What would Blizzard MOST LIKE for us to do about bots?

I think most of the bot rants are angled in the wrong direction. Rather than tell Blizzard what I want you to do, YOU (Blizzard) please tell ME.

A few obvious options come to mind:

  1. Ignore them, and pretend I see only good sides to their presence.
  2. Carefully observe them, and once I’m absolutely certain, report each one in detail describing what they’re doing, how I know each is a bot, and what their particular impact is.
  3. Go on /trade and demand EVERYBODY REPORT ALL ROGUES IN BRD RIGHT NAO OR YOU’RE A BOT LOVER!!! every 20 seconds

My favorite is #2, of course, but from what I can tell nobody else (possibly even including Blizzard) really cares for that one. That of course begs the question, what IS Blizzard’s favorite option? Something else not on the list that I didn’t think of?

Also, an ancillary question, is harassing bots against the TOS? I’ll confess to having feared their targets as an experiment, first to prove they’re bots and then to learn how their AI responds (surprisingly enough, it seems to have LONG lasting effects on some bots’ AI), and hoping (no luck yet, but I’ve come close) that if I can lure them into hostile territory I can set them back until a human returns to the keyboard. If I make this a habit – obviously I would try to contact them first to be sure they’re bots before doing a test run to see if they respond like a human – would I eventually see disciplinary action for it?

EDIT: To be clear, the bots’ behavior when their target is feared becomes part of my detailed cheating report. That’s really the primary reason for it, and if there’s a better strategy I’d like to know it.

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WoW tokens eliminate 75% of the problems associated with the Botpocalypse.

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What are you doing when you run into bots?


I haven’t actually had any issues with bots. There was one time while leveling where I saw a hunter in the Shimmering Flats that I suspected was a bot.

Another time, I can’t remember how long ago now, but maybe a year ago, when people were complaining about a bot problem on a particular server in the starting areas, I rolled a fresh toon there, and saw what appeared to be some bots.

Other than those 2 times though, I have not had any circumstances in game where I’ve thought, “This must be a bot.”

I’m not saying they don’t exist, but I’m curious what you are doing that you find them?

Open world leveling.

Feralas had 4 Rogues and a Priest that were using bot software to level.

They would run from mob to mob, never mounting up.

They ate/drank at or below 50%.

They never say hi, or respond or react to any actions I make to or around them.

If I tag a mob right before they’re about to attack, and they attack it after my tag, they will stop all actions until I kill the mob, or unless the mob attacks them in which case they kill it.

If they were about to die they would only use spells/cooldowns and never run or use movement to their advantage.

This was just last week too.

I’ve had similar experiences, but the main offenders I’m thinking of are the ones that camp an entire population and annoy everyone else in the zone. For the last few days that’s been a series of at least 4 rogues monopolizing Lordamaere Lake’s south shore for 36 hours plus. They’re really obvious:

  1. Step forward
  2. /throw at turtle
  3. If not in combat, repeat 1.

If you fear their turtle and it runs into the water they do a weird one-step-forward-then-jump routine, presumably to avoid drowning, as they chase the turtle around the lake, all without a word. After a while I think one of them started hearthing out whenever a human was close, but the rest just got dumber and more hesitant.

Bots pay subscriptions. You’re not going to unsubscribe over bots, so why should they ban them? A greedy company caring more about profits than the quality of their own game isn’t a new story.

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I knew this would happen, but there are a million posts out there already if you don’t like what Blizzard does.

This thread is for what they want us to do. Whether it’s an unlikely Blue poster or just links to previous comments or just speculation, I really am not here to decide what Blizzard should do. I can’t implement tokens, and I can’t tell them what their policy will be, and I’m not going to try.

That said, while I don’t much care for the 3 month minimum as a paying customer, I think it can help them maximize revenue per bot. If you ban a bot 1 week into a 1 month sub, you basically net about $8, but if you ban one 1 week into a 3 month sub you net $34. Making them re-sub to keep botting (which of course they will) seems like a good way to make a few extra bucks.

Stop pretending that you are not Notglinda.

What did Notglinda get banned for this time?

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Now we’re talking. I’mma gonna get my bots to farm gold to sell wow tokens.

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Citation needed.

And is this exact, like, did you carry the 1 to complete the equation?

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Retail has way more bots than classic. It’s hard to imagine until you see it. All the wow token did was move the problems around, not fix them.

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I have retail, too.

I do nothing, I don’t get paid to look for them.

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That and boosts, you take out the power lvling for gold and the gold selling. I personally have to laugh in the face at every WoW Boomer who think those two are bad

Yea theres still bots in retail but no where near as many as classic has.

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I heard someone say that bots, and the paid boost will make botting worse.
The point they made was (I think it was in a you tube video somewhere btw) that the bots can make in gold the boosting fee easy before they banned, if they even are banned. So we may see even MORE bots because of boosting. (this is not a veiled anti boost post, though I am against it — it’s topical to the botting discussion).
I don’t think anything other than wow token can help with botting, and even then it will always be around. but if they cannot sell their gold as easily…I figure many will move on. /shrug

I felt like this is not true. Bots went way down after the token. Does anyone have any actual statistics on this somewhere other than our own limited experiences?

So one thing I had really hoped to get an answer to was whether I’m breaking the TOS if I disrupt a bot that’s creating an immediate nuisance (such as by camping mobs/resources other players rely on) beyond the usual “meta-game” complaints. If I fear their targets to mess up their AI/ML, or if I recruit several people to light campfires along their path, will I get banned for it?

No one gets paid to look for them. Not since Blizz removed all GMs. Therein lies the problem.

It’s been two years of classic, they’re still everywhere. Whether they afk grind in shimmering flats or afk pick pocket brd, Bots are here to stay. It is what it is.

The bots won. Now bow to your bot overlords!