WoW -- GM bots?

[Bullgrit]

In World of Warcraft: I reported a $ for gold in-game mail last night. I gave the name of the sender in my contact. While playing, a GM contacted me (first time I've talked to a GM). I took screenshots of the conversation:

********

<GM>[name]: ::Suddenly a cold chill passes up your spine as a dark hooded figure appears out of the corner of your eye. The experience leaves you weary.:: Salutations Gogmatog this is Game Master Somulos. May I please have a moment to discuss your petition?

Me: 1 moment please

GM: Hello Gogmatog! Since you are not available at this moment, I can send you an E-mail with a response to your petition if you wish. Is this what you wish Gogmatog?

Me: i can talk now

Me: I am getting a lot of spam mail in my game mailbox. mail offering to sell gold for dollars.

GM: I see. I would like to thank you for submitting your petition, and bringing this to our attention Gogmatog. Rest assured that all appropriate action will be taken immediately. =)

Me: my but you sound like a bot

GM: Thank you. I love those comments. =)

GM: Trust me Gogmatog. I will be taking care of this. ::CLANK CLANK, WHIRRRRRRR:: =p

Me: thanks

Me: lol

GM: You're are profusely welcome. =) Do you have any questions or other concerns before we part ways Gogmatog?

Me: nope, just the spam.

GM: Okay. I hope you have a pleasant evening. =)

GM: ::In an instant, all your senses seem heightened as Game Master Somulos fades from existence. A voice echoes in your mind....:: It was a pleasure to be of service, and may all your attacks be critical!!!

GM: Your feedback is highly valued. For any comments or concerns about the quality of service provided by our Customer Service Staff, please email wowgmfeedback-us@blizzard.com.

********

That is my first contact with a GM. I still think it was a bot.

Anyone here have experience with WoW GMs? Wizbang Dustyboots?

Bullgrit

 

[LightPhoenix]

I haven't played in a long time, but whenever I had to contact a GM, it was always a person. Some of them talked in character, and some not.

Personally, I'm guessing real person, but I imagine that they go through the routine of petitions pretty often. That probably makes it sound a bit more canned.

 

[DethStryke]

They rely heavily on Macros for the intro, initial "how can I help you?" questions and good-bye comments. You can customize text macros to say things and enter any number of variables into the sentences (target name, your name, pet's name, mob by type's name, etc.), which saves tons of time when you have to say hello to hundreds of people every shift.

You see chat macros much more in the RP servers from players, as people get tired of typing the same greetings or catch phrases all the times. One click and a whole paragraph can show up in the chat window! In PvP and regular servers, most don't care to talk in character, so it's not used much. I see it mostly with casters who announce what is sheeped or that they are healing whoever in those instances.

Your problem was not something that needed interaction, so the macros cover most of the work. I've had GMs help me with a messed up quest that started the same way (with the greeting and how can I help you macros) and he waited / worked with me for almost fifteen minutes while I ran back and forth to reset the quest and grab the next mark to get it moving.

 

[Thanee]

Either way, that's pretty funny. Cool GM, bot or not (I also think macro not bot).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That was a person with macros, yeah. I deal with a lot of GMs (I'm a one man RP-name rule enforcement team on Silver Hand ) and some of them are quite into the macros.

In your case, there also wasn't much they could do. They know from watching logs that they have gold sellers creating accounts, spamming half the server by /tell or mail, and then deleting the character. (The whole process is automated to be as fast as possible.) They ban the accounts as fast as they can flag them, but in the interim, tons of players get hit by spam waves.

There are some mods you can get that block tells or other dialogue that has stuff you don't want to see, like Chuck Norris jokes. I'm pretty sure they exist to filter out spam as well.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You see chat macros much more in the RP servers from players, as people get tired of typing the same greetings or catch phrases all the times. One click and a whole paragraph can show up in the chat window!

The RPHelper mod (which I think has been broken since the 2.0 patch) also would automatically fire off a /say when something occured in game (you could set a percentage chance), so it used to be you'd see quite a lot of macros on RP servers. (I also use Eloquence, which applies my beautiful dwarven accent to /say and /yell.)

 

[Bullgrit]

In your case, there also wasn't much they could do. They know from watching logs that they have gold sellers creating accounts, spamming half the server by /tell or mail, and then deleting the character. (The whole process is automated to be as fast as possible.) They ban the accounts as fast as they can flag them, but in the interim, tons of players get hit by spam waves.

In the case of in-game mail spammers, I’d just like to know what I can do to help Blizzard catch and ban them. I put the spammer’s name in the GM ticket, and I’m willing to leave the mail in my box so they can (if they can) see it themselves. I understand the difficulty they have in handling such annoyances, and I’m willing to be a good WoW “citizen”, but they just need to tell me what to do.

I wasn’t really complaining (much) about the encounter. I thought it was funny, actually. Although, if I knew it was a bot, I wouldn’t bother with GMs anymore. If it was a real person, it just would have been comforting to hear something on what I can do about the spammers. I didn’t get the feeling that anything would actually be done. What I got was basically a form-letter-response saying "Thank you for your report."

But I’m not mad about it or anything – I still love the game and it didn’t bother me.

Bullgrit

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you stick those spammers on your friends list, a few minutes later, you'll get a message saying a name has been removed from your list, since the character has been deleted. (I've done it.)

Unfortunately, the spammers work so fast, they have to look at server logs to be able to flag the accounts in question, since they build and delete characters really, really fast.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

GM: You're are profusely welcome. =) Do you have any questions or other concerns before we part ways Gogmatog?

Assuming you typed this into the post exactly as it appeared in your log, that misspelling alone would tend to make me think it was a real person, and not a bot.