http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topi cId=47160852&sid=1
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Why you were banned...
This post is a discussion on why I believe a lot of people were banned, including my partner. There has been a lot of discussion on this lately with theories ranging from 'It is Auctioneer' to 'Your Banning Linux Users'. I have to admit I was a fan of the latter, posts from blues and from Transgaming (Cedega) suggest that this is an overly simplistic view.
My goal is to establish a most plausible reason for the recent bannings, not to incite argument, but to provide some explanation of what has happened by the simple application of Logic. In the absence of any information from blizzard this is all we have, I seriously doubt I will get it all correct and suspect a few of you can provide additional information beyond the inevitable "you're a cheat, LRN2PLAYNOOB" posts which will follow.
How can you identify 'cheats'...
This is a pertinent question. How, in a system like World of Warcraft can you implement a mechanism to identify Cheats.
You could implement an 'Agent' to find occurrences of known hacks and packages, which has clearly been done in the past. This is too simplistic as there will be a continual race between the cheat authors (i.e. glider) and blizzard to lock these programs out.
Or
You could establish a system where you check for 'patterns' of use. This would be a more complex solution, in the long run these types of solutions yield better results, in the short term there is a *lot* of training and fine tuning required to get it right. This is synonymous with anti-spam software like SpamAssassin.
In my opinion based on a long career in the IT industry, I suspect blizzard have implemented the second option and the 'Warden' program is simply one of the tools used to identify these patterns.
Pattern Matching
If you consider a pattern matching solution (lets call it the CheatAssassin) it is necessary to establish a checklist of habits that a cheat would be likely to exhibit.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, it has been provided as an example of what a theoretical 'CheatAssassin' would do and is restricted to behaviors that could be easily identified through the server logs.
Gold Farmers:
1. Likely to spend inordinate amounts of time grinding on relatively low level mobs for gold.
2. Would in all probability hold an unusually large amount of gold for the level.
3. More likely to sell any blues and purples on the AH, even items better than they currently hold.
4. May run certain mods. (i.e. Auctioneer, Bottomfeeder)
Bots:
5. Likely to spend inordinate amounts of time grinding on relatively low level mobs.
6. Likely to be wearing a very low level gear for the level of the character.
7. Likely to be lagging, or too advanced in associated stats (trade skills).
8. May spend time walking into walls, trees etc.
9. May exhibit the same patters identified for Gold Farmers.
10. Will use the same spells, command sequences, and behaviours.
11. Would not respond to a 'prompt' or a/whisper.
Other 'suspicious' activities:
12. Runs on a non-standard platform or in a restricted environment. (ie Cedega).
13. Other installed applications (i.e. Wow Model Viewer, debuggers etc).
14. Large gold transfers.
15. IP Address changes (in US one day, China the next)
How pattern matching works...
First, you would establish a mechanism for identifying the required patterns, this can be easily done via the warden, Log file parsing and data mining on the servers.
Second, you would then attribute a 'Weighting' to each of the suspect patterns.
For example:
1. Spending inordinate amounts of time grinding on relatively low level mobs for gold 50 Points.
2. Running on a non-standard platform or in a restricted environment 20 Points.
3. Likely to be lagging, or too advanced in associated stats (trade skills) 5 Points.
4. May run certain mods. (i.e. Auctioneer, Bottom Feeder) 5 Points.
You were caught running a highly efficient, highly secure, highly robust operating system - namely Linux.
In our (Blizzards) opinion this would provide an advantage over other players. In addition, use of this software can lead to exploitation and destabilization of the World of Warcraft server economy. As such, this account has been closed and will not be reopened under any circumstances. The recurring subscription on the account has been disabled to prevent further charges.
So in your mind we are all 'Guilty', with no possibility of Blizzard having made a mistake ?
I'm not sure what is worse, Blizzards actions or the moronic 'You must have cheated' messages.
What's the point - you wouldn't believe it anyway. I hope your next.
Well the cover up is underway. All posts on the subject are being systematically removed from the blizzard forums and no notice has yet to be received for the banned accounts. Those of you who state 'you must have been guilty' are speaking from ignorance - how would you feel if it happened to you ?
The position of 'Guilty Period' with no right of appeal or representation is reprehensible. An appropriate response would have been a warning or temporary suspension first, and a ban on a repeated offense. There can be no doubt an error has been made, Yes - a number of cheats will have been caught, and a lot of innocent people have been accused and penalised as well.
I always understood the American legal system had a policy of 'Innocent until proven Guilty'. This is most certainly the case here in Australia, There is the matter of 'Burden of Proof' in this matter that must be attended to, Blizzard can not waive consumer rights (at least, they can not waive consumer rights in Australia).
I have been a good customer since release. I have never 'cheated', but I may as well have and saved myself a lot of time. That is the lesson Bizzard are teaching here - you may as well cheat cause we're gonna ban your account anyway.
My $0.02.
