Discussion - Would you invite a stranger into your group?

[pepsipepsi]

Something I've been pondering recently. How willing are you to invite a total stranger into your group? Do you think the average person would care that you are automating? Do you think the average person even knows what automation looks like?

Personally I have avoided it for the most part, but that can lead to a more lonely single player experience.

 

[Sic]

I used to invite lfg people into my group all the time - i'd tell them I was boxing, so i was too busy to type, but they were welcome to hang out.

dude started spamming me when i would log in asking to come and get xp - he would just sit there and not actually do anything - at first i didn't care, lfg sucks - eventually i stopped responding to him when he logged in and he got nasty/hostile.

turned into a stressful thing because dude was unhinged and i imagine he reported me.

unfortunately sometimes the few ruin for the all, and for me, this was one of those times

 

[Psy]

I used to but with the wave of susbans a year ago, I stopped. I even stopped calling out rots as I wanted to avoid being reported.

I now will invite newer guild members who solo after chatting a bit in discord to see where they are at.

 

[Phalanx]

Not worth it

 

[zarroth]

Aye, back when I manually boxed I would all the time...but at some point the people stopped actually participating in the group and just were looking for handouts/free xp so I responded by closing shop to anyone that I didn't know well beforehand. I would help people out if they asked, and still do, but I log out all of my boxes when I do these days.

 

[eqsubi15]

I do sometimes when feeling generous to help someone with a quest/mission/hunters achievement, or a bored guildmate is looking to do something other than sit in the GL or tired of tradeskilling.

 

[Oldman66]

I give away TA's but I have already removed alts from the group. I give invites and make the first person the leader and make leader then /taskq.

 

[Sofabutt]

Never.

 

[Risunabe]

I've gotten burned the same way others have with moochers getting aggressive so these days I usually only offer to help people with quest steps and when I do I only bring my SK and Shm. Seems the best balance between helping the community and not getting in trouble.

 

[hackzimus]

Absolutely not, the sentiments in general chat when boxing is brought up are enough to steer me away.

I'll 2 box around others but not 6. I keep my alts in seperate guilds from my main too.

Although I'd be open to letting people in if I felt the overall consesus was cooler about boxers. Heck I'd love to have 2-3 other peeps with me and drive 1 character, set the other 5 on auto with OOG healing/CC and hang out to kill shit. But it only takes 1 person to get their panties in a wad.

 

[an_image]

I used to invite lfg people into my group all the time - i'd tell them I was boxing, so i was too busy to type, but they were welcome to hang out.

dude started spamming me when i would log in asking to come and get xp - he would just sit there and not actually do anything - at first i didn't care, lfg sucks - eventually i stopped responding to him when he logged in and he got nasty/hostile.

turned into a stressful thing because dude was unhinged and i imagine he reported me.

unfortunately sometimes the few ruin for the all, and for me, this was one of those times

@Sic translations...

I cybered this chick gnome hard while my bots were powning shit...we hooked up a few times...then I ghosted her...and she got all angry birds on me and reported me

The End

 

[secret_wombat]

I occasionally invite randoms but I run some custom kissassist ini files that have the following :-

* melee and FaceMob turned off
* buffs turned off - I will /buffson manually and announce I am buffing group
* Burn Named set to off
* Single target buffs turned off (i.e. Night's Terror) or setup to only buff MA
* Heals restricted to splash , recourse, Druid's Luna group heal

It makes my team less efficient and turns them into a group that I can claim I use IsBoxer to manage.

 

[Redmonkey]

I have been on the other side of this and have gotten invited to quite a few "special" groups over the years. I always appreciated it, didn't mention my suspicions and thanked them after for having me. I wish I could have grouped more with some of them cause they were cool players. But they seem to be very private people.

The way I knew they were "special" was because of how fast they moved, how fast the mobs went down and how effortless and streamlined, coordinated it all seemed. Unassisted players just are not that smooth.

But its really hard to tell on TA cause by the time you zone in they were all gone. I think that is why many of them say just wait at the quest giver and I'll tell you when to zone in. lol

I know I am not the usual player type in the game because I am more of a stay in my own lane. If someone is camping a spot then I just find another and come back some other time. Let others play how ever they want to.

