The Lost Ark team is confirming that the recent drop in concurrent users is the work of the latest banwave targeting the botting problem in the game. According to an official update, this ban rollout took place recently, using some new tactics to target bots and address the issue. While some in the community welcome the work, others are calling for removal of restrictions originally implemented to fight botting.
The update notes that, “Players should expect these bot bans to have a positive impact on gameplay, including improved Market and Auction House experiences, decreased lag in heavily populated areas, and fewer bots present in the game”. This won’t be all, as the team plans to keep up targeting bots from ruining the experience for legitimate players, so they say to look out for continued efforts, including other large-scale bot bans in the future.
With the statement that player experiences should improve, especially in the market and the auction house due to the massive bands of bots, some are calling for repealing restrictions that the team originally put in in order to fight bots. Some of these restrictions and changes included moving the timeline at which you earn gold for early questing, keeping the general amount of gold you earn the same, only pushing it back further down the line. Other restrictions include a three-day wait for claiming Powerpass gold, restrictions on gifting, an item level requirement for opening gem chests, and limits and cooldowns on the auction house features.
Some called for at least some of these to get another look, especially in light of the Lost Ark team stating that they would revisit these changes and restrictions. Others noted that the bot banwaves are set to continue, and lowering the guard by removing some of these restrictions might just encourage more botting to fight. So far, there has not been a dev response to these requests.
