Sequence-based bot detection in massive multiplayer online games

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.