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Blizzard Bans 100,000 Cheaters In Massive "World of Warcraft" Ban Spree
MojoKid writes: Like many MMORPGs, World of Warcraft can be a grind. To sidestep the time commitment required to continually level up a character, gather resources, improve skills, or whatever else is desired, some gamers turn to bots, software that automates the process. The only problem is, Activision Blizzard isn't so keen on this behavior and has dropped the ban hammer hard on gamers who've been using them. Activision Blizzard didn't specify exactly how many people it booted, saying only that it was a "large number of World of Warcraft accounts." However, a screenshot of a conversation between a player, Game Master, and Activision Blizzard employee suggests that over 100,000 World of Warcraft accounts were identified and booted.
Where you're building up the skill level of your character rather than yourself?
Why do some people smoke weed rather than building up themselves? Because it's easier and they're unmotivated. *shrug*
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Are you kidding? These same people will be back again, which means they have to buy all new copies of the game to get a fresh set of keys which is even more revenue for Blizzard. I imagine that a lot of them are accounts to farm and sell gold or other items so it's not as though they're just going to close shop and go elsewhere when there's still a demand for their services. One could argue that there's even more money to be had right now if the number of sellers has seriously decreased so there's a lot of incentive for these people to get back in the game.
Good for the players who got booted, I mean. It's easy to waste large portions of your life playing that type of game. Think of the productivity gain they will experience now that they are not playing a grinding game.
Bots like TinTin++ were the only reason I played old-school MMORPGs AKA MUDs. Programming your character to be successful is a game in itself.
This is the reason why I never played any online games with blizzard.
As an adult, I can't spend the time required to see everything. I have to actually work and sleep.
I agree with them locking out people who cheat while playing online players. I disagree venomously with them locking out non online players for using all codes and hacks to play. They bought the game - if they want to be invulnerable during all phases of the game - then it should be allowed in single play.
It's unfortunate that the major game companies started focusing on metrics and statistics. If they just focused on making good games that were free from bowing to the company their profits would increase.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Less revenue, stronger brand. No one likes a cheater. There is such a thing as a bad customer and you want to get rid of them as quickly as possible.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
It's a time-sink. There's a market for it, and Blizzard (and others) merely capitalize on this. It's really not up to anyone to question what someone else chooses to do with their time. Would you rather he be getting drunk every night at a bar and then driving home? Or hitting on your wife? People need their little things, it's what makes them feel that their life belongs to them.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Define "bad" please? Do come up with the one definition that we can all agree on. Or how about you butt out of people's lives? What difference will your opinion make in 5000 years? If people want to waste their time then more power to them. It's their time to waste, after all. Life is more than slaving away to make someone else rich or staring at a sunset or a flower. What we choose to do (or not do) with our time is what defines us as individuals.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Sports improve your mental and physical health
[citation needed] I can give you plenty of examples where sports have outright killed and injured people. There's no case to be made for sedentarism but there is also mounting evidence against excessive exercise too. As usual the best path is moderation.
while making you more attractive to potential mates.
Yes, because if there is anything the world needs, it's MORE children. Besides, look around you. By your argument only jocks get to breed. I'd say you're mistaken.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted.
Dear Blizzard,
If large number of people want to automate or outsource your game experience, then what you have is not a fun game but a chore.
That depends on what your actual goals are.
If you said, "I want to play WoW and have recreation time, and fuck everything else." then that could be true.
On the other hand, if you had goals for yourself that were impaired by the time or money spent on the game, and now you're wondering why you can't achieve those same goals, then you wasted your time.
You can play WoW in moderation and be fine. No question about it. And I am given to understand, it is much easier to be casual these days to boot.
However, if you look up many disorders, pathological behavior consists of actions done to such an extent or in such a manner as to interfere with the ability of someone to function normally in life, such as making a living, or even eating and sleeping properly. You certainly can play WoW too much, and you certainly can spend too much money on it, via paying for gold outside of the game.
If you're not measuring up to your own yardstick, you're wasting time, and not because someone else told you its wrong, but because you're objectively hurting yourself or preventing yourself from achieving your goals.
I used to be a guild and raid leader on endgame content. I remember more than one teen or college age student that was having problems and spent far too much time playing the game. Of course, I doubt the problem was solely the game, but they certainly used the time to do that, rather than addressing issues that they had.
As you'd expect, I used to play quite a bit myself, but eventually I realized that I simply didn't have enough time to play the game and still do what I wanted to do. It was time to quit. And looking back, I remember having a lot of fun. So, I don't regret it, but I also don't regret putting it down either.
Exactly. Not to mention they were recently selling max level characters for something or other. So it's ok if Blizztard sells you cheats, but not so if a Chinese entrepreneur does the same thing...? Right. At least EVE Online is honest in its own corruption.
100K is a good start - only 7 million to go. Then other mmorpgs might come out from under the shadow of the worst mmo to ever excrete itself onto a finite market.
To think, this drek keeps on going & going, whereas innovative, quality mmos like CoX go under. At least there's the likes of GW2 - B2P - buy once, play forever.
"So it's ok if Blizztard sells you cheats, but not so if a Chinese entrepreneur does the same thing."
You got it! Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Rolex etc have the same policy.
So it's ok if Blizztard sells you cheats, but not so if a Chinese entrepreneur does the same thing...?
Yes, because it's their game and in their interests they don't screw it up. A Chinese entrepreneur didn't develop the game and doesn't care. If Blizzard are screwing up, then feel free to go play somewhere else.
Also..
Blizztard
What are you? Ten years old?
Blizzard allowing you to skip a solo pve grind is very different from a bunch of botters shitting up your battleground and ruining your team pvp experience.