In the grim future of the MMO there is only war, an eternal struggle between the those running a game as a service, and those seeking to exploit that game's code for their own financial gain. Today Blizzard, developer of the eternal crusade known as World of Warcraft, has dealt a stunning blow against a bot that automated characters in the game world. It then meted out justice on a very large scale.

Honorbuddy, a for-pay automation tool that allowed WoW players to walk away from their computer while their characters farmed resources and even fought in PvE skirmishes on their own, has been defeated. In a forum post made yesterday Blizzard community manager Lore stated the following:

We’ve recently taken action against a large number of World of Warcraft accounts that were found to be using third-party programs that automate gameplay, known as "bots." We’re committed to providing an equal and fair playing field for everyone in World of Warcraft, and will continue to take action against those found in violation of our Terms of Use. Cheating of any form will not be tolerated. If you believe that you’ve encountered a player abusing a bot, exploit, or cheat, please let us know! You can do so by using the right-click report functionality in the game, and/or by emailing information to hacks@blizzard.com.

Soon after, the word began to spread on the Honorbuddy forums.

It seems like Honorbuddy was detected, we are not sure, but looking at the BAN THREADS, we think that it's the most likely option at the moment. We are sorry for all your lost WoW accounts. Hopefully you can use them again after the 6 months ban is lifted. I have read here in the forums a bit, a lot of the accounts where 10 years old. This is a pity. We always say, do not use your valuable accounts as the risk is always there. ... With Honorbuddy you thought that we are unbeatable. We never thought that. We've succeeded since 2010 — Honorbuddy had not a single software detection. It seems there is one now.

The blocks follows proceedings in a Hamburg, Germany courtroom where Blizzard has been fighting with Honorbuddy's developer, Bossland GmbH over their right to offer subscription services which they feel are in breach of their terms of service.

"It also seems that Blizzard was really pissed at our first win at the court of appeals in Hamburg," Honorbuddy's post said. "It might have been coincidental. Nothing is for sure. You ask yourself what happens next? For now we closed our Honorbuddy Authentication, when we know any more details we will inform you."

While authentication is closed, Bossland appears to still be happy to take your credit card and accept payment at their website.