Guide Macro - avoiding false accusations

Reason for thread/post:
To discuss how to play Runescape normally whilst minimising the risk of being falsely accused of using a macro.

Background:
I have had my account suspended whilst being falsely accused of breaking the macro law. If it can happen to me then it can happen to anyone!

THE RULES

Macroing, and use of bots or third-party software Effective date: 12th May 2009
You must not use other software to gain an unfair advantage in our games. This includes automation tools, macros, bots, or auto-typers. You may not circumvent any of our mechanisms designed to automatically log out inactive users.

You also must not use any game-specific, third-party software that encourages breaking of our rules, or bypasses the normal navigation of our website, or automatically requests pages from our website, or which endangers user accounts.


Related Questions
Below are some related questions which may help you to further understand and follow this rule:

1.Why do we have this rule?
2.What type of third-party software is NOT allowed?
3.What do you mean by "software"?
4.How does the new macro detection system work?
5.Will I be able to appeal against a ban for macroing?
6.What is AFK Training?

1. Why do we have this rule?
First, we don't want players to download third-party software from untrusted sources that can, and often do, contain keyloggers, trojans and viruses. Many players have had their accounts stolen because they have inadvertently installed hacking software on their machines. Even if the author has good intentions, an unintended flaw in their software could still put your account at risk. Some supposedly reputable software has had problems in the past. There are also cases of people deliberately writing software which looks like a useful add-on, but actually just steals your password.

Secondly, macroing ruins the game for everyone else. We don't want some players having an unfair advantage and filling up all the best training spots with bots. This game is designed to be enjoyed by humans, not bots. In the past, when we have not enforced this rule, we have rapidly found it quickly spoils the game, and players themselves start demanding that we enforce it. Now we enforce it thoroughly.

2. What type of third-party software is NOT allowed?
This includes, but is not limited to the following third-party software:

1.Software that attempts to communicate directly with our game worlds.
2.Software that monitors, modifies or decrypts the communications between our game applets and our game worlds.
3.Software that generates input to our game applets. This includes software that automatically moves the mouse pointer or generates mouse clicks or key presses.
4.Modified or replacement versions of our game applets. Reverse-engineering our game applets is strictly prohibited. Using a modified version of our game applets is not permitted for any reason. Third-party software that displays pages/content from our website(s), and that has specific features (i.e. toolkits) must not be used to access our website unless that software conforms with all of the other rules, and the following additional rules:
◦It must not encourage rule-breaking or endanger users.
◦It must not contain adverts or links to websites that encourage rule-breaking or endanger users.
◦It must not automatically make repeated page/content requests from our website or otherwise make excessively bandwidth-intensive requests from our servers (each page/content request should only be in direct response to a user request each time).
◦It must not bypass the normal navigation of our website for users wishing to reach the game worlds. The software should initially only point at the front page of our websites, and should require the user to navigate through the website normally to reach the game worlds. The software must not contain or acquire direct links to the game applet.
◦It must not hide or encourage the hiding of any of the adverts on our website. To avoid encouraging users to hide the advert above the game, the pane displaying pages from our website must default to at least 630 pixels high (if viewed on a screen with a resolution higher than 800x600), and it must not be possible to resize it to less height than that, i.e. the page must be displayed in such a way that both the game and advert are fully visible at the same time.
◦It must not attempt to make it easier to enter a busy game world than it would be for users not using the software. It must not contain any features to make it easier to enter or monitor busy worlds.
◦If the software has its own integrated chat feature, separate from the game chat, it should make it very clear to users that this chat is not part of our games and is not official, endorsed, or moderated by Jagex in any way. Furthermore, this chat should still be moderated (just not by us), and the moderators should not allow chat which infringes our Rules of Conduct. To avoid confusion with the official game chat, moderators of the external chat should not be indicated with a silver or gold crown. If the chat is IRC based, then the software should only allow access to IRC channels which conform with the above rules.
In any case, the use of such software is not recommended. We do not recommend the use of ANY third-party software, as it is potentially extremely dangerous. Please be aware that there is software out there that claims to be a great add-on, but actually installs a keylogger on your computer and steals your password! You should also be aware that there is dangerous software around that won't necessarily be spotted by your anti-virus software. Scanning downloads is, of course, a very good idea, but it still doesn't 100% eliminate the risk.

3. What do you mean by "software"?
Software means any type of program, including: downloadable software (e.g an .exe file), or web-based software (e.g a website set up to perform a similar function with flash, java, javascript or serverside scripts).

4. How does the macro detection system work?
Our macro detection system monitors activity on our servers and detects suspicious behaviour. This evidence is reviewed by our team of experts who either confirm or reject the system's analysis. Jagex will not reveal the exact mechanics of how this system works, because this would make circumvention easier.

5. Will I be able to appeal against a ban for macroing?
Our policy has always been that we do not tolerate any form of cheating. We do not ban accounts lightly. Significant evidence is always collected before any action is taken against a player. We will not reveal the evidence that we have collected, since most cheats only want to know the evidence so that they can avoid getting caught the next time. Because we take breaches of this rule very seriously, we do not allow players an appeal if they have been banned for using macro software. For more information on Offence Appeals, click here.

