I was running some automated EXP on a few silver accounts when I got to witness a GM interfering with me to see if I was, indeed, automating. I am not suspended because I was there to respond, however I thought I'd share the experience so others can benefit from it.
I've been automating for most of the double exp weekend. Yeah I know, it's a dumb idea, but they are silver accounts and I know the risk and don't much care. I do it more for the fun of not getting caught. Just now I sat down to check my computer, and pulls began to go very strangely. I'd pull a mob, it would run about half the distance to me and then just sit there. Sometimes it would warp back to it's spawn, other times it would eventually follow me to my camp. Sometimes a mob would be in camp, then when it was low on health it would warp back to it's spawn point. This went on for about 10 minutes, and then I received the following tell on all 6 accounts simultaneously.
GMName -> Me: Greetings <Me>! GM <GMName> here. May I have a moment of your time?
Then I had a conversation with him. Since I was present and responsive, he just made a note on my accounts (since nothing could be 100% proven). I couldn't get him to tell me what tipped him off, claiming I just wanted to alter my play style so that I wouldn't get flagged again. He just said he accomplished breaking my script multiple times (through messing with mob aggro and positioning).
I have the following safeguards built into my macro to terminate on all accounts if any of the following happens...
A GM enters zone
Anyone sends any of my characters a /tell
Any of my character names is mentioned in any chat channel
Any of the words including GM, petition, report, etc. is mentioned in any chat channel
Any PC, not one of my own, comes within a 1000' radius of me
Any of my chars dies
Since none of those safeguards was tripped, then I could tell the GM went about this pretty secretively.
I don't want anyone telling me I'm stupid for automating in a public zone. Like I said, they are silver accounts so I could care less. I do it for the challenge/risk to see how high level I can get and what I can pull off. I'm just posting this as a public service announcement so people can better understand exactly (or at least close to it) how a GM catches people red handed.
Now to see if I can figure out a safeguard to trigger for this unusual mob behavior...
I've been automating for most of the double exp weekend. Yeah I know, it's a dumb idea, but they are silver accounts and I know the risk and don't much care. I do it more for the fun of not getting caught. Just now I sat down to check my computer, and pulls began to go very strangely. I'd pull a mob, it would run about half the distance to me and then just sit there. Sometimes it would warp back to it's spawn, other times it would eventually follow me to my camp. Sometimes a mob would be in camp, then when it was low on health it would warp back to it's spawn point. This went on for about 10 minutes, and then I received the following tell on all 6 accounts simultaneously.
GMName -> Me: Greetings <Me>! GM <GMName> here. May I have a moment of your time?
Then I had a conversation with him. Since I was present and responsive, he just made a note on my accounts (since nothing could be 100% proven). I couldn't get him to tell me what tipped him off, claiming I just wanted to alter my play style so that I wouldn't get flagged again. He just said he accomplished breaking my script multiple times (through messing with mob aggro and positioning).
I have the following safeguards built into my macro to terminate on all accounts if any of the following happens...
A GM enters zone
Anyone sends any of my characters a /tell
Any of my character names is mentioned in any chat channel
Any of the words including GM, petition, report, etc. is mentioned in any chat channel
Any PC, not one of my own, comes within a 1000' radius of me
Any of my chars dies
Since none of those safeguards was tripped, then I could tell the GM went about this pretty secretively.
I don't want anyone telling me I'm stupid for automating in a public zone. Like I said, they are silver accounts so I could care less. I do it for the challenge/risk to see how high level I can get and what I can pull off. I'm just posting this as a public service announcement so people can better understand exactly (or at least close to it) how a GM catches people red handed.
Now to see if I can figure out a safeguard to trigger for this unusual mob behavior...