Firstly, I really want to get this stickied! I see alot of people posting on people's profile threads and just saying "Just got banned using this profile" or "BANNED". Below I would like to put some tips and advice on what to do to lower your chaces of being banned, and the right way to go about posting on someones thread if you DO get banned, aside from using the Ban Template in the BAN section(this is for people that post on someone's thread and just saying "BANNED" with no explanation). When posting on someone's profile thread that you were banned: 1. Post how long you were botting for 2. Post whether or not you were monitoring your bot 3. Post a rough estimate of when you first started using the profile 4. How many sessions were you using at one time Tips on how to lower your chances of being banned: 1. Monitor your bot for most or all of the duration that you are botting for (this is a really big thing that I see people not doing while they are running a profile, they say that they aren't monitoring the bot and come back to a ban) 2. Do not bot excessively (in my personal opinion anything from 2-4 hours on a mid-high pop realm is ok, but it really depends on how many people are in your current zone and coincides with tip number 1) 3. If you are monitoring your bot (as you really should) try and act as human as possible, interact with your friends (if you have any on that account) and send messages, toss in a jump from time to time, just use common sense. 4. If you are farming ore/herb Switch up your profiles, staying in the same zone, day after day using the same exact path, will more than likely draw attention to you, especially if there are other people that you are cutting out of their usual action and hurting their profits (ESPECIALLY OTHER BOTTERS, if you abuse a profile its definitely going to irritate some people that might use only that specific route) 5. If being at your computer to monitor your profile is simply out of the question for whatever reason, there are several remote monitoring device you can link to your phone to check in and there are also several plug-ins to assist and alert you if something happens IE getting targeted or whispered by another player or worst case a GM Like I said in the beginning this is something I really feel that would be valuable to people that are new to this lifestyle or just simply lack common sense and consideration, no offense. I think most people fail to realize that these profiles take some time to make and that if they are good they will gain popularity and there will be more people than just you using them. Also you cannot be mad at the person that made the profile if you were banned, it is your choice to bot and use that particular profile, and it is your choice to run it for the time you run it for, and the least that could be done on your part is to post more than "BANNED USING THIS", it is off-putting to people that see that and may make them decide not to use a generally well put together profile. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do hope that this was helpful to whoever reads this and that you take my advice, there is no sure-fire way to not get banned while botting, especially if you abuse the system and go against all the tips I have tried to give you in this thread. If anyone else feels like that they have anything to contribute feel free to add to anything I have said so far. Cheers, and Good Luck!
Firstly, nice post. Should all be common sense. Also important to add is: 1. Set a DND/Busy response. It's easy to do. Just type /DND "your auto reply here" For example. I usually set mine to this: "/Busy 'Rare Spawn Camping' Generally I think that this is a good excuse for 'suspicious' behaviour. There are many rare spawns in the game, especially near many nodes. If something happens to the bot, or people just see my toon behaving strangely. Hopefully that will deter them from filing a report. 2. I'll also say it, monitor your bot. Don't leave it unattended for more than 15 minutes. If a GM or someone is watching you carefully, they're not going to expect you to ignore them for very long. People generally wait a minute or two but if you aren't there, and yet you're still performing actions as if you were playing normally. Then you're busted. 3. If you get caught. Remain as normal as possible, don't rage at someone calling you out. You got busted, act cool. Tell them you're watching a movie. Ask what they want from you. Or just tell them that you are tired and bored. Make some conversation, but don't talk too much. You're meant to be busy farming. 4. Remember that getting banned is a lot like RNG. You're very less likely to be banned if you bot in an empty realm with no one around. Less people will see you and less people who do see you, will consider you some sort of scum that is having a huge unfair advantage over them. Thus ruining their chance at making a good profit and etc. In the end you can get banned instantly, ergo. someone caught you immediately and was pissed off enough to report you. Or you can bot for 18 hours a day, 20 days in a row before being banned. It all depends on the profile you are using and how much attention you are drawing. 5. Don't use any ridiculous stock flying or ground mounts. Eg. Swift Wind Rider/Gryphon. Turtle mount is a HUGE NO NO! 90% of the time these days I see someone using that, I know they are botting, it becomes so obvious. Use a rare/expensive mount. No one with a large amount of expensive mounts is going to choose to mount with their Swift Wind Rider... 6. Don't report other botters. Actiblizz isn't stupid they know that it takes one to know one. Don't throw up a red flag by throwing up red flags for others. Also if you bot, and report other botters then you are seriously an idiot for so many reasons. 7. Set up some auto reply whispers and etc. make the replies pretty universal but still varied. I have one set up that when I get whispered, I will reply after a few seconds with "sorry what?" it's also enough to hopefully deter people from filing a report. Even at the very least that they might think well... even if they are botting, they are still at the computer so it's a really slim chance they will get banned. I won't bother then... 8. Take breaks. This is really important. Give the bot a break, if you can't be around your computer then give it a break. Even just for 20 minutes or something, Blizz knows when you're in the game and when you're out. If you're playing 24h a day it's not going to look good. Even the most hardcore players (and Blizz knows that there are those without lives) have to go to the store for a few hours to buy food and etc. Give it a rest. 9. Always have an excuse ready. Be polite and behave like you are just another normal player like them. In the end you're a criminal in the eyes of other people who slave away to get the things they want in game. The least you can do is be courteous to others. If someone says they have already reported you, don't go running your mouth. Just tell them that it's fine. Take a screenshot of any conversations you have replied to, so you can use it as evidence to blizz to say "Yeah I was actually online and the guy reported me and I tried to talk to him about it but he had apparently already made the report". 10. Remember that PERMANENT bans for first offenders are RARE (but still possible!) and also remember that you deserve whatever ban you get, if you get one. Botting is against the rules, and many think that anyone botting for even seconds, should be immediately banned from the game. Think if you found a way to clone money. You'd go to jail, and you'd deserve it. Whether or not you personally think so, remember that you're not doing the right thing and to be grateful that there is a community that lets you be lazy and get something for nothing. Try and personalise your botting experience wherever you can, make people try and believe that it is you whenever you can. If you can't do any of this, or if you're still scared.. just don't bot. It is a huge risk, and a lot of money can go to waste if you lose everything you ever worked for...
