I myself run macros and MQ while playing, and do it probably pretty obviously. Mainly just tradeskilling stuff for skill (not cash) and some casting, sense heading, etc skills. But I do it because I have four computers and six accounts minimum (My house is a never-ending LAN party), so I play my main and level him while four or more other accounts are macroing something or another. Thing is, I'm always RIGHT HERE if something goes wrong, three of four monitors are on this desktop and keyboards are all within reach, I can see any tells as they come up and anything else interesting.
Verant has stated several times that they
do allow
attended macroing. The only way I could get in trouble is if I was doing one of the following:
- Taking an hour long shit while macro's were running
- Turn off the macroing monitors so I cannot see them
- Using MacroQuest or another program to do something in game I could not normally do
- Exploiting a bug or glitch in either EQ or MQ to my advantage
- Telling everyone that will listen the program I'm using and where to get it
- Breaking a normal EverQuest rule
- Or Macroing a tradeskill for major cash in small amounts of time.
(Note: That last one would basically be using MQ to do something in game I could not normally do (click that fast), however, if you are not making money off of it, if you are normal tradeskilling for skill and losing money that way (like normal), then GMs will most likely leave you alone since you are simply speeding up the repetitive tasks without using it to your advantage.)
GM's are not evil demons out to get you at every turn, they are normal human beings with normal judgement that can see and deal with situations reasonably. If you are exploiting you will get into trouble. I'm not going to restate the obvious reasons they'd ban you for stupid shit like that, but there it is. If they reasonably decide you are not exploiting the game and the mechanics, and they decide you aren't really getting a
major advantage over the other players, then most likely they will not mind.
Keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes, GM's, Large Companies, you, me, the Pizza Guy,
everyone. If you are banned or suspended or otherwise punished, try to look at your situation from the perspective of a GM, try to remain objective. GM's are not really cops, they have other responsibilities then policing the game.
If you see someone macroing in game while not there, and it's pretty obvious, why get angry? *they* are breaking the rules, and as long as *you* are not, there is no reason to think that you will suffer for their mistake. The only way I can see Verant taking the time and energy to counter this program is if it starts becoming way too powerful. I once talked to Plazmic (during one of the first MQ releases) about adding a function in the program to allow you to type '/go xloc, yloc, xloc' and instantly teleport there. It would be extremely easy to add, and would obviously be benefitial to the user. He immediately rejected the idea, saying, basically, that he didn't want to give any MQ users superpowers, just some nice tools to enhance the game instead of cheating at it. Therefore I highely doubt Plazmic would go far enough to give Verant reason to break this program. If the users are screwing around and breaking the rules with it, those users will probably eventually get caught and punished. But the program as a whole will stay active.
This is not intended as a flame, but the paranoia of many users in many posts bothers me. Basically it comes down to this. You can get in trouble, it is possible to be banned using this program. Use common sense and proper precautions to lessen the risk if you like. If you are banned or punished, tough luck. Either take the risks or don't use the program. Simple.
EDIT: Ick, that last part really does sound like a flame, I apologize if I came off that way, that wasn't directed really at you, but mainly at all the paranoid users that start threads like "How can I avoid getting banned for this".
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