Ban Theories and Ban Waves

[kettlecorn]

Are they doing this from the very beginning of d3?

yeah but just like any large database, they have this stored somewhere. it's too much there are millions of players and probably trillions of transactions, clicks, etc. going on at any given time. there's only so many humans that work at Blizzard at this sector. The "anti hacking" team is a team of developers and people who have experience in things like logistics, statistics, etc. And they discuss and pass certain rules for spotting and flagging "illegal" activity. The decisions also made higher up need to be approved so that it doesn't have collateral damage like economies tanking. Believe it or not if Blizzard were to just say "fuck it, anyone who plays 24/7 for more the 5 days straight = straight ban" such Kripparian suggests, it would destroy the game and player base more so than it does now.

The theory that blizzard is actively NOT doing anything about botters because they make money could be true. it could also be true that there are just too many botters and too many things to consider to effectively remove it completely at this point without repercussions. Based on what I know, Blizzard spots and finds botting and such through statistics, and matching certain things but they are also very stringent in making these so called "rules" and only flag the most obvious because well, when accounts get flagged they need a human to check and verify and investigate. I believe they have certain algorithms and tiers that are structured so certain habits and patterns are automatic ban, while others are flagged for investigation so the Blizzard computer just doesn't start banning everyone and causing lots of mistakes. At the end of the day, the filter and bottleneck for their process is manpower and human investigation and they are limited in that so that's what you would attribute to "luck" in getting caught or not.

I personally believe you CAN mitigate risk but since no one knows WHAT to do to minimize the risk (vmware, *****, ***, etc.) and how much risk is being reduced, just botting 24/7 with the mentality to bot until you get banned might just bring you more returns, numbers-wise.

 

[kettlecorn]

i call MAD bullshit. the amount of garbage they would of collectd would be redonkulous

i mean, they didn't even have a warden system implemented when the game came out

How is it bullshit? It's not garbage and remember blizzard and activision need to reply to shareholders and as a business, require PROFITS. You see all that data as "redonkulous" but from someone who views it through a business and marketing perspective, that information is to KILL for. Data about gaming habits, demographics, patterns, etc. is not just used for banning. It's used for development and marketing and ultimately making money. Companies pay LARGE amounts of money for market research and user habits. Keeping data on player habits and patterns is a given.

 

[Oink]

hmm seems like ive been hit on one of my accounts no mails on the other accs and im still able to login. Not sure if its a good idea to transfer gear to the mule but i guess ill give it a shot

 

[trapet]

There was an interview with Markee Dragon with Blizzard's antihacking team and they specifically mentioned that every single mouse click, every single keystroke, conversation, etc. is recorded and investigated.

Ultra lol... This is actualy impossible unless they have 300k employees.

 

[kettlecorn]

Ultra lol... This is actualy impossible unless they have 300k employees.

are you under the impression that there are tiny elves literally writing down every keystroke? it's all automated via logging. DB takes logs of major actions and it takes up no space.

You're naive if you think a company like blizzard doesnt have the computing resources or will power to collect data on its users. Proof: just look at call of duty. they log EVERY SINGLE action taken place. it even says right on the loading screen, how many grenades were thrown, how many people have been killed, how many people killed by attack dogs, etc. Data accumulation requires nothing but a program.

 

[trapet]

are you under the impression that there are tiny elves literally writing down every keystroke? it's all automated via logging. DB takes logs of major actions and it takes up no space.

You're naive if you think a company like blizzard doesnt have the computing resources or will power to collect data on its users. Proof: just look at call of duty. they log EVERY SINGLE action taken place. it even says right on the loading screen, how many grenades were thrown, how many people have been killed, how many people killed by attack dogs, etc. Data accumulation requires nothing but a program.

Well, yes ofc they must have tons of logs and also automated parsers with pattern matching to process them. But saying that they investigate every single human conversation is at least not accurate... it is something that nowadays NO COMPUTER AT ALL can do. The thing about pattern matching makes me think about how deep can they go, I mean, if you use X profile, your toon is walking thorugh the same points over and over again, ofc the exact route is NEVER equal because it kills enemies, pursues goblins and picks up loot, BUT same "checkpoints", the ones stated in the xml are approached every run (precission attribute helps though). Are they able to find this route-pattern?

