To Macro, or not to Macro?
by Mike D'Anna 
Mar 15th 2006 at 4:00PM
There's a very interesting story over at this website that our faithful reader DireSandMan pointed us to; it is written
by a former WoW player, who has had his account closed by Blizzard for violating the TOS; ostensibly for macroing.The story isn't that simple, though. Apparently, he was playing WoW on Linux, using WINE, and was using a programmable keyboard, as well. He programmed a few shortcuts into his keyboard (which is advertised by it's manufacturer as being able to make one's WoW gaming more efficient), and spent a day trying to raise his weapon skills by fighting low-level monsters, using the programmed macros. Blizzard spotted this & apparently assumed the macros must be coming from an unattended account using a third-party macroing program, and consequently banned his account.
This is a tricky situation, the way I see it, as I'm not a fan of macros & shortcuts (or anything that gives one player an advantage over another) in any form. The argument can be made that what he did wasn't technically the same as unattended macroing, but it still sounds like an iffy situation to me, at best. In any case, his appeals have fallen on deaf ears thus far.
What do you guys think of this? Is it cheating? is it not? Is it a TOS violation? Is it ok to use macros in this way...or at all? Inquiring minds...
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wade Mar 15th 2006 4:56PM
So would special accessibility software developed for people who have difficulty using a keyboard due to injury or loss of limb violate the ToS? In many cases, the software allows you to remap keys, create macros for common keystrokes, etc.
sproket Mar 15th 2006 5:09PM
I read that guy's emails to blizz and his whole situation.
Honestly. It's blizzard's fault for making game mechanics that are so boring that people find they need to write macros to skill up their weapons so they can do something else more interesting.
I belive him that he may have missed messages that were sent to him in game because he was just watching tv and pressing a key on the computer to the side. I've gone through molten core before while watching tv, and hardly had to look at the screen ever. That is how mind numbingly repetitive and unchallenging parts of the game are.
Granted we tough out the garbage parts of the game to enjoy the rest, but still... Blizzard drives people to it.
What good is skilling up weapons if it is such a tedious practice that it drives people to such lengths.
I would find a bot that hunts and loots and plays by itself pretty lame. But what this guy was doing was harmless.
It's also despicable that given his emails, and explainations they didn't just let him off with a warning.
elizabeth Mar 15th 2006 5:14PM
Blizzard has a bit of anti-cheating code that runs on any system running World of Warcraft - it's called Warden, and it made a big splash when it was initially noticed, because people believed it could be used to collect personal data and send it back to Blizzard. Warden is always running while you're adventuring in Azeroth, and it looks for external applications that attempt to interact with Warcraft's code. (Macros and UI add-ons do not fall into this catagory - they are run from within the Warcraft application, and are not stand-alone applications.) I can understand how a client-side application that mapped keys to specific in-game actions could set off alarm bells for Warden, and that is my honest guess as to the root of the problem here.
Whether something this benign is really against the terms of service is difficult to say. None of us want cheaters in the game, and allowing external executables to interact with the game potentially opens that door. I'd guess it's much easier to outright ban accounts they see doing such things than to in-depth analyize each situation and determine exactly what was occuring (assuming they even have sufficient data to do so).
wowreader Mar 15th 2006 6:16PM
If you do something that cannot be done through the built-in LUA scripting/macro system then you are in violation of the ToS.
If you are using exploits that were not intended in said scription/macro system then you are also in violation of the ToS.
And in response to:
"Honestly. It's blizzard's fault for making game mechanics that are so boring that people find they need to write macros to skill up their weapons so they can do something else more interesting."
Just because you are starving to death doesn't make it anymore right to steal.
PickyPants Mar 15th 2006 7:41PM
Yikes wowreader. You sound like a republican =p
sproket Mar 15th 2006 11:40PM
"Just because you are starving to death doesn't make it anymore right to steal."
But when people are starving to death is it wrong to hold food just out of their reach?
Grendalsh Mar 16th 2006 12:01AM
So riddle me this..
If I'm using a device besides the keyboard and mouse, (i.e. the Nostromo N52) and I can assign commands to it's keys, which when I press them, spits out a STRING of keystrokes.. i.e. "/dance".. Have I just broken the TOS? after all, did I not just use a client-side macro? Should I now have my account outright banned?
WoWreader, get over youself.
wowreader Mar 16th 2006 12:39AM
Riddle accepted!
Of course you shouldn't get banned for sending out the "/dance" command every once in awhile through your programmable keyboard. But you and I know that you can take your programmable keyboard too far.
Unapproved 3rd party applications is stated "A third party program is any file or program that is not a part of the World of Warcraft software, but is used to gain an advantage in the game"
The banned person states that:
"Now to the advantage gained. What exactly did I gain? All I did is train my weapon skills. I did not gain any gold, did not gain any experience at level 60, no honor, not even any loot whatsoever. "
He just spelled out what he gained: weapon skill. A gain is a gain.
Yes, in my opinion it was kind of harsh to have him banned. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything. I just like playing the bad-cop once in a while.
Enjoy :)
pulsedrive Mar 16th 2006 8:04AM
Ok, WoWreader, so why did the blues officially post that the macro keys on the Logitech G15 keyboard are ok to use in WoW is this is against the TOS? hmmmm?
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-tech-support&t=747615&tmp=1#post747615
L'Emmerdeur Mar 16th 2006 9:59AM
Wowreader, you must have extensive experience with starvation to make such an authoritative statement.
I love how so many self-righteous fatass Americans donate $20 to the Red Cross, and somehow think that makes them experts on concepts like hunger and poverty.
As for Blizzard's statement "A third party program is any file or program that is not a part of the World of Warcraft software, but is used to gain an advantage in the game", it is deliberately vague. This allows them to designate any addon as banned at any time.
I also like how people with toons that don't have dispell/decurse/heal functions are always so self-righteous about banning mods that help healers keep them alive while they do their thing. Filthy rogues whining about not getting healed, and in the same breath pontificating on the evils of Decursive.
boneyard Mar 16th 2006 10:11AM
you always have to be doubtful about these stories, it wouldn't be the first time someone leaves something out. it's a grey area for sure and it's a bad show from blizzard if they indeed don't give more info to the banned person.
Mat Mar 16th 2006 11:22AM
L'Emmerdeur, your comment about fat americans is just as harsh as wowreaders judgement. That's pretty not cool :(
I think we should be allowed to macro, but they should set some kind of limitation or be more distinct on what the limitation is on strings of them.
Nightfall Mar 16th 2006 7:59PM
#9 - Thank god you mentioned that quote from the forums. I was planning on purchasing the G15 in the near future and was starting to get a little worried.
Matthew Mar 18th 2006 4:45AM
Wow, what ignorance. Shame on this site for not reporting the whole news.
If you actually read what happened, he wasnt actually playing WoW, he was on his other computer doing something else and spamming a keyboard macro that he setup on the PC that was playing WoW.
I'm sorry, if you're not actually at your computer playing WoW, you should be banned for using any form of macro.
PayTheMan Mar 18th 2006 2:31PM
Except that the fact that if Blizzard thought the player to be "macroing" they would have contacted him in-game and asked some stupid question to make sure he wasn't.
Reza May 3rd 2006 7:11AM
I dont think he should get banned without a warning atleast. Ofcourse if you are doing a hack like the DM hack it should be bann for life but in this case atleast a warning should be given. Not that i think it is needed in this case anyway.
I mean Blizz has enabled the macroing so why give people a tool and then say no you can not use it?
I personally do not like macros since in can benefit some people aloooot more then others if you are good at it but still it is not the point. If you have something added to the game people will use it so shame Blizz for banning its customers.