Blue Posts and Other WoW News: They have a plan for MoP, Moon Guard, and bots

There does and there is. There's not anything specific I can share on a time frame as of yet, but things are moving along well with Mists of Pandaria and we'll be getting you all more information on "what's next" as soon as possible. For those that were able to see the next expansion at BlizzCon, you'll have seen that we were relatively far along in development. As we've said before, we're working diligently to put out expansions a little bit quicker than we have in the past. But, as always, we want to make sure we release "when it's ready" as well.

*Note, the plan currently does not entail "filler" as per Dave's comments.

This question has been asked repeatedly. Our answer has never changed.

If you see something inappropriate in trade, or someone violates our harassment or naming policies, report it. We have, in the past, patrolled Moon Guard or other realms where we have received an overwhelming number of reports. However, these initiatives were still related to how many player reports we received.

The bottom line of any harassment/inappropriate actions taking place is that if it is never reported to us, our staff will never know about it or be able to take action. A realm's environment is as good as its community wishes it to be. Inaction on the part of any player is that player's admission that they are okay with that behavior. Reporting it allows us to step in and take appropriate action.

So our stance, like any harassment situation, is that if there is a violation, and it is reported to us, our staff will be happy to investigate and hand out account actions to those that break our rules.

These threads tend to meander onto off-topic territory; as I've already seen evidence of that direction, I'll be locking it

There are many methods of detection in place that work to find those using "botting" programs, as well as the activities that indicate possible automation of play. Those accounts are actions accordingly when found. Sometimes individually and sometimes in a wave.

Please understand that it takes time to figure these exploitative programs out, to develop methods of detection and essentially "break" the program so that it doesn't work with the game or can be found when it is used.

The trick is there are many programs out there that do their best to remain undetected. Those who design these programs are very good at what they do. Such programs also rarely remain the same once found. As soon as we figure one out, they try to figure out how we found it and develop a workaround. It is a constant struggle.

Unfortunately, from an outside perspective it can look like nothing is done, especially given the limited exposure one may have to the ebb and flow of the "botting" cycle. This cycle will often be marked by an increasing numbers of "bots" in Battlegrounds that ramps up over several months. As time goes on, hastened now when properly reported, the ability to detect or break specific programs will be found and many of those accounts will be actioned. After that, matches will once more consist primarily of players who are controlling their own character, for a time. Once the next generation of "botting" methods are developed, it will start over again.

The most effective tool that we have for helping to combat this type of behavior is the non-participation /afk report feature.

http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/battleground-non-participation-account-action

While immediate results may not be seen using this feature, since the methods used to "bot" in a battleground can include a way to remove the non-participation debuff, the data on those reports is gathered by the system and is considered with respect to any future reports.