For more than 10 years fans of World of Warcraft have been divided between those who prefer PvE progression, and those who prefer the competitiveness of PvP. Although Blizzard has made an effort to introduce content and rewards for both sides of the game, there's always been a sense that PvP has been a second-rate option; classes are primarily balanced around PvE, many PvP gear models are recolors of older gear, and thoughtful new ways to enjoy PvP are infrequently encountered.
More recently, Blizzard's lackadaisical attitude about the growing number of cheaters in PvP has put a frown on the face of anyone who enjoys arena or battlegrounds.
Cheating in PvP has become a serious issue in the competitive scene of WoW. Bots are easier than ever to find on the internet, allowing thousands of players to become introduced to the world of botting after just a few button clicks. Equally as important, the bots are more sophisticated than ever, capable of interrupting spell casts and more resulting in high win rates. This has particularly affected high rating play, where it's common to face bots on a frequent basis. Consequently, many cheaters have been able to walk away with highly elusive gladiator titles and rare gear for Warlords of Draenor's PvP Season 2, including a few popular Twitch streamers.
Botting is similarly prevalent in battlegrounds, where auto-follow bots result in teams having less than a full team to play with. This has been particularly frustrating for players who are trying to gear up as winning is the only reliable means of earning high honor reward.
Cheaters can be found everywhere in World of Warcraft, including the outdoor PvP zone Ashran.
Sadly enough, this issue has been around for years, with Blizzard usually telling players to send a full e-mail report about cheaters they encounter, and that it'll "look into it". The results have been unspectacular.
After months of frustration, a WoW player who goes by the name Moltke took to the official forum to share not only knowledge he gained from research about the topic, but a list of well-known players who bot. The post exploded, quickly reaching 21 pages of replies and prompting a front-page Reddit post which was later deleted by /r/WoW mods. His post shared the following:
The player base is becoming smaller and smaller. Few teams are left at the higher ratings and those that are, are almost all bots. I have repeatedly sent these videos in and yet these players are still active for weeks and months. I'm tired of it.
This was followed by a list of more than 10 confirmed cheaters with high ranks, most of which were well-known players. Unfortunately, this part of the post was removed for "witch hunting", as commented by forum moderator Lore.
After months of complaints, Blizzard took action earlier this week. The punishment was a 72 hour suspension for all those found botting in PvP or intentionally playing with botters. This was after months of complaints, which apparently weren't taken very seriously until Moltke's post prompted widespread discussion. You can listen to how happy legit players were and how upset cheaters were by listening to this Curse Summit call recorded by Moltke.
Botters have been suspended, but not for long.
Response to the suspensions has been overwheming. PvP fans across Azeroth are upset with botters getting off "easy", with just a three day suspension issued for players cheating with third-party software, leading to a negative affect on the experience of potentially hundreds if not thousands of others. Some have made the valid point that Blizzard has been permanently banning those who account share for years, noting that Blizzard has served harsher punishment on account sharing because it allows more than one player to play on an account, avoiding additional subscription fees. In contrast, cheating doesn't affect Blizzard financially. Well, at least not directly.
The end result is an interesting situation. The players who have been banned may be persuaded to stop in fear that their years of hard work could be lost if they continue. Meanwhile, those who weren't caught now know that Blizzard doesn't serve harsh justice to cheaters. From here, Blizzard needs to be willing to make a strong example out of those who are caught more than once., and it won't be long
Despite all the imbalances and lack of attention, I've always loved PvP in WoW. I enjoyed it enough to grind to Warlord in vanilla, and more recently I've fully geared my Paladin. But what usually happens is I'll come back to the game and enjoy PvP for anywhere between three to five weeks before quitting again. This has become a yearly cycle for me, and I'm not alone.
If Blizzard were to respect PvP to any reasonable degree, it would likely have fewer issues with retaining subscribers. Its subscriber count is somewhere around 5 million to 5.3 million right now, which is a historic low since Vanilla. Things aren't getting better, either. The recent "major" patch didn't usher much in the way of new content to the game, and it's going to be anywhere up to nine more months before Legion arrives, which thankfully will include a PvP system revamp.
If there's a way to cheat, some players are going to use it. Ultimately, it's up to Blizzard to make sure that when someone considers cheating, they know that they are taking a huge risk. Until that happens, the quality of life of WoW's PvP systems will continue to dwindle.
