Blocking illegal accounts in China

[BM13_KatyushaEU]

https://wowsgame.cn/zh-cn/news/announcement/anti_bot_ban_202301/

Much stronger than the EU's seizure

At least they face the problem bravely,
I believe there is cheating in EU, just as I believe there are other life in the universe

Without inspection, we will never find problems and deceive ourselves.

 

[ColonelPete]

16 minutes ago, BM13_KatyushaEU said:

https://wowsgame.cn/zh-cn/news/announcement/anti_bot_ban_202301/

Much stronger than the EU's seizure

 

And how did you come to that conclusion?

[triumphgt6]

908 people suspended! Never been aware of anyone cheating when playing against me. Have been accused a couple of times but that is, as we know, a compliment!

[lafeel]

1 hour ago, BM13_KatyushaEU said:

https://wowsgame.cn/zh-cn/news/announcement/anti_bot_ban_202301/

Much stronger than the EU's seizure

 

Or maybe, just maybe cheating is more prevalent in  China?

[NewHorizons_1]

7 hours ago, triumphgt6 said:

908 people suspended! Never been aware of anyone cheating when playing against me

Only example of mass botting I'm aware of on the EU server was in co-op with the infamous [CLAWS] bot clan.

The bots were so badly coded it was really obvious when you observed your so-called team mate's behaviour.

Several players noticed this, and the suspicious member transfers, and called this clan out in the A co-op only clan thread.

After much persuasion by players that clan stopped appearing in matches, so it's assumed WG EU closed it down.

However, I don't recall any statement (about [CLAWS]) being made by WG - closest was a CM saying he wished they could shut the clan down.

So such accounts could be being blocked over here too - the only difference between the ASIA and EU server is one has a policy to announce bans while the other does not.

[Benaulim]

While [CLAWS] is in hibernation I could easily name dozens of accounts notoriously botting in coop since years. Some of them in the very same two clans. Usually following the pattern of using a sturdy vessel with strong secondaries, sailing towards the very center of the map and never using main guns. Apparently in other modes humans are steering their ships (results way above average) and on very rare occasions even in coop.

[MementoMori_6030]

Vor 33 Minuten, Benaulim sagte:

While [CLAWS] is in hibernation I could easily name dozens of accounts notoriously botting in coop since years. Some of them in the very same two clans. Usually following the pattern of using a sturdy vessel with strong secondaries, sailing towards the very center of the map and never using main guns. Apparently in other modes humans are steering their ships (results way above average) and on very rare occasions even in coop.

True. Like the notorious botting dude who has yet to discover his main guns... 

[NewHorizons_1]

57 minutes ago, MementoMori_6030 said:

True. Like the notorious botting dude who has yet to discover his main guns... 

 

1 hour ago, Benaulim said:

I could easily name dozens of accounts notoriously botting in coop since years. Some of them in the very same two clans. Usually following the pattern of using a sturdy vessel with strong secondaries, sailing towards the very center of the map and never using main guns

Bizarre thing is I started to report one of those (because they DID play poorly) and they reported me in return - every time.

I stopped reporting them and then they stopped reporting me.

 

So I'm not entire sure those Pommern potatoes are actually bots.

One even said something in chat once - and still potatoed in that same predictable way.

So it wasn't like the account (usually played by a bot) was now being used by a vaguely sentient (and capable) human.

[lup3s]

It doesn't matter (really) how bad some bot programs are, some players are even worse

[NewHorizons_1]

On 1/30/2023 at 7:34 AM, MementoMori_6030 said:

True. Like the notorious botting dude who has yet to discover his main guns... 

... and that very same guy has just whaled the dockyard ... with predictable results.

 

[Montrala]

30.01.2023 o 07:55, Benaulim napisał:

Usually following the pattern of using a sturdy vessel with strong secondaries, sailing towards the very center of the map and never using main guns.

 

That's me, when there was a mission for secondary hits, but strongest ships with secondaries that I had at this time were ARP Kongos

[NewHorizons_1]

47 minutes ago, Montrala said:

That's me, when there was a mission for secondary hits, but strongest ships with secondaries that I had at this time were ARP Kongos

To be fair, before I had many BBs with half-decent secondaries I'd do most of those missions by taking the one that did, Scharnhorst, into co-op.

