botting is out of control

[Kevyne-Shandris]

Yeah, like perhaps one multiboxer for ten thousand bots. If that. Been in WSG a couple times with 9 bots and myself. That's so fun.

Also, following isn't required for multiboxing. It's just one form of controlling your characters. You can also move all (~)five at the same time.

Preventing following in battlegrounds is no kind of a solution.

What you think are bots are usually multiboxers. I've seen them time and time again trying to auto follow, for example (I love it because I take them and jump off a rock about 4x and they die). I warn them the next time they will die, it's a fun side game. Can't rack up honor dead.

You can't move them all at one time without the means to do so, it has to be part of the game. Any other way Blizzard can see it's a clear exploit and ban them.

[Deleted]

What you think are multiboxers are usually bots. One hint is that a multiboxer has absolutely no reason to follow you.

[Deleted]

What you think are bots are usually multiboxers.

Trust me buddy, what I know are bots, are always bots. In fact, you'd have to be a bit special not to be able to make the distinction between the two.

[Kevyne-Shandris]

easily fixed by adding a computer ban on botters. Ban the account the botter is on. Also ban the computer. Like gpu, motherboard or HD ID. When they call and say the account was "hacked". Thats ok. Harder to say your computer was stolen and used for botting

Could possibly work with Ip aswell. Lock the game to your ip adress. if you get banned for botting on that ip adress. just never open it again

Or simply requiring authenticators.

Authenticators should not be an option. These kids have their cell phones and androids, they can easily download the client. RIFT has more account control than Blizzard at this rate.

---------- Post added 2012-11-09 at 09:06 AM ----------

Trust me buddy, what I know are bots, are always bots. In fact, you'd have to be a bit special not to be able to make the distinction between the two.

Trust me Mister Internet Tough Guy, if Blizzard can't tell I KNOW you can't.

Now, prove me wrong.

[Nasriel]

I've seen the same bot on my server twice now.... at least I THINK it's a Bot. first time I saw it it was a lvl 87 Draenei Paladin riding a gryphon in Valley of the Four winds... nothing suss about that... problem was the Gryphon was running... MIDAIR. The even stranger thing about it was that the gryphon was not flapping it's wings. It was literally in the air running and it wasn't moving smoothly either, it was kind of moving in a jerky fashion across my screen. I followed it and reported it for cheating when it "flew" into a hillside and I couldn't target it anymore o_O;;

A couple of days later also in Four winds I saw the exact same Draenei Paladin only this time 89 and again doing that strange jerky midair running thing. This time I saw it stop. Mine a node then remount. It then jumped and stayed midair, ran off in the jerky fashion again and disappeared into the hillside again o_O;; needless to say I reported him again. Looking at his armory he's definately botting. He hasn't done a single quest in Pandaria or any dungeons at all and he's now 90... damn cheaters -_- I hope he gets then banhammer on his head.

[Seranthor]

how about no.

How about yes, pay attention, all it takes is one person hitting 'report post' and complaining that there are eleventy billion threads about the SAME DAMN TOPIC... and you'll find your thread locked up so fast your head will spin.

[DeadmanWalking]

I've seen the same bot on my server twice now.... at least I THINK it's a Bot.

Heres the problem with bot reporting, some people think that anyone else in a zone must be a bot. Bot code does not mess with mount wing flapping animation. How many times have I flight mounted and my model looked like it was swimming instead of flying on a mount? Does not mean I am a bot. Just because you see someone in the same zone going for nodes every day does not make them a bot either, I have a friend who is in a call center and he takes his laptop to work and uses his time between calls to mine because its a way that he can get ahead that does not require a lot of attention. He does it every day at the same time. That does not make him a botter.

Erratic flight does not make a botter either, that could be someone who is drunk/high or has shakey hands from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or extreme alchoholism.

