For a few days now, (more specifically, after the last patch, a tripwire has been allegedly implemented) Blizzard has been on an Honorbuddy ban wave spree, striking loads of players with 6 months suspension (yep, not permanent). Even though, like always, not everyone got banned, it seems that a large pool of Honorbuddy users have been suspended, some even got permanently banned.

Currently, it seems that most of the bans are going on in the US, but that doesn’t mean the EU or any other region is safe from it. According to one of the banned users, Blizzard basically has admitted to them on the phone that Honorbuddy (and probably other third party software) has been detected to have been used in regards to his account, saying that they have the record showing the usage of the program, as well as plain saying that they can see it when it’s running.

Obviously, that doesn’t mean it’s true, but there’s been a lot of talk that Blizzard is monitoring CPU/RAM usage, especially when it comes to third party software usage, which they’re also mentioning in the suspension mail:

The game client may monitor your computer’s RAM and/or CPU processes for unauthorized third party programs running concurrently with the game.

As usual, we always advise everyone not to use any third party software, but if you’re among the ones that do it anyway and somehow managed to escape the ongoing ban wave, you might be safe for now, given that you’ve stopped using it for at least the time being.

It seems that there was no particular target when it comes to what Honorbuddy was used for, players being banned from basically just using it to do their daily garrison chores, to battleground, questing, fishing, gathering, farming dungeons, and so on.

Current facts about the Honorbuddy ban wave

These statistics were gathered from TheBuddyForum’s Ban Section, and are not in any way completely accurate or final, so it should not influence you into thinking you’ll dodge a bullet if you’re doing anything different.

  • Predominant Affected Region: US;
  • Honorbuddy Version: Release;
  • Profile: Any;
  • Combat Class: Any;
  • Plugins: Any;
  • Predominant Penalty: 6 months suspension;
  • Auctions Created: 0;
  • Account Type (Actual Paid or Scroll of Resurrection): Actual Paid;
  • Percentage of Bot Supervision: Roughly 70%-80%.

Conclusion

All in all, it’s safe to say that, at least for the time being, you should not use Honorbuddy (and maybe any other related third party software). If you’ve dodged the ban wave, then good for you and keep it safe. If you’re among the unlucky ones, it’s not the end of the world. Remember, innocent until proven guilty, right? 🙂

We will be editing this article if we have any new information to share with you, so make sure to check it every now and then!