Auto-farming duel wins: is it illegal

[seeings]

Well this is quite illegal if it's doing this by automatically. Doesn't matter if it's LUA or not

The reason why Multiboxing for example is legal, is because the player controls all the actions.
If multiboxing where so that your other characters automatically threw Lesse Healing Wave when you are at 50% health then it would be illegal.

So this program wouldn't be illegal really if you had to press a button all the time to actually request the duel.
But seeing as it's not it is always checking and doing things without the player needing to do anything it's illegal

[Sezuka]

This is pretty much a bot, and can get you banned.

Note that a ban chance is extremely low, as it can't be detected by Warden (Unless they would somehow make Warden look for this in specific, which is not going to happen), and there are only two other ways to get banned from it. You could either be reported by a player (Standing in one place constantly winning duels could attract some curious people, depending on where) or letting it run for too long (Last I heard, Warden now actually scans for online time, and being online for insane lengths nonstop will get you flagged).

Just because something is Lua, doesn't make it unbannable.

[warcrimes]

why not challenge ppl to duels and win stroking epeen works better if you earn what your stroking

[Vetis]

if it automates a process, its a bot and gets you banned. people have been banned for having certain things on those programmable keyboards.
http://www.infernix.net/wowban/

take this quote directly:

your character was found interacting with the surroundings unattended and the advantage gained from this is a clear violation to both our Term of Use and a common sense of fair play.

TLDR any unattended gameplay can get you banned.

[manageri]

This is pretty much a bot, and can get you banned.
Just because something is Lua, doesn't make it unbannable.

And just because something's automatic doesn't make it bannable. We have a shitload of addons that do things like generating /say messages completely without player input and they are deemed fine. Even AVR was completely legal. Why would this, which has just as much effect on your and everyone else's characters and the game world (as in none), be something banworthy? I'd also like to see exactly what Blizz policy this supposedly goes against.

If multiboxing where so that your other characters automatically threw Lesse Healing Wave when you are at 50% health then it would be illegal.

You can't do that without illegal third party shit so that really has nothing to do with this.

---------- Post added 2010-08-16 at 05:54 PM ----------

if it automates a process, its a bot and gets you banned. people have been banned for having certain things on those programmable keyboards.
http://www.infernix.net/wowban/

take this quote directly:

your character was found interacting with the surroundings unattended and the advantage gained from this is a clear violation to both our Term of Use and a common sense of fair play.

TLDR any unattended gameplay can get you banned.

THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE ring a bell? as in NOT LUA? No? Yes? Maybe?

[Soisoisoi]

Wasn't there a diminishing return on killing the same player more than 3 times ? It stops giving you honor so I guess stops giving token too.

Nope, my friend did this recently with both of his accounts to get the tokens faster

[Deleted]

...Even AVR was completely legal...

Uh, just because this may be "legal" in a purely technical sense and also only in LUA does not mean its not actionable/bannable. AVR is a (not-so-)classic case in point. They did precisely that. They changed the LUA API to prevent it and any addons like it from ever existing again and hinted if it raised its ugly head in another form they would take even more drastic steps. They have done this many times in the past with other API aspects.

Anything automated can get you banned, period. Even something as simple as spamming text or spamming invites can and has gotten people banned in the past (I've seen this myself). Its as much about context as anything else at the end of the day.

However, the chances this particular silly personal account interaction script would ever be detected and actioned upon is probably negligible.

[manageri]

Uh, just because is legal and in LUA does not mean its not actionable/bannable. AVR is a (not-so-)classic case in point. They did precisely that. They changed the LUA API to prevent it and any addons like it from ever existing again and hinted if it raised its ugly head in another form they would take even more drastic steps. They have done this many times in the past with other API aspects.

Care digging up a quote where they ever even hinted at banning players for using it? They changed shit to break the addon because they didn't want it around, yes. That is not the same as it ever having been bannable to use it while it was around, it simply means they didn't want us to be able to use it any more.

The "more drastic measures" you hinted at similarly had fuck all to do with bans, it was about Blizz first changing certain things that they hoped would break the addon, and if players still managed to make it (or something like it) work they'd take more drastic measures in fucking up the related LUA functionality. Here's the Blizz quote:

This is a notice that we're making changes in 3.3.5 in attempts to break the ability for the AVR (Augmented Virtual Reality) mod to continue functioning. For those unaware, this mod allows players to draw in the 3D space of the game world, which can then be shared with others who are also using the mod. In some cases this manifests itself through drawing/tagging/defacing the game world, but more popularly is used to give visual guides for dungeon and raid encounters.

