Finally, Blizzard has said something about the bots in WoW Classic. However, the reaction was not what players wanted to hear.
In World of Warcraft Classic, things have been tense for a while. Players are dissatisfied because there are once again queues on some realms. However, it is not the many “real” players who are to blame, but a multitude of bots and hackers making all servers insecure.
What is the problem? Bots and hackers are destroying the economy of the realms. They amass a lot of gold and sell it in real-money transactions or offer their “boosting services”. Then a bot (or several) drags other players through raids and dungeons and demands gold for it. At the same time, they cause long wait times when logging into some realms. Even if some players farm Zul Gurub solo legally – naked.
Blizzard finally speaks up: After months of silence, there has finally been a statement from Blizzard, namely from Community Manager Kaivax. He wrote in the official forum:
In recent months, we have accelerated our efforts to deal with certain types of cheating that players often call “bots” – using automation to play the game in an exploitative manner. As you know, bots are often controlled by people who exploit the game to sell profitable in-game resources or level services to other players. Botting is clearly against our End User License Agreement and we take strong action against those who cheat in World of Warcraft.
We have recently heard some players from WoW Classic asking “How can we help Blizzard against the bots?” and the answer remains the same: please continue to report them. And thank you for doing that.
Right-click reporting for cheating is the best way for you to participate in quickly getting bot accounts removed. Your right-click reports go directly to our team of staff who review the cases and can then decide whether further action is necessary.
Thank you to all who have reported potential bots so far; we truly appreciate you taking the time to make the game nicer and fairer. Please continue to send us as many reports as possible and we will also continue to enforce our rules as quickly as possible.
Players are angry: In the official forum and on the WoW Classic subreddit, the reaction is predominantly negative. While some players thank Blizzard for at least making a statement, the overwhelming majority of voices are negative. Here are some extracts:
Sharpbladez sarcastically comments:
I’m sure Classic players feel much better about this statement that basically says “Continue doing what you have been doing all along, report and see that nothing changes”
Warclock says:
“No mention of a ban wave, no mention of Blizzard finally taking action. You need some people to deal with identifying and banning these individuals. If any idiots on YouTube can just use a /who command and find a bunch of bots, you can do it too.”
Rautaketju is waiting:
“I appreciate the lip service, but I eagerly await real actions.”
This angers players: Many players are particularly angry that Blizzard does not seem to take their problem seriously. Many report that obvious botters and cheaters have been around since the release without facing consequences. Therefore, they find it ridiculous that Blizzard has “accelerated their efforts” – since slower than stagnation would hardly be possible.
Players also find it particularly frustrating that bots that cannot be targeted – for example, in dungeons or raids – cannot be reported. In Duskwood, Stratholme, and Zul Gurub, there are numerous bots and exploiters farming there all day, but cannot be reported via the in-game tool.
But maybe this post is indeed a sign that Blizzard is starting to care.
What do you think of Blizzard’s statement? Do you believe enough is being done against hackers and cheaters in WoW Classic?
