I Just Quit ARAM for the Second Time
My first few weeks playing League I was hesitant to do any PvP at all, but I gradually began to get into ARAM; a few more weeks, and ARAM was my favorite game mode. Then there was a problem that came up once I was around level 25: bots; people using a 3rd party program to run their game for them. There were at least one each game I played during the overnight hours(when I'm most often awake), and a few during the day, too. I checked here in this forum and I saw several people say that the bots went away almost completely once you got to level 30, so I decided to quit ARAM until then. It took a couple weeks, but I did it, and as I had read the bots went away.
Until a few days ago. I've been working to get enough IP to unlock Riven and have been playing a lot of ARAM to do so. But suddenly, bots have been all over the place again. There have been FOUR matches just today where I was the only human player. After this last game on Kayle where I was the only human player and got handed what was essentially a free S+ grade(more on that in a minute), I decided that that was enough, and to quit again.
Now, Riot knows(hopefully) that this is an issue they need to work on, and there have been many suggestions made, but I'm going to make my suggestion anyways. When a player is found using a third party program to play the game for them, the resulting punishment is an immediate and permanent ban. Harsh? Yes. I know there are players here who have reformed, but if someone is using a bot program then they aren't actually looking to play the game for enjoyment, they're doing it for profit.
BOT ACCOUNTS, BEHAVIORS Now, I'm going to list some behaviors and indications of someone using a bot program. When I was level ~25 one of the things that was an indication was the choice of items. Bots then would mostly buy the recommended items/offensive items etc. for the character, in the order they appear. Or, they would simply buy something like 3 Doran's Blades and health potions. Also, one thing bots never, ever do is give poros Poro Snax.
Next there's gameplay. Bot gameplay comes in two varieties: passive, and suicidal. Passive bots will hang back behind turret, waiting until you move out and/or a teamfight starts. They will stay behind turret when the enemy team is attacking, even if you have minions to help. Once you die(yes, only once you die) they'll go out from behind turret or you into a teamfight. Suicidal bots are exactly how they sound, just charging straight in to the enemy side of the map and attacking an enemy or a turret. Speaking of turrets, one other indication of bot behavior is attacking a turret without minion support repeatedly.
Now I'm going to list known/heavily suspected bot accounts. I threw away my first list the first time I quit ARAM, so this is my shorter, second list. CeJjfspJnf, Eresting, Vortex of Frost, LeeOBlackoPs, piron, RainGoatz, Culruhm, MrNelarius, benaaEliBraidg, Kotetill, GishkiNoellys, Krefduso, LaceCatalogPot, Rilquany, TheAbus, Rayerhat, Tiarodkel, Smaenbel, Zepbahr, Emtaiqua, Vesoldser, Blisenth, Cheische, Branchionist, Elmperunt, Fildyon, Heleniapalpur, Achtemis, DeskbotZXC, Mytaikim, Tetucus, UnJessa, Dobeon, Kaldarvor, Tel Naeir, 3kDesign, DrupelRyodon, Enirvor, Keirboir, MilenUerthetobaz, Uthver, TrisXtan, Dqakmon, PalidKaldor, nononnonono, YerpalVelpar, Rachelle Trinh.
"SOLUTIONS" FOR PLAYERS First, saddest, and most obvious is to stop playing ARAM. Second is to just report and move on, though, if you keep a list like I did, you save a bit of time by running across known bot acounts. Now, I'm going to talk about a special kind of evil: Bard. Bard is a difficult champion to play well, even when controlled by a human. But in ARAM a bot-controlled Bard is a cancerous waste of code. Because when he's controlled by a bot, they can and will use his ultimate and ruin things at the worst possible moment. So if you're playing ARAM and you see a Bard on your team, duck the battle. Unless you're low on IP and someone gives your team a skin boost there is no circumstance in which it is worth the risk.
IN CONCLUSION, I just want to say that(in ARAM at least) currently the bot problem does not go away once you hit level thirty, and that I was trying to be at least somewhat helpful instead of spewing the volcano of profanity and anger I wanted to. Also, bot accounts just unbalance the game. They give higher grades easier for any human players, and consequently mess up the grade system. It may have been tacky to list bot accounts, but as I said, I'm done with caring about ARAM, and this time, for good. ._.
