Auto Ban theory thread

[starnzl]

Its luck..

I have bots going that gather almost 24/7.. AH every night.. plenty of stacks etc.. never been banned
I have a bot leveling who was banned at 72 .. had hardly any gold on him.. had only used the AH for small things.. just grinding..
I have a bot leveling who has been leveled pretty much exactly the same as the 72.. still going strong.

Its luck (well bad luck)

 

[Anegus]

How long you been grinding same area.
Chat activity.
Combat consitancy(spelling)
Ah/vendor volumes
Time online per account(not per toon)
General interaction behaviour.
Just my opinion, but i do what i can to avoid all the above.

Nah it's something to do with the grinding. It's got too because if it was online time, too many auctions, lack of chats then any gatherbuddy bot would get nailed all the time. They don't.

All the 72 hour bans I've seen around here have been using honorbuddy. This would lead me to believe that it has to do with the grinding process. Perhaps its too long in one area or the vendoring even if it is not the greys. It's got to be something that is different than what a character would do while farming herbs/mines.

Other than that I have no idea...

 

[ski]

Automatic Suspension.

 

[aricias]

think so, Ski? Im curious to see if I get a suspension or not.

 

[Aevitas]

Automatic Suspension.

No it's not, it's a player report. If it were an automatic suspension, how come my rep grinding bots (six of them) and two full time gathering bots which sell thousands of herbs and ores don't get suspended? These are all 24/7 bots and have been running for the past few months.

There is no such thing as an automated suspension system, nor is Blizzard watching mobs as suggested in this thread. They don't care about you botting - at this point in time - they just don't want the experience of other players to be jeopardized. This simply boils down to the only way you can, and will be banned these days is because of a player report.

 

[twolf]

I'd have to say true on player reports. I see people all the time staking out known "bot spots" or "paths" for both GB and HB on my realm. And what i mean is people come to your area or path and watch it(your bot) and also follow it. I've already had a couple of run ins with these people, Funny enough most the time i catch them botting themselves in other places while im on other toons of mine. Though i've also seen some that arent bots scoping out the same areas as public paths/profiles.

Shit even a private one(path/profile) i made just yesterday i caught someone following me and asked wtf their problem was.

 

[xn3t0x]

No it's not, it's a player report. If it were an automatic suspension, how come my rep grinding bots (six of them) and two full time gathering bots which sell thousands of herbs and ores don't get suspended? These are all 24/7 bots and have been running for the past few months.

There is no such thing as an automated suspension system, nor is Blizzard watching mobs as suggested in this thread. They don't care about you botting - at this point in time - they just don't want the experience of other players to be jeopardized. This simply boils down to the only way you can, and will be banned these days is because of a player report.

Actually there is, In the case Blizz vs MDY merc showed some documents that Blizz lawyers showed where they had some auto ban/suspend methods in place.

 

[ski]

No it's not, it's a player report. If it were an automatic suspension, how come my rep grinding bots (six of them) and two full time gathering bots which sell thousands of herbs and ores don't get suspended? These are all 24/7 bots and have been running for the past few months.

There is no such thing as an automated suspension system, nor is Blizzard watching mobs as suggested in this thread. They don't care about you botting - at this point in time - they just don't want the experience of other players to be jeopardized. This simply boils down to the only way you can, and will be banned these days is because of a player report.

You're completely wrong on everything you just said. That's why.

 

[dottzor]

I remember reading somewhere that Blizzard keeps check on certain mobs to see how many times they are killed and by whom... of course this is a theory as well, but maybe your Paladins have all been flagged because they ran the same profile/ have grinded the same areas and set off that red flag for Blizzard/Warden which received you the auto ban?

All theory of course, but this theory could be proved / disproved.

Actually they "keep track" of how much ANY mob has been killed and by whom.
That however has nothing to do with bans, at all.

This is a player report ban.
There aint any Automatic Response bans based on who/what you sell/grind, period.
The only "automatisation" going in is the # of player reports resulting in a ban.

Pay attention to the lack of questionmarks in my post.


Edit:
@Ski
You posting as a moderator kinda makes ppl believe that you have hard evidence on stuff. Its kinda important that you use your influence with a certain amount of restrain unless you have some hard evidence that are very new (as in last month).

Edit #2:
Before I get jumped. There IS automatic bans however that are triggered by the goldflow statistic between accounts.

 

[dottzor]

Actually there is, In the case Blizz vs MDY merc showed some documents that Blizz lawyers showed where they had some auto ban/suspend methods in place.

True, the focus here is the word "HAD" tho.

