Multiboxing - breaking cover!

[munkeyinorbit]

I don't think anyone argues whether multiboxers are allowed or not - Blizzard has made it clear there's an exception for them (as usually using external programs to play WoW is not allowed).

The problem is whether they should be allowed. And I think the damage they deal to realm economies is too great to justify permitting them. Not to mention that they shelter actual bots, who by the time Blizzard has been able to deduce that they are indeed an outright bot and not a multiboxer, will have had time to recoup any losses they incur by getting banned (hence why we aren't seeing the botting trend decline, which it would if it wasn't profitable).

Banning the button duplication programs would solve all the problems at once, and it's not like multiboxing is some core gameplay feature worth sacrificing other things to preserve (it's not even supported).

You may think they should be banned but you are clearly wrong. All of the actual issues with MB have been dealt with.

FACT: MB are not ruining any economy. They are a negligible influence on any market. To make an impact would suggest that there is a large number of MB teams. There isnt.

FACT: MB do not shelter bots. With proper evidence it is easy to see what is a bot and what isn't. Blizzard bans in waves so as to hide new detection methods

Your claims are just hysterical nonsense.

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This is why people dislike it. You are breaking the TOS and Blizzard gives you a pass on it for whatever reason.

One button press = one action, that's Blizzard's policy, but for you multiboxers you get to do 1 button press = as many actions as you have accounts.


You're cheating, that's my judgment.

WRONG. Clearly the ToS are not broken as there are no record of somebody being banned soley for MB.

And your judgement is wrong. Luckily for the game your judgement means nothing.

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Multiboxers not breaking the TOS is a nice fantasy. I think 99.5% of them go way beyond using autohotkey macros & use a ton of automation.

Then where is this mountain of evidence of people getting banned for it? What you think and what is reality seem to be two completely different things. Your head cannon says they should get banned. Reality says no ban.

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It is cheating any way you try to spin it, it is just a condoned version of it.

If it is cheating then prove it. It should be pretty easy to back up your claim. Show us how MB in any form is against the rules and had been actioned.

[Sansnom]

Throughout BFA, I have constantly seen groups of multiboxer druids fly from node to node, as well as standing in mob spawn hotspots and endlessly killing the mobs there (such as the farm in drustvar or the blood gate).

It's true that Legion missions and the garrison were big sources of inflation, but they are gone now.

I have been playing the game on and off for many years and I only recall a few times I have seen a multi-boxer. They certainly have an advantage but how many multi-boxers are out there? Are there so many that that outnumber all the other farmers out there on a server?

[Whackadoodle]

It has honestly blown my mind how multi-boxing hasn't been banned at this point. A lot of it is done by autohotkey, which is basically scripting. For whatever reason though, Blizzard has always made an exception for mutli boxers when it comes to this and likely will forevermore since they tend to make them a ton of money from both subscriptions and tokens.

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FACT: MB are not ruining any economy. They are a negligible influence on any market. To make an impact would suggest that there is a large number of MB teams. There isnt.

FACT: MB do not shelter bots. With proper evidence it is easy to see what is a bot and what isn't. Blizzard bans in waves so as to hide new detection methods

I don't think you understand what the word FACT means since you provide 0 proof.

[gd8]

Every multi boxer I see is clearly botting on top of it like you can tell nobody's actually playing any of the accounts yet blizzard doesnt ban them cuz they love that extra subscription money

[LordVargK]

Why do multi boxing players ruin the gameplay for others?

Maybe few of them are those that use programs that triplicate or multiply by X characters to do world pvp (battlegrounds do not accept /follow). The other multiboxers are just players that pay 2 or more accounts and want to play them at the same time without ruining other people's gameplay experiences.

Dont understand why people always acuse multiboxers of ruining the gameplay for others.

Because of how gathering nodes work. Before Legion (I think) a node could only harvested by one guy. So everyone had the same chance to gather it and make money from it. Since Legion nodes have 10 charges. A normal player loots one and 9 others can still loot it. Now a multiboxer takes all 10 nodes, leaving nothing behind. And gaining 10 times the reward of a normal player. That means that every boxer effectively prevents 9 other players from their activity, thus ruining (or at least negatively impacting) their gameplay experience.

