MTGO News 
2010-08-31 05:00:57
There are three ways you can expand the number of bots in your bot chain. You can get an old PC, subscribe to ML Bot Hosting or virtualization. There are pros and cons to each. We will start with using an old PC. This can be a very cheap short term solution that is very easy to setup and take care of. The problem is its only 1 bot per PC. Each PC can cost 15-20USD a month in electricity to run and it generates a lot of excess heat. Using the hosting service is the easiest to setup and is very easy to maintain. You just login from anywhere in the world setup your bot and off you go. It will cost about the same each month as running a PC 24/7. It is a great service if you just want to run a few bots but can't leave computers on 24/7. If you don't see yourself fitting into either of the above categories then it's time to go virtual.
Before we actually start installing software we need to discuss a few things. First thing is expectations. Running Virtual Machines take resources from the *host machine. You can't expect that old PC you have laying around to run more than a couple VMs. There are two main resources your Virtual Machines will need access to. They are RAM and Processor time. Older processors with two cores will run 2 or 3 VM's. Regardless of the amount of RAM installed. If your running an older quad core processor you can expect to get 3-6 VM's running at most. A new Core i7 processor will get 8-12 Virtual Machines that are all running their own copy of ML Bot and MTGO at once. That is when RAM becomes the main bottleneck the host machine will face. RAM requirements vary depending on **guest OS. This article will focus on windows XP because its requirements are the lowest. ***For every 2 GB of RAM and 1 Processor core your computer has you will be able to add 1.5-2 VM's running ML Bot and MTGO efficiently. Remember this is a general estimate not set in stone.
Windows 7 makes a very stable host system. I strongly recommend using Windows 7 for the host. Make sure you have a working copy of XP w/ SP2 to install as the guest OS.
Note on desktop processors New Core i7 Processors that support VT-d are highly recommended and are the only processors that will run more then 8 VMs
*host machine Physical computer that is running the virtual software
**Guest OS operating system installed in the virtual environment.
***These estimates are for Windows Hosts only
Posted by _SuperBot
2010-08-21 01:49:38
Running one operating system at a time is very limiting. Computers today have way more resources then they need. If you own a new Core i7 processor most of the time 50-75% of the processor is on standby and is basically shut off. The remaining 25-50% is turned on and out of that you might be using 20-30%. in other words. You have a ton of free resources not being used. Why not put them to work.
There are lots of reasons to want to run more than one OS at a time. A major one is to run software in an isolated environment. In this case its running two or more copies of ML Bot on one PC. To accomplish there is only one answer. Go virtual! This technology used to be reserved for uber geeks and lonely system administrators. Now that this technology has been around for awhile it's gotten to the point that everyday users can take advantage of it.
When you want to run a virtual machine on a windows host server there are two major vendors. VMware and Microsoft. VMware uses VMware Player and Microsoft uses Virtual PC. Both offer an entry level free version. Both versions have its advantages and disadvantages most of which are beyond the scope of this article. For our purposes all we need to know the following.
Virtual PC (Microsoft) Only allows you to create Microsoft windows based Virtual Machines. Some older processors that don't support virtualization might not work. Very easy to setup and install.
Player (VMware) Setup is more involved. Allows you to run all sorts of Operating Systems. Will work with all processors.
This four part article will be a guide on how to setup both. Tune in next week when we will discuss what you need to know before starting, how to estimate the number of ML Bots you can run and the requirements needed to use either piece of software.
Posted by _SuperBot
2010-08-19 21:17:07
Hi there! Most of you don't know me, but my MTGO screen name is "NathanBenton". I'm a new article writer here on mtgolibrary.com, and just wanted to take the time to both introduce myself, and tell you about some of the exciting changes that is coming to ML Bot soon. First off, a little about myself. I've been into Magic the Gathering Online botting off and on the past year or so. Last year, I discovered ML Bot, and after meeting a friend (who runs one of the biggest, most successful bot chains on MTGO), I decided to try ML Bot. There was quite a learning curve, and if it wasn't for that friend of mine, I wouldn't have fixed some of the major errors I made when I first started botting. Now, a year after I started, I'm helping the ML Bot team by writing articles, and helping make some improvements to the way the bot interacts with your users, and how the bot software is presented to you, the bot owners. Right now, I'm currently rewriting the bots grammar. I will be passing along the grammar changes to the ML Bot team, and they will be making the changes in a future update. So what all is covered? First off, the bot software itself, that is presented to the user will be changed, to look more professional, and more easy to understand. I will be rewriting all the menu help buttons, and other various pieces of the software text, so that some of the features are easier to understand, and so the whole thing looks cleaner. I will also be making some grammar suggestions to the way the bot actually interacts with the user. This will make the bot look better, and easier to understand. For example, when ML Bot currently completes a transaction with a user, the bot will say something among the lines of "Please CONFIRM". One of the changes I will be suggesting to the team to change is changing that "Please CONFIRM" to "Please click the "Confirm Trade" button". It's simple little grammar changes, that may not seem like much now, but in the long run, it will make your bot look more professional, easier to understand, and will ultimately help your botting business. Three times today, I've seen new users literally type "confirm" during that "Please CONFIRM" screen, expecting this to end the trade. They've actually left, irritated that typing "confirm" wasn't completing their trade. While this may seem silly, I would have sold about 45 tix worth of inventory, had the bot been more clear to those newer users. I will also be making other suggestions, and helping the ML Bot team with any other way I can. If you have any ideas you would like to pass along to the team, you can also contact them directly at staff@mtgolibrary.com Just send them the idea, they are pretty open to ideas! Next week, I'll go over some of the common issues found with people just starting to get into botting. Some of these issues are even found in veteran bots. I will cover these issues, how to remedy them, and how it can ultimately make, and save you a bunch of tix!
Until next time,