MacroQuest, XyloBot, ShowEQ and Banning

[futuro]

I'm about to use a keysniffer for the first time (hope I don't bleed). I've been wrestling with the detection and banning issue since The Dastardly Compression Patch came out. In my mullings, I've questioned SOE's motivation to actually flag accounts for closer inspection or banning due to 3rd party software use. I've used XyloBot for about a year to bot my other two accounts, and never even *saw* a GM, never mind been accosted by one.

I've read up on MacroQuest, and the devious things they do to EQ's memory space, actually changing code and all. And on both message boards, the only time I've seen somone complain about getting banned was through obviously stupid use of the software. My considered opinion is that SOE hasn't and will *never* scan your process list and send back that information to the servers. I mean, Xylobot is kind of border-line, but MacroQuest is definately, without a doubt, a gross violation of the EULA, and people use it "responsibly" all the time, with no bannings in sight.

What I'm after here is a "sense of the community" from the ShowEQ users as to the likelyhood that keysniffers are going to be targeted and MacroQuest left alone still. Are we that paranoid? Am I? I mean, given the technical capability to detect MacroQuest for a long time, and given the lack of any apparent detection, does anyone think that ShowEQ is *more* of a threat to EQ and SOE than MacroQuest?

5,000 words or less, please :)

[Ratt]

I don't think it matters which is a more threat or not. ShowEQ is entrenched as the arch-nemisis of EQ, and as such, regardless of whether MQ is more "damaging" than SEQ, old habits are hard to break.

When someone says "Cheating" in EQ, what is the first program that pops into your mind? See... :)

[LordCrush]

Macroquest :D

---- sorry, Ratt couldn´t resist :p

[Amadeus]

It's so true though ...MacroQuest is soooo much more cheating than ShowEQ.

Hell..ShowEQ only shows you what is being sent to your client anwyay...MQ actually manipulates things! ..hehe

[Dedpoet]

I was being extra paranoid about this for awhile, but I gave up and just started using a sniffer, though significantly modified. No, I don't want to get banned, and I -like many others here- will stop using the sniffer at each eqgame.exe patch until I am relatively confident we are still in the clear.

I do firmly believe though, that if SOE saw that I scanned RAM for the key and started observing my account, they wouldn't find anything. The truth is that I don't "act" like a showeq user. I don't run for or farm rares, I don't send tells or /gu's saying "epic mob is up!", I don't b-line across zones that could level my character normally, I don't "get a bad feeling about a train" and zone for no reason, etc.

I know that they could just ban me anyway for "suspected seq usage" or something. Maybe my attitude is too relaxed or something, but I just don't think they would do that. There was that huge story about a guild where a user got banned for "suspected seq" usage and look at the stink that made...and that was 1 account.

These are just my opinions and could be completely off, but like futuro mentioned, how many of us who don't play on Stormhammer or in one of the big guilds have ever even seen a GM? Do you think those GM's were sneaking around following someone because they thought that player was an Seq user? No, they were settling some "ur guild stole AoW from us, u suxx0rs" argument.

[lane]

Why have I not heard of these other two cheat programs. I feel show... well... cheated. I'm off to DL them now so I can farm acrylia all night while I sleep. ;)

Every once in a while people wonder how I pull off these massivly long pulls and not get any adds. I just tell them I got lucky. :)

-Lane