So I have been reading through this and found some very interesting facts, that will back up of why people get banned and don't, check this one GM Details I was a Game Master from June 2008-Feb 29,2012(the great blizzard sundering!). Ask me anything and before anyone asks, here's proof: http://i.imgur.com/OKxB8.jpg I covered up my name and don't have the BC badge because I wasn't there when the game launched. I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome working at Blizzard over four years. Questions! I got my account "permanently closed" due to "economy manipulation" - when I was on my druid farming herbs in sholazar basin to make cards for the Insane title. I was never contacted by a GM, and I was actively talking in guild chat/general chat, at my keyboard the entire time, not botting. Was that some sort of flag that I tripped up somehow, or did I just get reported a lot? GM 6 points 11 hours ago People probably reported you and the automated system kicked in. You'd be surprised, but people accidentally would get hit by it daily. [?]USER : 2 points 11 hours ago There's nobody that verifies that sort of thing? I've run into tons of actual bots (and know people that have done it), it seems like it'd benefit them (Blizzard) to have somebody spend a minute verifying that there's an actual player at the keyboard instead of putting them through hours of phone support getting their account reopened (like I had to do). Thanks for the AMA, by the way! [?]GM 5 points 10 hours ago If we get a ticket about it, we will go in-game and review IP histories and look at other stuff. The automated system just looks at stuff like nodes per hour, time spent logged in, stuff like that. We'll overturn it once we get a ticket about it form a suspended/banned person. I agree that the system is flawed, but Dev works on silly things instead of working on implementing fixes that would resolve bigger things(like botting). One major question on the forums answered by a X GM Now to number too. How to get Account unbanned for BOTTING [?]USER: 3 points 16 hours ago Any chance or advice for getting an account that was banned 5 years ago for botting unbanned? (I didn't get any warning or anything) You said you've seen some crazy things, care to share? [?]GM 6 points 16 hours ago Simple answer, your account was hacked. You can get it unbanned, call billing give them as much info as they can and they'll help you out. Your gear is probably all gone, but that can be mitigated with a carepackage(usually just a full set of DPS gear and like 500g depending on character level). Do you want bad crazy or good crazy? USER : Would I be better off just being upfront saying I botted and am sorry or should I try to go the "my account got hacked" route? [?]GM 4 points 15 hours ago Honestly? It is usually better to tell them you got hacked. Again, it depends on the type of botting. If it was for archaeology, you won't get your account unbanned ever. And archaeology botting is the only type of botting I've ever seen never be unbanned. FROM a X GM [?]GM 12 points 13 hours ago Nope. We never swap out loot because it goes against a core mechanic of the game. Against the rules? Yes, before I was hired at Blizzard I botted my way to High Warlord in Vanilla and sold the account to pay for a semester of college. PVP BOTTING Questions USER :Howdy and thanks for doing this AMA. One thing that bothers me more then anything else in game is PVP botting. When I report them it don't seem like anything is done. Do you all ban them in big groups to make a headline or just when you get evidence together. Also, what can I do as a player in helping out in this regard? [?] GM :1 point 8 hours ago They're in big groups, it is easier on servers and the automated services that way. In regards to reporting them, use the right-click feature. People really don't like seeing bot reports, it is a 'free ticket' because it doesn't require any real work. Genrel Question About Botting. USER : What do you think about the botting that?s currently going on in WoW? I played since US Closed Beta and started botting about a year ago. It just makes things so much easier because it allows me to keep up with the game without having to dedicate half of my life to it. I just leveled and geared up an alt from SoR 80 to 85 full Ruthless in two days and "played/managed" a total of 3 hours, the bot did the rest. I?ve noticed that at least 30% of the characters in BGs are bots these days. I think most of these bots are an annoyance but not exactly gamebreaking, which is why Blizzard ignores them for now. Botters still pay subscriptions after all, and if they were to ban 15% of their whole playerbase, well, I don?t think the shareholders would be too happy about it. Do you think there will still be a major banwave incoming? I?m a 100% sure that Blizzard/Warden could detect all botters and ban them on the spot tomorrow if they really wanted to. Bonus question: Are GMs more likely to permanently ban an account with one low-achievement L83 character than an account with many 85s, raiding achievements, rare gear, legendaries, swift spectral tiger, etc.? [?]GM : 2 points 8 hours ago This might make me sound like a dick, but I don't care if people bot or not. I did it so I could still enjoy time with people back during Vanilla(it honestly felt like you had to bot to get and maintain High Warlord/Grand Marshal and do things that weren't WoW). And I sure don't mind keeping bots on my friend list to get stacks of ore or herbs for