Bots have been an issue in World of Warcraft since the early days, and Season of Discovery is no exception. Some fairly shocking screenshots have now further underlined the scale of that problem.
WoW can be quite a lucrative business in the right hands, and bots are a major way of facilitating that. Their programming sends them to complete tasks without any direct input from the player, meaning they can run indefinitely.
These bots then proceed to farm either expensive materials or raw gold from areas like The Stockades. From there, this raw gold is then sold to players via third-party websites for real-world currency.
Now, one player has shared an image on social media that underlines the scale of the issue.
Huge queue of bots captured in Season of Discovery
In a post on Reddit, one player shared a screenshot that features tens of bots all heading in the same direction, in a perfectly straight line through Elwynn Forest.
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The general reaction from the wider community is one of shock at the number of bots. Though most have seen some out in the wild, few have seen activity on this scale.
One said: “I went to do a quest along Theramore coast and it was full of hunter bots running up and down killing every turtle. I thought that was bad but nothing as ridiculous as this.”
Another added: “I’ve been following every mage with a nonsense name in goldshire, and watch for the instant 90-degree turn, you know the one. The moment I see it, report sent. 41 reports sent, 1 thanks for reporting mail received”
The development team behind the game is very much aware of the bot problem. They continue to ban characters and accounts in their thousands, but the problem continues to multiply. As Season of Discovery enters its later phases, time will tell if they are able to get on top of the issue.
