Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

You might have heard of the Warcraft III custom map DOTA, otherwise known as Defense of the Ancients. A particular flavour, Dota Allstars, is incredibly popular on Blizzard’s WC3 bNet servers, but getting the latest maps can be a problem because the popular distribution sites are always down. So, if you want to download the latest DOTA, this is the place to find it!

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Anybody who plays Dota or another Warcraft III mod on battle.net knows that games are often plagued by griefers, leavers, and other bnet miscreants. If you want to have a good game of Dota, you’re going to need the tools to combat bad players.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• The WCIII Banlist program, downloaded here
• Approved hosts XML files, for your realm: Azeroth,
  Lordaeron, Kalimdor and Northrend.
• Global TDA shitlist XML file: tdashitlist.xml
• Shadow French’s Custom Kick hack

Install the banlist program, then under preferences/Online Lists you’ll see a load from XML file button on the lower right hand corner. Add your XML files here, then delete them. You’ll automatically get the latest global approved bans for all the realms you’ve chosen. And, keep the kick utility running while you play and you’ll be able to boot the griefers, feeders, and noobs!

Update: Since ShadowFrench’s website went toast a while ago, I’m uploading the latest version of Custom Kick for download–you can grab it right here folks: w3xcustomkick12001.zip. Please enjoy, and use it for the purposes of good, not evil!

Update 2: You’re going to need ShadowFrench’s CustomKick 12201, so I’m uploading the w3xcustomkick12201.zip here for you to download. I think it works with the latest bnet update?

The WoW 1.11.0 patch introduced a new global looking for group (LFG) channel. Now, anyone on the same side of the battle (Alliance / Horde) will be able to talk to anyone else on the game server. Before, people could only chat with people in the same sub-region, which made the LFG channel a great place to actually find a group. Now, it’s being infected with spam. I’d like to show you some random examples (screenshots) of the new LFG channel:

[4. LookingForGroup] [Oclavionus]: LFG Gnomer
[4. LookingForGroup] [Dorminose]: LFM VC
[4. LookingForGroup] [Poslullio]: LFM DM WEST
[4. LookingForGroup] [Fydin]: LF2M WC
[4. LookingForGroup] [Fuubarr]: LF mage and warrior for scholo
[4. LookingForGroup] [Octavionus]: LFG Gnomer
[4. LookingForGroup] [Infamousant]: LFM STOCKADE
[4. LookingForGroup] [Namine]: LF2M for gnomeregan need a preist.

This is exactly what a LFG channel should be for–finding a group for your quest. However, it’s not always like that:

[4. LookingForGroup] [Rathrora]: dude, you know what, petmetoo, you are a f*****ng tool, just stfu
[4. LookingForGroup] [Koriz]: nana
[4. LookingForGroup] [Wreckless]: me and petmetoo have our reporting badges.
[4. LookingForGroup] [Infamousant]: LFG STOCKADE
[4. LookingForGroup] [Petmetoo]: ya
[4. LookingForGroup] [Alliancesuck]: thats got be 5 v/eeks there

Often, the LFG channel has turned into a banning/reporting frenzy as people fill it with various kinds of spam and profanity.

[4. LookingForGroup] [Falkrigina]: shut the h**l up
[4. LookingForGroup] [Novite]: omfg, guys, by trying to be funny with “reported’
[4. LookingForGroup] [Jerc]: reported -50dkp
[4. LookingForGroup] [Kammie]: d*mn it
[4. LookingForGroup] [Onestrike]: LOL
[4. LookingForGroup] [Creamcorn]: petmetoo reported for asking to be petin the LFG CHANNEL! OMG

It’s like there’s now a global bunch of 13 year old AOL users:

[4. LookingForGroup] [Nito]: u didn’t say that?
[4. LookingForGroup] [Sublivien]: dude I just looked in the mirror and realized my p***s was as small as my sisters
[4. LookingForGroup] [Twisteddeath]: >.>
[4. LookingForGroupj [Furay]: what the h**l

It just keeps getting worse, with racism for fun:

[4. LookingForGroup] [Bootycall]: what do you call a black man flying an airplane?
[4. LookingForGroup] [Erituj: how many emos does it lake to screw in a lightbulb
[4. LookingForGroup] [Chozin]: a pilot
[4. LookingForGroup] [Bootycall]: a pilot, you freaking racists
[4. LookingForGroup] [Skorne]: you couldnt, they pussied out

Finally, a discussion of religion–immature style:

[4. LookingForGroup] [Tasheey]: lol
[4. LookingForGroup] [Quierodinero]: passive detect traps
[4. LookingForGroup] [Eritu]: no jesus
[4. LookingForGroup] [Eritu]: invented blink
[4. LookingForGroup] [Adroadus]: LF tank fro ZF and v/e go
[4. LookingForGroup] [Eritu]: and vanish
[4. LookingForGroup] [Moopless]: im inviting jesus to my birthday party

All considered, I strongly recommend either including intelligent police bots on the global channel(s), or removing them and going back to the old system.