Multiboxing and Macroing in UO – Don’t Do It

Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong also posted this earlier today on UOHerald.com:

Multiboxing is not illegal but Macroing is, and this is considered macroing in UO. If you observe a player using multiboxing please report them and CS will investigate the report, per the TOS.

This message functions as the global reply to the recent discussion we saw on the boards.

Everything from here on out is my view of it, and if it’s wrong, feel free to contact me and correct me.

What’s being discussed is due to a thread on UOForums.com where some players were discussing the means, or rather the outcome, of having multiple accounts logged in to UO and keyed to a single keyboard and mouse, and being able to have multiple characters actively engaging in certain in-game functions all at the same time.

It’s not about you or me having one account logged in and then using a Virtual Machine (VM) or another computer or laptop and logging in with a second account and switching back and forth for reasons like swapping items or swapping houses.

It’s about somebody having multiple accounts active and keyed to a single keyboard and mouse and having those accounts automatically do something like attack another player or tough monster, something that definitely falls into the realm of scripting or macroing of an illegal nature. It’s usually pretty easy to pick up on and you are asked to report it if you see.

From the Stratics and UO Forum threads, there seem to be basically 3-4 groups of people posting about it.

1) People who genuinely don’t understand multiboxing.

2) People complaining about multiboxing.

3) People who are playing word games and trying to twist Mesanna’s comments around. Whether these people multibox or they just want to troll other players or the devs doesn’t matter. Most of them are making posts that indicate they know full well that what they are talking about and they see it as a great way to troll others, or they are just wanting to take jabs at the devs for one reason or another. Some of them were saying it was legal, and now that a public statement has been made by the devs, they’ve shifted the argument to try and drag down legitimate uses such as house swapping or they are trying to create doubt among those who don’t understand the issue. There is playing devil’s advocate and there is playing word games to either defend something you or your friends do or to antagonize others.

To help clarify: In order to multibox, you have to use third party software to control the other UO clients that you are not directly controlling, and that software is not approved of by EA.

2 thoughts on “Multiboxing and Macroing in UO – Don’t Do It”

  1. “To help clarify: In order to multibox, you have to use third party software to control the other UO clients that you are not directly controlling, and that software is not approved of by EA.”

    This statement is untrue, as you do not have to use any software at all to multibox. Clarify and don’t mis-inform.

  2. This is clear as mud. I’ve multi-boxed in a lot of games, using two computers, 2 keyboards, 2 mice, etc. I use what the game provides, hotkeys, and where available auto-follows. How is that distinguishable from someone using a 3rd party program to hotkey to a single keyboard?

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