Bots and the Speed of Levelling: Productivity and the Player Perception of MMORPGs

Abstract

Bots are computer programs used to automate the game levelling in MMORPGs and also a form of cheating. This paper shows how the use of bots can radically change the player perception of a game. The concepts of vector, movement and speed developed by the philosopher Virilio are used to undertake a socio-phenomenological investigation of this problem. Bots are conceptualized as vectors that trigger a specific form of speed: the speed of levelling. This speed allows cheaters to more rapidly level their avatars in comparison to manual fair play. The speed of levelling brings negative consequences for the player perception including the annihilation of several aspects of the Virtual World itself. I will conclude proposing a direction for future investigations on countermeasures to bots which draws on the idea of creating obstacles preventing bots to move the game avatars. The case study of the MMORPG Tibia is presented to support the thesis of this paper.