Why should Blizzard ban bots?

[Bloomsday-sulfuras]

@Vrakthris

That tends to be one of the more ridiculous claims that I’ve come cross throughout the years, but unfortunately, there are those that believe that. Yes, technically, we may be receiving subscription funds from accounts that may be violating our policies. That doesn’t necessarily equate to making money.

First, if they really are exploitative accounts, there is a high likelihood that the funds used to pay for game time aren’t legitimate. Either the methods of payment are stolen or the game accounts themselves are, or both. Even when they aren’t, the negative impact those kinds of activities have on the game is not small.

Games that allow rampant cheating, exploitation and illicit services, lose players. So even if that one exploitative account was paying legitimately, the fact that it exists can cause other legitimate players to stop playing. There isn’t any profit in that, beyond the fact that is goes against everything we stand for as a company and as gamers.

Here’s another wonderful post by Vrakthris on the “they make money off of bots” conspiracy.

I think it’s silly to suggest that he’s been lying/wrong about this for years now.