wow Account Suspensions: Feb 1

[Stan 5,240]

The ban hammer strikes again. A new ban wave went out today targetting mainly botters. Thousands of accounts have been temporarily suspended from the game.

Most users of third-party software received 6 month bans.

Ornyx (Source)

We’ve recently taken action against thousands of World of Warcraft accounts that were found to be using third-party programs that automate gameplay, known as “bots.” We’re committed to providing an equal and fair playing field for everyone in World of Warcraft, and will continue to take action against those found in violation of our Terms of Use. Cheating of any form will not be tolerated.

[RainMaker 3]

"temporarily". That's what's wrong here.

[IrishDreamer 4]

Agreed,for some forms of cheating a perma ban would not be too harsh.

Also account bans are useless as the biggest cheaters just open a new account.

They are like poison ivy, you have to root them out with the strongest weed killer you can find.

In this case perma ban account but also block whole IP range as most of these scammers "work" in offices where they are farming 24/7 to obtain gold and sell this for real cash.

I still do not understand why there are so many gold selling websites or websites that offer paid boosts.

They all break at some point the t&c's from Blizzard and/or abusing the intellectual rights of the game.

Blizzard seem not in a hurry to get them offline and/or bring the owners to court.

If you do run a private server Blizz will do everything to tear it down.

 

The pot and the kettle?

[Maruken 31]

24 minutes ago, IrishDreamer said:

Blizzard seem not in a hurry to get them offline and/or bring the owners to court.

Lawsuits cost a lot of money, money Blizzard could be using elsewhere.

They did cripple Honorbuddy, however.

[DeathsDesign 92]

3 hours ago, IrishDreamer said:

Blizzard seem not in a hurry to get them offline and/or bring the owners to court.

Time is irrelevant and it's perception changes from view point to experience.  When you're busy time passes by faster because you are otherwise occupied and unable to keep up with the minute and hour hands ticking.  When you're not busy time passes by slower because your mind isn't as occupied with your surroundings.  What you consider a hurry to get a "cheater" offline or in court doesn't constitute what Blizzard would consider a hurry.

Lawsuits cost money.  Investigations and research to build solid cases take time and money.

Just because someone is using a bot program or otherwise un-approved third party application doesn't mean they will immediately get banned.  Blizzard has to find them make sure they broke the rules that they were reported for and then take action.

Blizzard is also having to do this for ALL of their games not just WoW.  The Blizzard legal teams don't just work for one branch of the company. 

5 hours ago, IrishDreamer said:

I still do not understand why there are so many gold selling websites or websites that offer paid boosts.

There will always be gold selling websites and service sites as long as they have a customer base.  Don't blame them for trying to make a buck, blame the wow players that buy from them.

 

5 hours ago, IrishDreamer said:

In this case perma ban account but also block whole IP range as most of these scammers "work" in offices where they are farming 24/7 to obtain gold and sell this for real cash.

IP range bans won't just affect "office buildings" because if someone lives in a home they are provided an IP within the range set by their ISP.  The surrounding community will also be within this same range thus they would be IP blocked as well.

 

Sellers and botters are a blight to an otherwise successful game, the only way to truly stop them is to change the wow player mentality that I need this and I need it now.

[Rambunxious 1]

So permabans on the top guilds using exploits would be ok....love to see that

[Sublime 3]

I don't see why it wouldn't be ok. 

[briala 6]

12 hours ago, IrishDreamer said:

Blizzard seem not in a hurry to get them offline and/or bring the owners to court.

The other issue is that the litigation history on pure virtual goods sales is not uniformly in favor of games developers. Businesses trying to determine who can resell their goods is not a new issue for the video game age -- related issues go back hundreds of years -- and there is much common law precedent favoring the "rights of the consumer" (as they appeared to be back then) vs. the right of the original manufacturer. Look up first sale doctrine for example.

That's just for the U.S. The practical challenges to litigating against businesses that could be anywhere in the world including likely some where Blizzard would have no standing whatsoever to sue one of their citizens or have any enforcement power even after winning a decision just makes it even more tricky.

Ultimately the only truly workable system is to restrict trading to the point where there's no opportunity for outside influence, which is the route they've taken in their newer games.

[Vya 5]

Let's not forget the great Hearthstone Bot Banwave....but we let you keep all gold, dust and golden heroes :D