 

[stephanoro]

I dont think 24/07 might really get banned , here is my theory , things that might get you banned:

1: Long time without supervising the bot , long time playing with inactivity on chat
2:TALKING ABOUT BOTTING ON CHAT , FRIENDS ON DIABLO 3 ETC.(obvious)
3:Having multiple accounts , and running a good ammount of instances of diablo 3 at the same time from the same ip.(pretty obvious you'll get banned from that)
4:Using AH bots , too much loaded exploits Autoits etc(Obvious)
5:Making godly profit on AH , you didnt do it , and suddenly you start doing it.

....

My theories on not getting banned:

1: Dont do any of the statements above of course
2: Bot normally around around 15 to 20 hours a day even 24/07 take some time to socialize
3: Take some time to do uber runs by yourself , with friends... etc. key runs...

Following this advices and taking care you'll not get banned.


Thats all i can say , good luck

 

[Arkonitez]

Ultra lol... This is actualy impossible unless they have 300k employees.

It's impossible if they actually plan on going through every iota of it. The logging and storage of it is more than possible.

I work for an isp, on the cellular side. We log EVERYTHING. I can't remember the exact number, but it's around 10-25TB per hour of data processed. We can search it. We usually don't without reason, because it's not very pleasant to do.

 

[kettlecorn]

It's impossible if they actually plan on going through every iota of it. The logging and storage of it is more than possible.

I work for an isp, on the cellular side. We log EVERYTHING. I can't remember the exact number, but it's around 10-25TB per hour of data processed. We can search it. We usually don't without reason, because it's not very pleasant to do.

Yeah i believe they log everything but I dont think they investigate it all. That'd be impossible. however their algorithms and computers and anti hacking rules must be set up so they are much easier to categorize. If I were blizzard I might implement certain rules and tiers that have stronger flags than overs and after having enough red flags, THEN have a person look thru the account. Otherwise it's not worth the manpower and effort. That's why I believe you CAN get tallies that make your account stand out more. But no one knows what those rules are so who knows. Programs and things like that probably arent a factor but more gaming habits and patterns. Not actual technical mouse click or movement patterns, I'm talking behavioral patterns. I dont believe they inspect every micro mouse click to see if it's a bot running the game. That'd be way to resource and time consuming. But like everyone knows, things like if you're running Sarkaroth 24/7 and that's it, or you're hitting a certain gold limit on a character made within 10 days or something, it would draw flags. Enough flags would get a human inspection. And upon inspection, ban. That's my theory. Could be wrong. but just based on what i know so far.

 

[rgod14]

I dont think 24/07 might really get banned , here is my theory , things that might get you banned:

1: Long time without supervising the bot , long time playing with inactivity on chat
2:TALKING ABOUT BOTTING ON CHAT , FRIENDS ON DIABLO 3 ETC.(obvious)
3:Having multiple accounts , and running a good ammount of instances of diablo 3 at the same time from the same ip.(pretty obvious you'll get banned from that)
4:Using AH bots , too much loaded exploits Autoits etc(Obvious)
5:Making godly profit on AH , you didnt do it , and suddenly you start doing it.

Posting the same thing I posted in the other thread you posted this.

1. Most of my bots haven't typed a single thing in chat.
2. I actually had a so called friend on my list who kept whispering me about botting. He even had the balls to whisper over and over "XXXXX has made $XXX from botting!". Luckily, I was online when he did that shit and removed him promptly. That was over 3 months ago now.
3. All my bots run on the same IP, no VMWARE and no other means of changing IP, Hardware ID, etc...
4. I actually used an AH bot for 2 weeks before discovering DB.
5. Definitely have done that.

I'm not trying to disprove you per se. I just wanted to let you know that all those things have happened/been done on my accounts and I'm still kicking strong.

However, I'm still against 24/7 botting. I still think 16 - 18 hrs a day is more than enough. If at some point I do get banned I would probably just go to a 24/7 model but I have a few Plvl 100 bots now and I don't want to sacrifice how careful I've been with them. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong; and I can live with it.

