Korean "macro" programs and keyboard emulators for gamers

The Korea Times covers the "Macro" software scene among Korean Gamers; this is software that automates tedious, repetitious in-game "grinding" tasks, such as repetitively hunting down and killing weak monsters. I'm especially fond of the hardware-based keyboard emulators that look like thumb-drives and can be trained to undetectably automate input to in-game tasks (getting output from the game is harder and would require hardware network- or monitor-sniffing). I wonder if game-developers will respond by producing CAPTCHA-style questions at critical junctures during grinding? Also -- this strikes me as a pretty good way of implementing a nigh-undetectable pokerbot (or at least one whose detection would be a consequence of its signature gameplay, not detection via a process-monitor).

In comparison, the hardware type is more complicated, more expensive and more stable. They often look like portable USB storage with a flash memory chip and electronic circuits inside. It can grab video signals transmitted between the PC and the monitor, and analyze the signals to make a judgment.

For example, when a player gets beaten by a monster and loses his health, the game shows that he is in a critical condition by showing a bar gauge on the monitor. When the reading goes down by a certain point, the auto-mouse notices it, and moves the character out of the danger zone. Then it makes the character regain his strength by drinking a magic potion or using a magic spell, before sending it to another battle.

It is practically impossible for outsiders to tell whether a human or a computer program is playing a game character. Also, it is not against Korean law to use a macro of an auto-mouse, as they do no damage to the game’s main server.

Link (via Smart Mobs)

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