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A “large number” of World of Warcraft accounts have become victims of the banhammer

Blizzard bans more World of Warcraft bots

Blizzard have recently taken action against accounts belonging to the joyless weirdos that use bots to avoid actually playing World of Warcraft, resulting in a large wave of bans. 

Community manager Lore revealed the wave of bans on the forums

“We’ve recently taken action against a large number of World of Warcraft accounts that were found to be using third-party programs that automate gameplay, known as ‘bots.’ As a part of this action, we have removed various currencies and inventory from these accounts including, but not limited to, gold, PvP currencies, and gear. The penalty for those identified as repeat offenders has also been increased.”

Rather than a permanent ban, these cheaters have just been given six months on the naughty step. Players have been wondering why the punishment is not more severe when bots and cheats have such a negative impact on the game and are so frustrating for other players.

“Through various studies (conducted both here at Blizzard and by other companies/groups), and by monitoring player behavior,” Lore explains, “we’ve discovered that suspensions are actually more effective than permabans for preventing repeat offenses by the same people.

“There’s some really interesting sociological hocus pocus behind it, but from what I understand, the TLDR is that if a botter gets permabanned, they’ll often just buy a new account and go right back to botting. However, if we only suspend them — meaning, they’ll get their account back later — they’re less likely to buy a new one. Furthermore, once they do get their account back, they’re EXTREMELY unlikely to bot again.”

Does that make sense to you, or do you reckon some Old Testament justice would be better?