Botting and Real Money Transactions are and have always been against policy. We do what we have always done, which is to investigate possible botting/exploitation and remove those that we verify to be botting, to try to break or block the methods of exploitation that are being used, and to remove those accounts found to be using them.
The same goes for RMT’s. If verified, we take what actions are appropriate which can include the closure of the account.
It is important to understand though, this is not a simple task. Simply knowing bots exist doesn’t mean we can flip a switch to remove them all. There are dozens of methods of botting and exploitation out there. It is a constant battle, one to which our Development and Hacks teams are dedicated too.
Do you mean slap on the wrist? As in an ineffective punishment for a violation? Or a slap in the face, which means an insult to the person? I don’t have any details on it, but changes like that tend to be a means to help curb exploitation. It is one of the many things that our teams do to help address those kinds of situations, it isn’t the only one.
Bots and exploitation are penalized constantly and usually on a daily basis, not monthly or yearly. That would just be silly and extremely limiting. RMT and other violations of our policies are handled accordingly.
It is important to point out that many of the folks participating in this behavior aren’t legitimate accounts. They are either compromised accounts or accounts that have been created illicitly. It is one of the challenges that we face since you can address an individual account fairly easily, but it isn’t an individual we’re dealing with. We’re usually dealing with an organization, which will just jump onto a new/stolen account.
It’s not “frowned up” it is actually against our Code of Conduct. However, replying to a thread or disagreeing with another poster isn’t harassment, nor is it flaming or trolling. Any player in good standing may reply to any thread they wish, as long as they adhere to our policies. You may place them on ignore if you wish, but you do not get to dictate their level of participation.
If that is what you believe I’m not sure what you are looking for here. I can assure you that we have dealt with a great many bots and other policy violations and continue to actively work to address more but since you don’t have any of the data I do you only have a fairly limited perception. That perception is telling you that “nothing became of it”, as you said, which isn’t true, so we’re at an impasse.
As Mairek mentioned, this is a very lucrative industry. If an online game has a tradable commodity it will almost certainly have folks who are looking to acquire and/or sell that commodity, often through exploitative means.
That is really the best I can tell you, Spellshocker. If you wish to return to the game, I wish you a happy return. If you don’t, I can understand and I’ll wish you well in wherever your gaming takes you.