What is it like for these big bot client owners?

This question pertains to the people in charge of bots like Powerbot,Wbot,Epic Bot,RiD,Tribot,RsBuddy,and vInsert. Whether they are still around or not I'd still like to know.

1.How much do they make?
2.Are these people incredibly smart?
3.Where do they get the money to hire lawyers and what not?
4.what type of qualifications do you think some of these people have?
5.where do some of these people live?
6.Why do they risk making bots despite the actions that Jagex can take against them?
7.Is working on the bot client a full time job?

Would be nice if I could get some answers from the Bot Developers themselves

 

1.How much do they make?

Well before OSRS it was about breaking even, and at some points actually losing money for RiD. I think he's making a nice chunk of change with the release of OSRS and influx of over 11,000 new active users. RiD doesn't do it for the money though.

2.Are these people incredibly smart?

Yes, extremely. IQ testing during his early 20s (iirc) shows above 150. He's generally pretty humble so it may be higher.

3.Where do they get the money to hire lawyers and what not?

He doesn't really need them besides simple stuff like ToS and such. The bot system and website is 100% legal. Jagex cannot threaten legal action because nothing about it violates the law.

4.what type of qualifications do you think some of these people have?

I know he has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics (4 years) from a university in the UK. He was interviewed for a position to work with Jagex over 7 years ago.

5.where do some of these people live?

The UK

6.Why do they risk making bots despite the actions that Jagex can take against them?

Because there is no risk for RiD. It's legal and therefore Jagex cannot take actions against him.

7.Is working on the bot client a full time job?

RiD has a full-time job outside of bot making. Making bots is more of a hobby to him.

 

Incredible, thank you for taking the time to answer all of my questions I truly appreciate it. I think alot of people disregard the intelligent people behind these bot clients and its nice to get an insight on them.

 

Good read! Thanks for taking the time to post this!

 

Hard to say/guess how much they make.
You first have (for the Java bots with many scripters such as PowerBot, EpicBot, TriBot (doesn't exactly work this way yet) etc.) the developers of the bots themselves. They normally don't script, just provide the bot/updates for scripters to use. They get $ from selling advert space on their site, selling VIP/Premium, and a cut from script sales.

As for the scriptres, they just make money off of script sales, they get a chunk of each sale made of their script.

Not necessarily.
To make an actual bot you need to be pretty intelligent yes, but a lot of it is also just having the time and know-how on how to actually do it, maintain it, fund it, etc.
As for making scripts (for any bot) it's really not that hard/complex when the bot and API/Include is already there for you, just takes time to learn to code and familiarize yourself with some good coding techniques, no need to be incredibly smart.

See answer to question 1. Most don't have any of that stuff. Unless Jagex threatens to sue you,there is no need for lawyers or anything. They just need to pay for their forum software and webspace. Usually if Jagex threatens to sue you (which has only happened seriously with wBot(supposedly) and Nexus you just close down because they will most likely win.

Most are in their 20s or so, and learned most of their stuff from online, books, and maybe come college courses in Java, and just general computer programming. Once again it's not too extremely complicated, you just need to find the information, absorb it, and have lots of time and dedication.

Europe/USA

See answer to question 3. Most of them are under no/very little (if any) legal troubles. It takes a lot of time and money for Jagex to build up a case against these sorts of things and they've only done it with Nexus because it had a HUGE effect on the game because it was use a widely used and efficient bot.

Nah as far as I know no developers do this as a full time job, nor does it require that much time, however I bet the income made by some (Such as PowerBot) is enough to live off of (maybe not a luxurious lifestyle, but probably enough to live). Most of these people are in their 20s, in school, and/or have part time jobs too. Once the bot itself has been created, it's not too much work to maintain/update it usually.


These answers were just based off of my 8+ years being around the botting scene etc.
I answered them to the best of my ability, might not be 100% accurate.


Edit:
Some quick answers from Wizzup, creator of Simba/SRL (it's open source and developed by many people, but he's the owner/head)
http://wizzup.org/answer.html

 

If they're under little to no legal threat, why did Webjoch give in so easily?

 

I want to get Paris in here and ask him how much $ he has made...

 

Thanks for this thread, always wondered this and never spoke about it.

 

thanks for a different answer, if anyone else has more questions post them and ill add it to my thread

 

Why do you always feel the need to speak for RiD?

 

Ah it's nice to see Wizzup? personally answering these questions. Good input.

That's a pretty personal question ya know.

 

Great read. Nice to hear Wizzup as well. I love the srl community.

 

1. How much do they make?

Hardly any money. Enough for server upkeep ; we may print some SRL/Simba cups sometime soon.

2. Are these people incredibly smart?

Relatively, maybe. Lots of people have been involved in the creation of SRL and Simba.

3. Where do they get the money to hire lawyers and what not?

We have never been sued or threatened, despite being one of the largest and definitely the most long-living botting community in the entire Runescape history.

The big difference is that we as a community do not ask any money for our services; the big upside is that we are also not bound to any support and we can show the world that we have nothing to hide. Everything we do is open source.

4. what type of qualifications do you think some of these people have?

Programming; dislike of certain rules (thou shalt not automate our super boring game).

5. where do some of these people live?

Netherlands, everywhere else over the world.

6. Why do they risk making bots despite the actions that Jagex can take against them?

For fun and education! We've educated so many people to the art of programming. And I doubt we're in any real risk, we're clever enough.

7. Is working on the bot client a full time job?

Yes, this can be a full time job. It however doesn't even pay close to a full time job. Most of Simba and SRL was written during High school (with lots of other people) and a few years into University. Now that Simba is quite finished (SRL is where the maintenance is at), it is not a full time job anymore. But still at least 5-8 hours a week.

- Wizzup, from villavu.com

 

1. RiD doesn't venture these forums himself very often, and he almost never posts.
2. I am a mod there and I have direct contact with him to answer any questions I may have.
3. I know more about RiD and its history than most other members of Sythe; some refer to me as the "Spokesperson" for RiD.
4. Given 1-3, I am more than qualified to answer almost any question you'd ask him, and if I don't know it, I can find out.