Bots! Roll out

[lockedout]

Blue posts WILL NEVER say anything about banns handed, specially about botting and hacking.

That's not true there used to be blue posts stating they did "waves" of bans.
Haven't seen one of those in years though.

[Deleted]

... Are you sure they're bots? Most games I see everyone stand right there for the extra half a second it saves you on leaving the base.

You can't know for sure unless you start seeing patterns ( doing the same stuff every time, at the same intervals, generally getting stuck in places, doing the same thing exactly as other bots to -aka walk in pack- ) hence the time needed to actually bann these folks due to the need of manual investigations.
Generally, the longer you bot, the easier to get banned....specially if you 1) bot in crowded places ( bgs, dungeons, raids etc ) or 2)run the exact same bot profile for long periods of time ( more than 3-5 hrs/day for a few weeks )
After you've seen and used the bot profiles, it's easy to spot any other bot no matter the profile used.

That's not true there used to be blue posts stating they did "waves" of bans.
Haven't seen one of those in years though.

You basically just agreed to what I've said...lol

[Orange Joe]

That's not true there used to be blue posts stating they did "waves" of bans.
Haven't seen one of those in years though.

Maybe for D2 or Starcraft, but none for WoW.

[marthsk]

I always run back and forth against the gates. Impatient.

To be fair, a bot's pattern would consist of movements that are way less "randomized" than a normal player. Doesn't prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt, but it's a good initial indicator.

But if you really want to pull a "bot check" at the start of a BG, drop a soulwell about 40 yards from the group. Chances are you'll see several of them go for the well at the very same time, pick a stone, and go back at the exact same spot they were, and not one inch further.

[Siluz]

Posted this to bring to light the issue. Right now Random BGs are in a negative cycle

Players bot battlegrounds to level with ease -> Players doing it legit get pissed that blizz isn't doing anything about the bots -> More players start botting

Also players annoyed with bots, BG less, meaning for others they get matched with more bots

[Tziva]

To be fair, a bot's pattern would consist of movements that are way less "randomized" than a normal player. Doesn't prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt, but it's a good initial indicator.

But if you really want to pull a "bot check" at the start of a BG, drop a soulwell about 40 yards from the group. Chances are you'll see several of them go for the well at the very same time, pick a stone, and go back at the exact same spot they were, and not one inch further.

I don't disagree that bots exist, I just find a lot of the proof and evidence people use to accusing characters of botting to be highly dubious. Things like running against the gate, or not responding to whispers, or running back to the same spot after lifegrip (or cookies), running against walls, being too bad (or too good), or always going to the exact same base once the battle starts... are all totally things that regular, non-botting players can and do do. Now, it certainly may be true in some or most cases, particularly if they do a lot of things together, but I think we're often too quick to accuse people just because they act weird or not in the way we'd expect (or maybe because they act too much in the way we expect).

I'm not naive. I know there are people who bot battlegrounds. I know that bots are never insta-banned and so there are periods where they seem unmolested. But I also think that a lot of the times that people assume other characters are bot controlled they are, quite frankly, just wrong.

[Wildtree]

Blizzard will never ban bots because the average bot gives them more money than the average player.

Might want to read this:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...4668?page=3#59

[Kazdum]

I don't disagree that bots exist, I just find a lot of the proof and evidence people use to accusing characters of botting to be highly dubious.

If you ever used a bot you will know whos botting. Its very easy to spot, and ican tell for sure that in late hours you are guarantee to have at least 3-5 bots you your group or 10-15 in IoC and AV.


Anyway, blizzard very rarely ban bots, because they say most of the botting accounts are hacked accounts, very few people actually bot on their mains, most people buy new accounts or steal them and use the bot to farm

What Blizzard is doing? They sued the bot creators, just like they did back in Vanilla with the old Glider bot.

As we arrived, Rod Rigole, the the Blizzard Head Office Lawyer from the US, Rod Rigole was there with a translator.