 

[stephanoro]

I see your point of view , the thing is , im showing my per se based on logical thinking , not on experiences... I see your still kicking strong but for how long? im not here to go against your experiencies or your theories ,im just stating my point of view based on my logical thinking, but hear my advice , if yu keep like this you're not gonna last long , really , and one more thing You dont have to proove blizzard how do you play 24/07 , THEY have to proove you're botting , they cant ban you based on play time , only on concrete evidences of game exploiting , after all you paid top dollar for the game and they wont really ban you for playing 24/07 playing too much in a single ip adress is not a big deal , but having a couple accounts and chars multi clienting on a same ip adress for about 18 hours day each account on a computer is humanly impossible , think about it , you gonna get caught sooner or later

 

[darthtater]

I see your point of view , the thing is , im showing my per se based on logical thinking , not on experiences... I see your still kicking strong but for how long? im not here to go against your experiencies or your theories ,im just stating my point of view based on my logical thinking, but hear my advice , if yu keep like this you're not gonna last long , really , and one more thing You dont have to proove blizzard how do you play 24/07 , THEY have to proove you're botting , they cant ban you based on play time , only on concrete evidences of game exploiting , after all you paid top dollar for the game and they wont really ban you for playing 24/07 playing too much in a single ip adress is not a big deal , but having a couple accounts and chars multi clienting on a same ip adress for about 18 hours day each account on a computer is humanly impossible , think about it , you gonna get caught sooner or later

You're misunderstanding what botting 24/7 is indicative of. No one can bot for 160 hours naturally. You have to pee, sleep eventually eat etc. I would bet that anyone playing more than 24 hours straight through would be a bot.

 

[LargeInt]

You're misunderstanding what botting 24/7 is indicative of. No one can bot for 160 hours naturally. You have to pee, sleep eventually eat etc. I would bet that anyone playing more than 24 hours straight through would be a bot.

Or two people trading off on one character.

THEY have to proove you're botting , they cant ban you based on play time , only on concrete evidences of game exploiting

Wrong. Blizz can ban you for whatever reason they feel like. They could ban you just for the "lulz" if they wanted.

 

[myri4d]

Wrong. Blizz can ban you for whatever reason they feel like. They could ban you just for the "lulz" if they wanted.

I think billion dollar companies have better business strategy than to let the underlings ban customers for the lulz...

What suprises me is the lack of whistle blowing by people who work for them, ex-employees seen to be tight lipped on warden stuff..maybe they pay whoever works on that /very/ well..

 

[olaf4uduh]

I think billion dollar companies have better business strategy than to let the underlings ban customers for the lulz...

What suprises me is the lack of whistle blowing by people who work for them, ex-employees seen to be tight lipped on warden stuff..maybe they pay whoever works on that /very/ well..

more likely signed non-disclosure agreements applying during employment and even after termination.

 

[buddybud]

even with signing something like this there would be a leak... like everywhere else
unless its some goverment agency like cia or fbi or w/e doing some monitoring or reasearches thru gaming industry there will be leaks..

 

[LargeInt]

I think billion dollar companies have better business strategy than to let the underlings ban customers for the lulz...

What suprises me is the lack of whistle blowing by people who work for them, ex-employees seen to be tight lipped on warden stuff..maybe they pay whoever works on that /very/ well..

Well, I didn't say they would ban for that reason...just that they could. They CAN ban for whatever reason they want to. They obviously try to have a reason before they ban, but they do not have to prove it.

even with signing something like this there would be a leak... like everywhere else
unless its some goverment agency like cia or fbi or w/e doing some monitoring or reasearches thru gaming industry there will be leaks..

I am guessing that most of the higher end programmers that developed Warden are still working for Blizz, or another high end company. They have no real reason to release any info about it, and a very good reason not to. If they got caught, not only would the NDA (that they most likely had to sign) land them in legal trouble, but they also would have a very, very difficult time finding employment in the future. No company wants to hire a programmer that is willing to release information about a program that the company wants hidden.

 

[buddybud]

Well, I didn't say they would ban for that reason...just that they could. They CAN ban for whatever reason they want to. They obviously try to have a reason before they ban, but they do not have to prove it.



I am guessing that most of the higher end programmers that developed Warden are still working for Blizz, or another high end company. They have no real reason to release any info about it, and a very good reason not to. If they got caught, not only would the NDA (that they most likely had to sign) land them in legal trouble, but they also would have a very, very difficult time finding employment in the future. No company wants to hire a programmer that is willing to release information about a program that the company wants hidden.

how do you watch movies before they even get to the cinema?

 

[Randar]

guys, is that usual ban wave or something special?

 

[kupaloids23]

guys, is that usual ban wave or something special?

What special? is there something special about the banwave that is happening now? Geez...