Should merits be bot-locked?

I was holding off on making this thread since I didn't want to sound like a whiny loser who made a GD thread because he couldn't get a merit, but I finally got the Crown Jewel merit, so here this thread is.

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A while ago, Torn introduced a new merit for Shoplifting and a new unique item available to be shoplifted - The Cluster Ring.

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Now, to get this merit you require certain conditions to be fulfilled, the Jewelry Store should have BOTH cameras and guards inactive/off duty and you should have 0% notoriety, which essentially means that when you see the security down, you only get 1 shot at getting the merit, 2 if you are very lucky.

Doesn't sound like a big problem until you see how rare the specific security criterias are, they occur once every 2 days on average and only last for 2-15 minutes, here are the last 10 occurences of these specific conditions.

8th Sept 9:49 TCT to 10:00 TCT (11 minutes)
7th Sept 4:03 TCT to 4:18 TCT (15 minutes)
1st Sept 15:52 TCT to 16:06 TCT (14 minutes)
31st Aug 1:57 TCT to 2:11 TCT (14 minutes)
30th Aug 13:36 TCT to 13:50 TCT (14 minutes)
30th Aug 00:43 TCT to 00:54 TCT (11 minutes)
25th Aug 10:04 TCT to 10:11 TCT (7 minutes)
23rd Aug 23:51 TCT to 00:00 TCT (9 minutes)
23rd Aug 3:06 TCT to 3:08 TCT (2 minutes)
20th Aug 22:43 TCT to 22:48 TCT (5 minutes)

These conditions are so random in time and date that it is highly improbable for someone who plays Torn without scripts or Discord bots to stumble upon them, and even if they do, it is even more improbable for them to get the specific Unique outcome for the merit.

In theory, it is entirely possible to get this merit by "raw-dogging" Torn, but practically I don't think there are many people who got this merit without using bots.

Discussion: Is it really necessary to introduce merits that require the usage of bots/scripts to achieve them or should future merits be made with the possibility of them being achievable in vanilla Torn?

P.S - This is not me complaining about difficult merits, I understand that there are some merits that are supposed to be difficult to achieve, and that is what makes them fun.

P.P.S. - The unique outcome for those who are yet to see it.

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I don't use scripts but I got it. Just continue to check when you're active. My faction mates always announce when they see the conditions are right. Perhaps get someone to message you to come online when you see it. Idk if a discord group for the merit exists but you can look into starting one if one doesn't already. If anything, just have patience. You'll get the merit eventually.

It took me a long ass time even with the discord tracker, I always made sure to announce it when I saw it so other people knew but what for me was how often it seemed to active during UK nighttime, between 12am and 6am, that was the true pain 

People wanted harder merits and now they got harder merits

Are the people that announce it in your faction subscribed to the discord channel which pings them? As that is how most people stay in the loop now - if so, you would have also indirectly gotten the merit through someone's script / bot.

nerd

Harder by being more inconvenient and annyoing is not the "harder" people wanted

Even with the discord bot I still haven't got it, I'm getting absolutely CUCKED by torn city dot com.

I mean it’s easier to get than the RNG merit…

R+ for proper usage of P.P.S.

My faction mates always announce when they see the conditions are right

They are using scripts. Hence, you are using scripts, even if indirectly.

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I dunno. I'm with you that certain aspects of the game are rocketing towards over-reliance on bots, API tools, etc, and it sucks. Bring back vanilla Torn and all that.

But I do think it's okay that some merits are just ones you have to randomly stumble upon an opportunity to. I mean, this one isn't exactly once in a blue moon? Sure, you're gonna miss a bunch and not succeed a bunch, but I would say it's pretty damn obtainable if you just play the game consistently. And I'm all for occasional merits like that. 

I missed the hands solo achievement so I gotta wait for next year to get it, so waiting for a shoplifting store to have the right conditions doesn't seem so bad in comparison.

But the random merit that does sucks is the high interest one, no one seems to agree in how to even get it 😂

"rocketing towards over-reliance" 

Without being facetious, is there anyone in a competitive faction that seriously believes that scripts aren't required to play anymore? 

I think there's more systematic factors at work, rather than calling out a single instance of a merit that potentially might require a bot

Yeah that was basically the point of what I posted

100%  this games basically who has the better scripts.

There's no more skill needed and if you don't use them you get nothing in return so may as well jump on the script wagon.

Its like peeps who use em in shooters.  Would be able to win without them?  Probably not.   There's no reward for doing it without using chests so why do it without it?   A personal achievement?   Thats nice and all but not really cause you cant because everyone's using cheats.

Any game with a leaderboard should not allow scripts or cheats period.

🤷‍♂️ 

I don’t know about that. I have RNG, I don’t have that stupid ring 

I've always enjoyed the grafting ones tbh.  No scripts need for these, in fact, a nice spreadsheet will suffice.

And I don't mind the ol' "Why did that trigger?" merit being down to a specific reason which was 'possible' with enough forum feedback and intition we could find.  It brought some healthy discussion and thoughts.  And spreadsheets... Lots of them...

As for the RNG if you click or just happen to be on?  Not really a fan.  I appreciate the 'play long enough' thought (in it to win it) but I've always thought of it along the lines of a cross between the Law of Large Numbers and the Gambler's fallacy  - "I've not had it yet, so I'll keep clicking until I do" when the odds are seriously stacked against you...

A bit like my (repeateded FAMO) belief that putting on the Euromillions/lotto despite knowing that the chances are beyond slim against the fact someone (singular) ends up winning it...

I got this one after so many tries myself.

It was mostly people pinging others and yelling "jewellery stooore" on faction chat or discord. I'd say communication was more important than bots to get it and an active faction helps.