Policy Update for Input Broadcasting - May 2021

[Acidbaron]

Understandable change, gives those who don't multibox an advantage on a few fronts what means as developer you either decide that you will balance elements of your game around multiboxers further putting those who don't use it at an disadvantage, what means for those who gather or farm through normal means won't be seeing improvements, or you go against multiboxers and are able to balance elements again for the single account user experience.

[Dazu]

This is such a strange issue to focus on, like I could understand virtual keystroke detection to deal with bots, but to fuck with multiboxers? What's the point? It's such a niche activity already, no matter the effect, at least it adds to the lore of the mmo experience.

Alot of bots were using the multiboxing software to automate farming from the sounds of it. The market and play impact has been much worse lately due to it aswell. I remember trying to herb in Nazjatar last expansion on my druid and almost without fail id get a herb node but by time I got there 2-3 groups of bot druids clearly using some kind of multiboxing setup, looted it despawning the node instantly. I pretty much gave up on herbing the herbs I needed and went back to normal BFA herbs as the count per hour was so much higher it made me more gold than the Zin'athid ones did as all the bots/multiboxxers had moved into the new zone.

I think this is more a case that because bad people exploited this method, they just cracked down on the entire lot of it along with enough people getting fed up with it and how much more lucrative it is now compared to earlier periods in the game where it really wasnt that much of a difference (1 loot per corpse, 1 flower pick/mining etc per node rather than 5 each now).

[baskev]

Good.

I know people will say: but they can alt tab. Yes. But alt tabbing , then mine the ore/herb vein and then ( even using a macro to do /follow) do follow again on 6+ accounts takes time. And that will make farmers not do it as much.
Right now most of them just walk up to the note and instant mine with 6 accounts. That is no longer possible. even with macro's etc it takes a couple of seconds and more control/actions from you.

I also see people type: but its not that bad. Their are certain area's in current zones you can park and see trains of druids run by. I made a thread here recently. And what i gathered from all the reactions there. Its server depended on how much you see them. Some servers seem to have a metric s ton of them.
There have been cases where i reported 3 or 4 druids sets in 5 min time.
For me its like this:
- at minimal 1 group of 6/7+ multiboxer(Bots) a hour
- minimal 3 solo bots a hour.
- and if its a bad time i can pretty much see both of the above every 10 min.

below the necrotic wake dungeon in bastion is a good spot to find them.

And multiboxxers do use software a lot. Yes you can do it with hardware. But next to (multibox)bots, if have seen multixboxxers(players) only use software. Because there is not way you can instant mine with 6+ accounts and then follow the main druid a spilt second later.

This is such a strange issue to focus on, like I could understand virtual keystroke detection to deal with bots, but to fuck with multiboxers? What's the point? It's such a niche activity already, no matter the effect, at least it adds to the lore of the mmo experience.

Bots also multibox. Its not 1 bot, its multi bots. so multiple accounts running at the same time. Its bad for the servers. And bad for the economy. its cheating. You use software to get a advantage ingame. That is cheating.

Pretty much this. Banning bots and "nerfing" multiboxing is cool and all, but it does mean mats go up in price which has more of a negative impact on me than bots/multiboxers existing.

Mats are pretty cheap as is. You can not make a lot of money on just normal farming. You can by doing callings etc easy 3k a day. Potions and food for raids ( just looked on my sever) will set you back 1,2 k And that is 2 to 3 flask ( intellect) ( or 6 strenght), a dozen of feast, and a shit ton of smaller potions.
And for the ones like me who sell potions on the AH it means they do not became dirt cheap anymore. And we can make decent money again.
Because right now doing proffesions is pretty much useless ( except legendary gear). Because farmers take most of the mats and sell it in bulk undercutting us to much.



BUUUUUTTT in short:
We can al be PRO or ANTI it. And we can all have valid ( or invalid) reasons. But its simple in the end. Multiboxxers have multiple accounts and bring in money for blizzard. So the only reasons they would make it no longer legal. Is sever/hardware problems, or to many people have a problem with it/experience hinder from it. And its apperently widespread enough for action on it.

[Crushima]

Determined people will still get around it.

And at the same time, I wish they would revert.... herb prices are far too high.

There's no way to get around this. Blizzard explicitly mention hardware and software...

Blizzard will 'simply' monitor incoming connections. Any identical commands (within a few MS) sent to two or more accounts, in the same zone, will trigger a permanent ban.

[ellieg]

Umm can anyone say BASED?

Fuck multiboxers lol. Every single one is a tool, no exceptions.

[Bethanie]

Perhaps it's time for Blizzard to ban all automation in the game.

They should start banning the players that use the GSE addon and gaming keyboards like the logitech G15 that lets them hold down or toggle a single button that plays their entire rotation.

[rhorle]

Perhaps it's time for Blizzard to ban all automation in the game. They should start banning the players that use the GSE addon and gaming keyboards like the logitech G15 that lets them hold down or toggle a single button that plays their entire rotation.

Only if they make an exception for tdBattlePetScript. Pet battles are so tedious after you use that addon for a one button battle. You still have to push for each action but it automates what each push does.

[loras]

Ah. Glorious to see another nail in the coffin for multiboxing as well.

They are getting a bit out of hand.

Now they just need to announce more GM positions to handle botting reports faster.

- - - Updated - - -



Tab-boxing is not against the rules.