One of the few ways you can tell its a botter is if you clear out a node and you wait a bit and then they swoop down to mine what is not there. Someone being in the same zone at the same time every day does not make them a botter. Someone competing with you does not make them a botter. Graphical glitches do not make them botters, botters don't recode the graphical wing animation of their mounts. Their code involves 'Go here' 'collect node' 'Mount' and 'Go here'.

[Deleted]

Trust me Mister Internet Tough Guy, if Blizzard can't tell I KNOW you can't.

Now, prove me wrong.

"Blizzard" isn't a singular all-seeing entity. Of course Blizzard's employees with half a brain could, and can, see who's a bot and who's a multiboxer. The problem is, Blizzard doesn't have "police" on the battlegrounds, watching how people play. When people get reported for botting, Blizzard's employees go through logs after the fact. They obviously don't record the game in any such form that it could be viewed later on just the way a player sees it. What they can see from those logs makes absolutely no difference to me, and has absolutely no bearing on how people in the actual game can spot a bot and how they can't. I'm sure even you can understand the difference between reading logs and actually being in the game witnessing something happen with your own eyes.

As for proving you wrong, why should I? I know what I know, and whatever you, some random piece of text on a forum somewhere, think you know makes no difference to me. Against you, my word is my proof. I need nothing else. In fact, as far as knowing anything about me, you don't know jack.

[Fincayra]

Heres the problem with bot reporting, some people think that anyone else in a zone must be a bot. Bot code does not mess with mount wing flapping animation. How many times have I flight mounted and my model looked like it was swimming instead of flying on a mount? Does not mean I am a bot. Just because you see someone in the same zone going for nodes every day does not make them a bot either, I have a friend who is in a call center and he takes his laptop to work and uses his time between calls to mine because its a way that he can get ahead that does not require a lot of attention. He does it every day at the same time. That does not make him a botter.

Erratic flight does not make a botter either, that could be someone who is drunk/high or has shakey hands from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or extreme alchoholism.

One of the few ways you can tell its a botter is if you clear out a node and you wait a bit and then they swoop down to mine what is not there. Someone being in the same zone at the same time every day does not make them a botter. Someone competing with you does not make them a botter. Graphical glitches do not make them botters, botters don't recode the graphical wing animation of their mounts. Their code involves 'Go here' 'collect node' 'Mount' and 'Go here'.

you're missing the point. how can a less than lvl 90 fly in pandaria? I've seen the exact same bots on my server, and i kill them if they are alliance.

[kage]

How do you determine if someones a bot? I sure heck can't tell.

[Kevyne-Shandris]

"Blizzard" isn't a singular all-seeing entity. Of course Blizzard's employees with half a brain could, and can, see who's a bot and who's a multiboxer.

/facepalm

Where. Do. These. People. Come. From. Truly?

If Blizzard could tell, there would be zero bots. They can't (true bots are truly hard to tell, even with Warden watching). All a player can tell is how it affects them. I know it's multiboxers by how the toon acts (especially followers), bots are what you see trying to get a bomb achievement, back-and-forth, back-and-forth blowing up some unused gate. Bots aren't those in caves (well they can be, but it's more unlikely as they get less honor. Someone paying for the botware wants a good return for his investment doing something more to get more honor, and/or achieves in).

It's the behavior. It's also what Blizzard via Warden (or GMs) look for.

---------- Post added 2012-11-09 at 11:43 AM ----------

How do you determine if someones a bot? I sure heck can't tell.

Behavior. It always comes down to that. Multiboxer behavior is different than a true bot, as true bots aren't just following you around for one. They're there to get more honor/achieves. Multiboxers will park their alt(s) at flags and just leave them there. Bots will run set points looking busy (so not getting an AFK kick), smarter bots will do a heck of a lot more (like running bombs for achievements, while their main is fighting across the map).

[kage]

According to this thread what is the consensus about bots is there is none.

Are there alot or are there a few? Can a player spot one or not? Can a Blizzard employee spot them or not? Are Multi-boxers botter? Do authenticators do anything? Does botting cause graphical errors? What do all these questions have in common? They've all had contradictory answers given on this very thread.