1. Focus the secondaries on a nearby cruiser or DD,
2. take care to avoid potential torps
3. fire the main guns at another target, often one more distant.

 

The guys me, @Benaulim and @MementoMori_6030 are referring to do none of those things**.

Their turrets often appear to aimed a few hundred metres to one side of the ship, like they've pointed the camera/crosshair straight down and rarely in the direction you would be anticipating the enemies to be coming from (not hard in co-op).

 

** Well they might do (1) but "focus" also kinda implies a neuron or two to be able to press [CTRL] and click on a ship.

 

[TheNubination]

On 1/29/2023 at 6:02 PM, lafeel said:

Or maybe, just maybe cheating is more prevalent in  China?

For being a bunch of communists, chinese people are extremely driven, self-centered and as gamers ultra competitive seeking and justifying what ever advantage they can get. Supposedly, according to chinese people I've talked to, this is because the country is so large and people so many that to stand out one has to do extremely well coupled with the typical "asian parent" attitude. 
 

So yes, cheating in China is worse than in any other gaming community. Something like 90% of bans for some games are for chinese accounts, and Im then not even talking about gold farming, etc.

But that still leaves 10%+. So you can very well imagine that quite a few people cheat, consider how many even legal mods there are out there that giving players an unfair advantage. Including but not limited to the compass mod that essentially gives a partial wallhack for ships spotted but still hidden behind mountains. 

[TheNubination]

On 1/30/2023 at 9:30 AM, NewHorizons_1 said:

 

Bizarre thing is I started to report one of those (because they DID play poorly) and they reported me in return - every time.

I stopped reporting them and then they stopped reporting me.

 

So I'm not entire sure those Pommern potatoes are actually bots.

One even said something in chat once - and still potatoed in that same predictable way.

So it wasn't like the account (usually played by a bot) was now being used by a vaguely sentient (and capable) human.

How could they figure out you're reporting them? 
I wonder if they analyze games to like do a process of elimination or what ever. 

What a bunch of cumbuckets either way. Best thing you can do in these kinds of situations is to send the replay directly to support by opening a ticket.  Send a collection of them and they will act probably.

[NewHorizons_1]

4 minutes ago, TheNubination said:

How could they figure out you're reporting them? 

There two ways in can be inferred, but probably is a process of elimination / pattern matching.

 

They probably get regularly reported by other co-op mains that recognize their account name, so called play-style and mediocre performance.

If you get more than two reports you (apparently) get a notification and then they'll probably look for a pattern to this occurrence and start to recognize frequent players (like me).

So, even a two-neuron network then associates my presence, along with the other guy, in the team with getting reported.

 

Or, less likely: Gets complimented in a previous match, then dropped in a match with me, played poorly, I reported, then noticed he lost the compliment.

Again they look for familiar names of who could have done such a thing.

 

And when we mean played poorly we mean they often fail to make 3-digit BaseXP.

 

13 minutes ago, TheNubination said:

Send a collection of them and they will act probably.

Can't say I'm that fussed - too much like hard work to bother with such ... "individuals".

I now adjust my game-play**, knowing that if I spawn on a flank with one they WILL ALWAYS abandon it to sniff glue in the middle of the map.

But it was an interesting observation that kinda eliminated it being a (badly coded) bot.

 

** Sometimes you can actually exploit the situation if you're in a strong ship that can cope with being abandoned and deal with the wave of bots.

After all, they've eliminated themselves from the competition and left you with XP piñatas to hit.

[TheNubination]

12 minutes ago, NewHorizons_1 said:

There two ways in can be inferred, but probably is a process of elimination / pattern matching.

 

They probably get regularly reported by other co-op mains that recognize their account name, so called play-style and mediocre performance.

If you get more than two reports you (apparently) get a notification and then they'll probably look for a pattern to this occurrence and start to recognize frequent players (like me).

So, even a two-neuron network then associates my presence, along with the other guy, in the team with getting reported.

 

Or, less likely: Gets complimented in a previous match, then dropped in a match with me, played poorly, I reported, then noticed he lost the compliment.

Again they look for familiar names of who could have done such a thing.

 

And when we mean played poorly we mean they often fail to make 3-digit BaseXP.