The process took about 90 minutes. The court accepted in principle all of the charges, however you also could tell that the Attorney of Gleiss Lutz did not have the slightest idea of neither WOW, nor the bot. Luckily Rod Rigole was there to help him out a bit.


You could see it on the mostly not important charge of trademark law, Blizzard lawyer wanted to hammer the bot because it violates trademark law and their protected trademarks WOW and World of Warcraft. When asked if he is sure that it includes any trademark violation in the Software itself, the lawyer told the judge that he did not download the bot and did not know for sure. Then he said that while the WOW Bot on the webpage is linked to the file to download, that the file has to have this violation in itself. In one word, it was weird and I do not know if anyone understood him and it does not need an expert to understand the difference about a webpage, a link and a software. if the Link tells you "mothers best pie" and you download pie.exe, it doesnt mean that you downloaded the software "mothers best pie" just because the link says so. You just downloaded a Bot that can be used with the trademark protected game WOW.


After spend so much time on so non-essential argumentation, we went on.


In the opinion of the judges, the bot is a competitor to Wow, and that for its deliberately interferes with Blizzard as an competitor and its TOS and EULA which are included in the agreement between Enduser and Blizzard.


Our argument was not given reasonable time, but we received a five-week period to describe our point on UWG § 4 paragraph 10. (Act Against Unfair Competition)


We will take our chance and hopefully we will get a little more attention. The presiding judge is aware that the whole thing will go up to the Supreme Court and so it is hopefully interesting case for him, because something like this does not occur daily.


A decision will probably be there between May and June.

[Wildtree]

I'm not naive. I know there are people who bot battlegrounds. I know that bots are never insta-banned and so there are periods where they seem unmolested. But I also think that a lot of the times that people assume other characters are bot controlled they are, quite frankly, just wrong.

Oh yeah,. I just had that happen..
Was on a mining round, flying around.... Some dumbo kept following me, always ending up never getting the ore, but I got it. I did not intentionally fly with him, I stuck to my usual route, minding my own business. After that happened for 4 times in a row, he sent me an angry whisper "Asshole Bot".
Well, I was laughing so hard, I didn't even respond. Because, why would he follow me for so long? Why does he always end up being behind me, landing and trying, what I already mine? To me that shows that he has either very bad internet connection and high lag, or his computer is simply not up to par.
And why in the hell would one whisper to a bot in the first place? lol
So yeah, I totally agree... I know for a fact that many many times toons are accused for being bots, when it's simply not the case.

[marthsk]

I don't disagree that bots exist, I just find a lot of the proof and evidence people use to accusing characters of botting to be highly dubious. Things like running against the gate, or not responding to whispers, or running back to the same spot after lifegrip (or cookies), running against walls, being too bad (or too good), or always going to the exact same base once the battle starts... are all totally things that regular, non-botting players can and do do. Now, it certainly may be true in some or most cases, particularly if they do a lot of things together, but I think we're often too quick to accuse people just because they act weird or not in the way we'd expect (or maybe because they act too much in the way we expect).

I'm not naive. I know there are people who bot battlegrounds. I know that bots are never insta-banned and so there are periods where they seem unmolested. But I also think that a lot of the times that people assume other characters are bot controlled they are, quite frankly, just wrong.

Wherever in my text did you get the impression that I thought you denied bots, existence? If whatever I said caused this impression, sorry.

I was just drawing a parallel on OP's picture versus a sure-fire way to find bots. Nothing more.

[Wildtree]

If you ever used a bot you will know whos botting. Its very easy to spot, and ican tell for sure that in late hours you are guarantee to have at least 3-5 bots you your group or 10-15 in IoC and AV.


Anyway, blizzard very rarely ban bots, because they say most of the botting accounts are hacked accounts, very few people actually bot on their mains, most people buy new accounts or steal them and use the bot to farm

What Blizzard is doing? They sued the bot creators, just like they did back in Vanilla with the old Glider bot.

As we arrived, Rod Rigole, the the Blizzard Head Office Lawyer from the US, Rod Rigole was there with a translator.

