gauntlet - Non Indy site which drops all the required inputs but at a reduced rate ( current ones ONLY drop BPâs )
- Mining site as already done
3 - A less or increase difficulty variations in both sites above for newbros/experienced players
4 - Explorations site to get the materials exclusively with additional look apart from the materials - Etc
Either way hopefully things are better next time⌠Hopefully
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Great summary and pretty much sums up my feelings about the event as well.
Generally, I think that this was a really nice attempt to add more depth and involvement to the event- and I really appreciate that, but one of the biggest issues is definitely how the resources for building the boosters have been balanced. Iâve got a ton of Current Amplifiers stashed away, but honestly donât remember ever seeing some of the others (and Iâve run a TON of data sites in my time and keep everything).
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The turn-in-able special agency tasks to unlock rewards dont roll-over⌠you essentially have to have the crimson harvest pulled up in the agency window to constantly turn in the tasks to get your points because âoverkillingâ and not turning them in does not roll over to another turn in⌠this is sort of frustrating⌠can yall make it so you dont lose anything by not turning in tasks the moment they are completed so you dont lose any progress? Like make overkill progress, like killing crimson raiders or commanders roll over to the next turn in as well?
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this implementation does not require anything active.
An auto clicker that loops over the processes named âeveâ in your manager, then clicks on the 3 âredeemâ location once every 10s is so easy to implement itâs not even considered a bot.
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Looks like after todayâs downtime, the rates have been adjusted a bit. Since Tuesday, in over 100+ sites ran (5 mins tops), I got over 160 bpcâs for âBasicâ accelerator, 17 âStandardâ bpc and 2!!! Advanced bpc. And those two in the first hours when the rates were crazy. So thank you CCP. I ran 4 gauntlets today and i got 2 Advanced bpcâs, so thatâs an improvement. I got everything I wanted from the event, so wonât run it anymore. Here is my final feedback:
The Good
- giving bpcâs for boosters. Great for interaction and multiple player involvement.
- marginal useful PI is involved.
- mining is required for booster construction
- agency boosters drop in good numbers
- good interaction (found myself saving miners that i used to hunt, who in turned gave me ore as payment for clearing the sites of rats).
- very nice skins
- security standing and even some bounties on the rats compared to last events
- boosters expire even if you build them or not.
The Bad:
- data sites materials not dropping from the event, which in turn made some buy off the market making useless things stupid overpriced, and making it impossible for many players to build boosters- the only reason to run the event anyway - TERRIBLE
- not newbro friendly
- useless âbasicâ boosters flooding the drops. No point in wasting time, isk and the entire grind tree to build them. Personally I feel scammed of my time to run the event when something gets grindier for less rewards than previous. Not cool. Why are âbasicâ boosters even a thing lately??
- some solo & low skilled players having a hard time competing with armies of mining alts or griefers that trigger rat spawns. Ever defended a solo alpha venture trying to mine for âbasicâ boosters? Not ok for the needed player retention.
- old skins dropping. These again?? Monochrome MehâŚno idea why when there are blood raider related skins already not available.
- no hisec/other sec difference in drops, made pvp content unavailable and not worth a risk.
Thanks
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youâre right, good interaction. I almost killed an orca by bumping him then spawning the rats, when I though "donât be an ass " and killed the rats his shield was breaking.
I met newbros who wanted to do the site, and helped them do so . Something like one per hour so the interaction rate is good
Also I lost several drones, itâs a good thing. Donât fly augmented praetors if you canât watch after them !
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yea, itâs a âdrone gets web - drone gets deadâ site, so the drone builders are having good sales lol
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the thing is, keep your drones close to you and lauch them when you are huging the BC.
The thing that pisses me off the most is the ease with which griefers make a non newbro friendly site already, impossible to run. Seen people spawning the rats to prevent a new player in a venture mining. Why is that a thing?? He has to grind through the booster building already, and then a gratuitous FU just for fun? CCP should consider taking a look at this, given that new player retention seems to be a thing lately.
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Another great summary here, and I agree with all of the points that youâve made.
it is not a thing. They spawn the rats to kill them. your venture can easily warp off and back to be out of harm.
They leave. They spawn the rats then leave. 
would you prefer if one catalyst warped in and killed you ?
THAT can be helped.
@CCP_Turtlepower I would like to report a bug. When I do mining in Skiff with two miner modules online at the same time and if I switch the miners off both in the same time, ore amount that I just mined is not included and calculated. So whenever Iâm turning them off, I have to be careful not to do it at the same time. Pls fix, thx
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I hate this event. The reasons to run events are to have a bit of fun and for the boosters / accelerators.
the mining / pi completely and utterly ruins both fun and the booster / accelerator farm. i do understand there are some players that do like this stuff and that CCP made them âincludedâ. However you should have figured out a better way to include them without excluding combat players from the fun and the farm.
me doing this event largely consisted of rolling through my characters and getting the initial booster and some of the 1st skins and thatâs it.
past events motivated me to log on and play them, this event motivates me to log off and not play.