There has been a lot of discussion on bots, driven by several notable bots achieving success on various ladders. This of course has wide reaching implications on both Smogon and Pokemon Showdown!. Discussions are ongoing on precisely how to handle the various impacted areas, but in the meantime we want to share a high level policy which indicates the direction we want to see things go. This is a starting point, and will absolutely evolve over time as both technology and community opinion shifts. So, without further ado:
We think bots are inevitable and would rather be working with bot developers than forcing them underground
This is a core statement which influences other parts of policy. We cannot control what people build, and the barrier to building these types of tools has dropped significantly (and will likely continue to drop). Rather than outlawing anyone who runs a bot, we think working alongside them will help to produce actual solutions to the problems they introduce. If you are working on these projects and want to help, then DM chaos and he will point you in the right direction
We don't think bot assisted play being the default online is a good outcome
We also think human vs human play is essential to the PS experience
These two statements go hand in hand. Many people discover PS as an extension of online play from the mainline Pokemon games. The desire there is to play vs other humans, in as pure form as possible. This experience needs to be preserved.
We think playing vs bots should be possible if people want to do that
At the same time, there are potential upsides to playing against bots. Learning opportunities, new understandings on how the game works. The key part here is user agency - playing against a bot should be optional.
Therefore, we're creating a registry for people to register their bots, and this is mandatory. Running a bot without this is a bannable offense
The details here are to be confirmed, but the first concrete step we will be taking is creating a register of self-declared bots. This will form the basis of other technical mitigations. Given this, running an unregistered bot will be against the rules. When this is available, it will be well advertised so no one misses the memo.
We will use that registry to preserve the parts of the PS / Smogon ecosystem which by definition have to be human based (suspect reqs, usage stats, general laddering)
All of these key parts of how we run the website today are affected by bots. This is where a lot of policy and technical discussion is focused right now, so there will be more announcement on precise details in the future.
It should go without saying that using AI tools to assist during tournaments is ghosting, and would result in an immediate ban
This is already covered by ghosting rules, but it is worth repeating for the avoidance of doubt.
This announcement doesn't solve any immediate issues, but hopefully it does help understanding on the direction we want to go in, and what is actively being worked on. In the meantime, we should also acknowledge that this is uncharted territory for everyone involved, so be kind and understanding of each other. Let's avoid doomposting and fearmongering, and instead engage in productive discussions on the next steps we can take.
If you have any questions or concerns, my DMs are always open!
We think bots are inevitable and would rather be working with bot developers than forcing them underground
This is a core statement which influences other parts of policy. We cannot control what people build, and the barrier to building these types of tools has dropped significantly (and will likely continue to drop). Rather than outlawing anyone who runs a bot, we think working alongside them will help to produce actual solutions to the problems they introduce. If you are working on these projects and want to help, then DM chaos and he will point you in the right direction
We don't think bot assisted play being the default online is a good outcome
We also think human vs human play is essential to the PS experience
These two statements go hand in hand. Many people discover PS as an extension of online play from the mainline Pokemon games. The desire there is to play vs other humans, in as pure form as possible. This experience needs to be preserved.
We think playing vs bots should be possible if people want to do that
At the same time, there are potential upsides to playing against bots. Learning opportunities, new understandings on how the game works. The key part here is user agency - playing against a bot should be optional.
Therefore, we're creating a registry for people to register their bots, and this is mandatory. Running a bot without this is a bannable offense
The details here are to be confirmed, but the first concrete step we will be taking is creating a register of self-declared bots. This will form the basis of other technical mitigations. Given this, running an unregistered bot will be against the rules. When this is available, it will be well advertised so no one misses the memo.
We will use that registry to preserve the parts of the PS / Smogon ecosystem which by definition have to be human based (suspect reqs, usage stats, general laddering)
All of these key parts of how we run the website today are affected by bots. This is where a lot of policy and technical discussion is focused right now, so there will be more announcement on precise details in the future.
It should go without saying that using AI tools to assist during tournaments is ghosting, and would result in an immediate ban
This is already covered by ghosting rules, but it is worth repeating for the avoidance of doubt.
This announcement doesn't solve any immediate issues, but hopefully it does help understanding on the direction we want to go in, and what is actively being worked on. In the meantime, we should also acknowledge that this is uncharted territory for everyone involved, so be kind and understanding of each other. Let's avoid doomposting and fearmongering, and instead engage in productive discussions on the next steps we can take.
If you have any questions or concerns, my DMs are always open!
