Zwift has terms of service, these bots are against those terms of service. So I don’t see why those folk shouldn’t be kicked out. It’s not a matter of “offending” ones sense of justice, they are violating the terms of service.
They disrupt group rides as well. I’ve seen them turn up at be on a hard ride at 4.8w/kg+ for 120km or more forcing the pace faster. It’s a negative on the experience - which of course is covered by the terms of service 5.viii and cheating covered under 5.xi.
Q: I use bots to stream my rides; can I still do that?
A: If you want to use bots, for any purpose, shoot us a note at five-o@zwift.com with your request. We have approved uses of bots in some cases, but any use of bots requires written consent which we’ll issue on a case-by-case basis.
Everyone doing the right thing is part of maintaining a good community. If more and more people start using exploits or bots, honest users will just get fed up and go elsewhere then it all starts to fall down. Worse is they will tell everyone else the experience is bad and there are lots of cheaters, then the word gets around and you can see what happens then. That’s why you have to stop the exploits.
You’ve circled back around to exactly what I said before. KQOM/Sprint jerseys are part of Zwift, and have value to many people, even if you don’t agree. So, yes, people using the software the way it wasn’t intended, and against TOS, is cheating people of the experience they signed up for. People signed up for a game/workout/competition against other people, not bots. The same as if you and I entered any video game competition and you used disallowed software to prevent me from achieving goals I was trying to achieve. That’s very different from your skill, an intended component of the game, preventing me from doing the same.
Someone’s bot is in fact affecting other people’s use of Zwift, the use they signed up for and agreed to. That you don’t care doesn’t matter, neither does your dismissiveness of what other people find value in. If it doesn’t matter to you, then don’t object to it. But your oh so jadedness is no reason for other people not to care. And you posting here telling people not to care is an exercise in pointlessness.
I would also add: post your own posts. You’d be a lot happier worrying and posting about whatever happens to concern you than worrying about what concerns me. Other people posting here in defiance of your preferences shouldn’t bother you at all, right? Hike your own hike, forum your own forum.