Cheating will always be a problem with online games, but Blizzard Entertainment dealt a huge blow to dishonest World of Warcraft players this week by handing out half-year bans to thousands of accounts.

“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,'” WoW Community Manager Lore wrote on the game’s forums. “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.”

The announcement was met with a great deal of enthusiasm from other players, who resent cheaters who use automated systems to earn gold, experience, and gear with little effort. Some bots also gave players unfair advantages in Player vs Player combat, most notably in battlegrounds and arenas.

One user’s conversation with a WoW GM suggests that over 100,000 players were banned, accounting for roughly 1.4 percent of the game’s 7.1 million players. While players are glad that the bot users were removed, some are suspicious about the timing of the bans, as Blizzard had just recently released its latest subscription numbers.

“Greatest single event thus far in [Warlords of Draenor],” one forum user wrote. “Absolutely fantastic. I would mention the suspicious timing. But it would be in really bad taste to suggest that a large enough portion of your community was botting you chose to delay the bans until after you released your sub #s.”

The bans have led to some interesting drama in player guilds, with prominent many members suddenly disappearing. Several WoW players on Reddit have said that their guilds have lost raid leaders, guild officers, and other important members due to the bans. This has left some guilds scrambling to find members to replace those positions.

The news of Blizzard’s bans comes just days after another popular MMO, Guild Wars 2, publicly shamed a known cheater by stripping off his character’s equipment and then forcing him to leap to his death.

Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment (c)