[shasarak]

So, here's a possible solution to think about: suppose you allow any and all forms of 'botting so long as the 'botting player a) publicises exactly which scripts he is using at any given moment, and b) publishes all of the scripts that he ever uses in a public forum where any other player can download and use them himself if he chooses? This would put everyone on an exactly equal footing: every player would have access to any and all scripts that any other player has access to, and can use them, or not, as he chooses. This completely eliminates the idea that "scripting is cheating" because everyone is now playing by exactly the same rules.

This is not a simple solution, of course: checking that players are actually using the scripts they say they're using would require some ingenuity. But I think it's a more practical way to go than trying to eliminate 'botting. Eliminating 'botting is not only impossible, but the more elaborate your 'bot-detection procedures become, the more intensely annoying they will be for people who are not using scripts.

Edit: this wouldn't be appropriate for a primarily-PK MUD, of course.