Please start banning all of the herbalism bots

Go to Tiragarde Sound route (around Norwington Estate) in the rivers. On every server it is stacked with level 110-111 druids and pallys that are all bots in a chain. I have been reporting the same bots for the last 3 months and still see them at all times of the day. Just watch their movement for a few minutes, it is very easy to tell a bot from a multi-boxer from a real player. I have to be around 300-400 reports or so on just bots since BFA started. Do something please. They kill the market and make actually spending time on farming feel bad.

2 Likes

Reporting is the proper course of action. Just because they are there does not mean something wasn’t done, just that they replace them.

As long as people keep giving the cockroaches money, there will be a vested interest in them continuing these actions. This is something we fight all the time and reporting is helpful.

9 Likes

I see the bots with the same exact names for months though. I would imagine is someone is spending money to bot and said character gets banned, they aren’t going to turn around and bot again with the same name. Its just extremely discouraging seeing same ones for months.

But they do - and they don’t really spend money, usually those accounts are funded by stolen credit cards. You are presuming these are just players, they aren’t - they are criminal organizations involved in credit card fraud, gold selling, money laundering and identity theft.

12 Likes

Please understand that there is an entire team in Blizzard that does nothing but track down bots and hackers, and your reports are appreciated, and this has been an ongoing effort since the game released.

It’s more about just watching them in game, as it does not mean that they are illicitly accessing the game, it’s more about what the in game access logs show, and when possible, tracking what software is being used.

6 Likes

I appreciate any effort towards it. Thanks for your time.

6 Likes

Orlyia already answered this for the most part below the post I responded to. I just wanted to add that what you said in your post is EXACTLY what they want you to think so you stop reporting them. Could be same name different server. Same name with subtle alt codes. They are very good at this. VERY GOOD at this.

Don’t get dismayed. Just keep reporting. I hate to sound cliche, but it applies. If you get discouraged and stop reporting, they win.

3 Likes

I personally have seen the same DK with the SAME name on Zul’jin now for over 3 weeks.
I’ve reported him daily… Yet he is still there.

It’s not hard to figure out if they are bots or not.

On Zul’jin alone right now while I stand in one place I’ve seen at least 10.

That makes it impossible to get any herbs if you are actually playing.

Please do a ban wave… it’s kinda insane for real people

1 Like

If you are standing in one place you won’t get herbs, that’s true.

If it’s impossible to get any herbs if you are actually playing then it’s impossible for the alleged bots to get herbs too. They have the same chance as anyone else to get the herbs.

3 Likes

How do I report someone that I don’t physically see? Maybe I’m just dumb, but I can see the same botters selling tons of stacks of certain items but I can’t report them. Frustrating when you sell certain goods for years then one day bots destroy those markets with endless supplies of 100+ stacks of 200.

Bit how do you know it is a bitter and not a hoarder unloading.

For example I usually don’t sell a lot on the AH until my reg bank is almost full, and then I unload pretty much everything in one big trip to the AH.

While you may suspect it is a blotter, you never can tell directly from the AH.

Another theory is they found a killer deal and are flipping the herbs. A guildmate and I did this with ore at the start of the expansion, just as an example. We had enough gold to buy out all the ore and realist, effectively driving the price up. Some decent profit. Some very little profit. More importantly, our personal stockpile we were unloading was all profit.

1 Like

The most efficient way is right click reporting what you can. They mainly interested in things witnessed in game, and it also tacks on the in game reports used to verify.

There’s also the hacks@blizzard.com email address, but you have to make sure to note names, servers and times witnessed.

1 Like

When you buy out 200+ stacks and they continue posting 100+ stacks over 24hrs plus the same people are still selling them to this day over 6 months later. And they have similar names toons on 5 of my 7 servers I sell on. If they are not then I’m impressed at the hoarding capabilities. I bought 250+ stacks on my main server and it kept coming. It’s a high pop so other goblins were buying in bulk as well until it was realized as a botter and the market crashed. The other markets affected and my other servers I ended up just making reduced profits and moving into other markets.

Thanks for the info!

How do we even know if we are supporting botters? Certainly things like herbs are often sold in large numbers but does that mean that everyone on the AH selling a herb x100 or x200 is automatically a bot farmer and therefore to be avoided?

If you’re buying gold from anywhere other than Blizzard directly, you’re supporting illicit activities.

4 Likes

In game you likely won’t.

Out of game, it’s another story. They mainly sell gold and other “services” online, which is what our resident moderator was mainly referring to.

2 Likes

In the last few days I have noticed significantly less bots on my normal route. So, if you did happen to do a ban wave recently, thank you very much. Maybe its just a coincidence but I have only seen 2 in the last day or so.

Yes, I’d like to add my thanks to those who work to remove these elements from our gameplay, and to those Blizzard Customer Success folk to shared info on their efforts. They understand that, even if a fix is not immediately available, information relieves customer anxiety and promotes trust. Thx Bliz

1 Like