An update on how things are going in the fight against bots, after their post in December.
Quote from BlizzardThroughout last year, we shared several updates with you about our ongoing fight against unauthorized bots in Hearthstone. This year, we plan to keep the fight, and the updates, coming.
Yesterday, we dropped the largest banhammer the Tavern has ever seen, several times the size of our previous banwaves. Over 135,000 accounts were actioned—targeting bot accounts that real players are most likely to run into on the ladder.
In addition to this latest action, we actioned about 60,000 accounts throughout the month of January for botting. We also banned some bad actors who were using malicious third-party software to cheat in Heroic Duels.
We remain committed to ejecting these disorderly patrons from our friendly tavern and we’re going to keep taking these types of actions throughout the year and beyond.
We’ll see you (real players) in the tavern! And if you think about botting, we’ll see you, too.
I've reported probably 50-75 minimum bots over the last few months, mostly Even Shaman and Pirate Rogue at D5 in Wild. I ran into one Secret Mage bot as well, I believe. I've actually had to change my decks slightly to account for the difference in matchups (good thing!)
Now to remove the patented ranking algorithm that punishes you for trying new decks.
Lets remove the mech pictured in this posts thumbnail :D
Admirable effort but I cannot understand why they just don't ban the accounts that have been reported, instead of mass banning them whenever they feel like it. I have been reporting the same bot accounts for literal months to the point where I know them all by name and they still queue up against me
I actually heard about this, but I think it was a post from Runescape. The issue they have with doing it one at a time is that, the botters can learn from which bots are targeted. If they are running multiple bots, or just post about it on their botting forums, folks can use that information to improve the bots and/or realize that they need to start using different bots to accomplish their goals. This means more bots that are better at evading current detection methods.
Whereas, if you do a single ban-wave all at once, it can be a lot harder for the botters to determine what gave them away, meaning a slower reaction time to getting it working again. They may have several different types of bots all get taken out at once too, cutting of their income source, where if it was a one at a time, they could always modify all versions of the bot to better evade detection.
It sucks in the short term, but there are long term reasons for doing it that way. And yes, reporting does help, but I'm sure they have to go through a number of accounts daily where someone is just reporting to report, or there are issues with internet, or even just playstyle that makes it seem like a bot when it really isn't.
Very informative, thank you. Makes a lot of sense.
The other aspect that people forget is that this a full on business for the bot distributors. Like, many of them even have support emails and actually try to do right by their customers. Banning all of them at once doesn't just mean they're not getting sales until they get a new one spun up. It also means they're getting slammed with complaints from angry customers. Refund requests, credit card charge backs which the banks then charge THEM for, etc.
And again, business, not a side hustle or hobby. So now their livelihood is on the line and how they feed their family. Not that I feel bad for them. Fuck em. They made a choice. But suddenly they have all the anxiety that comes with that being threatened.
It's much more disruptive to their ability to distribute bots when they have to deal with everything all at once.
dumb question whats point of bots in HS? do people sell their accounts eventually? I am not asking about real people who might do it for easy gold, im talking about those being hit with the ban waves that actually just bot and nothing else
The state of Wild with Even Shaman and Pirate Rogue is just upsetting , you're stuck from Diamond 5 to Legend trying to pass them
Botting accounts are sold for money. They sell accounts with a certain amount of gold and packs for money. From what I've read, it's fairly popular in China. Since registering accounts is free, it's an easy way to make money with an automated process. Aggro decks require little to no strategy to win so can be easily handled with A.I.
Although I agree with your statement about aggro decks, the truth is even dumber than that. They use basic cards and create decks that are not going to win in a million years but that doesn't matter because Hearthstone rewards you for playing, so they will earn XP and make gold anyway. There are obviously pirate rogue and aggro druid bots that have really annoying decks that you can actually lose against but most of ladder is filled with the ones that use basic cards
I’ve seen bots all the way in platinum and have myself lost to bots.
Yeay!
Kill all that Even Shaman Bots in Wild!
Me too! I hope hearthstone becomes really good this year
You must not play much then, I've seen a bot every 3-4 games
bots usually don't sit long at lower ELO
"And if you think about botting, we’ll see you, too."
That is a pretty Chad quote if you ask me.
It's a real problem that when people see certain behaviour they start thinking "why shouldn't I do that too?", this is just Blizzard's way of saying "don't even think about it, or your account is gone."
Cause it's fine for the "professional" bots that most of this ban wave consists of, they don't stand to lose anything of value to them. But for Jimmy the Home Botter, who saw some bots and thought he'd use a bot for some easy gold on the reward track, and then loses his account he spent years pouring time and money into, is where it gets tragic. Cause Blizzard doesn't want people like that to end up with their account banned.