Is the Ban System Biased? I Ran 20 Bots to Find Out.

This is a repost of a reddit post on r/warera. Not my work.
https://www.reddit.com/r/warera/comments/1swscim/is_the_ban_system_biased_i_ran_20_bots_to_find_out/

A few weeks ago, someone approached me with a theory that the moderation and banning system in this game is heavily biased. To test this out, I spent the last two weeks running a scripted botting experiment to see exactly what triggers a ban and more importantly, who gets away with it.

The Setup I created 20 bot accounts explicitly designed to test different in-game behaviors. To ensure the test was accurate and clean:

• All 20 accounts used fresh mobile (SIM card) IPs.

• None of the IPs were previously flagged by their system.

• Note: I did manage to scrape their database to get an accurate list of currently banned users/IPs, as well as a list of the top referrers in the game, to build my control groups.

I divided the 20 bots into 4 distinct groups (5 accounts each):

Group A: The "VIP" Network

• Setup: Used the absolute top referrer in the game. Placed in the exact same in-game state/country as the referrer.

• Behavior: Leveled up to 15. The bots were scripted to tip and like the referrer's articles with a very fast 30-second to 1-minute reaction time. Donated to the country of the refferers. doing missions etc

• Result: Survived. After two weeks, most of these accounts are above level 15. Zero bans.

Group B: The Average Player Network

• Setup: Used random, 1 regular players as referrers. Placed in the same in-game state/country as the referrers.

• Behavior: Exact same behavior as Group A. Doing mission, Tipped and liked the referrer's articles with a 30-second to 1-minute reaction time. doing missions etc

• Result: Banned. Almost all accounts were banned within 1 weeks (most reached levels 10–12). Worse, the random players who referred them were also hit with a 3+ day for multi-account ban, "boosting" ban and a 300-coin fine.

Group C: The Random Mass Tippers

• Setup: No referrers. Random regions and states.

• Behavior: Leveled up to 10+ normally by doing missions. Once leveled, they mass-tipped and liked articles from completely 1 random players.

• Result: Banned. All bots were banned within 1day after mass-tipped. Unfortunately, the innocent random players who received the mass tips were also banned with a 3+ day for multi-account ban, "boosting" ban and a 300-coin fine.

Group D: The "Human" Survivors (Control Group)

• Setup: No referrers. 2 accounts shared a region/creation date; 3 were completely random.

• Behavior: Played like very slow-grinding, casual humans. No tipping. Attacked and defended 2-5x a day. Worked and produced randomly.

• Result: Survived. After two weeks, most of the accounts are still perfectly fine and have reached level 15+.

Based on this experiment, it’s incredibly hard to deny that the banning system is either fundamentally biased or the moderation team is entirely incapable of consistently distinguishing between bots and legitimate players.

Groups B and C were meticulously hammered by the ban waves, taking innocent players down with them. Meanwhile, Group D survived by flying under the radar, and Group A survived doing the exact same bot-like activities as Group B, simply because they were tied to a top referrer. It certainly seems like having connections with admins or being a high-profile player provides an invisible shield against bans.

Would love to hear your thoughts or if anyone else has experienced this "multi-account ban", "boosting ban" as an innocent bystander!

Thank you for your attention. (insert trump memes)

https://app.warera.io/user/69d0b08c73c1e7e06454052a

You know the game is broken when fighters against cheating have to agree with cheaters on something:

Based on this experiment, it’s incredibly hard to deny that the banning system is either fundamentally biased or the moderation team is entirely incapable of consistently distinguishing between bots and legitimate players

Yesterday, we reported another wave of multies in Viet Nam ourselves, and the result? Country-wide phone verification for anyone in VN, even for accounts almost 1 year old. Moderation is not just bad, they are lazy.

Without thorough and fair moderation, our fight against cheating loses all sense.

Related Articles:
https://app.warera.io/article/69de04d44eacbff0ac3e6027
https://app.warera.io/article/69dfff208348a58fd7648a29
https://app.warera.io/article/69ef62e8502247f11a25c8f8
https://app.warera.io/article/69efabb0ddfef77d02a7d178
https://app.warera.io/article/69eaa42ac5fcd78c3befd93d
https://app.warera.io/article/69b517f5cbac0af315e6489d

Send more in the comments if you have any to add.

Thanks for the echo on the reddit post to https://app.warera.io/user/698254af51756dc63315df49.

BotEra incoming, brace yourselves.

Yours,
Kysely