Blizzard appears to have begun banning scripters and botters at a greater rate than ever before. It's not that the developer hasn't already been banning reported instances of cheaters, but they've only just begun to expand the focus of their efforts on players who use automated scripts for the auction house and for farming.
At the present, script programs allow the automation of farming certain boss monsters in the game. According to posters on the official Battle.net forums, the most common use of these scripts is to farm Sarkoth in Act 1. Blizzard has attempted to limit these instances not by nerfing the monster's drops, but by enabling the game limit to prevent players from creating too many new games.
Needless to say, the developer isn't too keen on sharing its detection mechanisms for fears that cheaters will circumvent these measures. If you've used these programs before, now might be a good time to stop.
Here's the message you'll receive in your e-mail should your account be banned for cheating:
Greetings,
* * * NOTICE OF ACCOUNT CLOSURE * * *A user of this account has recently been involved in actions deemed inappropriate for Diablo III. The account action detailed below was made after a thorough investigation of the situation as a whole. Though we are unable to discuss the outcome of our investigation due to privacy concerns, rest assured that this incident has been looked into very thoroughly and appropriate action taken on all accounts involved.
Account Action: Account Closure
Offence: Unapproved Third Party Software
A third party program is any file or program that is used in addition to the game to gain an unfair advantage. These programs may increase movement speed or teleport heroes from one place to another beyond what is allowed by game design. It also includes any programs that obtain information from the game that is not normally available to the regular player or that transmit or modify any of the game files.Cheat Programs (“Hacks”)
We take action against accounts using hacks when a hero on the account is identified using a hack program. Hacks provide benefits normally not achievable in the game. Such benefits may include: increased speed, teleportation, or running through walls.Automation Programs (“Bots”)
We take action against accounts using automation programs or bots when one or more heroes on the account are identified using a bot to achieve automation.This Diablo III account has been closed based on a review of the account and all related policy violations, in accordance with the Terms of Use (http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/legal/d3_tou.html) and our In-Game Policies (http://eu.battle.net/support/article/diablo-iii-policies).
Any open bids or auctions at the time of the account’s closure have been cancelled. Your open bids will be refunded to your original method of payment. Please allow 5-10 days for processing depending on the availability of your financial institution. Any bids or auctions completed prior to the account’s closure will not be refunded or reversed.
Moving forward, this Diablo III account and any heroes or items associated with the account are no longer accessible. The only way to continue playing Diablo III is to purchase a new licence or attempt to recover access by appealing account closure. While closure overturns are very unlikely, we advise that customers pursuing an appeal wait to purchase a new Diablo III licence until the appeal process has completed. If you add a new Diablo III licence, the new account will overwrite your old account and any prior heroes or items will be permanently erased.
Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by submitting a ticket through the Battle.net support site. To submit a ticket, please visit http://eu.battle.net/support/ticket/submit. Our support team will not be able to investigate account actions over the phone.
We understand that these policies may seem harsh, but they are in place to ensure that every player is able to fully enjoy their time spent on Battle.net. Thank you for respecting our position.
Regards,
Blizzard Entertainment
Diablo III Customer Supporthttp://eu.battle.net/support