We're making this change for two reasons. The invasive nature of a mod altering and/or interacting with the game world (virtually or directly) is not intended and not something we will allow. World of Warcraft UI addons are never intended to interact with the game world itself. This is mirrored in our stance and restriction of model and texture alterations. The second reason is that it removes too much player reaction and decision-making while facing dungeon and raid encounters. While some other mods also work to this end, we find that AVR and the act of visualizing strategy within the game world simply goes beyond what we're willing to allow.

The change we're making in attempts to break the functionality is light in its touch and approach. When blocking any functionality we run the risk of affecting other mods, but we've targeted the changes as carefully as possible. If we find that the AVR mod (or any mod attempting to replicate its functions) are usable after 3.3.5 we will take further, more drastic steps.

Anything automated can get you banned, period. Even something as simple as spamming text or spamming invites can and has gotten people banned in the past (I've seen this myself). Its as much about context as anything else at the end of the day.

And without you producing evidence to the contrary I'm going to make what I believe is a reasonable assumption and say this propably had more to do with the person in question being a deliberately annoying and disruptive cock, rather than HOW he was being a deliberately annoying and disruptive cock. In other words whether he used an addon or not was completely beside the point.

[shokter]

Not trying to be smarmy here...but if you really want an official answer why not ask on Blizzard forums?

[Deleted]

Care digging up a quote where they ever even hinted at banning players for using it? They changed shit to break the addon because they didn't want it around, yes. That is not the same as it ever having been bannable to use it while it was around, it simply means they didn't want us to be able to use it any more.

I never said it is definitely bannable. I said "actionable/bannable". I have no idea "HOW" Blizzard would action this if they found any given individual doing it. Nor do you, I suspect. So, unless you produce "evidence to the contrary I'm going to make what I believe is a reasonable assumption and say" Blizzard could just as easily ban the one or two idiots doing it as any other action if they believe its disruptive to the game or illegal according to the Terms of Agreement.

[Deleted]

Why would you want to win lots of duels?

you should use your head..

its to avoid autoafk / going offline after 30 minuts

[Funkyjunky]

Writing such addons is quite easy, and i've got a few questions about using it:
1) Is it illegal / bannable? While it's obviously avoiding the afk mechanism, it's still only LUA code. Could someone clarify the ToS / EULA on this issue?
2) Should it be allowed? You're not really getting any benefit, HOWEVER you are able to get your "Duels won" statistic to insane values in short amounts on time.

The usual blue response to this kind of question: If you have to ask then it's probably best not to do it.

[allforone]

Yeah most likely it's a no-go as it's automated, even in your own description.

IIRC their rule can be TLDR'ed on automation is that as long as you're pressing a button at the top of every cycle it's fine.

Though really you could rig up a mindstorms kit to a keyboard and play some classes/specs.
Also, it would be a very over the top, but highly interesting concept to rig up a vision system to a mindstorms kit in the format of a cartesian robot to play the game for you.

It would keyboard turn, and you'd need to use one of the custom UI mods for it to "read" the screen but it would probably be able to grind levels quite nicely by killing mobs. It would be entirely impossible for them to tell.

[manageri]

I never said it is definitely bannable. I said "actionable/bannable".

And you still haven't pointed out which Blizzard policy statement this goes against. Until you do I have no reason to assume they'd do shit about it.

I have no idea "HOW" Blizzard would action this if they found any given individual doing it. Nor do you, I suspect.

I don't know what they'd do, but based on previous examples of Blizz having a problem with a totally legitimate addons like AVR (and by that I mean actual addons, not some third party program), they seem to prefer breaking the addon to going on a banning rampage. In fact every ban related to automizing game play I can remember hearing about has always been related to those fucking keyboards or botting, never addons.

So, unless you produce "evidence to the contrary I'm going to make what I believe is a reasonable assumption and say" Blizzard could just as easily ban the one or two idiots doing it as any other action if they believe its disruptive to the game or illegal according to the Terms of Agreement.

