If you decide to ban multi-ing & botting, this is HOW to do it, please read

[Victarion]

1. Create an arctic specific mud client (like the java client on the arctic page) and make it so that it is the ONLY way to connect to mud. Make macros and aliases the only features, removing all forms of triggers, and you will definitely stop the bots. I am not an expert on multi-ing and botting, but if the finns were Michael Jordan, I am Scotty Pippen. I know that most multi-ing is done through one specific client, and I am sure there are other clients out there that make it super easy as well that I don't know about. Removing the use of these clients and only allowing the game to be played from the Java based client on the website will put EVERYBODY on the same playing field. And as we all know, botting is only done because of triggers. Not allowing a triggers would simply remove the ability to program bots.

ALSO, a few extra ideas if you can't recognize the genius of my first idea

2. Try to form a list of proxy IP's and ban them all.
3. create an Ventrillo, or teamspeak channel for arcticmud. Every group that is formed is automatically assigned a number, and those players in that group must join the group numbers channel in the voice client. Any imm, lvls 31-36, can jump down to channels and say "Hi, i see there are 5 people in your group, i would like all five of you to say hello to me". Every moron that plays this game can afford a microphone and speakers, so this would work fine, and it would take no time at all to check all groups in game.
4. You must create an account and validate the email address on the arctic website before you can make a char in game. You then have to connect to the arctic website via a web browser and that IP that you connect to the webpage must match the IP that your character is connecting to mud with. (This would complicate proxying the way most do it now)
5. Remove autofollow, this could be easily remedied by people just writing triggers, but of course if you made everybody connect using a specific client that didn't have triggers, it'd be impossible to move a bot 10man across the man to attack people.

These are the ways to put all players on an even playing field, and I think its what NEEDS to happen if multi-ing and botting are to be illegal. Otherwise, if you do decide to allow multi-s, please disregard this post and good luck to everybody and enjoy the wipe.

-Jack

[Attai]

While I appreciate that you're coming up with ideas my opinion is that it would drive more people away than help.  I personally would probably find another game to play if these inconveniences were implemented.

1) I think this would be very difficult to implement and a major inconvenience to most people, most people if they have been playing for awhile have their client setup the way they want it
2) This would be only idea I would be on-board with but it would also be very difficult
3) Major inconvenience, I usually can't play until later at night because of wife/kids and there's no way I'm talking on the mic when I'm playing in the same room my wife is sleeping in.  And there are a few clans that use Skype or similar which would be hard to use the mic in multiple chat programs.
4) This is very easily skirted, IE even allows you to use a proxy which would allow you to authenticate with very little effort
5) Too difficult, like I said I have wife and kids when we're moving to a zone I'm taking the time to do something else like interact with my family, grabbing a drink, take a piss

Best defense is a good offense, if its going to be illegal you have to be pro-active about stopping it.  If you find someone then delete all their characters.  Make the punishment harsh enough that they won't want to do it again.

[Rinad]

1. Multiple OS-  I use Linux and hate wine or anything to do with windows.  ATM there are only 3 clients I can use.  One sucks ass and is very clunky, the other doesn't even work with my distro.   Thus I'm left with 1 client -- tintin++ old skool, love it, still use it.   That being said Mac - IIRC there are maybe 1-2 decent clients again tintin++ and a GUI based one, although it has been years since I've used a Mac for mudding.    Smartphones- I've found a few good apps, again I'm now mudding from a smartphone and using the web browser is clunky.   Windows- well there is a slew of great programs.   Anyway my point is it would be hard and time consuming to code a specific client to cover all types of systems and smartphones. Yes I do mud from a 4G connection from time to time.   
2.  I have a TOR based OS on one of my laptops.   Plus I play from different locations a lot., like work, Starbucks, home, airports, strip clubs. Banning IPs and proxies would be a huge PITA for staff that are volunteers.   
3.  I play at work, in public,  at home late night.   Using a mic is a bitch sometimes and not always good.
4.  I play from multiple IPs, laptops and devices. 
5.  As Attai said,  I like to use down time to hit the bathroom or get water, it's hard to play for 6 hours without a break.  Then there is the skilling nightmare, RMI is a bitch to type mend item a couple thousand times or for looting coins.   It's a lot easier to have a trigger for that shit. 

Do I still actively play hell yes, I even rescue by name.   So just because we make it easier to play and better for advanced zones then that is fine.   If someone is botting a zone then yeah it sucks.  I've seen them be botted and its a PITA when that char stops working and your depending on a real person to play.  I mean a mob that stuns every round, you can't really bot that.    If your caught botting or manipulating/abusing the game with it then yes a deletion or abyss should occur.   
 

[jingo]

Your #1 idea is literally impossible.  The client runs on my computer - there's no way you can ensure I'm not screwing with it, not controlling it from another program I've made, or didn't reverse engineer your protocol and am using another client altogether.

2. If I were to cheat I wouldn't use a public proxy IP anyways, which is the best you could do - form a list of public proxy IPs.

3. I'd never play a mud with a requirement this lame.  I doubt many newbies would either.

4. This would be about as hard to get around as a 1-online-character-per-ip limit would.  In other words: not hard.

5. I guess #3 wouldn't be so bad anymore because noone would ever group again.

[Victarion]

Jingo I am not claiming that my system would be fool-proof, but if you knew most of the people I know who bot, you'd know that botters and multi-iers are not smart enough to reverse engineer a web-browser java client and then code their own client just so they could bot and multi.

FYI I don't even have an opinion on botting or multi-ing being legal or illegal, I just started a thread in ways it could be prevented if the imms decide to go that route. Personally I feel that botting or multi-ing should be allowed as long as your group is no more than 10. After a 10man it becomes a genuine advantage, as opposed to a disadvantage (in pk at least).

Ok how about this:
Ive noticed with email programs and some mmo's, you can link your cell phone to them. This is another idea, to need to have a text message sent to a cell phone with a code and to use that code to make an account on arcticmud which would allow to create a character. That way everybody would at least be limited to how many cell phones they have as to how many bot accounts they could run. As well, they could need to verify it on a monthly basis or bi-weekly so they just couldn't use their friends or family members cell phones.

Yes im bored at work.

[Ezio]

That would be awesome. That is all.

Josh

[Ezio]

Most of the ideas do not sound practical (have no experience, do not know) but could be effective. I do enjoy
the direction you're heading in.
Josh

[Jarrad]

Best way to stop botting actually is to remove cooldown messages such as "You feel up to using swarm" etc for all skills and removing group command. Replace with watch_multiple command, maximum of 3 people to watch. Removing who list would be a good idea too, so people can't spy multies with who checkers. Plus more ambush opportunities...

Of course this won't be 100% successful, but it will make bot users do alot of work...

[btown]

good post, removing some messages would be helpful, but i have a feeling some of these nerds can even get around that.. lmao