Sequence-based bot detection in massive multiplayer online games
Christian Platzer · 2011
With the growing popularity of massive multiplayer online games (MMOG), the demand to protect these games and especially the participating players is increasing likewise. In this paper, we discuss a sequence-based solution to protect online games from being exploited by fully automated bots. Our research is based on various commercial and non-commercial bot implementations for the renowned game World of Warcraft. Our evaluation suggests, that a sequence-based detection technique is applicable even for mildly skilled players and effectively protects online games from a negative impact on game economics that causes both, grief to casual gamers and destroys game balance. Our implementation is fit to be deployed on either client- or server side, posing the first player-usable bot detection tool for World of Warcraft.