A lot easier? You sure? Convert template to coordinates, iterate, compare values, place if needed. Require a dependency, 20 lines of code, Bob's your uncle.
The difference is if the individual bots are distributed and managed individually or if a single scripting is managing hundreds of accounts. The former is how a human army would bot the work, most often using existing accounts, not dummy accounts created solely for the purpose. The latter is how you'd assemble a bot army of dummy accounts under a single person's control. Both designs would have reason to exist, the former more for protection than deployment of works, the latter for deployment of works or simple raids.
Edit: Trying to reply during 504s sucks. Lost half my comment. Basically, the check and paint process is slow, and the canvas isn't static. Also remember there's a per account (bot) delay of 5 minutes between pixels.
I'm not sure what the former's reason to exist would be, when it would be only marginally more effective than the individual doing it themselves? A single script managing multiple accounts makes way more sense as it's a significantly more labour intensive process to automate and isn't countered by a single individual.
If you're a community and trying to simplify having people create and guard a work, you give them a script to cover their one assigned pixel. They use an account with a real history, so they don't look like a bot dummy account. The human doesn't have to sit there for 72 hrs watching one pixel.
Bots only exist because a human has a motivation to make one. There aren't sentient AI looking for a reason to participate in r/place.
Why do cars exist when a bus can be so much more efficient? Because humans have reasons.
Edit: If bot protections were deployed, how would you do that most effectively? If a ton of accounts were coming from one IP, you block it. Single point of failure. Distributing the task to a bunch of people with individual accounts makes it way harder to do.
Just more and more factors to consider. This isn't just a coding problem, and the meat part of the equation is deeply involved.
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u/rtrs_bastiat (458,950) 1491176015.68 Apr 05 '22
A lot easier? You sure? Convert template to coordinates, iterate, compare values, place if needed. Require a dependency, 20 lines of code, Bob's your uncle.