"FULLY" AFK Block XP Farm

I’m new’ish I apparently missed all the so-called exploit days.

I am not denying having done it because I literally show it in the video. But I just want to say I didn’t do anything with malicious intent, hence why I am waiting for the new owners to give us their thoughts.

I personally don’t see it as an exploit. Sure, maybe intentions were not to use for this purpose but that goes for many things - it’s just being creative with the tools presented.

OK with some time to read this:

The fact that people are AFK earning (premium currency) is not what you want to advertise really, is it?

Wierd, dodgy, super specific analysis like “typically a macro is defined blah blah but also this is a key weight so no matter it’s not any kind of macro or bot…”

This is directly, literally actively targeted at the spirit of the only “hard” guideline which James would ever give - You’re encouraging AFK “play”.

You’re using your construct to effectively steal plotting rights, and this is a game where players are plotting in the same set of public worlds as you are likely to be. There is no “not hurting anyone” there is no “not getting advantage” here.

All that ■■■■ aside, putting this out front just shows a potential new player that if they want to ever ‘keep up’, ‘catch up’, or compete with existing players they’re going to have to play the game automatically in some fashion.

I’d love to appreciate your work on the technicals here - but it’s honestly unlikely that anyone who thinks this through want to paint this image over the game.

James stating that came on the heels of literally a thread about using software and physical aids to help an actual disabled person play the game.

Yes gleam farming, for instance, is ten minutes of repeating the same two button clicks over and over. No complex inputs no problem, right? And “gleam farming” is also “every block” farming. This means it’s orb farming, fragment farming, if you want even yam farming. Though now we can make actual farms for some of those with better yield.

I don’t know how many people automated to the level of running their machines (you mention minting) but it’s not hard if you can handle a touch of scripting instead of just recording, but if you’re willing to set up your inventory you can record a quick one to dump stuff.

So anyways as far as my opinion on whether is is quality of fair game play in any way, it’s not. If anyone wants they can read the rant from me linked above. You can find similar rants on a lot of game forums, all the “it isn’t a bot” in the world doesn’t change how this pans out and to be entirely honest - this is a method of AFK play and violates the only clear “opinion” the previous owners would ever give on the matter.

Finding this build in game would reasonably be grounds for a ban, if actual gameplay was being moderated in any way. That won’t happen, I’m sure. Posting this to the forum is ballsy though. It is in no way good advertisement for the game.

Another set of pings for @monty1 and @Tiggs.

Sure lets have another round.

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In the end, I hope @monty1 can learn a thing or two about the things that have been or are still being exploited or used as a way to get ahead in the game. I hope they have someone monitoring the game from inside the game including chat logs, builds and of course exploits.

Thinking of ways to let players gain more plots/XP in game might be an option, but looking to monetize that might be another even more so than it already is.

I still consider myself a new player as compared to a lot of the veterans here, but I do know I have about 7000 plots available to me across all my alts. I have zero need for another 7000 … I do not plan to plot an entire world, but I am sure there are those that would have no problem doing that.

EDIT: Just let people who own a sovereign fully plot on that sovereign. I’d be ok with that and more sovereigns would probably be purchased.

Like I said, I didn’t have any malicious intent with posting this, it was literally to teach people what’s possible. But I think we should just wait for Tiggs and Monty. I will tear it down and remove the video instantly if that is their decision.

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Explain to me then why you don’t get XP for a block being placed on the same spot twice or more times? Why did the developers go out of their way to hinder you from doing that, even going as far as to popping up a message each time you do it, unless you disable it? Because to me that screams “Don’t do that”. Finding a way to work around this limitation is kinda the definition of an exploit to me. You are exploiting the fact that they had to limit the awareness of where you placed a block last to a technical feasible way because the only other feasible option would’ve been to remove XP gains for placing blocks completely.

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You get experience from placing block on the same spot if you go to sanctum/another planet, come back and place again, so it’s not exactly that straight forward. Xp block farms have been around for a loooooong time, just not automated with coils. @Grimdian

Besides, this would be (or should) be completely fine if I, myself, just hold jump and right hand button down. Then nobody can say it’s “botting or scripting” :thinking:

Also, this “hardly” gives an edge over others, someone can just spend 10k USD on plots and they already have more plots than I do. But again, like I said, if this is indeed deemed against the rules, I will tear it down right away.

Personally, I fully understand. It’s a neat technical achievement. My first thread on the matter from a couple of months after release you can see that if this was encouraged actively I would be behind it.

That doesn’t change the facts about what it is though, and how it’s generally perceived. You can skim any of the threads on this topic (not all of them have come from me) and you will certainly find that in general - this angers and frustrates existing players to varying levels.

If the activity was encouraged we could share tools and then it becomes cultural rather than competitive in some very real and important ways. But also, we have PS4 players here we just invite them to cross-play in a game where the PC players have an amazing suite of bots available?

image

The first “not a bot” argument? Probably the first XP grinding exploit that did get us restrictions on “mining the same block”. It was definitely determined that it didn’t matter whether you were using a software macro, a hardware macro, a rubber band or one of those little pecking bird toys - the activity was exploitative.