 

Can't say I'm that fussed - too much like hard work to bother with such ... "individuals".

I now adjust my game-play**, knowing that if I spawn on a flank with one they WILL ALWAYS abandon it to sniff glue in the middle of the map.

But it was an interesting observation that kinda eliminated it being a (badly coded) bot.

 

** Sometimes you can actually exploit the situation if you're in a strong ship that can cope with being abandoned and deal with the wave of bots.

After all, they've eliminated themselves from the competition and left you with XP piñatas to hit.

Ah I see.

How good are the bots? I Know they got a bit better since the last time I played one of the new operations they offered some decent resistance and some people even complained about it on the forums that they couldnt beat it or what ever. 
But what Im saying is, beyond the fact that cheating scumbags should be banned, does it really matter at all for coop?

I mean again, I reiterate that they should be banned, and like you said yourself you cant even be bothered with reporting them directly to support. 
But isn't the fact that they suck just going to leave you with more kills to farm on the mode? 

Isn't this a good thing? At least for you? 


Btw these clans, why do they farm co-op so much? Do they sell accounts a lot (do their numbers/names change a lot?) or do they just need the extra money for flags/ ships you think?

[NewHorizons_1]

50 minutes ago, TheNubination said:

Isn't this a good thing? At least for you? 

Sometimes it can be. Depends on your ship, the types & numbers of bots ships** and geography - eg can I smoke up and rely on others for spotting or is there an island I can use to break contact. Or am I in Mogador/Kleber? And do a monumental yolo!

 

50 minutes ago, TheNubination said:

How good are the bots? I Know they got a bit better since the last time I played one of the new operations they offered some decent resistance and some people even complained about it on the forums that they couldnt beat it or what ever. 

Operations use smarter bots, now with recently (since ops rework) buffed stats on their ships, eg 130k HP Musashi in Newport.

The co-op bots, a few patches ago had been improved (not ramming each other or running aground), but recently seemed have reverted to some of their old bad habits.

Operations bots will use consumables like hydro & radar, co-op ones ... not so much.

 

50 minutes ago, TheNubination said:

But what Im saying is, beyond the fact that cheating scumbags should be banned,

Well "cheating" implies giving yourself an unfair advantage over everyone else so that you can radically out perform them.

That deffo isn't the case here.

50 minutes ago, TheNubination said:

does it really matter at all for coop?

Yes and no. It matters less for co-op, whereas in Randoms any such player would be a humongous liability to your team.

Then anyone should be definitely submitting tickets.

But, OTOH, there was the infamous [CLAWS] clan of bots*** that were suspected of farming the Recruitment Centre to obtain Amazon vouchers, sooo....

 

** Sometimes the bots will all go to one flank, and if it's the flank you've been abandoned on you can be right royally scrwd.

*** They really were bots - they were usually IJN battleships that did nothing in their spawn until they were detected.

[TheNubination]

3 minutes ago, NewHorizons_1 said:

Sometimes it can be. Depends on your ship, the types & numbers of bots ships** and geography - eg can I smoke up and rely on others for spotting or is there an island I can use to break contact.

 

Operations use smarter bots, now with recently (since ops rework) buffed stats on their ships, eg 130k HP Musashi in Newport.

The co-op bots, a few patches ago had been improved (not ramming each other or running aground), but recently seemed have reverted to some of their old bad habits.

Operations bots will use consumables like hydro & radar, co-op ones ... not so much.

 

Well "cheating" implies giving yourself an unfair advantage over everyone else so that you can radically out perform them.

That deffo isn't the case here.

Yes and no. It matters less for co-op, whereas in Randoms any such player would be a humongous liability to your team.

Then anyone should be definitely submitting tickets.

But, OTOH, there was the infamous [CLAWS] clan of bots*** that were suspected of farming the Recruitment Centre to obtain Amazon vouchers, sooo....

 

** Sometimes the bots will all go to one flank, and if it's the flank you've been abandoned on you can be right royally scrwd.

*** They really were bots - they were usually IJN battleships that did nothing in their spawn until they were detected.

Ah , I had no idea that you could/can get vouchers for recruits. 

Anyway thanks for your insight! 
Hope they deal with it.