It's pretty much just the new node system that is the problem. If it would work like in classic-mop/wod, it would be fine, since there would be fair competition. If it would work on a timer (any amount of harvests for 15 sec after first harvest), it would be fine for regular players but broken for multiboxers (since they can scale their system infinitly now).

[Denso]

But multiboxing also requires a second account, isn't it? No, it is not. You can play up to 8 characters on the same account simultaneously. All you need is another WoW subscription, which is free until 20 lvl.

I'm kinda curious about this, because I'm fairly sure it didn't use to be like this back when I was multiboxing (mostly for RAF/leveling purposes). Do you mean the same battle.net account or the same WoW account? Those two are different things. Can I log onto 2 characters from the same character screen now?

[Qnubi]

I don't think you understand what the word FACT means since you provide 0 proof.

It's a fact because it's his opinion.

[Unholyground]

If it is cheating then prove it. It should be pretty easy to back up your claim. Show us how MB in any form is against the rules and had been actioned.

It is morally cheating any way you look at it, I said it is condoned as well which means it isn't breaking any rules technically but you are a cheater if you do it period. I don't care either way but you are cheating.

[shade076]

I generally report them when I see them regardless. About half the time I get the letter from Blizzard saying they took action against the account.

[Eurhetemec]

I generally report them when I see them regardless. About half the time I get the letter from Blizzard saying they took action against the account.

Yeah that's been my experience. Most multiboxers are extremely sharply-played level 50 characters, and often you see implausible behaviours, like the characters separating and moving in different directions to cover more area (and not being just dropped off follow, or moved one at a time). I report those. If they seem obviously clumsy and slow I usually don't bother. One though I saw doing really elaborate shit and when he saw I saw him suddenly he clumped up and was like trying to act all innocent, and it's like... buddy... it's too late.

I love that neither of this dude's "FACTS!!!" are facts by any stretch of the imagination, but clear opinions.

[Metrox]

I mulitbox in every expansion since Wrath. I have never been interested in botting since I saw folks get banned for bot fishing in Vanilla. I usually multibox herbs and rocks to get all 24 toons to max level profession level. Then I can just gather on whatever toon seems fun for the night. I used to multibox dungeons but I was never really efficient at it so I don't do it any more. I have no problem with boxers..... I always wave at them and maybe 1 in 30 will wave back. Always makes me smile to have a flock of druids wave. Bots are not good.... but I don't see them much except in Nazjatar. A lot of the time I just follow them since they know the best routes and I can get a tag in on whatever they aggro....lol.

Stay safe and have fun!

[Adam Jensen]

Why do multi boxing players ruin the gameplay for others?

Try farming for Zin'anthid some day on a moderately busy server.

Oh you can't because multiple flocks of druids on multiple routes keep picking every node clean before you can get to them.

[Ashiraya]

Try farming for Zin'anthid some day on a moderately busy server.

Oh you can't because multiple flocks of druids on multiple routes keep picking every node clean before you can get to them.

To me, Zin'anthid was what really broke the camel's back.

It was already bad with anchor weed but with Zin'anthid being highly desireable and flying being unlocked the AH was just destroyed by the multiboxing druid farmsquads.

[Incarnia]

To me, Zin'anthid was what really broke the camel's back.

It was already bad with anchor weed but with Zin'anthid being highly desireable and flying being unlocked the AH was just destroyed by the multiboxing druid farmsquads.

This.

I had to stop farming in Nasj completely after the MB's invaded. I've always been slightly annoyed by them, as it's pretty jarring picking a node only to be met with the message there's no loot.... Then you know you're on the trail of a f'cking MB pack of druids. But changing your own route were often enough to get back on track again. This hasn't been the case this time around tho. Oh how I wanted to nuke those mf's out of the bloody sky. And yes, this completely nuked the market. Very disheartening to watch.

And OP, no I do not consider MB's as some elite tier of player. I consider most of them to be an annoyance, that in many cases are affecting other players experiences negatively. There's nothing Elite about that in my eyes.

[Schattenlied]

WRONG. Clearly the ToS are not broken as there are no record of somebody being banned soley for MB.

The methods required to make multiboxing work, AKA 1 button press = more than 1 action, are a violation of the ToS, Blizzard just went and give Multiboxers a free pass on it because reasons (probly money).

And your judgement is wrong.

No, it's not. Automation of actions is cheating, IDGAF what you say.

