When I dug through my old files, I couldn’t find my exact income calculations from bot farming in Lineage 2 Classic, but I did find records from my early days in adena reselling. Although this story centers on L2 Classic, the strategies I used can be adapted to other games or even online markets. It’s a lot like trading Steam skins—something I might write about later. For now, here’s my journey through adena reselling and real-money trading (RMT).

The Setup: Understanding the Adena Reselling Cycle

Initially, I didn’t have my own adena store. I acted as a middleman, buying adena from Russian sellers and reselling it to international markets. Working with Chinese wholesalers, who would then sell to European players, allowed me to take advantage of a clear profit margin. Russian platforms like Fanpay offered adena at prices roughly 10-15% lower than what I could sell for on foreign gaming forums.

One of my tactics to increase profit was negotiating bulk discounts on Fanpay. Approaching sellers with large offers often yielded another 10-15% price reduction. This added up to a 25% profit margin per transaction—a significant increase for the effort.

Scaling Up with Bot Farming

With my reselling operation steady, I wanted more control over my adena supply. That’s when I turned to bot farming. Running bot packs in L2 Classic was slow due to the game’s grindy leveling system, but it paid off. By level 40, my bot packs generated about 500-600k adena daily, and fully geared, they could farm up to 0.9-1 million adena per hour.

As my adena stock grew, I quickly outgrew my initial buyers. I began advertising directly on gaming forums to reach a broader market, facing new competition along the way. To stand out, I developed a bot that could generate level 1 accounts, log in, and spam messages like “WTS ADENA SITE” in main cities.

While this advertising strategy brought in leads, it wasn’t cheap. Each account cost around $10, and spam bots were banned quickly. Still, a successful spam run generated 8-10 leads, each with an average sale around $80. In the early days, with L2 Classic’s economy strong, this approach was consistently profitable.

Managing the Risks: Avoiding Bans and Balancing Growth

Scaling a botting operation isn’t without risk. The more adena I produced and sold, the higher the chance of detection and account bans. I quickly learned that keeping bots running required careful planning:

1. Using Proxies and VPNs: Each bot was set up with a unique proxy or VPN to mask IP addresses. This spread network activity across multiple locations, reducing the likelihood of all bots being flagged at once.
2. Staggered Bot Operations: Instead of running all bots 24/7, I created staggered schedules to mimic real players and avoid suspicious patterns.
3. Adjusted Spam Frequency: I programmed my spam bots to send messages at intervals, making them less conspicuous and extending their lifespan.

Despite these efforts, avoiding bans entirely was impossible. Regularly replacing banned accounts became routine, but as long as adena prices remained high, the business stayed profitable.

Market Challenges and Knowing When to Exit

Around two months in, the market began shifting. By this time, top clans were fully geared, farming spots were crowded, and adena demand declined. Prices fell as much as 80%, making it unsustainable to continue buying new spam accounts or even running bot packs.

In a last attempt to make the most of it, I tried reselling a final batch of adena I bought on Fanpay for about $930. Within hours, all my accounts were banned, erasing any profit.

That marked the end of my botting and adena reselling in Lineage 2 Classic. The main lesson? In any market, knowing when to exit is as crucial as knowing when to enter. Once profit margins shrink, it’s time to move on.

Key Takeaways

1. Adapt Quickly and Scale Carefully: Scaling is only sustainable if you’re prepared for new challenges like market saturation and competitor activity. Building flexibility into your operation can make all the difference.
2. Mitigate Ban Risks Strategically: Using proxies, staggering bot activities, and controlling spam frequency are essential for minimizing bans and extending bot lifespans.
3. Monitor Market Conditions: Stay profitable by closely tracking market prices, demand, and supply. Recognizing market shifts early helps you exit while still ahead.

This venture taught me much about balancing risk and return in the fast-changing world of RMT. And as with any market, adapting and knowing when to exit turned out to be the most valuable skills of all.