Originally Posted by
Superchief
Well if I recall back in Wotlk I was banned about twice for botting, cheating, hacking. So I stopped doing that. In cataclysm the Uldum bot swarm caught my eye, and I watched it very closely with curiosity. I found out they were not being actioned upon when I reported them and got responses to my tickets, and with my seasoned experience I saw right through the claims that they were being "investigated." Bots get banned, that's how it works, but that wasn't happening.
I made an alternate account for $5 with the first 3 expansions, and began botting, and hardcore hacking battlegrounds like WSG to tele-cap flags and win matches in under a minute. Massive levels and exp. Then with my main account I reported myself, my alternate account, and even took screen shots (lol) for proof with links in the report. I did these reports several times against myself, while I continued to cheat as hard as possible on my alternate account. On my alt account I also flew around in Orgrimmar and ganked people in Stormwind. I regularly and blatantly admitted to everyone in trade chat that I was cheating. Players got used to seeing me hovering around, and got to know me a little better because I was not trying to hide the fact I was cheating. A month went bye without a single slap on the hand, my suspicions were correct and still are (I've leveled 3 characters from 85-90 with a cracked version of honorbuddy). I've realized something big has changed in Blizzard HQ. Didn't know quite what it is that changed but it's big, and a new lawless frontier had opened up ripe for plundering and exploitation.
So to answer your question, yes it is a natural response to an ungoverned game. It's simply a result of Blizzard's absence. If bots got banned players would yell and it would set an example that Blizzard GMs are still present, but as you can see if you join a random battleground there is no fear of retribution at this time. The answer as to why they have stopped policing bots is a more complex issue with several reasons, but it's hard to tell for sure why. Maybe they want those bots to pay some subscription fees, or maybe they're keeping them around until they've done the 4th quarterly subscriber report.