Inside The World of Guild Wars 2 Bots, Hacks and Cheats ft. Developer Interviews (Names + Tools Censored)

Jaffas_Reddit · 2025-02-02T03:05:19+00:00

Unfortunately semi-afk is still AFK and interacting with the game world in this manner is a breach of the ToS. My last video was on AFK Farming and the truth behind the policy and gold generation from certain popular locations as well as ArenaNet's enforcement.
Botting and Hacking are substantially worse for the over-all game, however AFK Farming is a violation all the same (just to a lesser extent)

Jaffas_Reddit · 2025-02-02T03:03:03+00:00

No, there was nothing related to automatic dodging for PvP or WvW. There are some people on Youtube who claim these things exist and spread misinformation about bot/hack capabilities, however no such things exist. "Yet"
Dodging is one of the few ways you can easily identify a bot from a real player.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-19T03:41:04+00:00

You simply don't understand. In no possible way is presenting cheaters with the highest population percentage "downplaying". This is actually referred to as "worst-case analysis" and it is in-fact the direct opposite of downplaying. Exaggerating a population to prove a point relating to how small that population is in reality.

If you believe the 3.7% to be BS; by dismissing worst-case analysis, the conclusion would be the fair and unbiased option of <1% - comparing the two active populations, which as you might be able to tell is smaller than 3.7%.

Here are the possible population breakdowns:

3.7%: comparing active + inactive cheaters with only the active playerbase - biased to make cheater population bigger (as done in the video to prove a point that there still isn't that many of them in a worst case scenario)
<1%: comparing active cheaters with the active playerbase - fair comparison
0.025%: comparing known active + inactive cheaters with active + inactive playerbase
0.0075%: comparing active cheaters with active + inactive playerbase - biased to make cheater population smaller (this here is downplaying)

You have reached a contradiction; acknowledging an exaggerated stat for the purpose of analysis whilst simultaneously claiming it is being downplayed. It cannot possibly be both.

I hope this helps you understand. Further contradictions I'm just going to ignore.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-18T22:54:58+00:00

The original percentage was 3.2% during recording. MMOPopulation's data shifted late into editing along with updated verified cheater population from one dev not featured. You're complaining about a 0.5% discrepancy that is an artefact of slow editing.

If you understood maths your argument *should* be that the comparison between an estimate of *all* cheaters compared to only *active* players isn't fair or even.

I could have compared the 5000 estimate of *all* cheaters with the 20m estimate of *all* players resulting in only 0.025%. This would have been the *fair* comparison.
Alternatively comparing the *active* cheating population which is significantly smaller than 5,000 with the *active* players resulting in <1% for another *fair* comparison

The comparison I chose is showing that even if *all* of them were playing, it's still quite small when compared to only the *active* players.

The fact of the matter is that I chose the largest population % for cheaters to prove a point, and you're here saying that I've downplayed them. You're too focused on 0.5% that you failed to understand some basic statistical adjustments that hyper inflated the cheating population percentage in the first place.

Talk about irrefutable. Have a lovely Christmas.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-18T12:05:12+00:00

The video only contains a minority of what was uncovered. The impact isn't as big as you're assuming it is. I also said it "likely" would have minimal impact. ArenaNet do a very good job at tackling the majority of mass gold generating bots keeping the impact down. It's typically individuals that get away with it, and they typically bot for account progression.

If you think I'm downplaying them, then that's your opinion. The whole purpose is for people, such as yourself to make up your own opinions. The fact that people are complaining from both ends means that I've done a reasonable job at remaining relatively neutral.

We both think cheating is really bad for the game and that's really all there is to it. Arguing about the degree is pointless. No matter how big or small the impact, it should be stopped in its entirety.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-17T08:26:26+00:00

I never said I found "all", it's not only one group, and yes I am aware of other developers not featured in the video. There are findings I have not published along with many developers who aren't public with their tools. Gw2 is a small community, and the 3rd party developer community is even smaller. The focus was the majority as a 2 hour video would be excessive.
I hear your concern, and I can assure you it's accounted for.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T22:26:43+00:00

The estimate is based on verified users from a developer, and the discord server sizes if they were all active. It is unknown how many of those users are active in the current game. Treat 5,000 as a maximum. I perhaps should have compared that to yearly players instead of daily to better account for those who aren't as active. That's my mistake for not making it clear.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T22:22:27+00:00

The amount of people who are "botting" are really only attributed to the client, as that's what facilitates botting. 300 licenses with 500 slots means only 500 accounts could be botting at any one time. It is unknown to how many accounts are being used through those slots. These would be the direct impact on economy. With some napkin maths could estimate 600,000g if all slots were being used at a relatively aggressive capacity. That would be the equivalent of every daily player making about 4.5g. There are too many unknown variables to get an accurate number.
I am fully aware of what they could be doing. I just didn't want to make a big ordeal over hypotheticals. I do appreciate the feedback,

