Blizzard Drops Ban Hammer On Thousands Of World Of Warcraft Bot Cheaters
Most gamers would likely agree that massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) are no fun when cheaters abound. Thankfully, Blizzard recently took steps to keep cheaters in check by banning over 74,000 World of Warcraft accounts.
The “banwave” involved accounts based in the Americas, Oceania, and Europe. The vast majority of the accounts were using various tools to farm resources or kill enemies more quickly than the typical player. “Botting” can greatly impact a legitimate player’s experience as well as a company’s bottom line. Many of these accounts that take advantage of exploits are sold on the black market once they reach a certain power level.
Botting has particularly become an issue since the release of World of Warcraft Classic in 2019. World of Warcraft Classic is a recreation of the popular game as it existed before the launch of the game's first expansion in 2007. The original World of Warcraft tended to require a bit more grinding than the most recent version of the game.
Blizzard admitted that it is rather rare for them to discuss banwaves. Community manager “Kaivax” noted in a forum that they very rarely speak about such matters because, “we’ve found that describing our sources and methods can make it easier for malicious actors to work around them.” They felt obligated to release a statement because so many players have asked them to address the botting issue.
Blizzard also noted that these kinds of banwaves take quite a bit of time to execute. They stated that they truly want to make sure that a player is cheating before they suspend or revoke their account. They also remarked that cheaters will often create new accounts to continue cheating. The community manager stated that the company is “ultimately working to unravel a challenging circumstance.” They concluded that they are working on addressing cheating more quickly and effectively.
World of Warcraft Classic is less than a year old, but has already experienced a few challenges. Blizzard’s servers suffered from a wave of DDOS attacks shortly after the game’s release. The attacks particularly impacted World of Warcraft Classic. Thankfully it appears that they were able to catch the culprit shortly after the attacks.
The “banwave” involved accounts based in the Americas, Oceania, and Europe. The vast majority of the accounts were using various tools to farm resources or kill enemies more quickly than the typical player. “Botting” can greatly impact a legitimate player’s experience as well as a company’s bottom line. Many of these accounts that take advantage of exploits are sold on the black market once they reach a certain power level.
Botting has particularly become an issue since the release of World of Warcraft Classic in 2019. World of Warcraft Classic is a recreation of the popular game as it existed before the launch of the game's first expansion in 2007. The original World of Warcraft tended to require a bit more grinding than the most recent version of the game.
Blizzard admitted that it is rather rare for them to discuss banwaves. Community manager “Kaivax” noted in a forum that they very rarely speak about such matters because, “we’ve found that describing our sources and methods can make it easier for malicious actors to work around them.” They felt obligated to release a statement because so many players have asked them to address the botting issue.
Blizzard also noted that these kinds of banwaves take quite a bit of time to execute. They stated that they truly want to make sure that a player is cheating before they suspend or revoke their account. They also remarked that cheaters will often create new accounts to continue cheating. The community manager stated that the company is “ultimately working to unravel a challenging circumstance.” They concluded that they are working on addressing cheating more quickly and effectively.
World of Warcraft Classic is less than a year old, but has already experienced a few challenges. Blizzard’s servers suffered from a wave of DDOS attacks shortly after the game’s release. The attacks particularly impacted World of Warcraft Classic. Thankfully it appears that they were able to catch the culprit shortly after the attacks.
