What is the one thing that almost every single legitimate World of Warcraft player hates? Bots. They are annoying, unfair, and manage to make the game less enjoyable for everyone else. In a huge effort to rid the WoW community of this plague of pests Blizzard has swept a giant banhammer on over 100,000 accounts. These bans will last for six months or more on the affected accounts. These bans affect not only hardcore bot-users, but also were placed on anyone using a bot for any reason to automate the task. Here is what Blizzard poster Lore had to say on the matter:

We’ve recently taken action against a large number of World of Warcraft accounts that were found to be using third-party programs that automate gameplay, known as “bots.” We’re committed to providing an equal and fair playing field for everyone in World of Warcraft, and will continue to take action against those found in violation of our Terms of Use. Cheating of any form will not be tolerated.

If you believe that you’ve encountered a player abusing a bot, exploit, or cheat, please let us know! You can do so by using the right-click report functionality in the game, and/or by emailing information to [email protected].

Hopefully those with a six month ban take the time to reconsider their actions and clean up their acts. Cheaters never prosper and the next ban might just be permanent.