[KaVir]

I'm not generally fond of most bots, but rather than ban them I've introduced features to make them less worthwhile. A few people do bot, but they mostly do so for a specific purpose unrelated to in-game progress - for example there's a bot that records and replays PK results and chat logs, one that used to offer an auction service, one that offered crafting and transportation services, and at one point there was even a newbie guide bot. A couple of people have also expressed an interest in creating shopkeeper bots.

I think that botting would be pretty cool in combination with player-designed mobs, as players would effectively be creating custom AI for their monsters. It could even end up as a CRobots-style minigame, where players compete to see who can design the most dangerous and tactically cunning monsters. The most successful mobs could then be used within the main game.

IMO botting isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on what form it takes. If you can channel that creativity into something productive, I think it could really add to the flavour of a game - in many ways it could even be viewed as another form of player-generated content.