Botting: Where does the most danger come from?

[MrRobot]

When botting World of Warcraft characters, where does the most danger of getting banned come from?

1. Somebody reporting your character for botlike behavior
2. Software detection (As in does this happen more than once every year or so)
3. Botting for extensive periods of time (As in will a GM notice somebody has been connected for three days in the same area).

I am currently leveling a hunter on another server and have casually botted from 20 to 50. I never AFK bot, and when I bot at night I have an alarm set whenever I receive a whisper so that I can reply. I always bot when I'm working near the computer. I'm still a bit new to all this, and would really like to hear your opinions on the matter.

And for the record, I am using Zolofighter.

[jaysquirrel]

I've tried that Zolofighter for a mage alt. Was pretty crappy, all it would do is use my wand which did like 0 damage.

I think I'll stick to PLAYING the same.

[Verye]

Well, first off, it's not number 3. GMs do not monitor players just because they've been on for a while.

Normally, I'd say number 1, but as you probably know, there was a humongous ban wave of botters (Glider and Innerspace). It appears that Blizzard is getting better and better at automatic bot detection.

But, when the bot makers recover from this ban wave and release new clients, number 1 is your greatest fear.

It only takes one player report for Blizzard to look into your char, and if botting while they examine it, they will ban your account.

So, one inquisitive player can ruin your whole account. That's why you should only bot on low pop servers in zones and areas that are usually empty, and why you should also set up good alerts. That alert that goes off when another player stands next to you for longer than X seconds is good.

Botting unattended is never safe. My opinion is that when you bot, you should always be in the same room or near it, so you can hear any player alerts that go off.

[ghostdini]

^^ Nice advice. (filler)

[lixn3t]

BIG PHAT NUMBER 2

with fries

[Numsu]

Well, first off, it's not number 3. GMs do not monitor players just because they've been on for a while.

That, actually is not true. Many of my mates have tried being online for many days for just fun.. After some time a GM whispered him for his own health that he should go to sleep :b

Or then it just was some guy reporting him for being so mutch "awake".

[Bugmeat]

1.

software detection rarely happens, and when it does it usually is with a patch. So thats why I stop botting for aweek or two after a patch.

[Clovian]

going to have to say 1.

[Lmaoclassic]

Other people reporting is the biggest danger, no doubt. Unless you bot for a stupid amount of time.

[Verye]

That, actually is not true. Many of my mates have tried being online for many days for just fun.. After some time a GM whispered him for his own health that he should go to sleep :b

Or then it just was some guy reporting him for being so mutch "awake".

A. I'm speaking on behalf of WoW US. WoW EU GMs are very different.

B. It's obvious that someone reported him. GMs don't just monitor people who are online for a while.

[mobomelter]

Honestly doesn't most of the software detection happen because people try to bot immediatley after a patch? The guys at glider usually will make a post after a patch with a new version if need be. I'd vote number 1 as it's the most common reason people say they got banned on the Glider forums.