6. What is AFK training?
AFK training is Away From Keyboard training. While you are playing on our games, you must be at the computer. Away-from-keyboard training is not allowed, and you should log out when you leave the computer.

To keep RuneScape enjoyable for everyone, please observe and follow our rules. We will not tolerate disruptive players, and if you break our rules your account is likely to be banned or muted. Members who are banned or muted for breaking our rules are not entitled to any sort of refund.

What to do/avoid:
1. Do not engage in "gold farming/botting" activites.
Very hard to do if that activity is the most suitable for your circumstances, and in any case, bots seem to be everywhere doing everything. Eg. Living Rock Cavern, Ivy, Sorceress Garden, rune essence.
2. If you decide to engage in the same activity used by gold farmers and bots then you need to behave differently. The easiest thing is to simply talk. Chat to others around you. They're the ones who are going to report you. If chatting isn't your thing, then I suggest behaving differently to the bots, minimise the time spent on an activity, mix it up a bit.
3. Avoid 24hour beasting, or playing unusual times of the day, or an unusually long period of time.

If you have been falsely accused:
Don't panic. Read everything carefully, follow instructions carefully, be honest in your appeal, and be patient. A JMod will review your appeal and quash it if you are innocent. For me this happenned within a day.

example of my appeal:-
"please investigate fully as I don't even know how to macro let alone use one in the first place. Someone must have reported me in
error".

Finally, the reprieve:
Keep trying to logon or alternatively check the "account" section of the Runescape site. Hopefully you'll get the good news that the accusation has been quashed.

Reflection:
Whilst initially insanely angry, I now liken it to airport security. You're annoyed about the inconvenience but take comfort that they are at least doing something about it.

Thanks for this topic Jon, it saddens me that you got banned for this even though it has since been removed its still a very scary thing to have happen and for some people they're unlucky and don't get their accounts back or get reset - my jaw literally hit the floor when I received your PM yesterday and I lost so much faith in Jagex - unfortunately I doubt since your accusation I will ever get it back

I would also believe that having your private chat set to friends or offline has caused a few unfair reports on my account aswell.

There's not much to do tbh. I have never botted and if I get banned for something like that, I'll bring out the big guns and head to the headquarters to state my frustration.

Wait, what? Did Jagex seriously suspend you for "botting"..? O_o

It really is ridiculous lol. It looks like the best away to avoid a ban is to, well, bot.

It's a little ridiculous that Jagex expects us to act a certain way while partaking in activities at LRC and etc. It is their job to CORRECTLY seek out bots. We should not have to worry about being falsely banned. Jagex is a joke of the MMO world.

It really is ridiculous lol. It looks like the best away to avoid a ban is to, well, bot.

^ This, known botters we've come across yet still not banned yet honest players are getting banned lol

Stupid.

It's a little ridiculous that Jagex expects us to act a certain way while partaking in activities at LRC and etc. It is their job to CORRECTLY seek out bots. We should not have to worry about being falsely banned. Jagex is a joke of the MMO world.

Exactly, why us, honest players, should fear being banned? C'mon Jagex, get REAL evidence before doing anything to us... That's the worst part for me.

Mayday, we have a problem.

I still feel bad for you Jon.
If I got banned I would raqequitflytojagexkilleveryone.

Yeah, I've lost a lot of faith in Jagex and their bot detection system, to be honest. I don't want to turn this into a Jagex-bashing thread but they really do need to revamp their system instead of lying to us saying, "We will not reset/suspend anyone unless we are 100% sure they are botting." I stood by this statement for the longest time and now it's safe to say that with recent resets/banning/suspensions, I'm done backing their "excellent" system up.

Anyway, that being said, I still don't know exactly what sets off the bot detection flags. Of course they don't want us knowing, otherwise botters could build their macros to go around these detection methods. But, to me, I don't see how multiple false reports for botting can lead to a suspension... unless it has changed.

About 4 years ago, a J-mod was offering to tell people how many times they got reported, so I took the bait. He told me my account was reported 108 times alone for botting (I didn't talk much back then, so everyone and their cat reported me). 108 times and I was never held accountable for it. That is why I have constantly told people to this day that you shouldn't be paranoid about people threatening to report you, because you can rack up so many false reports and still be okay. But, like I said... this may have changed.

It really is sad when you are paranoid to play a game just because you're afraid of getting reported falsely. Jagex really needs to fix their system because it's causing their loyal players to cower in fear or even just flat out quit because of the outrageous claims against their accounts which turn out to be false.

Thanks for the guide Jon, it is much appreciated. It's just sad that it has to come to this, really.

Sorry for the long post, but if I have an opinion about something, I'm not afraid to share it. Especially when it's threatening our clan members... just frustrates me so much.

Edit: To add something else into the guide if I may, I recommend mentioning that mousekeys, if used in a certain way, are classified as botting. It is not posted directly in the rules because Jagex keeps putting it off, but they have told us directly that if you use mousekeys a certain way, you will face consequences eventually.

Good mouse keys = 1 key press per action.
Bad mouse keys = 1 key press for multiple actions.

As long as you are doing one action per button, you're fine, like pressing the 5 key to alch over and over. However, if you're using mousekeys to do 2-3 things for one key press, it's considered macroing. Just a heads-up.