WoW player chat banned after bots mass report them in Season of Discovery

Issues surrounding bots continue to plague players in World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery and some are now being chat banned after those in charge of the bots decided to strike back.

Season of Discovery has undoubtedly been a success for Blizzard, bringing players new and old over to a refreshed version of the Classic formula. New activities, powers, and gear have all been enough to reinvigorate the franchise and restore faith in the direction of World of Warcraft more generally.

As with any game of this size, however, it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing. One of the major issues arrives in the form of bots. These AI-controlled characters have been particularly prevalent as the people behind the bots endeavor to accumulate gold and sell it to players for real-world currency.

Now, one player has reported how they are in the midst of a chat ban after attempting to strike back against the botters.

Messages to bots may have led to ban in Season of Discovery

In a post on Reddit, one user shared how they were mass-reported by bots after they took action to report the accounts they came across.

This is particularly unusual because bots are rarely able to report other players who have reported them because the process is anonymous. After some digging, it emerged that the OP had also messaged the bot accounts to admonish them for their actions, revealing themselves in the process.

It seems the messages may have included expletives or terms Blizzard considers abuse. So, when the bots flagged the account, the developer looked over the chat logs and issued a feature ban.

Many were quick to advise the OP to continue reporting but to do so anonymously. One said: “Either enjoy working around the system as a vigilante (with its risks) or do your part with reporting but don’t engage. If you see a bunch of criminals you don’t go engaging with them telling them you’re calling the cops on them with your phone in hand.”

Another added: “When it comes to bots, NEVER EVER interact with them, don’t speak to them, don’t try f**king with what they’re doing, NOTHING, just report and move on, because they will mass report you, they’re designed to literally mass report anyone who f***s with them.”

Blizzard has banned thousands of bot accounts, but it feels as though they are reappearing just as quickly. With Season of Discovery set to enter Phase Two on February 8, they will aim to reduce the problem’s scale before then.