The rules are for action transmitting and hardware macroing to control multiple accounts at the same time.

Tabbing windows to repeat an action or put on follow is not against the new rules or the old.

"We find that, like full automation of play, multiple-account mirroring disturbs the gameplay experience for the vast majority of players who control a single account at a time.

We will now additionally prohibit the use of all software and hardware mechanisms to mirror commands to multiple World of Warcraft accounts at the same time, or to automate or streamline multi-boxing in any way. Players found to be in violation of this policy are subject to account actions."

I find that this clarification alone is sufficient guarantee against sychronised actions such as the ones i referred to.

- - - Updated - - -

No they wouldn't, they're not input mirroring.

See my above response, anything to streamline multiboxxing falls under the ban too, meaning that any synchronised actions, such as the ones i spoke of, are done for.

Enforcement notwithstanding of course, but even being able to report them with a significant chance for success is pleasing enough.

[LordVargK]

This is such a strange issue to focus on, like I could understand virtual keystroke detection to deal with bots, but to fuck with multiboxers? What's the point? It's such a niche activity already, no matter the effect, at least it adds to the lore of the mmo experience.

Multiboxing became a way bigger problem when mining node rules were changed. Once each node was one time harvest only, but then it got changed to 10 times in 30 sec. Before multiboxing offered no benefit, but now it does. And it fucking sucks watching one player take 10 nodes. Because that player is essentially using pay to win. They are getting a competitive advantage against you by spending more money. Not only do they benefit but also you suffer. That's the problem with multiboxing. It's pay to win and contrary to buying tokens every other player suffers for it.

- - - Updated - - -

Perhaps it's time for Blizzard to ban all automation in the game.

They should start banning the players that use the GSE addon and gaming keyboards like the logitech G15 that lets them hold down or toggle a single button that plays their entire rotation.

I think that if your class can be played by holding down one button it's Blizzard's fault for designing such a simple spec and it should be allowed to "automate" that spec.

[KevyB]

It's sad af this took so fucking long to do, and way too late.

Oh well, woulde been nice to experience the wowscape without multiboxing trash ruining countless arenas and rbgs.

Maybe in the next timeline.

[Cracked]

Multiboxing became a way bigger problem when mining node rules were changed. Once each node was one time harvest only, but then it got changed to 10 times in 30 sec. Before multiboxing offered no benefit, but now it does. And it fucking sucks watching one player take 10 nodes. Because that player is essentially using pay to win. They are getting a competitive advantage against you by spending more money. Not only do they benefit but also you suffer. That's the problem with multiboxing. It's pay to win and contrary to buying tokens every other player suffers for it.

Well okay, I wasn't aware it's any kind of a problem, but if you think so, fair. I just have to question the game design behind that anyway, like why is it 10? Make it 2 max, or just go to 1 pick per node again, it's not like many people go out into the world anyway, since all the mats are so darn cheap.

[Lochton]

"We find that, like full automation of play, multiple-account mirroring disturbs the gameplay experience for the vast majority of players who control a single account at a time.

We will now additionally prohibit the use of all software and hardware mechanisms to mirror commands to multiple World of Warcraft accounts at the same time, or to automate or streamline multi-boxing in any way. Players found to be in violation of this policy are subject to account actions."

I find that this clarification alone is sufficient guarantee against sychronised actions such as the ones i referred to.

Said message is for people operating mechanical or software tools to ease the use of multiboxing.

It is not going to have any against people running multiple accounts, tabbing between each account to complete an action.

[LordVargK]

Well okay, I wasn't aware it's any kind of a problem, but if you think so, fair. I just have to question the game design behind that anyway, like why is it 10? Make it 2 max, or just go to 1 pick per node again, it's not like many people go out into the world anyway, since all the mats are so darn cheap.

Without multiboxing those mats would not be that cheap. But I agree that the current harvest node rules are stupid. Make them one time use but let them respawn faster. And, for the love of god: Remove them if they are empty! There's nothing worse than getting to a node, harvesting it, only to get "Invalid target" when you finish, because the node is already empty or disappeared while using it. That's super infuriating.

[Onikaroshi]

meaning that any synchronised actions, such as the ones i spoke of, are done for.

Tabbing or click on separate windows is not synchronized..... it's not streamlined, it's not against the rules.

[loras]

Tabbing or click on separate windows is not synchronized..... it's not streamlined, it's not against the rules.

That is what i am saying.

- - - Updated - - -

Said message is for people operating mechanical or software tools to ease the use of multiboxing.

It is not going to have any against people running multiple accounts, tabbing between each account to complete an action.

Yes, i get that, as such i do not need to fear synchronised actions as i earloer described anymore.

[WinningOne]

"We find that, like full automation of play, multiple-account mirroring disturbs the gameplay experience for the vast majority of players who control a single account at a time."

Well, I'm glad they noticed that people are not fond of multiboxers. It took more than a decade of constant whining about it, but better late than never, I guess...

My experience refutes this statement. I multiboxed WoW classic for nearly a year and never heard complaints from anyone. Most people thought it was at least interesting watching me handle multiple roles within the group. The most popular being when I filled both the tank and healing role with my dual Paladins. The closest thing to a negative statement I ever heard was from a player who was afraid to group with me so we could share kills for a quest. She thought the November 2020 policy change had forbidden multiboxing in all forms and was worried she would be banned if she accepted my group invitation.