The Lotus cartel in World of Warcraft shows no mercy. Whoever harvests herbs will be immediately banned.
No matter which version of World of Warcraft you play, crafting resources are always important. In the Classic variant, the “Black Lotus” is a particularly important resource for creating potions and thus powerful buffs. For this reason, the flowers also fetch extremely high prices in the auction house and are therefore particularly lucrative.
What is the problem? The high value of the Black Lotus also makes it particularly desirable for bots and gold farmers, who want to sell the gold to players – which is actually prohibited. However, it is now an open secret that bots and gold sellers are quite present on the Classic realms.
Because the Black Lotus is so valuable, it is virtually farmed non-stop by bots and hackers.
A video by AzAMOuS shows – in his usual monotonous speaking style – what it looks like for normal players. They see the Black Lotus spawn, but when they want to harvest it, it disappears, even though no player is nearby:
AzAMOuS addresses the concerns that many players already have, as the hardcore realms are about to start. Because they will likely also be flooded with bots and hackers if Blizzard doesn’t find a solution here.
The secret is that the bots and hackers mostly sit “underground” and harvest the lotus from there. They are already waiting at all known spawn points or quickly change positions using hacks.
Particularly audacious: When real players do manage to get ahead of the hackers, they are threatened by the hackers. They are told to stop harvesting immediately or they will be banned. Those who do not comply with the request often find themselves excluded from World of Warcraft shortly after.
Why is there a ban for that? Even though the video is somewhat exaggerated, it does highlight a problem that exists in World of Warcraft – whether in Classic or Dragonflight. Because the reporting system can be exploited by players.
Blizzard has stated in the past that every sanction is ultimately confirmed by a Game Master, but there are contradicting stories from the last months. There have often been threats from botters or “cartel operators” who threatened others with account penalties and then enforced them outright.
The method of choice is mass reporting. If a character is reported by dozens of accounts – which all belong to the botter or a cartel – the penalty follows almost instantly.
The experiences contradict the statements of the developers.
The problem is not only exclusive to WoW Classic but Dragonflight is also affected. Here an “Elemental loop cartel” imposed a penalty on a competitor who had sold his necklaces at a low price.