How is anyone supposed to do anything about this when no one can agree on what a bot is?

EDIT: I should probably mention I know nothing of bots and am basing this statement on the thread alone.

[Deleted]

/facepalm

Where. Do. These. People. Come. From. Truly?

This, what you're doing now, is one of the most hilarious things there is, whether it's online or in real life. If I explained it in detail, what you're doing I mean, I'd most likely be banned for insulting you, so I'm not going to go there. Let's just say it's entertaining.

If Blizzard could tell, there would be zero bots. They can't (true bots are truly hard to tell, even with Warden watching). All a player can tell is how it affects them.

The tide comes in, the tide goes out!

I know it's multiboxers by how the toon acts (especially followers)

Well derr.

bots are what you see trying to get a bomb achievement, back-and-forth, back-and-forth blowing up some unused gate. Bots aren't those in caves (well they can be, but it's more unlikely as they get less honor)

It's a series of tubes!

Someone paying for the botware wants a good return for his investment doing something more to get more honor, and/or achieves in)

Wait... I'll just make sure I read that right...

Someone paying for the botware

Uhh... Paying? "Botware?"

It's the behavior. It's also what Blizzard via Warden (or GMs) look for.

Are you absolutely sure you know what Warden does? I mean... Seriously?

Also, with a response time of several hours at the worst, are you absolutely sure GM's - when they finally log on to the culprit's realm - will even find said character online, let alone running his...what did you call it? "Botware?"

Yeah, OK. I like you "Kevyne-Shandris". You're not like some of the jackasses here, who hurt people with their razor sharp intellect and wit. Still, I think we're done here. Perhaps we should continue in some other thread. This dialogue and your contribution to it has run it's course.

[MasterHamster]

Botting has always been 'out of control'.

Would be interesting to see some sort of data on how many percents of the total playerbase that uses bots, but there is no such data available

[shise]

I always say the same thing.

Blizzard won't take botters down, just because they give more money than a player. A player can pay for 1 or 2 accounts, but a botter can pay for 2 or 5 accouts (some even more, in fact many botters have several accounts).


So I am pretty much wondering how they'll do it, cos they'll do something... afterall there are more threads about bots than never before.

[Kevyne-Shandris]

Are you absolutely sure you know what Warden does? I mean... Seriously?

Do you?

/popcorn

[Gurushock]

Might be like 10000000 threads like this out there.... But damn it's true... Did a heroic and a dps dk was botting.... First pull he just auto attacked and hit HB maybe 2 times... After that he ran into the wall in front of us and kept using his HoW on CD... ffs GG blizz

[Anjerith]

Then again, any solutions just decrease revenue, so I doubt they will bother, there are many obvious solutions to the problem. They might even offer incentives to report bots, perhaps a free day for every 10 reports. But for some reason I don't think they are very motivated to address this problem.

How do you figure? Stolen Accounts, when reported, have the time in which they were stolen refunded to the credit card holder, which costs money on the part of the business to run as a service. So they actually lose money per compromised accounts.

There is actually a fairly informative blue post on this topic. A little reading would go a long way to educate the uninformed masses on this issue.

[Deleted]

Do you?

/popcorn

Well, apparently I do and you don't. Hope you like your popcorn, though.

[Kevyne-Shandris]

How is anyone supposed to do anything about this when no one can agree on what a bot is?

EDIT: I should probably mention I know nothing of bots and am basing this statement on the thread alone.

The community will argue it, but those fighting them do understand it.

The tricky part is how to control them, and at the same time not lose 2% or more of your subscriber base (let alone other monies) in the process.

For example: Blizzard didn't go after Glider because of botting. Blizzard went after Glider as it allowed leveling toons too fast. That hurt their $120 that Blizzard counts for every alt you make and level, by the time you put in to level/gear that toon. It hurt their bottom line...then.

---------- Post added 2012-11-09 at 12:36 PM ----------

Well, apparently I do and you don't. Hope you like your popcorn, though.

How do you know?

Want to tell us you now work for Blizzard?