But I know there are some real Richards and Karens out there.

Even not running anything and I have interacted with moochers and just bad people in the game. Like life.

 

[Motojeff]

I became reluctant to do so after similar situations. Even with guild members. But have also had some positive experiences that helped people get started with their own box groups and that led to those people growing into better players, and that contributed to the guilds raid success in some of those cases, or even turned into small raids with a couple drivers of a few groups.

I used to try and invite everyone and give them first chance at loot get people achievements, move to named targets i didn't need to help folks get augs and all that then that was burnt and so then I kept to guild only for letting people group, then that was burnt in my previous guild as well.

In my more recent guild I don't do it at all. Some might see me here and there with my crew, and some I know from past guilds and playing over the years that know, but I don't talk about it, don't invite, I don't offer tas none of that I am antisocial and have just as much fun by my self. I joined a high end raiding guild on my server with my main different from my previous main with the old guild and left all the other toons in my own alt guild and when I play with the guild I only play with that one character.

Unfortunately its not that people are immediately hateful or spiteful its that they turn when they don't get their way.

 

[an_image]

I have been on the other side of this and have gotten invited to quite a few "special" groups over the years. I always appreciated it, didn't mention my suspicions and thanked them after for having me. I wish I could have grouped more with some of them cause they were cool players. But they seem to be very private people.

The way I knew they were "special" was because of how fast they moved, how fast the mobs went down and how effortless and streamlined, coordinated it all seemed. Unassisted players just are not that smooth.

But its really hard to tell on TA cause by the time you zone in they were all gone. I think that is why many of them say just wait at the quest giver and I'll tell you when to zone in. lol

I know I am not the usual player type in the game because I am more of a stay in my own lane. If someone is camping a spot then I just find another and come back some other time. Let others play how ever they want to.

But I know there are some real Richards and Karens out there.

Even not running anything and I have interacted with moochers and just bad people in the game. Like life.

@Redmonkey you'd be wrong...all it takes is a usb connected gamepad with broadcast keys and you can play the hell out of eq with a controller. It's just a pain in the ass to set up all the social keys on every chars...best setup for is is tank/ranger/mage/mage/enc/cleric...you pull your mob...Bind a key (e.g L1) and hit L1 to multibroadcast to all instances...then X...button 1, you get 5 actions, square...you get 5 social actions...by the time you're at circle button shit is usually dead. works amazing until you train yourself...then you're scrambling for the keyboard...

You can also alt+tab it pretty good but your wrists pay the price over the year. Fuck ISBoxer...unless you wanna see a bunch of screens (which I don't)...the rest of it can be run just as well with a mechanical broadcast keyboard or gamepad...but that's only going to work on max of 6-7 chars....(if you're doing an out of group assist)....you can't escale that easily to do raids and stuff...that where redguides starts to shine...when you get past a whole team...

Here's a link to one...the software that comes with it is super useful if you wanna run multiple instances of anything that can use socials or macros where you can broadcast commands.

Best thing about Redguides is I can now use my gamepad to play NES emulator...woot woot...battletoads, contra, bionic commando!...while you eq...woot!

 

[Lord Sivion]

I used to invite lfg people into my group all the time - i'd tell them I was boxing, so i was too busy to type, but they were welcome to hang out.

dude started spamming me when i would log in asking to come and get xp - he would just sit there and not actually do anything - at first i didn't care, lfg sucks - eventually i stopped responding to him when he logged in and he got nasty/hostile.

turned into a stressful thing because dude was unhinged and i imagine he reported me.

unfortunately sometimes the few ruin for the all, and for me, this was one of those times

This is exactly the reason you don't feed strays. They tend to bite the hand that feeds.

Boxing / Auto life is a lonely one. It's better to embrace it than make it more than it is.

 

[Silverback]

I concur with the general sentiment here. Since the ban waves last year, I don't invite randos to groups anymore, don't offer TAs and don't announce rots anymore. Its just good practice to keep a low profile. Some people suck, and unfortunately they don't wear a nametag saying as much. You tend to find out the hard way.