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Well this is just going to go back and forth on the rights and wrongs and should probably just close this thread. @majorvex

Everyone will have an opinion on this and whether it is an exploit and it’s really dependent on your morals and what one feels is right or wrong. I do know, one way to get banned or suspended from a game is to do something that is frowned on and openly share it.

The exact reason they removed being able to get xp from placing a block, breaking it and replacing it in the same place again, was because it was super easy to afk place and break. because you just needed 1x1 area to do it infinitely.

Its not up to the players of a game to be cautious of their actions, as long as they are not cheating or using an obvious exploit (which this is not). Its up to the developers to allow this to happen or change something (like the addition of the block placing xp timer).

In terms of the cubits argument saying that this gives an unfair advantage. There are rich people playing this game who use their wallets to get ‘ahead’. I don’t see how using your brain instead is any worse :joy:

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I would hope this thread does not get closed before we have an answer from Tiggs and Monty. If I get banned then I guess I will just have to take it, but I’d rather not be banned for something I really had no malicious intentions with (hence posting it).

I think discussion is fine, clearly the opinions are divided, but seems civil to me so far.

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Never considered just messaging them privately? Either way I don’t see any of this as constructive personally.

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Yes I’m going to bow out of this thread even if it causes me stomach cramps following the equivocation. My last comment here is going to be that while people go down a rabbit hole arguing what exactly is a bot or what constitutes a macro:

This is bluntly a technique for AFK cubit farming. I await @monty1’s response.

EDIT: Oh yeah painful already :zipper_mouth_face:

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Are you really not seeing how your creations are literally the same thing just with more steps involved?

Yeah my point is that it is an obvious exploit, because you are circumventing a protection they intentionally put in place. I don’t think it matters how you abuse Block-XP. Scripts, bots or admittedly quite clever creations. That’s just details.

edit: But you are right, it’s not for us to decide :wink:

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Honestly. I think this is super creative. And a bunch of work to build.

Also I don’t think anyone has ever been banned for anything to do with scripts or afking. And it’s pretty hard to prove.

Us PlayStation players have always been at a disadvantage to pc players in this regard.

And I know there are some pc players that definitely have done scripts/bots for collecting materials. Soil, sand, clay, mud, orbs, sap, bark, gleam. All these things could and have been scripted at some point.

Is feather falls something people think is unfair? If no. What about if they’re multi boxing and have 10 alts sitting there getting 10x the loot. How about now?

Then we could talk about bringing alts on hunts. Or even the people going on hunts and doing nothing? They’re still going to gain a couple levels for doing nothing from the completed meteors. Is that okay?

How about millions of coin made on minting.
Where is the line drawn…?

For me personally I think this is an amazingly creative idea.

Am I going to build one? NO.
Am I going to be mad if someone else does? NO.
Does it upsets me that people have an advantage over me gaining levels in this way? NO.
Do scripts to gather resources bother me? NO.
Does any of this effect my own personal experience playing the game. 100% NO!
Will there be any changes to the game to stop scripting/botting until there is a dev team…? NO.

The game is called Boundless. And I for one think this is a great invention. I’ll keep gaining levels the old fashioned way. But kudos to Quimby and Ovis for there ingenuity. Things like this are what bring forth other great in game inventions.

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That’s my point, there are more steps involved. The ball is in the devs court, until they address it, its fair game. Its a clever use of game mechanics, if the devs don’t want it, they’ll change something in the game to make it not possible, they won’t just ban you for doing it - that’s not how banning works (I’m pretty sure anyways). An exploit is much deeper than using a combination of well known game mechanics.

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I agree. I’m always just truly fascinated by the fact that others can see things that seem so clear to me so completely differently :slight_smile:

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I have absolutely no problem with people disagreeing, after all, I did ask for your feedback! Not quite what I expected, but it opened up a valid discussion. There are tonnes of possibilities in the game yet to be discovered. But this clearly shows that there is a divided opinion of what is in good taste and what not. Many things could be more automated - without the intent of gaining an advantage over others - but rather to alleviate boring tasks and make them more manageable for everyone. @Grimdian

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I agree totally here and as I said everyone is going to have a totally different view on this. Some will view it as an exploit and others won’t. For me personally, I just play the game the way I play it and I prefer not to play it AFK. Playing a game “AFK” isn’t really playing it though is it?

Anyways, great creation though. Just not my cup of tea.

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Now see, that is kinda the underlying problem here, isn’t it? Why is there even a need for ways to gain XP in ways that the devs did not necessarily intend? Why are the most effective ways to gain XP also the most boring ones, screaming for automation? Imho the game should offer ways for people to earn XP (and thus cubits) in ways they enjoy (the best case scenario: in ways that benefit the community as well).
I think the reason they added block XP in the first place was to reward building. Then people who don’t enjoy building found out that they only had to place the same blocks over and over again, gaining the same rewards. Imho that’s the reason they implemented a protection against it, and if you ask me, the solution to the problem shouldn’t be clever ways to circumvent those protections, but rather more ways to effectively gain XP that are also fun. But that’s unfortunately more or less out of our hands :wink:

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