super cheap. The thing is, ban waves happen all the time, they just don't make major news or anything like that. Some bots don't get reported, others are harder to find. I wouldn't know what bots do what now, I just know what the Warden logs look like and what I had to have there to ban/overturn. You're correct in that they're not game breaking, but we essentially use an automated program(a bot perhaps?) to combat botting - queue xzibit 'we put a bot in yo' bot so you can bot while you bot - and it isn't as effective as they want it to be. From the inside? I'd say about 70-80% of bots are zombied accounts. A zombied account is one that was inactive, but was reactivated 6months-years after legitimate play stopped and a compromising third party starts using it for botting. Gold Question USER : Is it true that, it is very unlikely or even impossible to be banned for buying gold? [?]GM :4 points 11 hours ago Yes, at most we'll take it away or take away what you purchased with the gold. SOME STRAIGHT FORWARD QUESTIONS! USER 1. Why did my friend get banned from sitting at the AH all day and night while he was bargaining the AH, They banned him for 3 days I think. ABUSE OF Economy 2. If one account gets caught for botting does all the other WoW accounts on that battlenet go down with it? 3. Can you guys still scan what is running on our machines? for privacy issues that one. 4. Did you have CAKE everyday? nom nom nom nom! yummy! GM 1 point 3 minutes ago 1- no idea, the automated system probably kicked him for something. 2- No, only the botting account gets hit. 3- No, there's an automated system for that we can't look at your computer 4- nope, cake day was the last day of every month. Something else he had said to a response When players report bots to us via a ticket, we look at IP history/login history and a bunch of other stuff. Just pray to god that you're not farming herbs for 36 hours straight when that player reports you. When he says other stuff im thinking, How many NODES you have farmed, How long you have been on for, How many items you have on the AH, How much gold have you transferred lately. Will Keep Updating!
Its not just for the people who already knew its more or less for the people who keep asking the same questions over and over. Also I thought it would be a good read and to hear it from another GM is another + on botting in my books its, always good to get from another GM in a later date of playing WoW to see that it is still the same.
i am a bit confused, this is copy pasted from somewhere ? or original post ? So blizzard hired a GM who was boting in wow before... nuff said
overall its good information, but nothing that hasn't been stated by Me or Hawker or Apoc at least 50 times before. at least now people can stop second guessing because its coming right from the horses mouth.
everytime I log into honor buddy I am getting an error that reads. "Honorbuddy has encountered a problem. We are sorry for the inconveinience. Could not load file of assemble 'fasmdll-managed. Version=1.0.3829.8764. Culture=neutral. PublicKeyToken=(Not going to put key on this forum) or one of its dependiencies. The system cannot find the file specified. Please tell bossland GmbH about this problem. (I tried to send error it wont let me) I just spent $60 on this and it won't work so please fix it. (I have used honor buddy before so I know how to.)
I dont see how a pic copied from somewhere proves your a former gm. most Q and A cant be true. Like playing the hacked mofo when ur account gets banned, you tell on the same page blizz looks at IP history. No change in IP connected to the game, shows your not hacked. automatic systems kicking in. People say, 300 auctions gets you banned, undermine shows people with 1000s for months. I dont believe in automated shizzle in wow. getting a 5 yr old account unbanned, saying it was hacked. Several gms told me account history is saved for 6 months before deleted. Thats why i couldnt get several stuff back? Lemme guess, its just a lazy gm there then eh? botting several accounts on one battlenet. several people stated allready in ban sections, in one day, all or almost all got hit on same time. You say hacked, contact billing, if you try to, they send you back to make a ticket for a gm, as they cant do this. not to burst your bubble here, but the info in OP is imo, outdated, allready known and stated by many, but also false as proven allready many times on this forum allready. Proof in mails send on tickets made, answers given from gm's on appeal mails and overal botters experience when losing accounts and all that comes with it. tbh, big bubble here... nothing else.
Thats nice web not saying you have to believe it and everyone does not lie but you can think that. He could be lying but who knows. I find this useful and good to share. he does have a decent and large pic to show proof but who knows only the ogaabooga zombie knows! you best talk to the ogaabooga zombie under your bed!
Interesting read, time stamp looks legit but who really knows. It is the internet. A question that is missing was "If one account on an IP is caught botting, are all other accounts monitored for botting?"
Monitored, maybe. But they usually don't ban all other accounts. Only those who have been caught botting. Also, most bans in WoW are actually automated. Meaning they'll only look into an accounts IP etc if a GM has been told to do so. This usually occurs when some1 makes an in-game ticket, or some1 want to get unbanned for some reason.