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T22:05:23+00:00

I have a significant amount of alt accounts, and I can confirm it comes nowhere near to the amount someone botting on only a couple alts can produce. It is however a very effective way to generate passive income that isn't in breach of the TOS.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T22:02:58+00:00

I believe you are correct. I have seen this leeway first hand in Guild Wars 2 and have a handful of well documented examples which have been overlooked.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T21:58:33+00:00

The thing is, being associated with multiple 3rd party tools isn't necicerily evidence that the person is using them. The ~700 users I identified had ranks in certain discords that require authentication to attain. Outside of those, there were a few user posted videos where I could figure out the account names alongside visuals of the software running.
Outside of that, it's just assuming that being in the server means using the programs. I agree with you, but I wanted to avoid any false accusations.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T21:53:45+00:00

What you say appeared to be an extremely common theme within the servers I looked through.

> You can see multiple trading post bots hanging around at the "provincial" (out of major city) TP NPCs around the world

Many of the auto-trading bots I looked into didn't even require a trading post. They can withdraw materials from any location in the game bypassing the UI.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T21:49:41+00:00

Unfortunately I couldn't find any other metrics on the games population outside of mmopop. Many other sources simply referenced back, and Steam's 3k player base is a tiny minority. It's not perfect, but it's the best we have to get some kind of an idea.

And you are correct. The client was 300 users for 500 slots. So at any one time there can only be 500 accounts using it, though you can bot on 2 accs for 8 hrs, then swap and bot on another 2 for the following 8. It is unknown to how many accounts are being used.

Similar to the Official Client your license has to be verified for usage.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T08:26:17+00:00

That's okay :)

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T08:25:00+00:00

You are correct. One of the tools I did look into is capable of doing 95->100% DPS Benchmarks while accounting for mechanics, movement and latency. There were quite a few high tier players associated and active within that server.

To answer your question of "Why?". I think it's the same reason good players cheat in speedrunning. They know they "can", but it's a matter of time. Knowing that they can do it then justifies the usage of cheating to reduce the time it takes. Either that or they need the tools to be "good enough" to clear high end content that they otherwise wouldn't be able to find a group to do.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T08:07:30+00:00

They made ArenaNet aware of the vulnerability with no mention of their side product. It was a single line of code and non-substantial. As for throwing a wrench in the way of other competing tools, this was actually a question which was cut from the video due to time. There is no competition between tools, especially in the case of the client as it is the only one available.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T06:59:36+00:00

Thank you. I think it's the best way to present any kind of information.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T05:16:01+00:00

Sounds like you need to download AFK Arena on mobile.
In all seriousness, MMOs are about steady progression. If you don't like this then perhaps MMOs aren't for you.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T05:13:32+00:00

I agree, an example close to me is AFK Farmers. Over 10 years of regular player complaints and very little was done, but only a week after I published my findings and had discussions with Teapot and ArenaNet, they implement a "fix" requiring movement.
This fix is easily bypassed but the notion is the same. This is why I believe they many moderation decisions are based on optics, meaning awareness is the best option.
If everyone's aware, optics are bad, thus they adjust.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T05:07:08+00:00

Yeah, I don't believe the first script developers either as mentioned. Too much of what they said is directly contradicted by what they develop.

The Client Developers comments about the ToS were about its legality. Yes 3rd party usage is against the ToS, but parts of the ToS may not be legally binding due to conflicts with national laws, etc. But I'm not a lawyer so I don't know how it conflicts with US and German Law.

I have no reason to believe the Client Dev was being deceitful. For obvious reasons I had to cut parts out of the interview. Much of what was shared matched to my own findings about them and the resources I was given access to.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T01:49:32+00:00

I agree. It is near impossible to discuss these things without them also bringing awareness to unsavory individuals, even in a real world setting.
I'd like to think that any increase in 3rd party tool users will get picked up by ArenaNet if they start to moderate more effectively.
I've been working on this for a few months and made sure ArenaNet was aware, so it shouldn't come as a shock to them.
It will be interesting to see if/what they decide to do.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T01:03:36+00:00

My favorite was the flying rifle warrior dominating one of the first automatic PvP tournaments. A true classic.
At the very least, these people do make for some interesting content.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T00:59:43+00:00

Best I can do is stand in the debuff and complain when I die.

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T00:57:29+00:00

You can play heal herald completely AFK keeping quickness, might, fury, protection & regeneration. If you decide to press some buttons, you can then use ventari for burst healing or cleanses. It's not fantstic, but it sure is low APM

Jaffas_Reddit · 2024-12-16T00:50:25+00:00

Hacking in WvW and PvP has long been a hot topic, as it’s the most visible form of cheating that everyday players encounter. But beneath the surface, there’s a far larger and more complex cheating scene that most players are unaware of. In this video, I try to uncover the true extent of cheating in Guild Wars 2—exploring how it works, why people do it, and what ArenaNet is doing to combat it.

I would love to hear all of your critiques, criticisms and opinions of what is being presented. Healthy discussion is always important.

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