Luckily for the game your judgement means nothing.

Unluckily. The game would be far better off if multiboxing were not allowed... Far, far better off... Those fuckers tank server economies and are a cancer upon PvP when they show up in it.

[Drusin]

The methods required to make multiboxing work, AKA 1 button press = more than 1 action, are a violation of the ToS

That isn't required to make MB work

No, it's not. Automation of actions is cheating, IDGAF what you say.

You're right, but not all automation

Unluckily. The game would be far better off if multiboxing were not allowed

Luckily you don't get to make that decision

... Far, far better off... Those fuckers tank server economies

Got any proof?

[Schattenlied]

That isn't required to make MB work

Please enlighten us as to how it works without software to mirror keypresses to the other clients, are you going to set up a physical keyboard for each game and mechanical linkage to each keyboard?

Have fun making that work well, because anything else is automation.

You're right, but not all automation

Yes, all automation.

Luckily you don't get to make that decision

unluckily.

Got any proof?

You're a multiboxer aren't you? Just desperately trying to defend your pay to win BS? Can you make some excuse as to how a 10 player multibox running around overharvesting herbs/ores, or sitting in a place where mobs respawn almost instantly to farm for cloth like this shit and flooding the AH doesn't harm the economy?

[BicycleMafioso]

I think people fail to realise that their own perception about what multiboxing is is incredibly warped by their own encounters with it. My lack of encounters of harvesting and pvp boxers warps my perception of them as well.

And if you encounter it as a 5v1 pvp fight or 5v1 node harvesting, yeah, no duh you are going to have issues with it.
I also do not believe that this is a fair representation of a) the problem, or b) what most multi-boxers actually do.

For a) the actual issue is how nodes and harvesting work for the harvesting, and you having war mode on for pvp issues.
So fix harvest nodes. Until then, yea, people will maximise it. This is an mmo. That’s the point.

For b).. well, I don’t know either. The ones I have seen have all been out levelling. I hardly think that’s their end-goal.

Personally, I have only done multi-boxing on the PTR (just in case), and I only did it because quite honestly, to me it was really cool to “solo” heroic dungeons in early Wotlk PTR patches. It was terribly inefficient, clunky and demanded a lot more setup than it was worth, but it was cool.
Not something I would spend the money on but hey.

Now starting with Shadowlands, I will have to get a secondary account on live servers too. They still have the 50 character slot limitations and I will probably keep on levelling characters, since it’s one of the few things I enjoy when not playing with friends. So i might try some double-boxing then. If nothing else for transmog farming.

[Locruid]

I multibox.....ok 3 box....

I do happen to run 3 druids mainly for their ability to tank/2xdpsstyles/heal

Over the.....15-16 yrs I have played I have RARELY sold anything on the AH. Usually a blue item or something of that regard. Once in a blue moon some stack of some item here or there to free up guild bank space but again it's rare.

I dont PVP on my second accounts and when I go into a dungeon it's usually by myself without any others but have on occasion went in LFR and let them know right out the gate that I am triple boxing and the healer is primarily set up to heal me with AOE heals secondary so stay out of the crap. I had one person leave in disgust and another comment "This is will a cakewalk run then"

Problem is you're judging ALL multiboxers the same. Didnt we just have this argument with cops/looters/trump supporters/Antifa/immigrants/etc?

[Drusin]

Please enlighten us as to how it works without software to mirror keypresses to the other clients, are you going to set up a physical keyboard for each game and mechanical linkage to each keyboard?

Have fun making that work well, because anything else is automation.

Ah I see what you're saying now. Before I thought you were saying that in order to multibox you had to press a key and have multiple things happen (like a click and then a click and a drag) but you're just making the "multiple clicks are happening" argument

Yes, all automation.

All automation? So that would mean the addons that autosell grays too?

unluckily.

luckily you don't get to make that determination lol

You're a multiboxer aren't you?

Yes! I started in june, got any questions?

Just desperately trying to defend your pay to win BS?

Is something being won I'm not aware of?

Can you make some excuse as to how a 10 player multibox running around overharvesting herbs/ores, or sitting in a place where mobs respawn almost instantly to farm for cloth like this shit and flooding the AH doesn't harm the economy?

Sure! Multiboxers sleep, botters don't, you have a problem with bots not multiboxers