Runescapists will soon be able to choose the method by which persistent botters will meet their sorry end. As detailed with some relish by Jagex, guilty automatons will either be stomped by dragon-y foot, swallowed up by the abyss, or fried by heavenly rays from above which will “burn them to a crisp”.
After years of experimentation with mass bannings and the like, Jagex have settled on a three-warning system with which to deal with botters in the venerable Flash MMO.
If the system detects that an account is botting, a gigantic clawed finger descends from the in-game sky and points out the fact to any nearby players.
First and second warnings are accompanied by temporary bans of increasing length, while third-time offenders will receive permanent bans and be dealt with in still more entertaining fashion.
Unreformed botters are put on trial in Botany Bay, a special area only accessible via announcer NPCs found throughout Runescape, who will declare impending trials as an event. Any player can attend and sit on the jury.
Players can pelt the guilty with tomatoes, and are rewarded for their participation with emotes, pitchforks and – for repeated jury duty – flaming pitchforks.
All of which sounds like a great day out, but is it justice? Let us know your thoughts.