More than a year after Blizzard officially filed suit against the creators of popular World of Warcraft botting program Glider, the company has begun banning large swaths of the WoW playerbase who had been using the program.
"Glider is a tool that plays your World of Warcraft character for you, the way you want it," according to Glider's promotional page.
Unfortunately for those found to be using the program, Blizzard considers automated gameplay to be a violation of the game's rules.
As a result, the company has begun a mass campaign to remove all players found to be using the program from World of Warcraft.
Many fans of Glider argue that Blizzard's EULA, and its stance that players are legally bound to an agreement that many simply click through on their way to the actual game, is faulty and that use of the program merely enhances their own enjoyment of the game.
Blizzard, on the other hand, feels that using programs to artificially inflate one's status in the game gives players an unfair advantage over their peers.
Additionally, the company cites the lengthy EULA as an airtight, legally binding agreement that functionally gives it the right to ban players found in violation of their terms at any time.
There's no word on whether these most recent bans (and those we expect to see crop up in the near future) are of the temporary or permanent variety, but after the protracted legal headache Blizzard has had to deal with as a result of the Glider program, it wouldn't be surprising if Blizzard was striking these botters down with the sort of righteous fury usually associated with Norse Gods and Samuel L. Jackson.
Mass bannings strike Glider users [WoW Insider]
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