I witnessed a group of druids yesterday possibly botting/hacking. They all did the same thing in the same manner which I thought was odd. I looked at their guild on wow and it’s a small guild of mostly druids and evokers, and the achievements are all related to farming. Is there a way to report them without seeing them again and right clicking? I tried to use the support feature but it told me to right click the player, which now I can’t do.
To file a detailed report, including videos and screenshots: Email Hacks@Blizzard.com .
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While it’s absolutely the best route to report any questionable behavior - I’ll be the token voice to remind folks that multi-boxing in and of itself is not against the rules, even though it isn’t a supported method of playing. It very well could be a farming multi-boxer who is playing within the rules set down by Blizzard, even as it could be someone cheating/hacking/botting.
You can, in addition to shooting an email as Cyntaria suggested above, right-click and report some of those folks in that grouping. You don’t have to hit all of them, even just a couple screenshots that data and brings it under GM review.
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Using the right click report option is usually the best way to report those you suspect may be botting/cheating. The reports it generates for our Hacks team includes a lot of useful information such as exact name/realm, location and a bunch of other data at the time of the report.
Alternatively, you absolutely can send something up through Hacks@blizzard.com as Cyntaria mentioned.
I should mention that these bots/exploiters are often part of ongoing efforts to block, break and automatically detect a myriad of botting programs and those investigations take some time. Usually more time than we’d like, but it is often necessary to ensure we are not negatively impacting legitimate players as best as we can.
Good call out, Leilleath. A lot of multi-boxers are often mistaken for botting. As long as they aren’t automating actions and abiding by our policies, they are usually good. Those using multiple characters can be botting too, so if they look suspicious, you can certainly report them.
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Its funny that some can get away with it without a gm in the zone.
Was playing on an old warrior in stranglethron and the was about 8-10 hunters doing the same action. Reported like half of them multiple times. And with warmode, it makes it hars to find them botting/multiboxing (hacking is far fetch for now days.)
Because there aren’t active GMs monitoring any zones like that. Now, if a massive amount of reports start flooding in (i.e. Classic’s opening of the Gates, and I think there was some zone manipulation in the Plaguelands too?), that might merit someone logging in and getting it under control, but botting and hacking incidents take a lot more investigation time then someone who is just out there being a jerk.
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There are no GM’s “in the zone”. That’s not how they operate.
If you see something suspicious, then you report it, as you indicated you have. That’s all. Blizzard will investigate from there. Those investigations are not instant. They take time, plus it takes time to figure out how to break the bot, as opposed to just whacking individual accounts. That does nothing, because they have hundreds, if not thousands of compromised accounts.
See, lumping these two together is part of the problem. As said above:
Just report your suspicions, and move on.
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You also don’t “report a guild”. You report individuals that you suspect are acting in an illicit manner. And then you move on. Stalking people, even those you suspect are breaking rules, is not a good idea.
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Its still the same to call it cheating. A thrid party software allowing you to controll multiple characters at once, is an umfair advantage.
Not really though - multiboxing can be performed without the use of any 3rd party software.
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If it were, then it would be against the rules of the game. Third-party software does push it into breaking of the rules, but as Nephe just said, it is totally possible to multibox without any of the software or streamlining aspects to make it illegal.
The absolute truth is that none of us players really know who is doing what. We can suspect another player of an illegal playstyle, but without the data that only Blizzard has rolling behind the scenes, we truly just don’t know.
Just report suspect players and mosey on along. Sitting here trying to lecture an SFA about terminology or what the rules are, or argue this or that? Not sure what the goal is.
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Exactly what Vrak is saying. Multiboxers are incorrectly lumped into “cheating”, so that some players think they are one and the same. They are not.
Multiboxing is very much allowed, but just not supported. Much like building a twink character is not supported. This means that they do not make game design decisions with those playstyles in mind. If adding a feature (or updating what’s allowed and not allowed) inadvertently disrupts those playstyles, then so be it.
Multiboxers are not allowed to use third-party software anymore. There are still ways to participate in that playstyle without using third-party software.
And no, you cannot see a character in the game world, and know they are using third-party software. You can definitely suspect, and you should definitely report those suspicions, but that’s where your responsibility ends. Move on, and let Blizzard investigate.
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