Again I urge you to present some actual evidence to support your assumption or I won't have any reason to take it seriously. You're the one claiming this is against the rules. If that's true you should be able to locate the rule that forbids this. How the fuck am I supposed to prove the rule doesn't exist?

[BobAwesome]

manageri, what's with all the rage?

[Noomz]

Well I don't see how it would go against the "spirit of the game". It's not giving you any advantage over someone else either.

Dunno really. Ask on the official forums?

Someone wrote that it might be classed as a bot, and that's the one reason I can see you getting banned for. When Warden picks up that you're AFK with an automated function.

[Deleted]

And you still haven't pointed out which Blizzard policy statement this goes against. Until you do I have no reason to assume they'd do shit about it.

...use cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other unauthorized third-party software designed to modify the World of Warcraft experience;

(i) Using or exploiting errors in design, features which have not been documented, and/or "program bugs" to gain access that is otherwise not available, or to obtain a competitive advantage over other players;

Seems with both those clauses from the WoW Terms of Use it would be trivial to action against specific users of this type of "bot" script.

Also, as has been pointed out already, Blizzard hardly limit themselves to the ToU. If they believe something goes against the spirit of the game, they will action it depending on context.

[Lolsteak]

Show us an example or I'm calling bullshit, especially since you seem to be completely oblivious to the fact you don't get any kind of credit for the kill if your pet does all the work.

There's no reason why this should be bannable, all you're doing is raising a useless statistic, not getting gold, xp, or anything else that has any impact whatsoever on the game. Banning someone for this would be as retarded as banning them just for afking in order to raise their /played.



What "gameplay"?

It's automated, meaning it's illegal.

---------- Post added 2010-08-16 at 09:06 PM ----------

And you still haven't pointed out which Blizzard policy statement this goes against. Until you do I have no reason to assume they'd do shit about it.



I don't know what they'd do, but based on previous examples of Blizz having a problem with a totally legitimate addons like AVR (and by that I mean actual addons, not some third party program), they seem to prefer breaking the addon to going on a banning rampage. In fact every ban related to automizing game play I can remember hearing about has always been related to those fucking keyboards or botting, never addons.



Again I urge you to present some actual evidence to support your assumption or I won't have any reason to take it seriously. You're the one claiming this is against the rules. If that's true you should be able to locate the rule that forbids this. How the fuck am I supposed to prove the rule doesn't exist?

AVR wasn't automating gameplay, sure it was telling you what to do, but it wasn't doing it for you, a script which starts, accepts and wins duels is automated, AVR was completely different.

[manageri]

...use cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other unauthorized third-party software designed to modify the World of Warcraft experience;

This is not an unauthorized third party software, therefore this section has absolutely nothing to do with the topic.

(i) Using or exploiting errors in design, features which have not been documented, and/or "program bugs" to gain access that is otherwise not available, or to obtain a competitive advantage over other players;

This gives you neither access to anything nor any kind of competitive advantage.

0/2, better luck next time.

Also, as has been pointed out already, Blizzard hardly limit themselves to the ToU. If they believe something goes against the spirit of the game, they will action it depending on context.

The question isn't whether they can technically ban you since they can do that for anything or for no reason at all. It's whether if there's any reason to expect to be banned for this, which I don't think there is considering no rule I've seen seems to forbid it. The most dubious thing I find about is the fact that it lets you circumvent the auto-afk timer, which is the only reason I could see Blizz maybe wanting to break it, but even that (I think) is actually done by the pet being on aggressive which isn't directly the fault of the addon. That's certainly still not worth a ban though in my estimation.

It's automated, meaning it's illegal.

Then do provide me with the explanation as to why:

- Multiple extremely popular boss mods AUTOAMTICAELY (INOULOLWTFZOMG!!!1) generate /say messages and no one has been banned for them
- Blizz has allowed these mods to keep working for months, if not years

I think it's pretty obvious not all things are considered to be forbidden to be done automatically by Blizz, generating text being one example. So what part of this addon is so much different and bannable? If it's just the fact you're upping a statistic then would you also consider an addon that does /lol repeatedly to be equally bad?

AVR wasn't automating gameplay, sure it was telling you what to do, but it wasn't doing it for you, a script which starts, accepts and wins duels is automated, AVR was completely different.

What exactly is it about winning duels that's so bad, and do you seriously consider it "gameplay"?