Addons and automation.

[Blaeck]

agree with Tink. the gray area is bad all the way around

[Tinkertown]

I get that the GMs are busy and all that, but responding to a question about the rules (especially where permanent bans hang in the balance) with relative swiftness isn't too much to ask I think.

If there is a discussion going on or if there is some other decent reason for a delay I'm perfectly fine with that. But, if that is the case it would be nice with some indication that the topic is read and that a response will come eventually. Feeling a bit stupid bumping the thread just to keep it from falling out of sight, out of mind.

[Pottu]

This post by Daemon hopefully answers your question:

viewtopic.php?f=65&t=32448&start=20#p239726

[Diametra]

This viewpoint was linked like a week ago. Dude is not going to be able to understand why he can't do what he wants to do.

[Tinkertown]

Hello,

This account has been banned for performing automatic AH actions, which falls under the bot ban reason. This functionnality is no longer accessible from future clients API, because Blizzard considered that it was not legitimate to use it.

Let me quote the terms of use:
B. Bots; including, but not limited to, any code, hardware and/or software that allows the automated control of the Game, or any feature or component thereof.


Regards,
Daemon

Ok, so Auctioneer (or rather some functions of it) is not allowed. Neither are many other auction addons. Are any of the following actions considered "control of the Game, or any feature or component thereof" and thus not ok to automate? ("Blizzard later removed the functionality" hits far too wide to be applicable as a rule or even general guideline. So that will not work obviously if that was Daemons intention)

Spell decisions (the decision to cast at all isn't possible to automatize)
Trading
Chatting
Targeting
Dismounting/Removing Buffs
Choosing need/greed/pass on loot rolls and other dialogue boxes. (e.g Join BG, Group Invite, Summon, Ress)
Changing game settings
Equipping/unequipping items
Buying/Selling from a vendor
NPC dialogue

[Kazuma]

If only you guys would start playing the game how it is intended to be played without all your "tricks" that would great ty..

[Dreez]

This functionnality is no longer accessible from future clients API, because Blizzard considered that it was not legitimate to use it.

According to this logic we should no longer be able to use:
- AttackTarget()
- UseInventoryItem
- UseContainerItem
- PetAttack() and other Pet combat abilities
- CastSpellByName
- SpellStopCasting()
- any kind of Target API

else we might get banned

combine any of these with an OnEvent or OnUpdate frame and it could be considered botting, which is what a lot of addons are doing

[Tinkertown]

If only you guys would start playing the game how it is intended to be played without all your "tricks" that would great ty..

I think you missunderstand the purpose of this topic. I don't like the Neutral AH addon snipers. I however absolutely hate the idea of the API not being safe to use.

Arbitrary bans is one of the biggest issues on private servers, and the policy of "if we dont like tour addons we will ban you" is a perfect example of that.

[Mopar]

You will now need to guess whether the addons that you use are safe and won't get you banned. I would say now that tradeDispenser, used in a major city unattended will get you banned, as it both automates gameplay while the player is not present, and Blizzard later put in changes to the API that made this addon no longer work.

Decursive is also in that category. Blizzard actually took a very strong stance against it, and reworked the API so that Decursive was no longer usable. Will it get you banned here now based on Blizzard's (then future) direction?

There are preferable alternatives:
- Just make neutral AH sniping banable, since it's a form of scamming. Similar to COD scams.
- Or make it so players can mail items between factions on their own account. No need to risk sniping then.
- Or modify the AH to put in a rescan delay (cannot execute more than 5 lookups every 10 minutes.)

This decision is almost the worst possible one. It makes AH sniping continue to be a valid strategy, while at the same time creating confusion about what addons are allowable and what addons are not.

[Diametra]

Use of tradedispenser, unattended to gain some type of advantage (gold) has indeed been banned before.

viewtopic.php?f=65&t=23440

i don't know that this is arbitrary. The intention is clear. If you can automate a task to gain advantage that's bannable. Asking the staff to go over every instance of Addons, macros, outside software and compile a list of what's good and what isn't would be prohibitively time consuming. The overarching theme may be vague but don't ya think that's intentional?

If you automate a task to gain advantage and get caught (reported really) there's a possibiliy you will be banned.

To try to extend that to all ways in which you could possibly automate all or part of a task for any reason and use this as a counter-argument to the overarching, vague rule is a complete waste of your time and I guarentee will not be answered.