Slashdot Mirror
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topi cId=47160852&sid=1 --- Why you were banned... This post is a discussion on why I believe a lot of people were banned, including my partner. There has been a lot of discussion on this lately with theories ranging from 'It is Auctioneer' to 'Your Banning Linux Users'. I have to admit I was a fan of the latter, posts from blues and from Transgaming (Cedega) suggest that this is an overly simplistic view. My goal is to establish a most plausible reason for the recent bannings, not to incite argument, but to provide some explanation of what has happened by the simple application of Logic. In the absence of any information from blizzard this is all we have, I seriously doubt I will get it all correct and suspect a few of you can provide additional information beyond the inevitable "you're a cheat, LRN2PLAYNOOB" posts which will follow. How can you identify 'cheats'... This is a pertinent question. How, in a system like World of Warcraft can you implement a mechanism to identify Cheats. You could implement an 'Agent' to find occurrences of known hacks and packages, which has clearly been done in the past. This is too simplistic as there will be a continual race between the cheat authors (i.e. glider) and blizzard to lock these programs out. Or You could establish a system where you check for 'patterns' of use. This would be a more complex solution, in the long run these types of solutions yield better results, in the short term there is a *lot* of training and fine tuning required to get it right. This is synonymous with anti-spam software like SpamAssassin. In my opinion based on a long career in the IT industry, I suspect blizzard have implemented the second option and the 'Warden' program is simply one of the tools used to identify these patterns. Pattern Matching If you consider a pattern matching solution (lets call it the CheatAssassin) it is necessary to establish a checklist of habits that a cheat would be likely to exhibit. This is by no means a comprehensive list, it has been provided as an example of what a theoretical 'CheatAssassin' would do and is restricted to behaviors that could be easily identified through the server logs. Gold Farmers: 1. Likely to spend inordinate amounts of time grinding on relatively low level mobs for gold. 2. Would in all probability hold an unusually large amount of gold for the level. 3. More likely to sell any blues and purples on the AH, even items better than they currently hold. 4. May run certain mods. (i.e. Auctioneer, Bottomfeeder) Bots: 5. Likely to spend inordinate amounts of time grinding on relatively low level mobs. 6. Likely to be wearing a very low level gear for the level of the character. 7. Likely to be lagging, or too advanced in associated stats (trade skills). 8. May spend time walking into walls, trees etc. 9. May exhibit the same patters identified for Gold Farmers. 10. Will use the same spells, command sequences, and behaviours. 11. Would not respond to a 'prompt' or a /whisper.
Other 'suspicious' activities:
12. Runs on a non-standard platform or in a restricted environment. (ie Cedega).
13. Other installed applications (i.e. Wow Model Viewer, debuggers etc).
14. Large gold transfers.
15. IP Address changes (in US one day, China the next)
How pattern matching works...
First, you would establish a mechanism for identifying the required patterns, this can be easily done via the warden, Log file parsing and data mining on the servers.
Second, you would then attribute a 'Weighting' to each of the suspect patterns.
For example:
1. Spending inordinate amounts of time grinding on relatively low level mobs for gold 50 Points.
2. Running on a non-standard platform or in a restricted environment 20 Points.
3. Likely to be lagging, or too advanced in associated stats (trade skills) 5 Points.
4. May run certain mods. (i.e. Auctioneer, Bottom Feeder) 5 Points.
You were caught running a highly efficient, highly secure, highly robust operating system - namely Linux. In our (Blizzards) opinion this would provide an advantage over other players. In addition, use of this software can lead to exploitation and destabilization of the World of Warcraft server economy. As such, this account has been closed and will not be reopened under any circumstances. The recurring subscription on the account has been disabled to prevent further charges.
So in your mind we are all 'Guilty', with no possibility of Blizzard having made a mistake ? I'm not sure what is worse, Blizzards actions or the moronic 'You must have cheated' messages. What's the point - you wouldn't believe it anyway. I hope your next.
Well the cover up is underway. All posts on the subject are being systematically removed from the blizzard forums and no notice has yet to be received for the banned accounts. Those of you who state 'you must have been guilty' are speaking from ignorance - how would you feel if it happened to you ? The position of 'Guilty Period' with no right of appeal or representation is reprehensible. An appropriate response would have been a warning or temporary suspension first, and a ban on a repeated offense. There can be no doubt an error has been made, Yes - a number of cheats will have been caught, and a lot of innocent people have been accused and penalised as well. I always understood the American legal system had a policy of 'Innocent until proven Guilty'. This is most certainly the case here in Australia, There is the matter of 'Burden of Proof' in this matter that must be attended to, Blizzard can not waive consumer rights (at least, they can not waive consumer rights in Australia). I have been a good customer since release. I have never 'cheated', but I may as well have and saved myself a lot of time. That is the lesson Bizzard are teaching here - you may as well cheat cause we're gonna ban your account anyway. My $0.02.