 

[mrbob2]

So you think Blizzard had a system and just left it and did not improve it over the last 2-3 years? O-o

 

[ski]

Actually they "keep track" of how much ANY mob has been killed and by whom.
That however has nothing to do with bans, at all.

This is a player report ban.
There aint any Automatic Response bans based on who/what you sell/grind, period.
The only "automatisation" going in is the # of player reports resulting in a ban.

Pay attention to the lack of questionmarks in my post.


Edit:
@Ski
You posting as a moderator kinda makes ppl believe that you have hard evidence on stuff. Its kinda important that you use your influence with a certain amount of restrain unless you have some hard evidence that are very new (as in last month).

Edit #2:
Before I get jumped. There IS automatic bans however that are triggered by the goldflow statistic between accounts.

Everyone is allowed to believe what they want, no one here has proof of anything, including yourself. Enough people have tested the automated suspension based on grinding location/mobs/items dropped and confirmed it that I'm confident in it being true, and will continue warning people about it. Player reports do not account for the results we have seen.

I've personally started two characters, same class, same race, same settings, same profiles, on two different servers. Both were suspended within an hour of each other in the same location using a profile that I've gotten suspended on before, which is why I was testing it. Another character leveled using a different profile was not suspended.

There are people out there who watch their bots whenever they are running and know for a fact they weren't reported, who still eat a suspension when they stay too long in one of the areas we think are triggers for automatic suspensions.

We even have correspondence between a user and a Senior GM stating that the user was suspended because of how many mobs he killed in a certain area and that it was automatic, along with an apology and a restoration.

If that isn't enough proof for you, then you don't have to believe it. But don't tell people here definitively that there is no such thing because you don't believe there is. All of this was done within the last two months, when the 72hr bans started ramping up and no one knew why they were happening.

 

[Nomfather]

I like to think of it as one of those rooms with a diamond in the middle, loads of tripwire laser beams.
All different reasons/angles that can get you banned if you get unlucky and hit one.
Make it past those without being seen and you get the end goal.
Seems there are a lot of factors to view when it comes to a ban, many ways to be banned, you just gotta get lucky, but of course being a safe botter helps.
Not saying that you aren't, thats just my view on it.

 

[Mordd]

This is why I loved Pogue so much. IF a player was near, it would stealth and wait till they left. Player reports were almost non existant because when you were not fighting, you were not visible.

I never expected this thread to take off, but I do love the discussion. While we may never know the reason for any bann, it is interesting to hear all the ideas. But why hasnt a former GM come out and said "This is how blizz does it" ?

 

[ski]

This is why I loved Pogue so much. IF a player was near, it would stealth and wait till they left. Player reports were almost non existant because when you were not fighting, you were not visible.

I never expected this thread to take off, but I do love the discussion. While we may never know the reason for any bann, it is interesting to hear all the ideas. But why hasnt a former GM come out and said "This is how blizz does it" ?

Honestly, most of the GM staff probably has no idea. I'm sure stuff like that is kept to Senior GM's or higher, and there aren't enough of those around that one is likely to spill all the secrets (that and Blizzard likely has them sign NDA's and will come down on them).

 

[sykotic]

Those areas that you speak of Ski, can you give us examples of them? Want to make sure my profiles aren't including them. (if they are meant to be kept quiet, can you PM them?)

Thanks,

 

[ski]

Those areas that you speak of Ski, can you give us examples of them? Want to make sure my profiles aren't including them. (if they are meant to be kept quiet, can you PM them?)

Thanks,

Water elementals in ZD have gotten me suspended every time I go near them, as have the undead near chillwind camp in plaguelands, vulture camps in hellfire, dead mire in zangar.

 

[twolf]

Water elementals in ZD have gotten me suspended every time I go near them, as have the undead near chillwind camp in plaguelands, vulture camps in hellfire, dead mire in zangar.

Thanks for this bud, Never been to those to bot and now never will

 

[-tc-]

Problem is there are exceptions to every rule. Some people have gotten away with 24/7 botting for months, while others get banned pre lvl 60. I cant imagine blizzard banning/suspending legit players though, seems like that would cause quite an uproar.

 

[ski]

Problem is there are exceptions to every rule. Some people have gotten away with 24/7 botting for months, while others get banned pre lvl 60. I cant imagine blizzard banning/suspending legit players though, seems like that would cause quite an uproar.

I check the In-Game Support forums occasionally and there is always one or two threads about being banned. Whether or not they are legit is hard to say, but I'm sure a few lazy people have gotten it.