 

[2ndGoat]

There is one person on my server I group with outside of my own crew. That's it. He and I are IRL buddies and he's the one who turned me on to MQ/RG, so I'm reasonably comfortable with him having a peek behind the curtain. Reasonably, not completely.

 

[boikawt]

Something I've been pondering recently. How willing are you to invite a total stranger into your group? Do you think the average person would care that you are automating? Do you think the average person even knows what automation looks like?

Personally I have avoided it for the most part, but that can lead to a more lonely single player experience.

 

[boikawt]

Unfortunately, no. It sucks, but the threat of posssible suspension really pushes me into almost entirely solo playing. I'd like to branch out and pull other people in, but it seems to be unnecessary risk. 1 of my accounts has already been hit twice and I was very careful on that account to not show I was using MQ2. I have actually just created a bunch of new accounts on different emails so I can try to keep my main accounts intact. It is a bummer.

 

[an_image]

Something I've been pondering recently. How willing are you to invite a total stranger into your group? Do you think the average person would care that you are automating? Do you think the average person even knows what automation looks like?

Personally I have avoided it for the most part, but that can lead to a more lonely single player experience.

@pepsipepsi

 

[Avian]

I'd be much more inclined to do so with a caster group. Moving multiple melee classes simultaneously is a dead giveaway that you're using programs.

Back before I quit I would often 3 box a particular crew that included my ranger that I almost exclusively played by hand, and I would definitely let people in then as long as I was just grinding in place. But that crew was just ranger, chanter, and mage (or SK if I needed the real tank). There wasn't much that Mage or Chanter was doing that would be an obvious tell that I was botting.

That being said, the question being about a 'stranger' specifically. Usually not. I had to at least know them a little bit. Of course, it was one of my guildies doing exactly that for me that got me to come on board to RG in the first place.... But it was also pretty obvious he was botting, so....

 

[AlleyKat777]

Agree with the general consensus here. I tend to keep to myself. If I know the person, I might consider it. But even people you know who are friends today, can end up as frenimes later on, and I am not putting all my work at risk. The downside is you solo all the time.

The best of all possible outcomes, you met someone on RG, you 3 box, other person does same, and you have social interaction while killing mobs

 

[an_image]

Agree with the general consensus here. I tend to keep to myself. If I know the person, I might consider it. But even people you know who are friends today, can end up as frenimes later on, and I am not putting all my work at risk. The downside is you solo all the time.

The best of all possible outcomes, you met someone on RG, you 3 box, other person does same, and you have social interaction while killing mobs

@AlleyKat777 ... let the record show that his man has admitted he prefers to play with himself ... let the record also show he enjoys playing with others who prefer to play with themselves ... the defense rests your honor.

 

[brilucdestiny]

@AlleyKat777 ... let the record show that his man has admitted he prefers to play with himself ... let the record also show he enjoys playing with others who prefer to play with themselves ... the defense rests your honor.

Thanks for the nice laughs! ROFL.

I did not really ponder this because I am quite low level at the moment. But why not though? As long as the person is decent and not a psycho.

But yeah, I agree with others. Just don't reveal everything at the first go to a 'stranger'. Reveal little by little and see how it goes.

That's the same in real life too I think(not an expert). Like you wouldn't put your heart on the sleeve on the first date right?

 

[lanceval]

I don’t usually.
When i want to play with other i would 2 or 3 box at most and use very watered down settings.

Even during regular unassisted play, I got remarks for emptying zone and headshot mobs,
People used to be easily jealous if they think you are too productive,
So it is not useful to group total strangers.

 

[ChatWithThisName]

I can't be bothered.

 

[eqranger24]

I have only rarely but I will say that is how I learned of this place. I was trying to box and could not very well and was invited into a group that was boxing. I always just did 2. He invited me then had a strange request that I not let my mana get lower than 30% or it would pause us. I thought that was strange then he told me what was going on and pointed me here. I am very thankful I was invited but i understand it can be very problematic

 

[Mishka]

Only with a few guildies.