What's the source of the quote?
And if I understood correct, the Supreme Court is to decide at some point whether the usage of a bot is acceptable or not?
I would be surprised if such decision would go in favor of bots tho.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Blizzard will never ban bots because the average bot gives them more money than the average player.

I had posted this in another thread, but now that it's shown up here...



There's a very popular conspiracy theory among Blizzard haters that Blizz does not ban bots because:

A) Bots make up a majority of the playerbase

B) Blizz gets a kickback on gold sales and powerleveling services

[Tziva]

Oh yeah,. I just had that happen..
Was on a mining round, flying around.... Some dumbo kept following me, always ending up never getting the ore, but I got it. I did not intentionally fly with him, I stuck to my usual route, minding my own business. After that happened for 4 times in a row, he sent me an angry whisper "Asshole Bot".
Well, I was laughing so hard, I didn't even respond. Because, why would he follow me for so long? Why does he always end up being behind me, landing and trying, what I already mine? To me that shows that he has either very bad internet connection and high lag, or his computer is simply not up to par.
And why in the hell would one whisper to a bot in the first place? lol
So yeah, I totally agree... I know for a fact that many many times toons are accused for being bots, when it's simply not the case.

Yeah, I have had that myself - just doing something (farming or pvping or whatever) and get a random "reported for botting" whisper. Or a whisper asking me a question to "test" if I was a bot.

My father has gotten them several times, because he spends a lot of time farming and he neeeever responds to whispers (even from me).

I'm not offended or anything. I'm all for people reporting bots all day long. It's probably better to report even if one is just suspicious but not sure and let Blizzard sort it out.

Wherever in my text did you get the impression that I thought you denied bots, existence? If whatever I said caused this impression, sorry.

I was just drawing a parallel on OP's picture versus a sure-fire way to find bots. Nothing more.

No, no, it wasn't you, I was just responding to your point and then expanding on the general topic, since that is usually the direction the discussion goes for these sorts of things. Sorry, that confusion is my fault.

[Lora]

Would these be those invisible bots I've heard about?

Ha. I've noticed that a lot of people complaining about "bots" are usually undergeared. Also, multiboxing =/= botting.

[marthsk]

Also, multiboxing =/= botting.

I wish people could comprehend this.

Hell, I don't even multibox to PvP; I multibox because I love seeing a mob's health bar go down extremely quick. Dungeons and raids are fun while multiboxing when you know what you're doing.

"Playing four accounts at the same time is against the TOS, and not only will you get banned, but I will initiate legal action for preventing me to enjoy the game!" - Some random tank on Nemesis-US (aka BR).

[Lora]

I wish people could comprehend this.

Hell, I don't even multibox to PvP; I multibox because I love seeing a mob's health bar go down extremely quick. Dungeons and raids are fun while multiboxing when you know what you're doing.

"Playing four accounts at the same time is against the TOS, and not only will you get banned, but I will initiate legal action for preventing me to enjoy the game!" - Some random tank on Nemesis-US (aka BR).

OH NO. NOT THE LEGAL ACTION!!! Now let me just read that ToS again... Oh. That's funny. It's no where in there :P

[marthsk]

OH NO. NOT THE LEGAL ACTION!!! Now let me just read that ToS again... Oh. That's funny. It's no where in there :P

Then again, it came from a BR realm. Not to stereotype or anything, but the weird stuff I've seen from those realms is incredible.

[socalx]

Blizzard will never ban bots because the average bot gives them more money than the average player.

This is a false statement. Blizzard has stated many, many times that most bots have received the account through the hacking of a legit players account or get a hold of a players more sensitive information such as their credit card.

End the end, someone has to refund this money or restore the stolen account back to the player. So it is not a direct gain in revenue.

[Bjarne]

Got ANYTHING backing this up? Press release, blue post, anything. I seem to have missed it.

My friend got banned

[marthsk]

My friend got banned

Anecdotal evidence, surely that can't be valid! [/sarcasm]