It's not just automation that the ToS prohibits. The question is if what that player is doing is one of the other prohibited activities.
Unless the player is negatively disrupting the game experience of other players by doing it (such is gaining an unfair advantage in PvP), SE may choose to overlook it even if technically prohibited just as they do with the modding community.
It states up to 8, the three was the number selected for the sample question.