 

[Zeusdracco]

Something I've been pondering recently. How willing are you to invite a total stranger into your group? Do you think the average person would care that you are automating? Do you think the average person even knows what automation looks like?

Personally I have avoided it for the most part, but that can lead to a more lonely single player ex

Something I've been pondering recently. How willing are you to invite a total stranger into your group? Do you think the average person would care that you are automating? Do you think the average person even knows what automation looks like?

Personally I have avoided it for the most part, but that can lead to a more lonely single player experience.

I used to do it all the time. Good way to meet people. 99% of the time it was good. like Sic, I met that one person who soured it. Most people really don't care if you are skirting several rules, especially when they are benefitting.

My advice would be to find some like-minded individuals, hang with them, become a guildie, find some friends. There will inevitably be people who will join who aren't boxers and you can build some trust up with them hopefully.
I am in a guild now with some people i knew 20 years ago ingame. no longer have a problem with the loneliness of boxing. I make room for non boxers when they are lfg or wanna hang. it isnt an issue now.

Truly wish you the best of luck. This is a difficult thing to navigate at times
Ohh and like some others here, I tend to use alot less automation when im with non boxers who aren't in my very close circle.

ZD

 

[Peppe]

I used to invite lfg people into my group all the time - i'd tell them I was boxing, so i was too busy to type, but they were welcome to hang out.

dude started spamming me when i would log in asking to come and get xp - he would just sit there and not actually do anything - at first i didn't care, lfg sucks - eventually i stopped responding to him when he logged in and he got nasty/hostile.

turned into a stressful thing because dude was unhinged and i imagine he reported me.

unfortunately sometimes the few ruin for the all, and for me, this was one of those times

He used to play as a bst ogre? Now as a Dragon human.

og*ot*sk.

 

[Gnome-eater]

It's really not worth the risk. Chat if you want too...but play solo or at least with other people who "box" like you do.

 

[violent5]

No. Yuck.

 

[fuggun]

No. But sometimes I do think about playing with others RG users just to see the the difference in setups. More curious than lonely though.

 

[Magmel]

I am only 3 Boxing with 3 mercs filling the group. Inviting real people is always better then a mercenary , but I am playing on a box server where its not forbidden to box.

 

[Trixster28]

Only with a certain few guildies. My tag (and we are friends in game for sure) is always isboxer, or 2-3 that "know" what I do. I have only come out to 1 who mentioned to me that he was thinking about getting into MQ, so we chatted and once I knew he was semi serious, I admitted I used it and love it. General chat fodder, no F'ing way. Never. Ever. EVER!!!!!!

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

I'd rather play with mercs than real people. Mercs are usually way more effective!

There is zero upside to inviting abuse and misuse from strangers. And I never announce rot loot as I don't want vultures hanging around my group.

 

[JustGlassin]

Well i wouldnt invite randoms, but i will help randoms if i notice them struggling + offer buffs. The other day though i invited a guy from my guild cause i was already powerleveling a couple alts.... another guild member saw that and started asking about my gear, gifted my SK a blood soaked 2h, way better than what i would have been able to afford for quite some time (just hit 115). havent been around long enough to see how risky it is account-wise, but now that i started here i see people using it literally everywhere so im not gonna let it make me totally anti-social. hoping to find a few cool nerds to make raid groups with, so i gotta take the risk.

 

[dewey2461]

It depends on what I'm doing.

If I'm doing progression and quests: no. I hate getting my team out of sync.

If I'm just grinding through trash to XP. I'll announce rot and add people from guild.

If I see someone get owned in zone and I'm close by, I'll come to the rescue or offer to help them take down a named.

I play on a live server and for the most part folks are pretty chill.

With that said, I did run into someone who went into a huge anti MQ rant. Guy was a cleric and was pissed that he was getting compared to "healing bots" in a negative way.

 

[dustinisgod]

I play with a select few, and i ignore everyone else these days. Just cause there are too many of these types out there. Snakes in the grass.